Last year, I was part of a design competition called the Pier 1 Challenge - Beyond The Beige. They asked three designers to transform three bland backyards into beautiful, inviting spaces.
I was pitted against the likes of Jeremiah Brent (Yes, THAT Jeremiah Brent. The hottie who is engaged to Nate Berkus and who shot to fame on the Rachel Zoe Project) and Jinnie Choi (TV designer and former assistant to Carter Oosterhouse on HGTV). So let's just say it was a challenge, and I was excited about it.
We were all given a budget of $2000 and sent to Pier One to choose our wares.
Check out the first video:
Honestly, Jeremiah showed up with peeps. Like staff. They were super hip and stylish (in a Los Feliz kind of way) and were making things go pretty smoothly for him. I mean, why wouldn't he? If you got it, flaunt it!
I, on the other hand, was mostly all by my lonesome, two doors up. It was literally 105 degrees out and I was dressed like a moron and sweating like a pig. When I showed up on Day 2 and saw what lie ahead of me, let's just say I was a tad overwhelmed.
Luckily, they sent a sweet Production Assistant over to help me with the unpacking (so I kinda felt cool like Jeremiah, but not really).
Eventually, things started coming together. I went with fun and bright (family friendly!) and used blues and greens to play off of the pool.
Like any video competition, they ask you to do on-camera progress reports a lot throughout the day. You know, kinda like The Bachelor. But since we only had a total of three days to get it done, I was always anxious to get back to work.
Here's the video tour of my final space:
People voted for the winner on Twitter. Jeremiah took the crown. His space was very cool. He brought in a bunch of succulents and some cool mosquito netting from somewhere (hmmmmm), and it felt super zen. He also had over 100,000 Twitter followers to my 28.
Overall, it was a super fun challenge and I would totally do it again! Thanks for checking it out!