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Friday Five with Antonio Ballatore


[image source: HGTV]

Antonio Ballatore, the Season 4 champion of HGTV’s Design Star, is ready to bring his distinct and edgy design aesthetic to HGTV audiences. His resulting HGTV show, The Antonio Treatment, premieres on March 14, at 10PM.

Antonio, a New York native, believed he would be a rock star by age 40. While pursuing his dreams of music stardom, he spent time between gigs learning how to build houses. This experience led him to design restaurants and clubs in Manhattan and, later, design sets for world-famous photographers, including Annie Leibovitz and David LaChapelle.

Antonio resides in Los Angeles with his English bulldog, Chewie.

I have to admit that while watching Design Star, Antonio had me at the hot pink ducks. It was all over for me at that point — but what can I say? I like dudes with tattoos who can build stuff from wood. Anyway…

Check out Antonio’s current favorite online reads (besides Design Milk, of course!):


Yoshiko Kajitani at Home in Tokyo [Photo: The Selby]

1. The Selby
I really relate to this blog. Can’t wait for Todd to come take some flicks of my house!

2. Core77
A cool industrial design blog.

3. I Want Your Skull
My favorite skull blog!

4. Kenneth Cappello Blog/Cicciolina
One of my best friends and the one who introduced me to David LaChapelle and my set design carrier. His chihuahua’s name is Cicciolina, who stars in her very own blog.

5. 80’s Metal NWOBHM Old Metal Share
This blog reminds me of all the cool forgotten metal bands of my childhood.

[Disclaimer: we don’t endorse the downloading of music without permission, and this blog is for cited for inspiration and nostalgia only.]

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.