Reality TV Becomes TV Reality for "Design Star"

Kim Myles, the season two winner of the reality competition HGTV Design Star, wants to bring a different perspective to the Martha Stewart version of design.

Soon, Myles will get her chance to give design some diversity and cultural sensibility in front of a national TV audience.

Myles says she salutes B. Smith as the first African American woman to make a name for herself in the industry.

"I'm excited to be that new voice in design and I'm happy to stand on B. Smith's shoulders," Myles told AOL Black Voices recently.

The 34-year-old New York City-based hair stylist moved to Los Angeles Recently, where she'll begin filming her own design show that will premiere on HGTV in March 2008.

The yet-to-be-named show was her life-changing prize for winning the cable reality design challenge, which wrapped up in September. More than 900,000 viewers voted for Myles via text messages as their favorite designer.

Myles designs make large color statements (check out the gallery of her work above). She likes paneling out walls with color, deco designs, art nouveau and anything that has a little bit of a feminine sensibility. Her style is modern and contemporary.

Black Voices asked Myles to drops some design tips on her top three decorating no-nos:

Theme Rooms ... Don't Dare!

Are you guilty of decorating an entire room dedicated to, who knows, a wild-west or jungle theme?

"Take elements that you love of from a certain theme or culture and infuse that into a room, but an entire room dedicated to it from top to bottom, it's kind of tacky," Myles says.

No Body Bags for Furniture

"We all have grannies, and aunties that have the couch that was reupholstered in 1972 and it's still covered in plastic to keep it protected. It's sticky in the summer. It's cold in the winter. Take it off," Myles warns.

Forget Fake Flowers

Silk flowers, fake flower arrangements, throw them out.

"I think that's something that most designers will say drives them a little nuts. Personally, I understand the impulse. It's worth having the real thing, even if it's just a small cluster in a room. They don't collect dust. You enjoy them, and then they pass," Myles says.