Frank Fontana. PR photo_____________
For those who regularly watch HGTV, rejoice! The channel's Design on a Dime ( a show in which a design team redoes a room on a budget of just $1,000 ) has relocated to Chicago from Los Angeles—along with its hunky host, Frank Fontana, the winner of the 2004 reality-TV show The Great Domestic Showdown. The affable and honest Fontana —dubbed 'The Straight Guy with the Queer Eye' by one publication—recently chatted with Windy City Times about the show, Chicago and his gay influences.
Windy City Times: Did you have any apprehension about moving to Chicago? You've lived in New York, L.A. and Miami.
Frank Fontana: In one word, Chicago weather is brutal; otherwise, it's a great city. My only apprehension involved leaving what I had built for seven years in Los Angeles; I had a good business working with celebrities, and I had made some friends. But the opportunity was so great that I put my doubts aside; my policy is just to roll the dice and go for it—and I won with this.
WCT: Describe Design on a Dime.
FF: On Design on a Dime, we go in and transform one room in somebody's house for $1,000. I come in and conceive a plan based on their wants; then, I get together with my design coordinates and we divvy up the [ tasks ] and money.
We're forced to be thrifty and creative. Nowadays, $1,000 doesn't get you a sofa, and what's crazy is that the show has been around for four years—and even though the economy goes up, we stay at $1,000.
Also, we literally do the work. There's no magic elf that comes in; we sometimes stay until midnight if necessary. There are four acts to the show: meeting the homeowner, meeting the team, doing the project and installating.
WCT: And you get the residents' input?
FF: Yes—as opposed to other shows that do their own thing. Of course, there is room for interpretation; I'll put my own spin on things. I've never had a homeowner dislike what we've done. What keep me going are the smiles I see on the homeowners' faces.
WCT: What's the toughest job you've had?
FF: It probably was the first one; it was all about footing [ dealing with only $1,000 and having only a week ] . Then, there are the times that I bite off more than I can chew—which is essentially all the time. [ Smiles ] I want greatness; for $1,000 I want you to feel like you're getting a $20,000 makeover.
The best and dumbest move I have done is building a Murphy bed. Just the mechanics is about $1,000—but what I actually did was take industrial swivels, mounted them on each side and used locking hinges. I did that for under $300.
WCT: You seem to specialize in a lot of things.
FF: I have a creative ADD. I could always draw, so my artistic side flourished in school, not paying attention and drawing. My dad was into crafts, and my uncle was a carpenter. I learned to cook from my mother and grandmother; I love to cook.
WCT: Here's a hypothetical: A person lives in a small studio. What are a couple of tips that help that person...
FF: Have more than one function in that space? That's actually a pretty relevant topic, because many people are downsizing now. People would rather spend money on a trip to Europe.
What I've discovered that works is smaller-scale furniture that's multifunctional. For instance, if you have a small sofa but you need an additional four seats, there are now coffee tables with four ottomans under the table that you can pull out. You can also get a bar that [ doubles ] as a console.
WCT: You also suggest that you bring the beach into your home.
FF: Isn't that everyone's fantasy—to escape to an island somewhere? Your design should be an escape. You can [ even ] create a home that resembles a movie set or your favorite hotel—you can re-create those things with a couple things.
WCT: What is your place decorated like?
FF: The design is what I call 'world-eclectic.' I study Buddhism and I'm really into philosophy, so I have a giant Buddha statue. I collect African masks, and there's a lot of heavy fabric and faux finishing. My furniture is dark-chocolate leathers, with things like zebra chairs.
By the way, here's a great tip. A lot of [ furniture ] places have scratch-and-dent sales; they have pieces of furniture with little nicks on them [ for low prices ] . I just got a $700 zebra chair for $75. My furniture is actually a collection of scratch-and-dent pieces. However, you have to ask about these sales.
Another great resource is hotel retailers. There are two great ones in Chicago: Cooper [ Furniture & Carpet Co., 1929 S. Halsted ] and Fort Pitt [ Furniture, 1400 W. 37th ] . They go all of these great hotels, buy old furniture for pennies on the dollar and re-sell them to us for nothing.
WCT: Have you had any gay influences in your life?
FF: Back home?in New York in my early teens,?there was a very stylish gay Italian hairdresser from my neighborhood who was kind of a friend of the family. He owned a successful salon as well as being a semi-famous?disco singer on the side, and actually had a few records that did great in the dance music charts.?Everyone loves him! He would sometimes do my hair and tell me all these great stories of his exciting life in the entertainment industry and he was so supportive of any dreams of my own.?He?help me see clearly at an early age that whether your dreams are big or small the idea of following through with it, no matter how crazy or different it may be, is the only way to succeed.
As far as influence on design, in my 20s I worked with—and was friends with—one of the most amazing, outlandish and legendary event producers of all time: Bruce Sutka. Bruce is the greatest guy. He's so creative, and so full of energy and excitement. I loved just going to his warehouse, which was like Disneyland for me, and we would just talk shop, sift through pictures of his parties and look at new goodies that came into his shop on a daily basis.?
WCT: Earlier, you said that you tend to dive headlong into things. Any regrets?
FF: Of course there are always regrets. Right now, my star is rising, so to speak—and with that come personal sacrifices regarding relationships. My mom is like, 'You're 34. When are you going to give me kids?' I told her, 'Don't expect them for another 6 to 10 years. I'm on a roll right now. I can't slow my roll with kids or a woman.' That's just what it is—you roll the dice and you're not just happy being the host of a TV show; you want an empire. I want to be the male Martha Stewart.
Design on a Dime airs on HGTV on Saturdays at 9 p.m. CT.
