Hilari Younger-Powell

Are you watching the new season of HGTV Design Star? I had the first two episodes sitting on my DVR and decided to watch. I was thrilled to find out that contestant Hilari Younger-Powell is from…wait for it…wait for it…DALLAS. And it seems that she and I have more in common than just décor. Her bio reads that she is a wife, mother, and interior designer. Below is a Q&A that was done with Dallas News.

Good Luck Hilari.

Hilari Younger-Powell, a Dallas-based interior stylist, was sworn to secrecy when she was selected to compete this season on HGTV's Design Star. Only her husband was allowed to know.

So when she disappeared for several weeks without explanation, friends and family leaped to the wrong conclusions.

"It was insane," Younger-Powell says. "I have actually been accused of having gone into rehab!"

It was a huge weight off her shoulders when HGTV finally announced the names of those competing on the show.

Turns out that Younger-Powell, 31, married for eight years with a 5-year-old daughter, was in Los Angeles all along. She was living under the same roof with 11 other designers, taking on a variety of crazy room-design challenges and hoping to wow judges Genevieve Gorder and Vern Yip.

The winner gets the ultimate prize: his or her own show on HGTV.

"Now that the gag order has been lifted, everyone can relax," the self-proclaimed "lifestyle maven" says. "Now I tell everybody just tune in and check me out. I won't disappoint."

The season premiere is at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though Younger-Powell still isn't revealing any spoilers, she sat down last week to discuss the show.

How would you characterize your design philosophy?

My personal design style and my professional design philosophy differ. My personal style is big, bold and gold. To a lot of people, "gaudy" is a bad word. But for me, I embrace it. Because it's like magic. It's like, here's a room where everything is linear and symmetrical and homogenous. What it needs is this big bright something that brings it all to life. That's me.

But I don't force my tastes on my clients. I want them to walk into their space and see a reflection of themselves. Like, I wouldn't take off my leopard-print jacket and ask you to wear it. You would be like, "Hey, thanks, but this just isn't me." A lot of designers don't seem to understand that concept.

How did you get on the show?

My Realtor suggested it. We were out in the Texas heat in June last year shopping for houses and she said, "You should audition for Design Star." I wasn't familiar with the show, but I watched a few episodes and I thought, "Well, why not? I have a big personality."

So I drove down to Austin to audition in October and I guess they liked me. Then it was a whirlwind experience. One day I'm in Austin and the next thing I know I'm in L.A. doing the show. I'm still a little in shock about it, that it really happened.

If you wind up with your own show, what might the focus be?

My show would be tailored to new moms. They have it rough. I know what it's like to be a young wife and a young mother. I was one, and my life changed so drastically. When you have kids, nine months just isn't long enough to prepare for all the ways your life is going to change.

So my show would be about going in during that postpartum period and saying, "Hey, have you learned how to live with the baby? How are you going to incorporate your child into your space and still have an adult, grown-up space, a beautiful place for you to entertain, a place you're not embarrassed to bring people into? How can we get you back into the speed of things?" That's what my show would be.

By David Martindale-Special to DFW.com

Are you watching the new season? Do you have a favorite? Where are the bloggers?

High Fives & Hugs,

Tam