Have any of you Casa readers been keeping up with the HGTV series "Design Star"? I've been pretty riveted, even though the designers' drama has sometimes overpowered their designs. You just never know how a project is going to turn out and how judges Martha McCully, Cynthia Rowley, and Vern Yip are going to weigh in on the challenges.

In the season finale (airing at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT this Sunday) the contestants have been whittled down to Kim Myles and Todd Davis, who've really had to shine to beat out the other nine designers for the coveted final spots. I was really sad to see the classy, talented, and humble Will leave after Challenge 6—he has such a big heart and it really shows in the thoughtfulness of his designs.

I'm rooting for Kim, a hair stylist who describes her style as "global-urban elegance." She's just had such spirit and drive throughout the show, and I love that she doesn't have any formal design training. I'm also impressed by her understanding of color, and I think she usually marries function and style pretty successfully.


Todd has had some good designs this season, though the fact that his dream project is designing lad-mag Maxim's headquarters isn't really my idea of dreamy. And I just can't trust that my house will be properly designed by someone who dresses himself in white socks, Keen shoes, and leather pants.

To see some of these designers' work, just read more

Here's the before-and-after picture of Todd's last challenge, which was to turn an outdated Hawaii hotel room into something more contemporary and cool.

And here's Kim's take on the same challenge.

And here's a bigger image of Kim's project, just because I think it turned out so well.

Now that you know who I'm rooting for, will you let me know who you think should win?

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