Jen Guerin

Age: 33

Education: Bachelor of Arts in painting/printmaking from San Diego State University and International Association of Color Consultation graduate

Current Job: Color designer

Why I should win HGTV Design Star:
Besides oozing creative juices on a daily basis, my design look is very different from others and that gives me an edge over the average designer. I see rooms as a piece of art, not only a representation of the people who live/work there. Rooms should have an element of fun and whimsy and that's how I design. Design doesn't have to be boring and there is nothing boring about my designs or me. Plus, I'll make everyone laugh to distract them from getting the gold.

Describe your design style in four words.
'60s modern, nostalgic and baroque

Who is your design icon?
Vivienne Westwood and Jonathan Adler

What is your dream design project?
A boutique hotel

Where do you get your inspiration?
Art

When designing, what can't you live without?
Paint fan decks.

What are your most creative hours of the day?
Morning and early evening

What do you think is the worst design trend?
Lace curtains. I mean really, what do they do?

What's one thing about you that would surprise people?
I worked in an iron mine.

What's your guilty pleasure?
Cheese

What's your most unusual talent?
I can burp really loud and place my fist in my mouth. I swear I was not born in a barn.

What word/phrase do you say way too often?
What doin?

When I was a kid, I thought I would be:
An archeologist

Who's your hero?
Marcy Woodward, my friend's mom. She worked in the fashion industry in the '60s in New York, speaks fluent French, worked for the government translating French, worked as travel guide around the world and raised two boys all at the same time and still continues to travel everywhere all by herself.

What's your fashion style?
'40s to '60s with jeans and a little artistic. There is always a drop of paint somewhere on my clothes. It's like playing Where's Waldo?

Favorites
Color: Turquoise. Without a doubt.
Scent: Gardenia, fresh-cut grass
Music: Everything, but mostly Indie
Song: "I'm Just a Gigolo" by Louis Prima or "Love Letters to Japan" by Bird and the Bees
Food: Thai, Sushi and Ethiopian
Magazine: Domino (very sad March was its last month)
Movie: Dumb and Dumber, Amelie or You've Got Mail
Room in your house: My bedroom. It's all me and no one else.
Room to design: Bedroom
Thing in your home: My vintage lime-green amps, my Sexton lamp/wood goose gun above my bed and test tubes that hold my make-up tools.
Hobbies: Making art, tennis, surfing, skateboarding, writing, traveling, seeing live music and making lists
Vacation destination: Anywhere! I love to travel. The worst part is going home.
HGTV show: Sorry, I cut off my cable a year ago so I would be more creative