Wickedly Perfect, Episode 6: Trading Staples

Previously on Wickedly Perfect: The teams ran a Bed & Breakfast and the judges made their lives difficult. Darlene joined the Crafty Beavers and helped them out with food. Battles between Margo and Kimberly made things even harder for Team Artisan. Margo had problems with eggs, which led to her demise, “much to Kimberly’s wickedly delight.” (Hey, Joan Lunden said it, not me.)

It’s Day 16, and Team Artisan is lounging around the Domestic Domicile. Denise thinks that her team’s attention to detail will help them. Downstairs, Mitch plays piano and makes up a honky-tonk song about Darlene: “Darlene, Darlene / Why do you do the things you do?” Darlene picks it up: “Mitch, dear Mitch / Why do you do the things you do?” She has a nice voice. “You make the flowers right / You keep us up all night.” She and Mitch laugh. Both of them have really grown on me.

Joan meets with the teams and tells them that this week, their workshop skills will be tested. Above the carriage house, which has been used as a workshop, are two apartments, divided by a curtain, that badly need renovation. On one side, Artisan will design a bedroom, a fitness center, and a dining area. On the other side, the Beavers will design a bedroom, a media center, and a home office. Ooh, it’s like Trading Spaces! Except no hot Carter Oosterhouse. Each team must make at least one piece of original art and build a bed, including a custom headboard made from scratch. All of the materials will be provided, and for the first time in the competition, both teams will use the same workspace at the same time.

Each team gets $15,000 to spend at Sears, but they only get an hour to shop. They have 48 hours to complete the whole challenge. They’ll be judged on craftsmanship, ingenuity, and creativity. This week’s individual projects are gift-wrapped packages. The packages are identical, but the perfectionists can’t use wrapping paper.

The teams rush off to look at their rooms. The Beavers want to get a plasma TV and DVD player. Mitch says that they’ll have to pay attention to a lot of details to make everything work. Darlene says that she’s still a newcomer, so everyone else has their relationships and she has to try to fit in.

Artisan measures their room. Denise says that Dawn and Kimberly are used to building houses, so they know what they’re doing. The three of them head to Sears as Dawn says that their room is going to be hard to deal with. They run around Sears, happy to have as much money as they do.

Mitch says that he loves Darlene, but she can get a little hyper, which wears him out. She’s perfect for a one-hour shopping trip, though. Amy says that their colors are going to be different this time, since the judges always say that their products look the same. Kimberly is glad that Dawn has so much energy, because she thought she herself would be the one with the obnoxious amounts of energy. Dawn and Kimberly quickly pick out exercise equipment.

Heather and Amy shop for a computer, trying to figure out how much they’ve spent. Denise shops for the dining room. She, Dawn, and Kimberly call out to each other as they spot each other, making sure they have everything. The Beavers pay for their stuff, spending $14,731. Artisan spends $14,116 and is impressed by what they got for that amount.

Back at the Domestic Domicile, the teams unload and take everything up to the carriage house. Artisan starts taping off their room before they paint. Denise explains that they have to tape and paint now, since they want to do a decorative finish. Dawn says that her perfectionism is going to be a problem with the tape.

Darlene explains that she’s going to do a special technique with tissue paper and glue, then glaze over it. Denise is happy about Dawn and Kimberly’s energy and skills. Mitch is worried that they won’t get everything done. He builds a desk and asks Amy about the legs. At 9:30 p.m., with 38.5 hours left, Kimberly realizes that the doors look nice under the paint already on them. She decides to scrape the paint off, even though it’s going to take a long time. Darlene isn’t thrilled.

At 11 p.m., Heather and Darlene chat while painting. Darlene says that her team members can do everything she can, but she can’t make furniture, so she’s “the weakest link.” But she wants to stay under the radar and create a great personal project in order to stay in the game. She says that this is her strategy.

It’s 8 a.m., and the teams have 28 hours left. Denise says that they went to bed around 2:30 and now have to finish painting and do their original piece or art. Mitch says that the Beavers slept in and will probably pull an all-nighter that night to finish everything. He paints stripes on the walls and they look pretty good. Artisan is disagreeing about their doors – Kimberly wants to make them perfect, but Denise just wants to paint them already, since they don’t have time to make them perfect. Dawn paints the doors, saying that they had to do what they could in the time given to them.

Amy sets up her team’s art project – she’s created a still life, and each team member will paint his or her own version. Kimberly works on the headboard; she covers it in batting and silk and says that she’s going to sew buttons on it. She says it’s a little over-the-top, but I think it looks nice.