Bay Area designer goes big on TV show
Miniatures specialist fulfills her dream to be a contestant on NBC’s ‘Making It’
Chelsea Andersson’s creative specialty is working in miniature, but starting this week, the 29yearold Mill Valley artist is living large.
The Bay Area maker and prop designer is among the pool of contestants on the third season of “Making It,” NBC’s reality competition series featuring amateur doityourself creators competing in design challenges to win a $100,000 prize.
In other words, “Making It” is like “The Great British Baking Show,” but instead of cakes, it’s crafts.
Hosted by television stars and DIY enthusiasts Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, “Making It” has been Andersson’s favorite show since it debuted in 2018. In fact, the Long Island native said she created a miniature version of the show’s famous barn set and placed it on her work desk, daydreaming she’d one day be featured on the series.
Andersson works as a landscape architect at the Bay Area firm RHAA, with projects in Muir Woods and Yosemite National Park. But her true passion is working on a small scale. As a side hustle, Andersson makes and sells (rather charming and surprisingly modern) DIY miniature kits, and designs small sets for stop motion films. Her work, much like that of the other talented contestants on the show, looks far more polished and professional than crafts you’d find at a school gym holiday bazaar.
Season 3 of “Making It” was filmed last fall in Southern California, and required Andersson to quarantine in a hotel and submit to regular coronavirus tests. Nose swabs aside, she said the experience felt like pure maker magic.
The designer spoke with The Chronicle about her experience on the show on a video call from her sunny backyard in southern Marin. This conversation has been edited for clar
ity and length.
Q: What’s so special about miniatures?
A: I’ve loved miniatures since I was a kid. I would spend all my free time making stuff for my Barbies. And then that got put on the shelf after a while. … It really wasn’t until I had to make a model for my landscape architecture office that I realized, “Oh my gosh, making miniatures is so much fun and so rewarding.”
I started taking a woodworking class at Tamalpais High; I made one table, and then I was like, “OK, I live in a Bay Area apartment. I don’t have room for anything else.” I still wanted to create and design furniture but had to go miniature in order to make the space for it.
It’s (also) a really aspirational hobby. You can create furniture you wouldn’t be able to afford, or design spaces you wouldn’t necessarily be able to live in, and it’s just evolved into this whole miniature world for me.
Q: How do you end up on national television?
A: I have been a superfan of “Making It” from the very first episode. I’ve never been the type of person who was like, “Oh, I really want to be on reality TV.” But as soon as I saw “Making It,” I was just like, it’s positive, it’s funny, everyone’s supportive.
And even though I was really scared, because I’ve always struggled with selfdoubt, I applied to Season 2 and didn’t get picked. … Ultimately, when Season 3 came around, I said, “I’m going to try again.” I just needed to know if I could do it. I needed to know if I could build things that were bigger than miniatures.
When I got picked, it was absolutely a dream come true, because I’ve seen every episode at least 10 times, probably to the point where my husband is so sick of the show. He might not even watch my season.
Q: Did your style or process change because of your experience on the show?
A: The scale hasn’t changed, even though at the show I was making a lot larger things because I had the space, tools and resources for it.
But I think the thing that changed the most since coming back from the show is just my acceptance of myself. Seeing what I was capable of proved to me that I can do more and that I shouldn’t say no to experiences and opportunities. If someone says, “Hey, can you make this?” I’m just always going to say yes — because I will figure out a way.