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Local DIYer wins decorating reality show

BY CAROL POLSKY | carol.polsky@newsday.com

September 20, 2007

Whatever you think of reality television programs, it's a fact that winning one will change your life.

So it must be quite cool for a girl whose childhood ambition was to be "a star - there it is, bald and true" to actually win a reality show called "Design Star." The prize? Hosting a new show on HGTV, not to mention getting recognized by strangers and fussed over by excited neighbors.

"I'm having a very good time with it," smiles Kim Myles, the curly haired, 5-foot-tall, 34-year-old hairdresser from Queens, who, it was revealed Sunday in a shower of confetti, was the last designer standing in the second season finale of HGTV's "Design Star." "It's a Cinderella story for a regular girl."

Viewers of the show voted the Astoria resident their favorite over California dude Todd Davis, 35, a turbo-charged landscape architect and artist, after they squared off in the final challenge of redesigning a Hawaiian hotel suite. While he favored edgy, high-impact designs, her style was modern "with warm colors and global influences."

The initial cast of 11 aspirants was winnowed singly and in pairs over eight episodes, while enduring challenges (design a room in Wayne Newton's Las Vegas guest house), grueling schedules (decorate a space in 12 hours with stuff from a 99-cent store), eliminations by the three-judge panel (architect Yip Vern, designer Cynthia Rowley and In Style executive editor Martha McCulley), and the usual toxic insults found on Internet message boards ("People tell you when you go on television that if you want to feel bad about yourself, check out the message boards," she says. "That's like a Pandora's Box - don't open it. But, of course, I did.").

Myles has no reason to feel bad now. The name and focus of her new show, which goes into production in a few weeks and is set to air in March, have yet to be announced. She hopes to bring to bear her strengths as a self-taught designer. "The reason I applied [to compete on the show] in the first place is I'm a Renaissance woman: I paint, I sew, I craft, I'm DIY-ready, so I really felt I was custom-built for this.

"Personally, I've spent many, many years dreaming about a show," she adds. "When I found HGTV, it was like I found my tribe."

In an interview Monday in the lobby of a Manhattan hotel on a day of interviews and meetings, she seemed poised and relaxed, just as she had before the camera despite having had no previous on-air experience. She does have an associate's degree in theater and came to New York City from her hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., almost 12 years ago to become an actor.

Myles said she quickly discovered acting wasn't her strong suit, but that she "was brilliant at being myself."

She was heartened that her friends say her personality came across on the show, when she maintained a warm, gracious demeanor despite trying times and a nasty spat with a competitor on a joint project. "It's a testament to the fact that I'm kind of gregarious and easy to laugh and kind of goofy."

To her the most memorable challenge of the competition was the final one, for which her sophisticated redesign of the hotel suite, with her signature bold use of color, was a fan favorite. "It was the moment, and it didn't come a moment too soon, where all the lightbulbs came on," and she finally understood what the camera sees and how to design for it. "That's huge," she says. "A flattened, static image changes what you see. The switch I made was understanding scale and floor plan. ... The key is it can't be chaotic visually. Simple is always best, but bold in scale and always carry some texture. It gives the eye a place to play."

The soon-to-be former hairdresser will be returning to her job at InSitu in Manhattan, where she's worked for eight years, but only to help switch her clients to her colleagues. She and Scott, her supportive husband and co-founder of their 5 Boroughs Ice Cream business, live in a fourth-floor walk-up flat in Astoria. They don't plan to move to a bigger place quite yet. "We're not the type to count chickens before they hatch," she says. But she concedes that she's read her new contract and "I'm happy."

KIM MYLES' FAVORITE THINGS

Favorite store on Long Island: Century 21 in Westbury - "I think it's the best, and I buy a lot of my clothes there."

Favorite spot on Long Island: Cherry Grove on Fire Island

Favorite color combination: For now, canary yellow and cerulean blue

Favorite interior design: For now, the lobby of the Gramercy Hotel in Manhattan

Favorite store: ABC Carpet and Home - "It's lush and beautiful, everything glitters."

Favorite movie: "The Sound of Music"

Favorite food: Indian cuisine

Favorite TV show: "The Flight of the Conchords" on HBO

Favorite building: The Chrysler Building

Favorite book: "To Kill a Mockingbird"

To see some of Myles' "Design Star" designs and those of the other contestants, check out hgtv.com/designstar, where you can also get instructions on how to enter yourself into the running for next season's competition. See also Myles' blog at kimmyles.blogspot.com, and her Web site kimmyles.com. HGTV will repeat the finale Friday at 9 p.m.