Hands On: Antonio Ballatore

Antonio Ballatore (more pics in the bottom) is a New York native, who believed he would be a rock star by the age 40. While giving more attention to his rock stardom, he still had a couple of hours between gigs to learn how to build houses. His newly discovered talent led him to design restaurants and clubs in Manhattan and, later, design sets for world-famous photographers, including Annie Leibovitz and David LaChapelle. If you think he got my attention with his designer skills, you would be perfectly wrong. Of course the looks were the pure reason why my friend Lin made me focus on those hands, those tattoos, that beard and this smile. Photos and videos speak for themselves. Oh, yeah, and he is hetero – how sad.

Antonio Ballatore is also the new champion of HGTV’s Design Star, is ready to bring his distinct and edgy design aesthetic to HGTV audiences. His resulting HGTV show, The Antonio Treatment (video below), premiered on March 14 2010.