american dream builders episode 9
Emily Oster
This was the last episode before the finale and let me say it was bad. In all fairness to the contestants, they were sort of doomed from the start given the architecture they had to work with. The home was Victorian - that is I am pretty sure its knock off, reproduction 1990's Victorian. Victorian when its original can be hard to work with and 1990's Victorian is just about impossible - bad scale and proportion, weird space planning and all that signature 90s oak (see below - the top two images are the before just in case you couldn't tell).
There were a few positives which of course involved Lukas. I liked his parlor room especially his color selection for the woodwork. I also really appreciated his built ins and mix of furniture styles. That being said the client was a young family and this space is totally not functional for kids.
His kitchen was a big improvement over the original and it was at least family friendly. However, its nothing particularly exciting design wise.
via American Dream Builders
The negatives include just about everything else. Elaine did a horrible red family room, Jay's master bedroom and bathroom was fine but overdone, Nina's nursery was way to cutesy and her dining room was not well space planned. Both Nina and Elaine were sent home leaving Lukas and Jay in the finale. Lukas is clearly my favorite and I will be shocked if he doesn't win. I like Jay as well but he needs a designer to guide him. I think he probably would be a great builder to work with in real life but left to his own devices its just not good. My hope is that the finale will make up for this episode but I really am not sure thats possible. One episode review left so stay tuned!