These Aren’t Your Father’s Penny Candy

So, you can’t design a room around a cat...according to the judges on Top Design previews...but how about a bear?

They do look good enough to eat, just like they did in the jars on the candy counter but these aren’t edible...they are electrical. That’s right...they’re a light! A company by the name Jellio has these great LED, battery powered lights to brighten even the rainiest of days. If these don’t make you nostalgic for your youth try the Rubik’s Cube coffee table

or a Squirt Gun Fountain?

All great additions to your family game room or anywhere you need a reminder that you’re still a kid at heart. Go check them out at... www.jellio.com/ Oh, and I’ve got an idea for Bravo...get Parker Brother’s to sponsor a challenge where each designer has to create a room around a board game...

Posted: Damselfly

Petition To TD Blogger

We the undersigned would like to officially protest Top Design Blogger, Ms. Place, and TheHoInMo for favoriting certain designers before the final show has begun. Only Damselfly has made any attempt to play fair on this blog, mentioning every one one of us and distilling our essences.

TheHoInMo singled out Lisa, turning her into a heroine and giving her her very own post. And Ms. Place, the most egregious abuser of the TD Blogger team, has mentioned Michael twice, compared Erik favorably to Jai, and also prominently mentioned Heather, Goil, and John in one of her more critically acclaimed writings.

Singling out certain designers before the show airs is unfair and detrimental to those of us who are overlooked. We only have one shot at making it big time and perhaps earning the opportunity to revamp Donald Trump's outrageous pseudo "traileur trashe" gold lame interior in Trump Tower.

One of us will be asked to pack up our pouffy fringed pillows and go after the first show. The pre-show publicity is our one shot at fifteen minutes of fame and you, Ms. Place, are especially depriving us of our glory.

We petition TD Blogger to give us equal and fair treatment! There are still 10 days to go before the show begins. When you mention us in future blogs, we would prefer that you use the following tag lines:


Elizabeth: The Froote is goote.

Carisa: One Who Makes No Mistakes, Never makes anything.








Ryan: Empty Thoughts, Lame Excuses, and Decorative Lies


Felicia: California Girl With a Design Attitude








Matt: On the Path to Interior Design Since Five

Andrea: We are both a design office and an idea/product lab












Signed, the TD Designers

Disclaimer: This post was a dream. Ms. Place woke up and jotted down the thoughts in each designer's head. The designers, though thankful for the publicity, would like you to know: We did not write this petition! Ahem.

Posted: Ms. Place

Beggin'

Phone: Brrrinnggg!

Ms. Place: Hullo?

Ab Fab: Missy! It’s Eddy!

Ms. Place: Silence.

Ab Fab: From across the pond, Dahling.

Ms. Place: Eds! Mygod, it’s been ages! Since the 90’s at least. How’ve you been?

Ab Fab: Oh, you know how it is, Dahling.

Ms. Place: Don’t I ever. No rest for the weary.

Ab Fab: That’s why I’m calling, Dahling. Need another member on your team?

Ms. Place: TD Blogger? You can’t be hittin’ me up for a job, Eds. You’re Ab Fab! You set the standard for design shows and Tongue in Chic!

Ab Fab: Well, you see, it’s like this, Sweetie…I could use the publicity. Ab Fab’s not quite the thing it once was. You know how hard it is keeping your name in the limelight!

Ms. Place: Don’t I ever. But I hate to disappoint you, Dahling. We’re rather proud of our current TD Blogger team and we’re full up. Besides, I don’t know how you’d fit in, what with your 90’s design sensibilities and your penchant for chasing one fad after another. Then there’s the matter of your questionable taste.

Ab Fab: Wot! WOT!

Ms. Place: Sorry to be harsh, Dahling. Being gentle wouldn’t work. You’d never get the point.

Ab Fab: I’m not getting the point anyway, Dahling. Oh, drat! I'm crawling on my hands and knees, Sweetie. I’m positively begging. Haven’t you any crumbs you could throw my way?

Ms. Place: Well….

Ab Fab: Yesss!

Ms. Place: There’s another Bravo show.

Ab Fab: Do tell.

Ms. Place: Before you get your hopes up, Dahling; there’s absolutely no buzz about it. No watercooler gossip at work. Nothing. Nada. You’d have your work cut out for you.

Ab Fab: I’ll take it, Sweetie!

Ms. Place: You might not after I tell you what it is.

Ab Fab: Wot? Wot?

Ms. Place: The Real Housewives of Orange County.

Ab Fab: Housewives? Orange County? Where's that?

Ms. Place: California, Dahling. L.A. Land of the botoxed housewife. These gals still visit the Playboy Mansion for a fun night out.


Ab Fab: Wot? Me in a Playboy Mansion? Never! Oh, wait, Sweetie, wait. It’s coming back to me. You want me to dish THOSE tarts?

Ms. Place: You’d be perfect, Eds. You and Pats, and even Bubble. You're way superior to them. Hell, just about anybody is. Just think about it, Dahling. You won't be paid, mind you. None of us are. And it's lots of work. However, time’s running short to create a blog. The second season’s already begun.

Phone: Brrringgg!

Ab Fab: That's my cell, Sweetie, I’m expecting a call from Bubble. I'll do it, Dahling! My team and I are always ready to dis. We're tight as a drum, and all that rot. Ta, Dahling, gotta go!
Click here for conversation with Bubble.

Posted: Ms. Place

Answer: A thing of beauty

and style ... a Hansa Murano faucet.

Brought To You By...

GMC, LendingTree.com, Bacardi Limon, Thomasville Furniture and ELLE DECOR Magazine...hmmm sounds like a party to us.

News Release - NEW YORK - January 10, 2007 - Bravo announced today that GMC, LendingTree.com, Bacardi Limon, and Thomasville Furniture have been named partners for Bravo’s new hour-long 10-episode interior design competition series, “Top Design,” premiering on Wednesday, January 31 at 11 PM ET/PT. And, ELLE DECOR Magazine has signed on as the on-air magazine sponsor. The announcement was made today by Shari Post, Vice President, Ad Sales, Bravo.
As the auto partner of Bravo’s “Top Design,” GMC’s first crossover, the 2007 GMC Acadia, will be integrated into the series via a branded challenge and general vehicle usage throughout the series. GMC will also provide the all-new 2007 GMC Acadia to the series winner who creates the winning “Top Design.” LendingTree.com will provide a $100,000 cash prize to the winner to help them design their future; Bacardi Limon - a featured spirits brand in the series - will be integrated within a design challenge, and will execute a national retail promotion in support of the launch of the series; and Thomasville Furniture will sponsor a vignette series. In addition, GE Monogram will provide the finalists with access to their full line of appliances for a "Top Design" challenge.

ELLE DECOR Magazine, regarded as one of the world's premier design publications, will reward the winner with a coveted feature. Plus, the winner will have the chance to showcase their skills at the magazine's Dining by Design charity event in New York City, a lavish affair where designers, celebrities, and the who's who of fashion convene for a night of style, drama, excitement and spirited collaboration.

Posted: Damselfly/Calady

Diva Lamp

Dahlings. Ms. Place is Dutch. Tord Boontje, designer, is Dutch. He created this lamp. How perfect is this?

Where would you hang it?

Me? I'd make sure I was wearing my best undies for my main squeeze, turn this divine light down low, and, well...


none of your business!

Posted: Ms. Place

Top Design Class

T: Hello, designtestants. Welcome to Bravo's Mental Health Class!

S: Hello Ms. Place

T: I know this is just a virtual classroom, but is everyone on board?

S: Yes! Yes. Yeah, Uh, huh. Yup. Yeah. Yes. In a minute, havta reboot. Yep. Yes. Get with it already, I’ve got better things to do than listen to some dumb blond broad tellin’ me what to do. Yes. Yeah.

T: Good. As you know, Bravo wants me to prepare you for the onslaught of publicity you'll experience once the show airs. Today’s topic is: "Keeping Your Sanity as the Anony-Mouses Rip You Apart."

S: Ms. Place, Heather here. We already know about that stuff. I’m not afraid of bad publicity.

T: Yes, well, Heather, I see that you described yourself as being pushy in a conversation with Damselfly. By making that statement, you’ve opened yourself up to the Bravo producers. They’ll place you in a certain role. Some Anony-Mouses will take that little phrase and run with it. They’ll actually believe you ARE pushy.

S: Well, I am.

T: Okey dokey. So that you won't be blind-sided, I advise you to look up the definitions of all the words that are synonymous with Bitch. Be aware that you’ll learn some choice descriptions along the way. KNOW those words and phrases. OWN them. EMBRACE them. When they are used to describe your fabulous being, they won’t affect your tender psyche quite as much.

On to the next piece of advice: Be aware, designtestants, that you will have no control over how the writers portray you, or over the public’s comments. The show’s been taped and Bravo’s already strung a gazillion hours of scenes and interviews together to create an absurdly unreal story. The Anony-Mouses will respond to each episode like lemmings, forgetting that they’re being manipulated.

Some of you, regardless of the fact that you stroke puppies and feed every one of the world’s hungry children, will be cast as villains. Others, because you have a pretty face or because you’re witty, will come off as heroes and heroines. This will have nothing to do with your talent. Still others of you will be cast as the series Geek. Like Mikey, for example.

S: Why me? Why so early? You haven’t even seen my work. Waaah!

T: Doesn’t matter Mikey. You’re absurdly young. You look like Ralphie from Christmas Story. And you wear funny looking pants. So, you’re a target from day one. Just saying, dahling. Don’t take it personally. This is how the collective mind works. To combat the mob mentality, I advise you to do some mental strengthening exercises through affirmations. As you wake up each morning, repeat this mantra: I am wonderful. I am talented. I am not a Geek. That should counteract the Anony-Mouse comments and help you keep your cool.

S: Ms. Place, I have a question.

T: Yes, Goil.

S: What makes YOU such an expert, huh? I graduated from Yale, so at least I'm qualified to know something.

T: Good, question, dahling. Aside from being fabulous, I have no qualifications whatsoever. I am, modestly speaking, the sanest, most perfect person I know. And you'll probably understand me better if I reveal to you that I have a recently diagnosed, incurable medical condition called Tongue-in-Chic. It's irreversible and gets worse over time. Next?

S: John here. Just an observation, Ms. Place. I don’t have any design background either but I’m a natural. Design sensibilities ooze out of all my manly pores. One thing I’ve figured out - You don’t need to know anything about anything in this country to make it. Look at Paris Hilton! That’s why America’s so great. You can *B--Sh-t* your way through life, take on any attitude you damn well please, and become filthy rich and hugely successful in this wonderful land of ours. Besides, my competitors don’t hold a candle to me. I’m gonna win.

T: Great attitude, dahling. However, you might just have pissed off your fellow designers with those lightning rod statements. If I were you, I’d purchase a bullshit meter and consult it once in a while.

Ah, it’s past noon! Sad to say, dahlings, we have to wrap things up. I must get dressed to sit at a bar, sip a pink martini, and attract all those divinely masculine honeybees to my sweet feminine nectar. As that old countrytime saying goes, "It’s five o’clock somewhere!"

Next time we meet, designtestants, we’ll discuss how to make the comment section on a blog your friend. Tra la la!

In all things and in all ways, I wish you Good Mental Health.

Posted: Ms. Place