Stream It or Skip It: ‘Interior Design Masters’ on Netflix, Or ‘The Great British Decorating Show’

Interior Design Masters on Netflix joins the wealth of reality competition shows out there showcasing aspirants in different career paths. In this British series, would-be interior designers face off in a rolling series of real-world design scenarios in order to win a prized, life-changing design commission to design a historic hotel’s bar. Can this show stand out from the pack of similarly-formatted shows and grab your discerning eye?

INTERIOR DESIGN MASTERS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A lively introductory shot of the cast, representing a diverse collection of designers from all walks of life.

The Gist: If you’ve watched any reality competition show, you’ll be familiar with the format of Interior Design Masters. Each week, the competing cast — here, ten designers of varying skill sets, experience levels and personal backgrounds — faces off in a different challenge which will ultimately result in one being winnowed from the field. The success or failure of any show of this ilk is dependent on two major factors: the tone and standard set by the presenters and judges, and the charm and skill of the cast. Here, we’ve got quality on both counts. Longtime British television presenter Fearne Cotton emcees the endeavor with patience and charm, reserving judgement for the keen eye of former Elle Decoration editor-in-chief Michelle Ogundehin, who each week recruits a celebrity designer to help her judge the contestants’ efforts.

The cast itself is deep with both design talent and relatable charm. There are experienced designers — Kyle, a stylish male model type who looks perfectly cast for an interior design office, and Nicki, a graphic designer with a bold style who’s looking to break out after setting her career aside for motherhood — but there’s also rank amateurs like Verity, a retired army officer, Terian, a solicitor bored with her career, and Trish, a 54-year-old social worker who decided to pursue her passion after her father passed away and she decided “life’s too short”.

As the design challenges unfold, we see that experience level or purity of style isn’t a pure predictor of success for contestants — they’ve got to be able to adapt to the moment and the specifics of each design brief. In the first episode, the original ten is split into two teams of five, each tasked with staging a builder’s model home. Each individual designer is assigned a room to design on their own while maintaining a cohesive whole aesthetic as a team. This presents the first hint of drama, as some of the designers have immediate apprehension about their teammates’ ambitions and notions of what looks good.

Our Take: Interior design is an incredibly subjective practice. Function matters to a small degree, but when you’re creating an aesthetic experience from whole cloth, you’ve got to have a strong, clear vision and the wisdom and skill to execute it — and many of these designers truly do. In the same vein as the exemplary reality smash hit The Great British Baking Show, the producers of Interior Design Masters haven’t just gathered ten average people off the street — they’ve pulled in people with some real chops, and they’re letting them work without manufacturing unnecessary or artificial conflict. The stress of conceiving and executing a winning design in a short period of time is drama enough.

The initial challenge in the model homes gave a great blank canvas for the designers to run loose from the start, with varying degrees of success. The initial mild tension over the needs of a group project gave me some uncomfortable but very real flashbacks to my own experience in design school — the pit in one’s stomach when the person who’s going to be judging your work tells you you’re going to have to work together. It doesn’t compromise their visions, though — there’s several truly bold and beautiful designs that spring from this challenge. There’s also a few complete duds, and the always-present pain of seeing someone sent home no sooner than they’d arrived.

Sex and Skin: One of the designers does attempt to justify a black bedroom as reflecting her desire for a “sensual” space. (In other words, no, there’s none.)

Parting Shot: As with any competition show, we leave each week one body lighter than we entered it. Someone’s going home, and at least a couple people who had reason to believe they might breathe heavy sighs of relief at escaping the cut.

Sleeper Star: Frank, the cast’s youngest member at only 22 years old, shows early flashes of arrogance and overwhelming belief in his abilities — and quietly catty judgement of some of his teammates’ design decisions — but he manages to back it up with some of the show’s strongest early work.

Most Pilot-y Line: “It’s a statement, for sure…”, spoken through gritted teeth by a celebrity designer guest critic upon first seeing a contestant’s room he clearly regards on par with a Christmas present he didn’t want.

Our Call: STREAM IT. I watched three episodes back-to-back-to-back immediately after starting, and the design challenges are varied enough — and the cast likable enough — that following it through to the competition’s end seems necessary. Once you get invested in these designers, you’ll be binging away.

Your Call:

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and internet user who lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife, two young children, and a small, loud dog.

Stream Interior Design Masters on Netflix