Reprinted with permission from www.redesignrevolution.com
Welcome to Occidental College! The five remaining designers will be making over the common room of a fraternity house, and a sorority house. The introduction mostly goes on about something about Alpha Sigma Lambda Phi Mega Alpha. That turns out to mean that the teams will be taking on two separate rooms at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Lambda Phi Alpha sorority–so it’s girls against the boys.
The sorority room common room is filled with cast-off furniture from various parents’ homes. There is a neglected fireplace, and the sorority sisters are looking for something sophisticated. In contrast, the fraternity common room has a pool table, a ping pong table, and not much else.
At the sorority house, Tiffany selects grey-on-grey walls highlighted with red doors to bring in the sorority’s red and white colors. Tiffany works with a carpenter to revamp the fireplace, but the brick doesn’t demo cleanly and leaves a lot of construction for her short timeframe.
Over at the fraternity house, Boris plans floor-to-ceiling drapes while Brooks and Jeribai shop for furniture. They’re going for a dark wood “gentlemen’s lounge” look with purple and gold to match the fraternity’s colors.
On Day Two, Jeribai gets stuck refinishing the biggest dining table in the world. Meanwhile, Anne and Tiffany arrive at the sorority house to find their red paint accents looking a bit too orange. But the fireplace is finally in one piece, so that’s a huge improvement.
For the Camera Challenge, the designers have ninety seconds to present a decorating tip to a student. Jeribai explains how to install hardwood floors and falls a little flat. Boris talks about different paint brushes and rollers and finally doesn’t come across as creepy. Boris teaches a student how to install a chair railing and forgets to let the kid speak. Tiffany teaches a student how to patch up a hole in the wall that is way too basic. Anne explains how to make a perfect stripe with paint on an uneven surface that impresses David.
While Anne and Tiffany shop for accessories, their carpenter finishes up the fireplace and installs ebony wood flooring. But at the end of Day Two, the fireplace is still unfinished. At the fraternity house, Jeribai gets bogged down with the dining room table. Boris spends his time shopping for furniture. When it arrives the next day, Jeribai questions the choice in a linen couch because it will get dirty.
When Brooks and Jeribai return from lamp shopping with ninety minutes left, they go into scramble mode to stage the room. With thirty minutes left, the sorority house is still unfinished. But it’s amazing how quickly people can work on a deadline, and both groups pull their spaces together.
The panel visits the Sorority House first and it’s really quite nice and sophisticated, and Genevieve and Vern like the orangey-reds. Although Tiffany gets credit for taking on such a big project as the fireplace, it is noted that she failed to accessorize it at all. At least her floor carpet tiles are a big hit as a smart solution for a heavily trafficked area.
At the Fraternity House, Vern feels the college vibe in a polished environment. Boris’s black drapes create big black holes in the room, and the linen couch is wrong for the space. Jeribai was in charge of lighting and didn’t bring in enough to offset the overhead fluorescents, and Brooks’s molding confuses the panel.
When David brings the Sorority Sisters into their house, there’s a whole lot of squealing and happiness. Vern enjoyed Anne’s color palette, but Genevieve criticizes her sloppy spray painting of another otherwise good piece. Tiffany is applauded for the fireplace but her lack of embellishment left a big depressing neutral in the space.
The fraternity brothers have a similar reaction to their space, only at a lower frequency. Brooks gets praise for the pool table, and Jeribai’s dining table is a big hit. However, the lighting is a problem, as is the linen sofa and the black fabric panels. But overall, the space is a dramatic transformation.
The panel gives the win to the Sorority House, which leaves Brooks, Jeribai and Boris up for elimination. And just like that, Boris is given the chop.
Next week, the designers make over a bus and appear on a talk show.
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