Most of you know by now that I’m kind of schitzo when it comes to my work. I do TV shows, I design websites, I take pictures, I make beanies etc. People often ask me what I like to do the most, and interiors for reality TV are definitely my favorite projects to work on. I’ve noticed a pattern; the more outrageous the show the show, the funner the set. (When I was a kid “funner” was not a word. But now it is.)

Last summer I got to work on Love Games 3 with many of my favorite designer friends. It’s a rowdy dating show about 3 Bad Girls in a mansion and the 13 guys trying to win their affections. The season has already aired, but you can watch many of the episodes here.

For this show, the idea was to transform the house into an exotic beach retreat. It was a grand group effort and we managed to design and build tons of ambitious projects in a short amount of time. Big high five to Rick G., Katherine D., Katherine L.,  Laura, Jake + awesome builder guys, Chris, Niles, Aaron, and Heather. GO ART DEPARTMENT! May our unicorn flag fly high with pride!

pin it!pin it!Everything is more awesome when covered in sequins. Thanks Tony for building this beast, and Katherine and Heather for melting all the skin off your little fingers to make it sparkle. :)

pin it!All beach houses should be near water. No water in sight? Build a moat. BAM.

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I’m blogging from Taiwan!  I’m so grateful and amazed that technology allows me to do this. I just found out I can imessage people back at home if I’m on a wifi network. So awesome. It’s a ghost town around here because of Chinese New Year, so I’m huddled in the house wearing 6 layers catching up on emails and computer work. It’s only 58 degrees but for some reason I’m freezing. Last night I bought new fuzzy socks and wound up wearing a pair on my hands. My grandmother laughed at me. I’ll probably venture out with my cameras later today. I took tons of pics last time I was here in 2010.

Here are some pics from the Project Runway 9 finale, which aired a couple months ago. I’m finally getting around to posting pictures from shows that have already ended. Sorry! This was definitely my favorite finale set to date. Watermarked pics are from the Lifetime website. More to come!!

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Project Runway 9 marks my 5th season working on the show.  Every year it feels kind of like going to TV summer camp…I get to reunite with old pals and meet some new folks. It’s a lot of work, a little play, and each season creates an opportunity to give the same ol’ spaces a new and unique look.  The season has already aired and I hope some of y’all had a chance to tune in. Big high five to Katherine D., Scott, Luis, Andrea, Keith, and Katherine L. for yet another successful year for the Art Department.

pin it!Our beloved painters Vincent & Janel have been working on this show even longer than I have. They’re so awesome. If you live in the NYC area and need fast and friendly painters with mad skills, give Blue Swan Painters a jingle.

pin it!Andrea reenacting a classic Project Runway meltdown.

pin it!pin it!Katherine, reenacting what cockroaches look like when they get their hands on your oatmeal. Actually, I don’t think cockroaches have hands.

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Some people like to change their hair. Some people like to change their clothes. I have looked pretty much the same for 10 years, but my website is constantly in a style crisis. Since I’m an interior designer/graphic designer/photographer, I always get self conscious that my site is too designy or not designy enough. “Is the font too distracting? Are my portfolio photos big enough? I think I need color. No, wait. I hate color.”

Maintaining photo archives, updating websites, and writing blog posts is like a part time job. It’s a fantastic way to keep a journal of my life, but as with all things, I’m always thinking about how to make it better. As you can see I just re-designed JenChuDesign.com for the 4th time. Each iteration winds up being more minimal than the last, and I’m ok with that. I’ve embedded my blog into my portfolio site so now I only have 3 websites instead of 4! I updated my set design portfolio with a few new projects that I have not featured before. My old blog, jenchudesign.blogspot.com still exists, but I’m going to shut it down soon. I transferred everything to this blog, so the content is the same. Anyway, WELCOME!  Subscribe. Stay a while.

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pin it!Pics taken in Beacon, NY. Big huge thanks to Lowell for helping me get this beast up and running. I owe you a burrito, man.

Last year I blogged about my parents’ huge house renovation where they basically ripped the entire front of the house off and expanded forward. We built a dream kitchen for my mom, and while we were at it, we knocked down two tiny bathrooms and turned them into one big bathroom. I know it’s unusual to reduce the number of rooms in a house, but they don’t plan on moving and will probably expand again in a couple years and build out a new master suite.

My mom is super hip and wanted a more contemporary look for this bathroom. I looked up tons of companies that made simple, modern vanities and bathroom fixtures but few of them were affordable and none of them had a quick turnaround time. Since both bathrooms were demolished at the same time, my parents were eager to complete the renovation quickly so they would have a usable bathroom. (They were living in an RV parked in the side yard during the entire duration of the renovation.) We ended up going with an IKEA vanity and matching cabinets. Aside from the sink being a little too shallow, we’re pretty happy with it. Not sure why it took me so long to post the pics, but here they are!

pin it!I love natural light in bathrooms. In all rooms, actually.

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pin it!We had some drama with the grout. I initially had chosen a warm gray and as soon as we started putting it on, I had a gut feeling that it wasn’t the right color. I read on the label that it would dry lighter, so my mom and I proceeded with grouting the entire shower. We walked away then took another look a few hours later, and to our dismay, the grout was still a nasty mud color, which ruined the look of the whole room. We decided it would be worth it to re-grout so I went to Home Depot and bought all kinds of scrapers and pointy things and we spent 5 hours de-grouting the entire shower. Fortunately, the new lighter gray grout made all the difference.

pin it!The nice man who installed our shower glass for us. It’s a fascinating process to watch. He told me he used to specialize in tile work, but inhaling ceramic dust was taking a toll on his health, so he started a glass company instead.

pin it!The vanity is from from IKEA and is called Godmorgon (which means good morning in Sweedish!) The sconce is from Restoration Hardware (discontinued). The mosaic tile on the back splash is from Home Depot.