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Written by Gregg Shapiro, Staff writer
Sep 26, 2011
Admit it, you were rooting for the gay people during the 2011 season of “Design Star.” After all, you had four (three gay men and one lesbian) from which to choose. Although Meg Caswell, from the Chicago area, ultimately won, Karl Sponholtz, a gay man who is also from the Chicago area, made it to the final round. I spoke with Karl in September 2011 about his “Design Star” experience.
Gregg Shapiro: Now that the finale has aired, what are you feeling? Relief? Disappointment? Resentment?
Karl Sponholtz: (Laughs) I feel relief. Any nerves that I had left were more tactical than practical.
You came across as having a great personality, as opposed to (fellow competitor) Cathy, who didn’t.
I came there to do different things and to have a great time and take my shot. My job is to do design. My job is to be the best on camera that I can be. Their job is to pick a winner. I did way better than I thought I would (laughs).
How far did you think you’d get?
I was horrified that I’d be the first one sent home (laughs). If you can imagine being in a competition, you would say, “Gosh, that’s the only I don’t want to happen, being the first one sent home.” Anything after that was icing on the cake.
What was your favorite challenge and why?
One of the last two, for sure. I think (in) both of those challenges, I was allowed enough help from a carpenter and other designers to help me get a lot of things accomplished.
The final challenge was the house in Harlem and the one before that was the little house.
In the little house I had Mark Bartolomeo who was any viewer’s dream carpenter and definitely mine. I think that I solved a lot of really cool, interesting problems in both of those spaces. They were my favorites.
What that also says is that you work and play well with others.
Right. And I think by the end I had really gotten used to the competition, the game, so to speak, of how to shop. I knew my camera people. You really get better as you go along. I hit that van, I’m on the phone – “Do you have a table? How big is it? How much is it going to cost? Can I pull it off the floor today?” You get used to playing.
What was your least favorite challenge and why?
That fucking wedding (laughs)! I couldn’t stand that.
But wasn’t your part one of the better parts?
Well, half of it was. That’s the problem. I think I spread myself too thin. I was with the boys shopping. I did the lounge, the bar and the flowers in the bar, which were praised. But the flowers in the groom’s lounge were not praised. So I kind of went half and half, but everything happens for a reason.
Was there anything that you created that you were surprised that the judges liked better than you did?
I thought the bookcase idea was kind of funny.
With the books as shelves.
Yes, the literal bookcase. I had come across that as a solution to the problem of not having enough time to build shelves (laughs). That was kind of by accident.
Would that bookcase or anything else that you created be something that you might incorporate in your own home?
No, not yet. But there are a couple of things that I want to redo and take a little more time and care to build them.
This season’s “Design Star” began with three designers from Chicago and the final competition came down to two from Chicago – you and Meg Caswell. Did that have special meaning to you?
Meg, Kevin (Grace) and I – instantly best friends. Really tight because we’re all from Chicago and we all have something in common, and that’s a big voice. We’re loud people and we had a lot of fun. We were the last ones to go to bed, the last ones with a beer in our hands at the end of the day, drinking and talking. We’re Chicago, through and through. We were thick as thieves, the three of us. And we still are. We still talk and text all the time. My best to Meg.
What’s next for you and your inspired designs?
If you know anything about me, I like to do things the hard way (laughs). I can’t just win a show and win my own show. It looks like I’m going to be hustling around for a little bit, trying to get my own designs off the ground. It looks like I’ll be doing a spot on “Windy City Live” again. They’ve contacted me to do a design segment. We’ll see how that goes and maybe I’ll get another one. I’m crossing my fingers for that.
For more on Karl’s work, visit karlsponholtzdesign.com.
