We have a winner...

It's Nathan! I was really happy that he won, out of the three, he was the quirkiest and most unpredictable...I like that. However, I have to say that all the designers did a great job with their homes, if I could, I'd take a little bit from all of them. One of my favorite moments, was Eddie Ross's appearance on the show. He and Nathan were the two that were constantly making me laugh on the show, last night I was cracking up as he was poking fun at Preston mumbling away on the phone. Two wild card items that I was waiting to see how Nathan was going to pull off were the paper plate chandelier and the giant "sarcophagus"! The chandelier came out pretty darn cool, it looked like a cloud over the table and while the sarcophagus was pretty huge, I thought it was such a cool piece. While the judges loved the chandelier, they were a little less than thrilled with the huge presence the sarcophagus had in the room...whatever, it was a lot of fun.
While watching the show, here are a couple little things I learned about decorating!

1. Mix up your furniture!

I think Kelly Wearstler slapped me into reality with this when she said to a designer at, one point, that all the furniture in the room "looked like a set"...and that wasn't a good thing. It got me thinking, why not mix up your pieces? Many times we're so hardwired to go to one store and "buy a room" that we forget that it's even more fun to mix and match. Finding pieces in the stores as well as flea markets and thrift stores can give the room a whole bunch of personality. Dually noted Kelly.Here's the "cloud lamp" that Nathan created...cool huh? He also created that painting against the wall, basically poured different colored paints on a blank canvas. I LOVE those chairs paired with such a simple table, so pretty.

2. Wallpaper is so back!

I am officially going to wallpaper a wall in the house. Before I was just thinking about it, now it's on! However, I've realized that when it comes to wallpaper, it a no guts, no glory type of thing. You need to go for a bold pattern and have fun with it.

3. Tone on Tone molding looks really cool
Preston used this little trick in a small room in the house and it came out awesome. Normally we see the molding in bright white contrasting with the paint color. This time around, he painted the molding the same color as the walls and it added a great architectural element to the room. I love it and so did Margaret Russell, so thumbs up!

4. Just because a room is supposed to "be" something...doesn't mean you have to listen.

Entryways are not a common thing in town homes. I love how Nathan opted to take the living room in the house and turn it into one glorious entryway to enjoy as you walk through the door. Out of the three, he was the only one that did that.

5. A great carpenter is priceless.

Ondine almost didn't make it to the end. It's sort of a "chicken or the egg" situation. Did she bite off more than she could chew by requesting too much of her carpenter? Or was the carpenter just plain slow? I don't know, in the end, she pulled it off. I love how she took a basic room and created a little cubby for a happy little girl to sleep in...adorable.

So there it is, Mangonett's favorite lessons from Top Design. Hope you enjoyed it! Until next season everyone!

*All photos courtesty of Bravo