EK: As you could guess it was always changing. As I got a little older my parents were pretty good about letting me do my own thing. For the longest time I had all black metal furniture with black, white and red. Very industrial and 80’s I might add. I also loved to create secret hiding places in my furniture; I collect $2 bills and always wanted to hide them.
BTD: You call your house your “greatest design achievement”. Tell us some of your favorite things about your home.
EK: I call it my biggest design achievement only because it was the first place David and I purchased together. As you can guess he is my biggest supporter A large part of my success is due to his support. He is a wonderful pusher for me. As far as the space I love the floor to ceiling windows, glass wall between the study and living room and most of all my built in coffee system. Just push a button and a fresh cup of Jo every time.
BTD: Can you bring yourself to call the Marshall Field’s store Macy’s?
EK: It will always be Marshall Fields. How could they? Now I need a cry break……Thanks for bringing that up again!
BTD: You had a great design and deserved the win in the child’s room challenge. Have you done a lot of children’s rooms before?
EK: Thank you. I worked like an animal on that room. And yes it was over the top. And yes my children will have the same type of rooms. I do a fair amount of children’s rooms. I would like to do more. I have pirate rooms on discount now. Wink!
BTD: You seemed to get along well with all of the other designers. Who would you most like to collaborate on a future design with?EK: Let me just say this, I think that this is the first design show in a long time where all of the contestants really deserved to be there based on talent. I truly feel like I learned a lot from everyone. As far as working in the future, David and I just purchased a new home and I would love to have input from Andrea and Matt. One of the first days we were together Andrea painted my toes, It was love at first brush stroke. Matt is an all around good guy. Not to mention his wife is a hottie!
BTD: Is Carisa really as bad as she is being made out to be?
EK: Carisa is Carisa! First of all she is a very talented young lady. I think after she gets out there and starts working more one on one with clients she will change. She put out there what she wanted the world to see. We all watched reality TV before we were on the show we knew what we were in for. Some of us just played it up more than others.
BTD: Let’s talk a little about the last challenge. What look were you shooting for with this party room design?EK: We wanted to create a space that was different. After looking at the materials that Bacardi wanted us to use we made a conscious decision to do something different. We knew we could create the basic club feel that the other team did. You can walk into any major city in the world and find the basic lounge that they created. Had our timing worked out we would have won that challenge. My dear friend Goil is a perfectionist for that I would love for him to build me a house. Party décor is not always that perfect it just needs to look good.
BTD: Do you regret taking responsibility for the overall design?
EK: No. I still stand by what we did. We worked very hard to come up with something different. I have no regrets I only wish we had our timing worked out.
BTD: Did you have any sense of Goil’s growing frustration during this challenge?
EK: Like I mentioned before Goil is a perfectionist. If he could control all of the elements on his time he is a very happy guy. For this party we didn’t have that luxury. He really gets into the details of every object he creates.
BTD: Did you agree with the judge’s assessments of your work over the course of the show?
EK: For the most part I think they were pretty fair. After all it is TV. I am however a little disappointed with Jonathan Alder. He always talks about “happy design” I didn’t see that reflected in the way he carried himself on the show. I would love to take him to dinner and beat him up a little for that. Overall I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to have such successful industry professionals give little old me feedback.
BTD: Are you going to take Tim Gunn up on his offer to help judge at the Chicago Project Runway auditions?
EK: Hell yes! I think that man is a hoot! I had the best time with him during the taping. He is genuine. I think that is an awesome characteristic for someone to posses. I hope he calls me.
BTD: What are your dreams for the future?
EK: I’m pretty close to living my dream. I don’t have a lot to complain about. I’m growing a successful business, good health and someone wonderful to share it with. Some day I would love to have my own design show. I loved my little taste of TV life. After that my next step is children. I would like a little mind of my own to corrupt.
BTD: I want a fabulous space designed by Erik with a “K”. How would I find you?
EK: I would love to do that for you. On the Web find me at www.contrastdesigngroup.com; we have worked from coast to coast. I love to travel.
Thank you Erik!
Click here to comment.
