NewsStudent LifeFaculty/StaffAlumniAdvancementServiceFine ArtsCollege Guidance
’02 alumna appears on “Designer Finals”
Oct 13, 2005 10:28 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
We have all rearranged our own bedrooms a time or two, but have you ever been charged with redesigning someone else’s? This was the scenario for Lauren Muller (’02), who recently appeared on HGTV’s “Designer Finals,” a reality TV show where design students are given a minimal budget to renovate one room in a real family’s house.
“My friend, Jenny Evans, was chosen to be the main designer, and another friend of ours, Kelly Noell, was an assistant with me,” said Muller, current senior and art-interior design major at the University of Georgia. “We were all really nervous because we had never actually completed a real project. All of our school projects were hypothetical up until that point.”
The episode, which aired Sept. 24, focused on Zoe and Daniel Reyes’ home in Marietta, Ga. The entire house was decorated Southwestern-style, and the Reyes felt the bedroom was the only room that didn’t fit.
It was quite a project to complete with a small crew and a budget of only $3,000. “The walls were all white [to begin with], and the furniture was way too bulky for the space,” said Muller. “Jenny’s plan for the redesign was to plaster the walls to make them look antiqued and apply a light yellow wash to add some color. We also painted the tray ceiling a metallic copper and built a faux-fireplace in the corner of the room complete with a mosaic-tile mantle and hearth. Then, Jenny found an antique iron door that we mounted on the wall to serve as a headboard for their bed, and she bought new bed linens in a beautiful terra cotta color.”
The end product was success, and the show did not go on without its share of memorable moments. “The best part was getting to meet all the wonderful people involved with the production of the show. We really fell in love with the crew and the Reyes family,” said Muller. “It was their anniversary when we did this project, so that made it even more special, and at the end of the taping, they cooked an authentic Mexican meal for all of us.
“The weird part was having cameras following your every move. I would look over and not even know that I was being taped,” she said. “At one point, I was painting trim, and I hit my head on the window sill really hard. I looked over, and the camera was on me.”
Muller added that the experience gave the design team a taste of the real world and a clearer understanding of their field. “The most difficult was setting a schedule for what we had to do and getting everything done on time,” she said. “It took us an entire day to plaster and paint the walls and ceiling, so that definitely made things more stressful.”
Muller is currently interning for the University Architects in Athens, Ga., and after graduating, she would like to relocate to Chicago or New York. “My dream job would be to work for a hospitality design firm in a fun city where I had lots of creative freedom,” she said.
“Designer Finals” premiered in August of 2004 on Home & Garden Television. HGTV is one of the fastest-growing networks in cable television history, and its Web site is America’s leading online home and garden site.
“My friend, Jenny Evans, was chosen to be the main designer, and another friend of ours, Kelly Noell, was an assistant with me,” said Muller, current senior and art-interior design major at the University of Georgia. “We were all really nervous because we had never actually completed a real project. All of our school projects were hypothetical up until that point.”
The episode, which aired Sept. 24, focused on Zoe and Daniel Reyes’ home in Marietta, Ga. The entire house was decorated Southwestern-style, and the Reyes felt the bedroom was the only room that didn’t fit.
It was quite a project to complete with a small crew and a budget of only $3,000. “The walls were all white [to begin with], and the furniture was way too bulky for the space,” said Muller. “Jenny’s plan for the redesign was to plaster the walls to make them look antiqued and apply a light yellow wash to add some color. We also painted the tray ceiling a metallic copper and built a faux-fireplace in the corner of the room complete with a mosaic-tile mantle and hearth. Then, Jenny found an antique iron door that we mounted on the wall to serve as a headboard for their bed, and she bought new bed linens in a beautiful terra cotta color.”
The end product was success, and the show did not go on without its share of memorable moments. “The best part was getting to meet all the wonderful people involved with the production of the show. We really fell in love with the crew and the Reyes family,” said Muller. “It was their anniversary when we did this project, so that made it even more special, and at the end of the taping, they cooked an authentic Mexican meal for all of us.
“The weird part was having cameras following your every move. I would look over and not even know that I was being taped,” she said. “At one point, I was painting trim, and I hit my head on the window sill really hard. I looked over, and the camera was on me.”
Muller added that the experience gave the design team a taste of the real world and a clearer understanding of their field. “The most difficult was setting a schedule for what we had to do and getting everything done on time,” she said. “It took us an entire day to plaster and paint the walls and ceiling, so that definitely made things more stressful.”
Muller is currently interning for the University Architects in Athens, Ga., and after graduating, she would like to relocate to Chicago or New York. “My dream job would be to work for a hospitality design firm in a fun city where I had lots of creative freedom,” she said.
“Designer Finals” premiered in August of 2004 on Home & Garden Television. HGTV is one of the fastest-growing networks in cable television history, and its Web site is America’s leading online home and garden site.
