Adriana Nussbaumer

Name: Adriana Nussbaumer

Show Canceled: Challenge 3

Age: 37

Home: Orange County, California

Profession: Interior Designer/Business Owner

Education: Attended various classes at Mission Viejo College, California; self-taught designer

Why I should win: I want to use this lifetime opportunity to share all of my amazing creative ideas and to inspire HGTV viewers with my very handy abilities.

A designer's best friend: A color swatch, because paint is affordable and can bring so much immediate impact to any room.

My design style boils down to: Creative and fearless. I have a "why not" approach to new design concepts. My design style has a lot of presence; you'll always recognize one of my rooms.

Three favorite design styles:
1. Casual elegance
2. Eclectic
3. Artistic/rustic

A design do: Step back from your project or room to get a full perspective on how it is coming along.

A design don't: Don't get discouraged if your new ideas don't work the first time; some of my most awesome creations came from mistakes.

Favorite designer: Candice Olson.

If I weren't a designer, I'd be: A painter.

Do you work well with a budget? Absolutely. I've done rooms with big and small budgets. I feel that the smaller the budget, the more creative I need to be.

Favorite room to design: Family rooms because they seem to be the most challenging.

Unusual skills: My sketching abilities — I wow my clients time and again because I can literally sketch in seconds.

Family: My husband, Bernie, and my son, Stephan.

Childhood dream: To be an architect.

My dream vacation: I'd love to visit Egypt.

If my life were a sitcom, it would be: About a 16-year-old girl who came to this country, and all of the funny, ridiculous, unexpected, unimaginable and awkward situations that I've been through.