Bay St. Louis designer is first eliminated from 'Design Star'

To paraphrase a popular movie line, "There's no crying in design," but Bay St. Louis artist and interior decorator Yuki Northington couldn't help but shed a tear when she was the first competitor eliminated in the Season 7 debut of "Design Star," HGTV's talent show for interior designers.

Elimination is never easy when a national television audience is watching, but Northington left with her head held high when the judges informed her the home-and-garden cable channel would not be producing her show.

"I'm happy I had the experience and I'm happy to return to my family and wonderful life," she said.

As she left, she invited the remaining 11 contestants to visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast for Mardi Gras.

In the end, only one of 12 contestants will be rewarded with an HGTV show.

Northington, who owns and operates Social Chair in Bay St. Louis, said she was proud to be chosen to compete.

"The experience has made me a better designer," she said.

The first challenge for contestants was to design their new digs, a Hollywood mansion they would live in during the competition.

Northington was paired with a fellow artist Stanley Palmieri of Pittsburgh and the two were assigned the studio-design space in the mansion. Each contestant brought an item from home and Northington chose a multi-colored fleur-de-lis.

In the end, judge Genevieve Gorder liked Northington's choice of wide-paneled wood flooring, but she was not a fan of her Mardi Gras paint colors on the walls. Judge Vern Yip was equally critical.

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Bay St. Louis designer is first eliminated from 'Design Star'