Lake Highlands resident Jany Lee decorates her last room on HGTV’s Design Star

by Sarah Blaskovich

LAKE HIGHLANDS — Well before Lake Highlands resident and designer Jany Lee deemed it “her time to go,” she was eliminated from HGTV's Design Star this week. The team challenge to turn a junky garage into a comfy living room failed to wow the judges, and after self-serving team member Torie blamed Jany for their team's missteps, Jany was sent packing.

HGTV

Judges wanted more color and pizazz from Jany Lee's designs. "That's not who I am. I designed for myself and for my clients," she said. (Jany's clients include residents in the Dallas area.)

Before finishing the challenge, Jany and the other designers knew that this week's challenge would result in a double elimination. Jany still thought she'd be safe.

“I felt like all of us [Torie, Antonio, Jason, and Jany] equally contributed,” Jany said of her final challenge. “We completed the room and didn't have to rush through like the other team had to. The other team had so many issues, and they were rushing, so I thought there would have been two people on that team that were going home.” Turns out, neither team immunity, and Jany was sent home, along with Tashica on the other team.

General consensus was that Tashica's elimination was long overdue: “I was really disappointed with Tashica. She talked a lot,” Jany said. “I know she's a very nice girl. She has a lot of big ideas, but I think execution is her problem. Prior to elimination, we all felt the same, that Tashica talked a lot and didn't deliver.”

Jany was criticized by the judges for being “too textbook,” which is ironic because she was never formally trained. “Out of everyone on the cast, I've never actually read a textbook to learn about my design. I'm self-taught,” she said. The judges were probably looking for quirky, off-the-wall designs to wow audiences who might never actually have to live in those spaces. That just isn't Jany's style.

“I want to create rooms that people actually want to be in,” she said. “It's not crazy out-there. It'll appeal to a majority and when they do walk in the room, most will enjoy being there instead of being shocked by it.”

Jany talks more about her style and her work with clients in Dallas in our Q-and-A with Jany, which we conducted as this season of Design Star began.

Though Jany can't be crowned as the winner of Design Star, she can accrue online votes for Favorite Designer. Voting ends Sept. 15, 2009.