Tonight’s the premier of the new season of Design Star on HGTV and I am not ashamed to admit that I’m probably just a little too excited. There are several reasons… not the least of which is the fact that this is one reality show that my hubby will sit down and watch with me (Food Network shows, Chopped and Bravo’s Top Chef also get his attention) but this season THREE of my favorite HGTV designers are acting as judges!!

I’ve always loved Vern Yip  – and tend to channel him when I’m redecorating a room by using unconventional materials in conventional ways. One of my other favorite Trading Spaces alums is Genevieve Gorder (how can you not love a designer in a pencil skirt and bare feet??), and she’s going to add her perfectly simple opinion to the mix. To top it off, my favorite North-of-the-Border amazon designer, Candice Olson is going to be on the panel! It’s like designer overload!!

Interestingly, the design sense of all three of these judges is modern. I think Genevieve is the most likely to appreciate something a little more “foofy”, but for the most part, the designs I see them create themselves are streamlined, clean, with subtle color choices and not a lot of  big crazy statements. Since a lot of designers I’ve seen on the show have a design style that is… shall we say… “unique”… it will be interesting to see how those designers are judged, and if the ones with styles similar to the judges’ do better in front of the panel.

But tonight is not the only night of great t.v. that I’ll be enjoying soon! Oh, NO!!

August 20th (thanks jeanhasbeenshopping!!) is the season premier of Project Runway, on Lifetime this year. Tim is back, Heidi is back, and one of the most interesting new designers in the mix is Etsy’s own Louise Black! (check out her audition and bio info here) Louise and 15 other hopefuls will be frantically sewing, scratching, clawing, back-biting, and generally… being fabulous. All this, in an effort to earn the right to be fabulous AND wealthy as the next “new thing” at New York’s Fashion Week.

Of course, the shows are all well and good for the designers, the networks, and the careers of the judges, but the real coolness is that they do it all on t.v. for people like me (and you!) who dream of fashion and design fame and fortune, but just haven’t quite got the portfolio that would qualify them for the shows. It’s not that we don’t have the SKILLS!!!

Better get a lot done today before Design Star comes on… so I’d better get off the computer…