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Text below courtesy of HGTV.com:

Name: Jany Lee
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Age: 35

Education: Bachelor of Arts Honors in economics, Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Current Job: Interior decorator

Why I should win Design Star:
My passion for interior design can be reflected in the beautiful rooms that I create, and I can offer fresh and inspiring decor ideas that anyone can do at home.

Describe your design style in four words.
Classic contemporary and glamorous

Who is your design icon?
Brian Gluckstein

What is your dream design project?
A boutique hotel in an exotic location

Where do you get your inspiration?
Curiosity from my travels

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Measuring tape

What are your most creative hours of the day?
After dinner

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Carpet in bathrooms – both not functional and not aesthetic.

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I can say “thank you” in 22 languages.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
I backpacked around the world by myself for a year and a half, and it was the most spiritual, exciting and life-changing experience of my life. I discovered we live in an amazingly beautiful world, and we are all one and the same. I met the most incredible people and learned to live with love and gratitude each day.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Bubble tea or any jelly candy

What’s your most unusual talent?
I have a photographic memory for numbers

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
Ending phrases with “eh” – I’m a true Canadian.

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
Veterinarian

Who’s your hero?
People who help abused animals. I think Oprah is great, too.

What’s your fashion style?
Feminine with a mix of bold colors or funky graphic prints

Favorites
Color: Celadon green
Scent: Frangipani
Music: Latin and house music
Song: Anything by Depeche Mode
Food: Anything Asian
Magazine: Canadian House and Home
Movie: The Matrix
TV Show: The Oprah Winfrey Show
Room in your house: Master bath
Room to design: Bedrooms because they are your personal retreat where you can relax and unwind
Thing in your home: Everything that has a heartbeat
Hobbies: Traveling and salsa dancing
Vacation destination: Maldives
HGTV show: Divine Design
Design tip: Don’t neglect lighting and accessories. Both will dramatically add to complete the space. Mix different styles to give interest.

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Former Design Star contestants:

Former Trading Spaces designer Vern Yip, renowned designer Cynthia Rowley, and In Style executive editor Martha McCully have served as HGTV Design Star’s judges.

David Bromstad, a 32-year-old from Miami, FL

This handsome and often shirtless finalist is a trained and talented artist who attended Ringling School of Art and Design. That, coupled with his youthful energy and out-of-the-box thinking, makes David a great contender to become the HGTV Design Star. Earnest, passionate, talented and creative, David creates awe-inspiring work on many platforms including custom art, furniture building, and interior design, primarily for children’s rooms. He describes his design POV as “a blend of styles incorporating realism and fantasy…transporting you to another reality.”

Vanessa De Leon, a 25-year-old from Fairfield, NJ

Vanessa is a self-proclaimed “trend setter,” who describes her style as “Glamilistic.” She is a confident young designer, with a great deal to back it up. Only 25 years old, she has already been published eight times, and is not shy sharing information about her success. As a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC) and Berkeley College (NJ), Vanessa favors eclectic and contemporary design, but also has a strong knowledge of Feng Shui, which she brings to many of her projects. Vanessa, who grew up around the family furniture business, now has her own design firm and teaches an interior design course part-time at Berkeley College. She has little tolerance for people without serious design experience and says that, “those [people] who do not have any professional design experience should not even be considered for the show.”

Tym De Santo, a 46-year-old from Fort Wayne, IN

Tym has excelled at many things in his life and calls his current job “Artist/Designer/Entrepreneur.” As a pro-skier on the Audi Quatto Pro Tour; competitive snowboarder, skateboarder and tennis player; singer/songwriter; award winning photographer; sculptor and business executive, Tym brings an atypical design background to HGTV Design Star. He attributes his success to his vision and energy — two traits he applies to everything he does, including fatherhood. Tym follows his passions and says he and his wife are, “both artists and are not starving.” While Tym has a Bachelors Degree in Art and Business, much of his design knowledge came through his own study and pursuit, beginning with building his own house when he was 28 years old. His specific art and design skills are most evident in his work as a good builder and executor for everything from furniture and houses to skate parks and Photoshop files. Tym believes, “Texture is the magic ingredient—don’t overlook it.”

Teman Evans, a 26-year-old from Brooklyn, NY

Teman is one of identical twin brothers who have literally done everything in their lives together. Yet for the first time, in front of a national television audience, the 6′4″ pair will not be a team. Teman, the brother with the dreadlocks, has been described as outgoing, “driven and confident.” He and his brother Teran are Harvard-graduate architects and world-traveled scholars of architecture and design who jointly own a firm and live together. Currently their design company is producing textile/fabric design and interiors, as well as jewelry that is available at a leading retailer and has been featured in national magazines such as O and Essence. Their design style is primarily minimalism and they both agree, “a space is never done. It will always be a work in progress.”

Teran Evans, a 26-year-old from Brooklyn, NY

The other half of the twin brothers is Teran, who has been described as the “inventive” or “quiet brother who is always getting things done.” Teran has shared all of his life experiences with his sibling, from their three years at Harvard to time living and working in Europe for the renowned Dutch architect and designer of the Prada boutiques, Rem Koolhaas. In addition, he and his brother Teman are classically-trained musicians who play five musical instruments between them. Since there can be only one HGTV Design Star, Teman and Teran must compete against each other for the coveted title.

Alice Fakier, a 31-year-old from Temple, TX

Alice loves lavish, accessorized, almost over-the-top design and is the finalist who was selected by viewers and online users during a week-long February vote on HGTV.com. She has a degree from Louisiana Tech School of Architecture and owns a freelance design business that features her mother as the only employee. A former owner of other related businesses, Alice is both wickedly smart and amazingly graceful in all social situations. She takes great pride in her work, believes in the truth, but is never a push-over. Newly-married and recently relocated to the small town of Temple, Texas, Alice’s design tips include, “fewer and larger accessories” and “resist the urge to overly coordinate.”

Ramona Jan, a 49-year-old from Damascus, PA

A self-described renaissance woman, Ramona says she does everything “fine.” In fact, this mother of an 11-year old daughter has had a rich and varied life, doing everything from restoring windows in historic homes to writing an ASCAP-winning song and holding a position as the Art Controller for a major financial institution’s multi-million dollar art collection. Ramona is not formally trained in design, but with such a diverse background it is not surprising that she loves to turn trash to treasure – what she can’t find, she makes. Her friends think she is eccentric, entertaining and endearing.

Joseph Kennard, a 41-year-old from Boston, MA

Joseph is an intellectual designer who plans everything and thinks deeply about every step of his work and his life. An entrepreneur with 14 years of professional experience, including six years running his own design business, Joseph is risking it all to join the cast of HGTV Design Star. This single, self-made man has Masters in Architecture from Harvard and is described by a friend as “the nicest guy you will ever meet with the charisma and empathy to turn a stranger into a friend in seconds.”
Joseph believes, “good design should reveal the personalities of the people who occupy the space.” He also likes to “infuse items with multiple functions;” for example the moveable shelves in his own apartment that also serve as room dividers when needed.

Temple McDowell, a 30-year-old from Farmington, UT

A former Miss Utah and a semi-finalist for the title of Miss USA 1997, Temple is a single mother of two boys. She lacks formal design training but after being around her father, who was an art dealer, she makes up for it with a natural eye for design, energy, hard work, and “in it to win it attitude.” She has only completed home design projects for friends and family, but some have been ambitious, like turning the bedroom of the two girls for whom she was a nanny into a hidden garden — complete with a picket fence and rope swing from the ceiling. Temple’s design premises include, “say no to clutter” and “don’t sacrifice style just because kids are in the home.”

Donna Moss, a 49-year-old from Arlington, TX

A part-time airline stewardess, socialite and interior designer, Donna is the mother of grown daughters and a teenage son with a disability. She believes that hair and make-up done well will help in any situation. Completely self-taught, Donna has no formal design training but has been working at her own business for 20 years.
Among the many unique experiences that make up her life, Donna served in the Army immediately after high school which may account for her devotion to hard work. Her 20 years working as a flight attendant has made it possible for her to travel — and shop — in every city. Donna is a big fan of faux finishes, animal prints, and decorative painting. In her design and, it seems, her life, Donna strongly believes that “beauty is in the details…Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize!”

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Current HGTV Design Star Contestants:

-Amy Sklar

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Age: 40

Education: Bachelor of Arts from Lewis & Clark College, Furniture Design Fellowship Bristol Polytechnic, Bristol England. Professional level Program Interior Design & Architecture from UCLA

Current Job: Owner of Amy Sklar Design

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
I live for design and feel I have a voice and point of view that needs to be heard. I want to share my idea that you can build exquisite spaces by investing in special key pieces you will have for life and economizing on the trends. All the years of experience I have had in fields as varied as stand-up comedy, fine art, jewelry design, wardrobe styling and public relations have prepared me to effectively communicate these ideas.

Describe your design style in four words.
Eclectic, elegant, witty and comfortable

Who is your design icon?
David Hicks

What is your dream design project?
To renovate and decorate the mansion featured in the documentary Grey Gardens

Where do you get your inspiration?
The world of art and fashion

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Comfortable furniture

What are your most creative hours of the day?
Early morning and late in the evening

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Too much glam

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I used to follow the Grateful Dead.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
Bali, for my honeymoon

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Tabloids

What’s your most unusual talent?
I can weld.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
Outstanding

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
A star

Who’s your hero?
My grandmother

What’s your fashion style?
Modern bohemian

Favorites
Color: Chartreuse
Scent: The orange blossoms from the tree in my backyard
Music: Singer/songwriters
Song: “This Is the Day” by The The
Food: Love to cook, love sushi; do not love to cook sushi
Magazine: The now-defunct Domino magazine
Movie: The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Wings of Desire
TV Show: Lost, 30 Rock and Top Chef
Room in your house: My bedroom
Room to design: Dining room
Thing in your home: Love the page from my husband’s journal (when he was 10) that I had blown up and framed for our anniversary.
Hobbies: Cooking and gardening
Vacation destination: Quiet beach
HGTV show: Design Star
Design tip: Buy the best essential pieces you can afford and keep them for life.

-Antonio Ballatore
Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Age: 40

Current Job: Set designer

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
Because I’m bigger, badder and bolder.

Describe your design style in four words.
Modern cave dwelling meets medieval contemporary

Who is your design icon?
My dad

What is your dream design project?
Too many to list

Where do you get your inspiration?
Friends, travel and music

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Inspiration

What are your most creative hours of the day?
Midnight to 3 am

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Shabby chic

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I love to cook.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
Japan. I helped curate an art show for NYC artists and photographers.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Fast cars and faster women. Food.

What’s your most unusual talent?
Don’t ask.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
F*#k

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
A rock star

What’s your fashion style?
T-shirt and jeans

Favorites
Color: Flat black, hot pink and fluorescent green
Scent: Napalm in the morning
Music: Metal, punk rock and outlaw country
Food: Healthy organic, Vietnamese and Italian
Magazine: Rolling Stone, Dwell, Bon Appetit, Dazed and Id
Movie: The Jerk
TV Show: Rock of Love
Room in your house: The kitchen and bedroom
Room to design: Bathroom
Thing in your home: A jackalope, art, old records, guitars, collection of oddities and books
Hobbies: Cooking
Vacation destination: Southeast Asia and Italy
HGTV show: Divine Design and Design on a Dime

-Dan Vickery
Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Age: 27

Education: Bachelor of Architecture from University of Oregon

Current Job: Bartender

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
This is what I am. Despite a full and varied portfolio, especially for a 27-year-old, I am a teacher, entertainer and friend. My design goal has always been to help people live in a space that makes them excited about life and proud to claim it as their own. There is a fundamental need as humans to have a home or habitat that is ours. Why not make that space as beautiful and full of life as possible?

Describe your design style in four words.
Hip and contemporary history

Who is your design icon?
My grandma. As a quilting and clothing designer, she always followed her gut to success.

What is your dream design project?
Buying an old home, revamping and updating it myself.

Where do you get your inspiration?
Everywhere: fashion, art, jewelry, graffiti. Beauty is everywhere.

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Fabric. My roots in my mother and grandmother’s quilt shop allowed me to see the real power fabric has in its flexibility and its ability to introduce color and texture.

What are your most creative hours of the day?
Late evening. I function just fine in the morning but at the end of the day everything has had a chance to incubate and gel in my mind and I can finally see clearly what my brain has been trying to tell me.

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Historic preservation. While I do strongly value the past and everything we can and have learned from it, I don’t see any reason for replicating the past. If it was really the best we could do, we would have kept doing it. Technology influences design as well as computers, and we should always be moving forward.

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I am a dork. I have been my entire life. I think that will become pretty obvious pretty quick. I think what will surprise people is that I do not care that I am a dork. Laugh it off, live well and move on to the next thing.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
Copenhagen, Denmark, to study architecture for seven weeks. The program included two weeks of traveling around Scandinavia to visit places we had learned about in our history classes. Then, traveling around Eastern Europe with friends, finally meeting up with my sister and grandma in Germany to travel around and meet our German relatives, and then another week in Paris. It was a first-time visit to Europe for both my sister and I and the last time my grandma would make it. Paris was her request. It was an amazing experience on many levels.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
I don’t usually feel guilty about my pleasures. Life is too short to have regrets and the term “guilt” implies you may regret it. I admit that I have occasionally been an impulsive music buyer and the Internet makes it way too easy.

What’s your most unusual talent?
I am over 6′3″, so I’m pretty tall already, but my wingspan is almost 6′8″! So I have a way of being able to reach almost everything. In most homes these days, with a classic 8′ ceiling I can do a handstand and plant my feet on the ceiling.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
I always feel as though I say “like” too much. Not in a valley girl way (”Like, are you kidding me!?”) but when telling a story instead of saying “and then I said ?” I say, “and I was like ?”

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
A superhero. I was convinced I was like the X-Men and as soon I hit puberty my super power would be revealed to me. When that didn’t happen, I wanted to at least be a superhero in the movies. I vowed to be the next Superman. Alas, I was too late for that. It was ironic though because I know I don’t look anything like Christopher Reeve but when Superman Returns came out I had strangers stopping me on the street telling me I looked like Brandon Routh.

Who’s your hero?
My mother’s parents, Mama and Papa Pete. They both had such incredibly strong character and so much to teach each of us grandchildren. There was a kindness and warmth around my grandpa that contrasted and complimented my grandmother’s drive to succeed. I strive to do my best to become the best in both of them although they set the bar nearly out of reach.

What’s your fashion style?
Varied. There are so many different moods and events in life that I cannot say my fashion style is consistent. Sleek, simple and comfortable.

Favorites
Color: Blue
Scent: Amberwood, ginger and warm spicy smells
Music: Mostly alternative, some pop, hip hop and country
Song: “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” by Meat Loaf, “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel, “Angel Boy” by Tim McGraw, “A Fond Farewell” by Ari Hest, “Artificial Sweetener” by No Doubt
Food: Comfort food, things that remind me of life on the farm
Magazine: Vanity Fair
Movie: Big Fish
TV Show: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and CSI
Room in your house: My bedroom
Room to design: Dining room
Thing in your home: My computer and radio because they give me my music
Hobbies: Game night, working out, running, reading and crossword puzzles
Vacation destination: A warm beach with my friends or Germany again with my family. My parents have never been out of the country and my sister and I have vowed to take them.
HGTV show: Design Star! I have been re-watching old episodes, and I forgot how much I really connect with the finalists but mostly how passionate I am about design and wish I was there.
Design tip: Scale and texture. These two things create the flow and balance that can make a room comfortable and intriguing at the same time. Always have a good blend and range of both.

-Jason Champion:
Hometown: Sarasota, Florida

Age: 33

Education: Bachelor’s degree of applied arts, Southern Institute Division of Virginia College

Current Job: Jason Champion OUTDOOR and Jason Champion Design

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
I bring a different combination of funny personality with design talent. My ability to host and reach the audience with charm and confidence makes a great fit for a show not yet developed for HGTV — that’s why I will be the season 4 Design Star winner.

Describe your design style in four words.
Livable, organized, fun and fabulous

Who is your design icon?
Michael Graves

What is your dream design project?
One with money

Where do you get your inspiration?
Everywhere, sand under feet to snow on the mountains

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Gas appliances

What are your most creative hours of the day?
4-5pm at the gym

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Country chic

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I won local, district and second place in the 8th grade science fair for building an earthquake-proof house.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
Milan. I went to Salone Internazionale del Mobile, the largest home-furnishing show in Europe. I went by myself and had no place to stay when I got off the plane. I love these types of adventures of not knowing what will happen next. The furniture, fashion and art collided, taking my mind to places never thought of before.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
White chocolate

What’s your most unusual talent?
Tying a cherry stem with my tongue

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
Hey girl hey

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
Stand-up comic

Who’s your hero?
My sister. She fights discrimination every day in the world of men’s basketball. Amy is the women’s basketball head coach at the University of New Orleans. If that’s not enough, she still fights daily to regain some sense of normal life after Hurricane Katrina for each of her players. In 20 years of coaching she has had all 300 players graduate with degrees.

What’s your fashion style?
Stepped-up casual, great jeans and a knockout pair of shoes.

Favorites
Color: Metallic, LOL, soft shades of green
Scent: Lilies
Music: Lounge, pop vocal
Song: “Boondocks” by Little Big Town and “We Are the Champions” by Queen
Food: Surf and turf
Magazine: Azure, Met Home and Atomic Ranch
Movie: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory — the original because the remake is a mess.
TV Show: United States of Tara and Chelsea Lately
Room in your house: Living room
Room to design: Bedrooms
Thing in your home: Framed 1960 circus costume from Kandy’s Tijuana Pink Poodles.
Hobbies: Volunteer for non-profit organizations
Vacation destination: Milan and New York
HGTV show: Extreme Homes

-Jen Guerin:
Hometown: San Diego, California

Age: 33

Education: Bachelor of Arts in painting/printmaking from San Diego State University and International Association of Color Consultation graduate

Current Job: Color designer

Jen is one of only 151 color consultants in the U.S. certified by the International Association of Color Consultation.

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
Besides oozing creative juices on a daily basis, my design look is very different from others and that gives me an edge over the average designer. I see rooms as a piece of art, not only a representation of the people who live/work there. Rooms should have an element of fun and whimsy and that’s how I design. Design doesn’t have to be boring and there is nothing boring about my designs or me. Plus, I’ll make everyone laugh to distract them from getting the gold.

Describe your design style in four words.
’60s modern, nostalgic and baroque

Who is your design icon?
Vivienne Westwood and Jonathan Adler

What is your dream design project?
A boutique hotel

Where do you get your inspiration?
Art

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Paint fan decks.

What are your most creative hours of the day?
Morning and early evening

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Lace curtains. I mean really, what do they do?

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I worked in an iron mine.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Cheese

What’s your most unusual talent?
I can burp really loud and place my fist in my mouth. I swear I was not born in a barn.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
What doin?

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
An archeologist

Who’s your hero?
Marcy Woodward, my friend’s mom. She worked in the fashion industry in the ’60s in New York, speaks fluent French, worked for the government translating French, worked as travel guide around the world and raised two boys all at the same time and still continues to travel everywhere all by herself.

What’s your fashion style?
’40s to ’60s with jeans and a little artistic. There is always a drop of paint somewhere on my clothes. It’s like playing Where’s Waldo?

Favorites
Color: Turquoise. Without a doubt.
Scent: Gardenia, fresh-cut grass
Music: Everything, but mostly Indie
Song: “I’m Just a Gigolo” by Louis Prima or “Love Letters to Japan” by Bird and the Bees
Food: Thai, Sushi and Ethiopian
Magazine: Domino (very sad March was its last month)
Movie: Dumb and Dumber, Amelie or You’ve Got Mail
Room in your house: My bedroom. It’s all me and no one else.
Room to design: Bedroom
Thing in your home: My vintage lime-green amps, my Sexton lamp/wood goose gun above my bed and test tubes that hold my make-up tools.
Hobbies: Making art, tennis, surfing, skateboarding, writing, traveling, seeing live music and making lists
Vacation destination: Anywhere! I love to travel. The worst part is going home.
HGTV show: Sorry, I cut off my cable a year ago so I would be more creative

-Lonni Paul:
Hometown: Beverly Hills, California

Age: A woman who will tell you her age will tell you anything.

Education: 3 years at BYU and studied at the UCLA Professional Level Architecture and Interior Design program

Current Job: Interior designer

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
My elegant and simple design sensibility will bring an original and sophisticated point of view to HGTV. (And I’m a lot of fun!)

Describe your design style in four words.
Upscale, modern, stylish and simple

Who is your design icon?
Phillipe Stark

What is your dream design project?
Luxury hotel

Where do you get your inspiration?
Fashion, art and architecture

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Paint fan

What are your most creative hours of the day?
Middle of the night

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Wallpaper that matches drapery that matches upholstery

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I’m a goofy, spontaneous perfectionist.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
To Cape Town, South Africa, on a modeling assignment after Mandela was elected — the atmosphere was electric.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Dark chocolate chips and a cup of herbal peppermint tea

What’s your most unusual talent?
I perform musicals in my living room but I can’t sing. I do very good impersonations of people.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
Heinous

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
An actress

Who’s your hero?
My dad (I know, but really, it’s my dad.)

What’s your fashion style?
Upscale casual

Favorites
Color: Pink
Scent: Lavender, but I hate perfumed anything. It gives me a headache and makes me sneeze.
Music: Pop/alternative rock
Song: “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt and “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts
Food: Seafood
Magazine: Elle Decor and Metropolitan Home
Movie: There’s Something About Mary
TV Show: 24 and American Idol
Room in your house: Living room
Room to design: All of them
Thing in your home: My kids
Hobbies: Sculpting, watching movies and scrapbooking
Vacation destination: Maldive Islands
HGTV show: Design Star (yes, really) and Divine Design
Design Tip: Simplicity is elegance.

-NataLee Callahan:
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah

Age: 30

Education: Bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Brigham Young University

Current Job: Interior decorator

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
This is my ultimate dream job. I have been trying to prepare myself for this incredible opportunity for a long time. I want to be able to use the talents I have been blessed with to bless others’ lives. After all, isn’t that what life is all about? Hopefully along the way I can put a smile on a lot of people’s faces, too.

Describe your design style in four words.
Transitional, fun, comfortable and unexpected

Who is your design icon?
Candice Olson

What is your dream design project?
I would like to design a playroom in a children’s hospital with a budget large enough to do a really good job. Hopefully it would be a place where a sick child would feel really happy, laugh a lot and focus on getting better.

Where do you get your inspiration?
Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. I have gained inspiration from a necklace to a bowl to a shirt. Whatever has colors, patterns and textures that speak to you is inspiration.

When designing, what can’t you live without?
My camera and measuring tape

What are your most creative hours of the day?
The most creative time for me is when I am trying to sleep at night. My mind won’t shut down and let me sleep because the wheels in my mind are spinning.

What do you think is the worst design trend?
A design trend I didn’t love was mauve or forest-green carpet and pickled oak cabinets from the ’90s.

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I think it would surprise people to know that I’ve had heart surgery.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
I traveled to Belgium and Hungary with my dance group a little over 10 years ago where we performed for large audiences and on their national TV stations. It was a great experience.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
I like something sweet everyday.

What’s your most unusual talent?
I am a clogger. It’s one of the types of dances we performed in Europe.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
“So.” I asked my husband and he immediately said, “so.” So, apparently I say “so” a lot!

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
A famous singer/actress.

Who’s your hero?
My 95-year-old grandma who is still a spit fire. She’s done a lot of good in her lifetime.

What’s your fashion style?
Young, hip and fun

Favorites
Color: Teal
Scent: Coconut and vanilla
Music: I love music, everything from rock to rap to country to Broadway. No reggae or jazz for me, please. My guilty pleasure is Eminem.
Song: “What About Now?” by Daughtry
Food: Sushi
Magazine: Better Homes and Gardens
Movie: Twilight
TV Show: Anything on HGTV and American Idol
Room in your house: Living room
Room to design: Bedrooms
Thing in your home: Framed picture of my husband and me with a poem he wrote me.
Hobbies: Besides decorating, spending time with my family, singing, dancing, violin, movies, friends and traveling
Vacation destination: Anywhere with palm trees, warm weather and saltwater
HGTV show: Divine Design, Designed to Sell, Deserving Design and Color Splash
Design tip: Learn how to sew. It can save you “sew” much money.

-Nathan Galuri:
Hometown: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Age: 25

Education: Bachelor of Science in interior design from Drexel University, Philadelphia, Penn.

Current Job: Furniture designer and interior designer

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
I am extremely competitive by nature. Not only can I design a great interior, but I can build and create the various elements within. My abilities range from space planning to construction management. However my “special something” lies in the design and craftsmanship of furniture. My unique style, fun personality and need for a good challenge will undoubtedly drive me to be this season’s Design Star.

Describe your design style in four words.
Urban, modern, eclectic and rustic

Who is your design icon?
Charles and Ray Eames and the Campana Brothers

What is your dream design project?
To build and design my dream home

Where do you get your inspiration?
Exposure to various cultures, urban lifestyles and nature

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Sharpies and Click pencils

What are your most creative hours of the day?
In the middle of the night while lying in bed with my sketchbook, pencil and cell phone as a light source

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Being from Palm Beach County, I am critical of the stereotypical Florida home that is often portrayed as an interior clad with rattan and styled with the fashions of Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer.

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I am terrified and fascinated by large bodies of water, yet I insist on living near the ocean.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
About a year ago, I traveled to Peru, trekking through the Amazon, adrift among the floating islands, all the way to Machu Picchu. Although I have traveled farther distances, it was the farthest I have ever traveled from the reality I knew at home. It has been the best experience I have ever had — until now!

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Happy hour and skinny-dipping

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
The word “totally” has recently made its way into my vocabulary. I’m not sure how it got there, but I’m working to get rid of it.

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
An artist/designer/architect. I loved drawing.

What’s your fashion style?
Fun yet serious, hip and fresh

Favorites
Color: At the moment, cobalt blue
Scent: A freshly peeled orange
Music: I’m a Top 40 kind of guy
Song: “Hotel California” by The Eagles
Food: Thai
Magazine: Metropolitan Home, Domino and Dwell
Movie: Life As A House
TV Show: Ugly Betty and Nip/Tuck
Room in your house: Bedroom
Room to design: Bedroom
Thing in your home: It’s a tossup between my living room coffee table and my lambskin rug
Hobbies: Barnes & Noble, dancing, dinner parties, board games and spin class
Vacation destination: The Republic of Maldives. I’ve never been and can’t wait to go.
HGTV show: Divine Design and Myles of Style
Design tip: If you love that $2,000 vase atop that $20 coffee table, do not keep them apart.

-Tashica Morgan:
Hometown: Bowie, Maryland

Age: 29

Education: Bachelor’s in pre-law from University of Maryland and working on a master’s in interior design from Marymount

Current Job: Design coordinator at Ethan Allen

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
I’m the unexpected that HGTV needs — both design and entertainment are a requirement for an awesome show, and I will exceed both with surprise elements no other person, let alone designer, can bring. Sit back, watch and take notes!

Describe your design style in four words.
Urban, colorful, vintage and whimsical

Who is your design icon?
Tossup between Sheila Bridges and Celerie Kemble

What is your dream design project?
Designing a shelter home or foster home — it is so about the kids. If I had half the influence that I can use now as a designer, I’m confident I would have known that I wanted to be a designer much sooner.

Where do you get your inspiration?
Fashion and seeing patterns gets me revved up.

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Paint, sketchbook and pen and lots of fun tchotchkes and trinkets

What are your most creative hours of the day?
All hours of the day. I know, it’s a sickness.

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Faux paint and glazing — dated like a desperately-in-need-of-a-reno Vegas hotel

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I was a surrogate mother to my sisters until the age of 14 when I was adopted by my paternal grandmother, aka Momzie (I gave her that name).

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
Well, not including in my head, Cancun, Mexico. After spending our life and family’s life savings on our wedding, we didn’t think we could afford a honeymoon, but, eureka! We didn’t register for wedding gifts, but requested monetary gifts instead. The morning after our wedding, we opened every single card and it was like winning the lottery. My husband and I got one of those last-minute honeymoon deals and we were on the next flight out and on the beaches of Cancun living the margarita life in no time — a much better gift than a set of his-and-hers towels.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Performing in the mirror to music videos. I’m a slight narcissist.

What’s your most unusual talent?
Picking up things with my toes

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
“Dang!,” “Wait a minute ?” and “hot mess”

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show

Who’s your hero?
Definitely my husband — the only person who has always been there

What’s your fashion style?
All over the place. I’m mainly urban with a touch of femininity. I’ve been told I’m a little hobo-chic, too.

Favorites
Color: Chartreuse and peacock blue
Scent: Love the smell of suntan lotion (so banana-y)
Music: Gospel is my therapy, and I put on hip-hop and Latin music for my mirror performances.
Song: “It’s the God in Me” by Mary Mary and “I’m a Diva” by Beyonce
Food: Fruit-bar popsicles and French fries
Magazine: Domino
Movie: Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon
TV Show: The Cosby Show, Different World and Scrubs
Room in your house: Used to be the living room, but I love our office after changing the layout. What a difference that makes.
Room to design: Kids’ rooms
Thing in your home: A peacock feather I got from a store liquidation and my decorative pillows collection
Hobbies: Graphic design, hip-hop dancing/choreography and singing
Vacation destination: The beaches of Greece, please!
HGTV show: Freestyle
Design tip: Don’t let money dictate your design.

-Torie Halbert:
Hometown: Humble, Texas

Age: 35

Education: Two degrees in interior design from Lone Star College

Current Job: Custom home designer

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
I have a very diverse background in interior design. I have mostly designed custom homes that range from $500,000 and up, but I have also designed and decorated many model homes with completely different budgets and constraints. I have experience in remodeling homes, designing and redecorating homes with large and small budgets, which I feel is very important to be able to do as a designer and still have a very satisfied client.

I have traveled across the United States serving as a guest speaker for national-brand vendors to the interior design industry, teaching fellow designers how to design custom homes. With that experience, I am very comfortable speaking in front of many people and on camera. In addition, having competed in pageants all my life, I also have the onstage experience and charisma that are needed to host a television show. With all of these qualities, I feel I have the key ingredients to be HGTV’s next Design Star.

Describe your design style in four words.
Classic, upscale, delicious and textured

Who is your design icon?
Ralph Lauren

What is your dream design project?
A second home or project anywhere in the Caribbean Islands, possibly St. Barths

Where do you get your inspiration?
To be completely honest, any fabric store. I love to sew and am inspired every time I see new fabrics, materials, textures. It gets me going.

When designing, what can’t you live without?
Got to start with a good cup of coffee and my “book of custom designs.” I have compiled a book over the years of hundreds of tile designs, including backsplashes, entries, bathrooms — all that I have hand-drawn. I refer to many of these drawings to help me along in designing my new home and remodeling, as well. It’s fantastic.

What are your most creative hours of the day?
Usually between 10am and 4pm, but I have been known to design all hours of the day and night.

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Using any type of fruit, food or flower design in permanent designs like tile work in a kitchen or bath. Buyers may love it when they first choose it but within a few years they will grow to hate the sight of those grapes they thought they couldn’t live without.

What’s one thing about you that would surprise people?
I come across as a very upscale, dressy interior designer, but in my spare time I absolutely love getting muddy on my Grizzly 700 series four-wheeler. Everyone is shocked by this.

Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
Nassau, Bahamas. Anytime I have a choice to go on a vacation, my choice is always to go somewhere warm on a beautiful beach. We stayed at Atlantis for one week. It was great.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Absolutely, without a doubt, Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream. It’s heavenly.

What’s your most unusual talent?
I can sew clothes without using a pattern.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
Stop it

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
A fashion designer. I carried a notebook around with me all the time drawing fancy, formal gowns. I also had a strong love for decorating since I was very young. I was constantly in my room redecorating and moving my furniture around. Another thing is I would pick out furniture, lamps, rugs and comforters in the big Sears catalog and bring it to my mom and tell her to order it all to make the house look good. I would do the same for my grandmother; they got a kick out of it.

Who’s your hero?
Definitely my mom. She has been through a lot, but she is very strong and always positive.

What’s your fashion style?
Trendy, but not too trendy. I love to wear vibrant colors with great accessories (usually with some layered bling), but I love my classic, tailored Tahari suits a lot.

Favorites
Color: Fuchsia and lagoon blue (soft turquoise) for clothes; earthy, warm caramels, lattes, chocolates for interiors, but definitely with color thrown in.
Scent: Warm sugar cookie
Music: Gary Allan, Keith Urban and Earth, Wind & Fire (they’re my favorite!)
Song: “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
Food: Seafood. I love shrimp cooked any way.
Magazine: Lux, People and Florida Design
Movie: The Holiday and For the Love of the Game
TV Show: Love reality shows and, of course, watching HGTV. Real Housewives of Orange County, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Divine Design and Designed to Sell
Room in your house: My great room
Room to design: Children’s rooms and master bedrooms
Thing in your home: My stacked-stone fireplace surround and stacked-stone up the wall to the ceiling.
Hobbies: Sewing, making flower arrangements, riding my four-wheeler and softball
Vacation destination: Anywhere with a beautiful beach and sunny weather, but I would love to go to Paris someday.
HGTV show: Color Splash
Design tip: Don’t be afraid to use color in your home or project. Even if in small amounts, it can give the pop or wow factor that will make a huge difference.

Courtesy: HGTV.com