Ellen's Design Challenge Season Two: See Miles Endo's Designs
Flip through the HGTV portfolio of modern furniture designer Miles Endo and HGTV carpenter Karl Champley.
Meet Miles Endo
Miles Endo was born in Tokyo and raised in Hawaii. As the son of two artists, he says he was drawn to creative pursuits at an early age. He describes his design style as modern with a Japanese influence and enjoys working with different types of woods and metals, such as steel, bronze, brass and cast iron. Miles specializes in custom furniture, culinary serving boards and Taiko drums, a Japanese percussion instrument.
Miles + Karl
Designer Miles Endo is partnered up with Ellen's Design Challenge alum Karl Champley.
Challenge 7: Multi-Purpose Furniture
The final three designers get ready to tackle their latest challenge: Create a multi-functional furniture piece.
Challenge 7: A Toast to the Final Three
The final three sets of designers and carpenters make a toast.
Challenge 7: The Building Process
Fighting for a spot in the finale, Miles dreamed up a multi-functional kitchen island and table. Here, Miles and carpenter Karl secure the custom-made stools below the island.
Challenge 7: The Finished Design
Designer Miles Endo's design, a steel frame and wood sided multi-functional kitchen table-island-cart with pull out stools is presented on judging day, as seen on Ellen's Design Challenge.
Challenge 7: Mobile Design Detail
Large , white wheels make this kitchen island moible.
Challenge 7: Goodbye, Miles!
This week, judges Cliff Fong and Christiane Lemieux felt Miles was outmatched by designers Sef and Vivian, so he was sent home. Goodbye, Miles! Keep reading to see his past designs.
Challenge 6: A Sofa for 'The Ellen Show'
The remaining four designers pose on the original set of the TV series Friends while visiting The Ellen Show's set on the Warner Brothers lot. Ellen's latest challenge involves her flagship show: Each designer will create a sofa to replace the tired, uninspired one in her show's green room.
Challenge 6: The Sofa, Before
The show's green room sofa, before the designers tackled its replacement.
Challenge 6: The Design
Miles created this comfortable, stylish design to replace the green room's sofa.
Challenge 6: The Finished Sofa
Miles and Karl created this modern sofa set, which features graphic metal details and plush burnt orange upholstery.
Challenge 6: Magazine Rack Detail
The angular design detail on the edge of each sofa doubles as a magazine rack.
Challenge 5: Ellen-Inspired Design
This week, it's personal, as Ellen gives each designers a copy of her new design book with a personal note instructing them to build a specific piece of furniture for her. Miles is charged with making a desk that suits Ellen's modern sensibility.
Challenge 5: From Sketch to Reality
Miles and carpenter Karl brainstorm his concept: a modern version of a secretary-style desk.
Challenge 5: The Finished Design
The desk created for Ellen by designer Miles Endo, with a folding top and sides, inner compartments and a writing board, takes the stage.
Challenge 5: A Look Inside
The top of the desk doubles as a whiteboard for Ellen's next big idea.
Challenge 5: Leg Detail
The angular legs combine walnut and acrylic.
Challenge 4: International Inspiration
Ellen's challenge to the designers? Create a piece inspired by one of her favorite travel destinations. Miles was assigned Japan, a country whose design is all about functional minimalism.
Challenge 4: The Finished Design
Miles and Karl answered the challenge by creating this folding room divider with bold red accents.
Challenge 4: Screen Detail
Translucent acrylic panels are a modern stand-in for the rice paper that traditionally appears in a shoji screen.
Challenge 4: Screen Detail
Opaque sliding doors in a glossy red add additional storage (and functionality) to this room divider.
Challenge 4: Screen Detail
This piece easily folds in half, creating an even more versatile and adaptable design. The judges agreed — Miles was the week four challenge winner!
Challenge 3: China-Inspired Design
For the show's third challenge, the designers were asked to create a dining table inspired by bone china patterns. After choosing a geometric-patterned plate, Miles designed a hexagonal wooden table with gold trim.
Challenge 3: A Surprise Inside
Karl and Miles install the table's pièce de résistance: a hexagonal mechanical chamber in the center of the table.
Challenge 3: The Finishing Touches
Miles uses a router on the edges of the dining table to make a niche for metal trim.
Challenge 3: The Finished Design
A round table sits atop a hexagonal base, trimmed with metallic accents.
Challenge 3: The Inspiration
The place settings that inspired the design sit atop the finished table.
Challenge 3: Metallic Trim
The edges of the table's black walnut panels are accented by metallic trim.
Challenge 3: The Wow Factor
Under the black acrylic hexagon is a surprise: a secret storage compartment with an electric motor.
Challenge 3: The Winning Design
Designer Miles Endo reacts alongside his fellow designers after judges Christiane Lemieux and Cliff Fong declared his dining table the challenge winner on judging day.
Challenge 2: Backyard Furniture
Miles offers a thumbs up for his outdoor challenge design: a modern bar stool inspired by an origami-folded palm leaf.
Challenge 2: The Metal Shell
Carpenter Karl watches the CNC laser cut the metal sheets for Miles' modern bar stools.
Challenge 2: The Finished Barstools
Each modern bar stool is constructed from one continuous piece of stainless steel. The seat and foot rest are made of durable zebrawood.
Challenge 2: Barstool Detail
A close-up of the zebrawood seat.
Challenge 2: The Judges' Take
"One of my favorite things in design is when you see something very beautiful that’s also very simple," Cliff said of this bar stool. Here, all three judges look at the design up close.
Challenge 1: Miles' Bed Design
A shot of Miles' drawn-out design plan for the first bed challenge.
Challenge 1: Metal Work
Miles poses with a fabricated metal piece that will serve as a support and accent piece on his modern bed frame.
Challenge 1: The Finished Bed
Miles and Karl created this low-slung modern wood bed, complete with an upholstered headboard, for the first challenge.
Challenge 1: Bed Detail
A hidden shelf under the bed pulls out to hold books, cell phones and other by-the-bed essentials.
Challenge 1: Bed Detail
Custom-made metal pieces accent the finished bed, giving it a modern-industrial look.
