It’s finally started ! The first episode of The Apartment – Style Edition ! We were very lucky to be able to be back in KL in time to attend the premiere of the show at GSC Signature Cinemas at The Gardens. It felt great to meet up with the production crew, the judges and the other contestants again ! It made us all nostalgic of the amazing experience we all shared together during the shoot of the show… And we celebrated the reunion properly with a lot of partying until late into the night !
Now about Episode 1. It looks great. It’s funny. It doesn’t take itself seriously. We’re proud to be part of it.
Arriving at East Residences
Upon arrival, we quickly had to choose a team name for the show. This was a very easy task for us : DALI ! Dali is the name of my boat. We both love the artist, and we feel that taking part to a reality TV Show is a surreal experience. Dali, the king of the surrealists, would probably approve…
Picking up our Dali Key!
The first challenge, the master bedroom, was a tough one. We had to find our marks. Get used to the crazy rhythm imposed on us by the absurd 15 hour time frame. Go shopping. Run. More shopping. More running. What a nerve-racking task to have to choose furniture and accessories in such little time. As mentioned in the show, I hate shopping. To me, malls are hostile territory. Thank God I have Iva on my side, because she actually loves it. Being used to working together on the boat made things easy. We really trust each others’ opinion and we can sense whose instinct we should follow when we’re hesitating.
Shopping!
Back at the East Residences, it’s time to get our hands dirty. It feels very intimidating to face such a large empty space and to have to bring it to life. We love the outdoors, and very quickly came up with the idea to put the bed in the middle of the room, facing the beautiful greenery outside the window. In that way we can also create a cozy environment with the wooden bench on the balcony facing the bed. It really makes me want to get up in the morning, have a cup of coffee on the balcony while watching Iva waking up, facing me, on our giant white bed…
and the work begins…
Putting the blinds and the curtains up was very time consuming, a lot of measuring and a lot of drilling up on the ladder. Bringing all the furniture up four stories, setting it all up was madness. And then once you’ve accessorized, and there’s only a few minutes left, you still have to clean ! All the paint, the dust, the wrappers, seemed like an impossible task ! And all of it with the cameras following your every move, the microphones, picking up everything you say, it adds up to the stress of the time factor, the lack of sleep we’re suffering from…I’m really starting to wonder if I will physically and psychologically be able to make it through 10 weeks in these conditions !
And then the judging… What’s scary is that at that point we have no idea what level of design the judges are excepting, and even more troubling, we don’t know how good are fellow contestants are…we’re all supposed to be amateurs but surely some of us are better than others…
Our finished room!
Our “island” bed
Powder Room
So as Laurence walks in for his first walkthrough I can genuinely say that I’m very stressed. We’re proud of the space we created but he doesn’t seem to be very impressed. Jamie and Yui Lin, on the other hand, really seem to like our bedroom. I straightaway felt a connection with Jamie. I knew we had the same taste, obsession with wood and plants. But Laurence feels miles away from our style…and he’s the head judge…
The elimination room is dark, scary place. Especially the first time you walk in. you could sense the tension in the air. It’s only a TV show, but every team has put so many efforts into their design and the rules of the game have pushed us to our limits, the level of stress is therefore very high.
Tense Moments in Design Court
But we won the challenge! We feel it’s not a real win, since Bros United had it until Laurence disqualified them. While we are happy with the extra $5,000 in our budget, we hope next time we will win by a landslide and not by default!
Phil
Click here to continue to Episode 2 : Kitchen & Dining Room