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Rhune
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Trading Spaces, Season 3
« on: Aug 25^th, 2002, 1:54am »

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'Trading Spaces' Goes Coed
Fri, Aug 23, 2002 12:48 PM PDT
by Kate O'Hare
Zap2it, TV News

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - To whet viewers' appetites for season three, TLC's cult redecorating hit "Trading Spaces" helps out some swinging singles and takes a trip back to school.

Billed as a "sneak preview," an original episode called "Maine: Joseph Drive," airing Saturday, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m. ET, sees interior designers Laurie Smith (filmed shortly before giving birth to a son in August) and Frank Bielec working with single neighbors Ed and Laurie to redecorate each other's bedrooms -- with Ty Pennington handling the carpentry work.

As always, both teams have just two days and a budget of $1,000, and each neighbor has no control over what happens in his or her own room.

Then, on Aug. 31, at 9 p.m. ET, "Trading Spaces" heads to the opposite coast with "Berkeley: Prospect Street," in which designers Doug Wilson and Genevieve Gorder -- with Pennington's help, once again -- switch rooms with the Delta Upsilon fraternity and the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority at the University of California at Berkeley. But first, Genevieve and the sorority girls hold a bonfire to clear away decorating mistakes, while Doug and the frat brothers buckle down to some serious cleaning.

The series' third season then officially launches with back-to-back original episodes on Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. ET.

Asked why she chose Gorder and Wilson for this particular venture, executive producer Denise Cramsey says, "They both have that kind of acerbic wit. They can banter with anyone, so it was good to put them with these young, hip college students, who are a little bit jaded in their own college-student way. Now, they're dealing with our two hipsters."

Who won? "I cannot reveal, but it was surprising. My assignment of the two of them paid off pretty well."

As to how college students compare with other neighbors the show has dealt with, Cramsey says, "They are not afraid at all. They know what they want, so that was very funny. We found them to be much more outspoken, much more, 'No, this isn't going to happen. We need this. This is how it's going to be.' So truly, they gave Genevieve and Doug a run for their money."

However, Cramsey says, "There was no beer."

There was even an opportunity to see the aftermath of the transformation. "When we went back to San Francisco a couple of months later," Cramsey says, "Gen and Hildi (designer Hilda Santo-Tomas) went to party at the fraternity to see if it was still the same or if they had changed anything. It was still the same, but there were a few more stains, unidentified stains."

Speaking of Santo-Tomas, the elegant, urbane designer whose cutting-edge concepts have struck fear in the hearts of viewers and homeowners has been doing some redesigning in her own life.

n "Miss Hildi lives in Paris now," Cramsey says. "We are not losing Hildi. America should not breathe a sigh of relief just yet. She is back [this season]. She married in June to a Frenchman, so they live in Paris. She's commuting from Paris to do the episodes. We're hoping for 15 episodes."

After shooting two episodes in June, Smith returns from her maternity leave to the production schedule in October. With fewer appearances from her and Santo-Tomas -- and a plan to shoot 60 episodes this season -- the door was opened to expand the design team with a couple of new faces.

Joining Bielec, Gorder, Santo-Tomas, Smith, Wilson and Vern Yip (along with carpenters Pennington and Amy Wynn Pastor) are Philadelphia native Kia Steave-Dickerson, a specialist in textiles with experience in set design and props, and North Carolinian Edward Walker, who was already part of the "Trading Spaces" family.

"He has been associated with the show in the past as our sewing coordinator," Cramsey says, "the one who trains our homeowners on how to sew."

Walker knows sewing, since he currently creates wedding gowns as well as personalized interiors.

"Now we have a total of eight designers to wreak havoc on American homes," Cramsey says.

There are still more changes in store for season three, particularly as relates to the show's apparent distaste for ceiling fans (of 24 encountered last season, only four remained after redecorating).

"Ceiling fans have apparently moved off the wanted list," Cramsey says. "There has been a temporary reprieve for ceiling fans. In fact, I daresay we've actually brought some in where there were none. That's all I can say. It's been surprising."

Unexpected twists were also in store for Wilson in the Aug. 31 college special. "Doug is having another moment," Cramsey says. "He is certainly up against it. I can give this little hint out to you. Those little white bio-terrorism suits -- in use. That's all I can say. There's a scene with them in this episode."

"I owed him big for this one."

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LibertyBelle
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #1 on: Sep 7^th, 2002, 9:54pm »

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It would be really nice if they'd hire some qualified Interior Designers! Most of the so-called "designers" on this crazy show are idiots LOL. The show is strictly for entertainment and has no relationship at all to how real designers work in the real world. I have a problem with them calling people Interior Designers who have never even had any proper training in the field (Hilda) or who have degrees in theatrical arts (Doug) or whatever. Laurie and Vern are apparently the only two who have any real training in the field. I mean, my god, moss and hay on the walls!!! :freak:

There are a couple of Decorator shows on HGTV that have qualified people, and which much more closely reflect how designers function. If they have ASID after their name, they're for real. (American Society of Interior Designers) All qualified Designers, with a degree in their field, must be tested by this organization. I'm surprised the producers of this show haven't been sued by ASID for calling frauds Interior Designers.

Just my two cents. :2cents: Grin

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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #2 on: Oct 30^th, 2002, 8:24am »

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'Trading Spaces' Going To Print
Tue, Oct 29, 2002 06:47 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - "Trading Spaces" is making the jump from television screens to the printed page.

The hit TLC home redecorating show will be featured in three titles from publisher Meredith Books. All the books will include essential "Trading Spaces" elements, such as innovative decorating styles, before-and-after pictures of entire room redecorations, and hints for savvy accessorizing.

The first book, Trading Spaces: Behind the Scenes will focus on the unique personalities of the cast, introducing fans to the designers and answering frequently asked questions. It is scheduled for release in March 2003.

"We at Meredith Books understand the intense viewer loyalty and passion that 'Trading Spaces' has fostered, especially among younger viewers, and are thrilled with the opportunity to translate that spirit into print," says Jim Blume, Publisher of Meredith Books.

"Publishing is a natural platform to leverage the 'Trading Spaces' 'self- empowerment through smart design' concept," says Sharon Markowitz Bennett, SVP Licensing and Strategic Partnerships for Discovery.

"Trading Spaces" airs Saturdays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET on TLC.

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Mzz_Joplin
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #3 on: Nov 1^st, 2002, 4:31pm »

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OH. MY. GOD. When I saw that HAY on those poor WALLS ... All I have to say is thank GOD that wasn't my house ... :yikes:

The only thing that even comes close to that was that crazy lady Dez from the first season's horrible lamps ...
What do you think of the new designer, Kia?

« Last Edit: Nov 1^st, 2002, 4:34pm by Mzz_Joplin »

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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #4 on: Dec 30^th, 2002, 9:22pm »

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'Trading Spaces' Designs without Fear

One wears Prada heels, the other is frequently barefoot. One is a brunette, the other a blonde. One is the epitome of urban sophistication, the other is a Midwestern, girl-next-door type.

Yet both inspire fanatic devotion and strong opinions among fans of their show, The Learning Channel's "Trading Spaces," which airs original episodes on Saturday nights.

Based on the British show "Changing Rooms" (which had an airing on TLC on Thanksgiving Day, but normally airs on BBC America), "Trading Spaces" has become something of a cult phenomenon. Thousands apply to appear on the one-hour show, which takes two sets of neighbors, gives them $1,000, the help of a designer and a half-share in a carpenter to redo a room in each other's house or apartment, without knowing what's happening back home.

At the end, the results are revealed, with reactions ranging from squeals of joy to sorrowful sobs.

Raven-haired Hilda (nickname: Hildi) Santo-Tomas and golden-tressed Genevieve Gorder are two of the show's revolving cast of designers, with Vern Yip, Doug Wilson, Laurie Hickson-Smith, Frank Bielec and newcomers Edward Walker and Kia Steave-Dickerson. The carpenters -- one of which appears in each episode -- are Ty Pennington and Amy Wynn Pastor. Paige Davis is the host.

Behind the scenes, Santo-Tomas reports that each room makeover is preceded by a flurry of shopping. While some of her cohorts favor pieces from home-furnishings chain Ikea, Santo-Tomas prefers to go another way.

"I don't like to use Ikea," she says, "because I don't like my things to be labeled. I want people to be able to be more creative. Anybody can go to Ikea and shop a room. I like to give the viewers more ideas. One of the last rooms I did, I went to Salvation Army and bought a sofa and two lamps, $5 each. We spray painted them, and they looked incredible."

"I like to give the viewer not more challenges, but more things that are attainable to them. Most of our viewers can't make it to an Ikea because there are only, like, eight in the country. I try not to go to the big stores where everything's in there waiting for you. I try to bring it in."

Gorder often wishes there was more to work with in the homes she tackles, which are frequently large suburban dwellings. "That's why I prefer working in the city, rather than the suburbs," she says. "Maybe it's a little less comfortable, but architecture and design-wise, it's so much more interesting. I've seen the same suburban house 35 times, with the same builder, the same windows, the same carpeting."

"I try to bring moldings into all the places I go into. I grew up with natural wood buffets and beveled glass, wood floors. That was just part of the aesthetic of where I grew up. I just can't believe that everyone doesn't have that. That was a shock for me."

Every fan of "Trading Spaces" has a favorite designer to watch on the show, but when asked whom he or she would actually let design a room, the answer is frequently "Vern," who favors classic Asian-inspired designs with precise lines and rich fabrics.

"Of course," Gorder says, "Vern is very safe. There's no fear, and he's very predictable. You know what you're going to get. The rest of us are a little more out there. We'll give you something you've never seen before, that we've never done before. It's a careful balance."

"All of us do about everything, every different style of working to every different style of design. You're going to love one of us; you're going to hate one of us."

"It's very important for me to come up with a new idea," Santo-Tomas says, "something I haven't done before -- or anyone else, for that matter. That's why you see such a variance in my rooms. They're constantly different, and that, to me, is one of my challenges, to continually mix it up."

As for fans' faith in Vern Yip, Santo-Tomas echoes Gorder's sentiments. "Right," she says, "because he's safe. It's funny, our designers will say 'Hildi,' because they know what I normally do for my clients. When I'm doing 'Trading Spaces,' it's a television show millions of people watch. They're watching it for ideas; they're not watching it for a really pretty room every single time. For that, you just go to the store and buy a magazine."

"Let me tell you, I can do a pretty room. I'm not there to do ugly rooms, by any means, but I am there to share ideas and share creativity and inspire people to be creative. People are just afraid to do what I do. I hope that I show them, 'It's OK. Don't be afraid to do it. If you don't like it, you can redo it.'"

Gorder loves doing children's rooms, because they have no fear. "They just say, 'Make my room cool,'" she says. "They don't say, 'Make my room look like page 37 of Pottery Barn 1999.' They're not comparing it to everyone else's world. They know what they want, what makes them happy, and that, to me, is the biggest gift from a client. You can build something amazing."

"Most times, adults like these rooms the best on the show, because they're the most creative, the most fun. But an adult will never have the cojones to say, 'Just make it cool.'"

"I'm definitely not afraid to do anything," Santo-Tomas says. "What I try to do is put the concept out there and let people's imaginations flow. Take my ideas and develop them in your own way."

All I have to say is that Hilde is the one who put the HAY on the WALLS ...

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chickmama
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #5 on: Dec 30^th, 2002, 10:34pm »

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LOL, and this week, Hilda stapled 6,000 fake flowers to a bathroom! Oh Boy, what will we see next? Oh yeah, and Laurie brought her new baby on the show too.

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Addams
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #6 on: Dec 31^st, 2002, 5:57am »

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I have never seen this show. We don't get cable. I would love to see it based on what I have heard in these forums and message boards.

I have a room - guess I should apply. But I could not handle hay on the wall.

hmmmmm 6000 fake flowers - NOT!

Finally the comment "you can always redo it" - well for goodness sakes that was what you never did in the first place!

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chickmama
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #7 on: Dec 31^st, 2002, 1:40pm »

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It's a riot Addams, I really wish you could see it. A few years ago I became addicted to "Changing Rooms" on BBC America, when TLC started the spin-off "Trading Spaces" it didn't take long to love to hate it either. :yes:

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MzzJoplin
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #8 on: Dec 31^st, 2002, 8:05pm »

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I saw the beginning of that "fake flower" episode, but didn't get to see the ending ... here are some "highlights" of the episode ... one word: YIKES!

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east
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #9 on: Dec 31^st, 2002, 8:53pm »

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sometimes i just wonder what are these people thinking Huh

?? having said that, i have an addiction to this show EVEN with C- designers from time to time. i love vern. his rooms seem to go with what the people have asked for. doug, on the other hand...but in his defense, he did this gross room in red and black with black leather and a framed shot of the wife also in leather and boots...i may have hated it, but they LOVED it. crazy! hilda (hildy) i could probably do without but usually, even though she is off the wall, i love genevieve's rooms....especially with the moraccan and east indian influences...that young girls bedroom with the meditation corner was amazing.

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Addams
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #10 on: Jan 1^st, 2003, 12:19am »

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LOL - I started to tell My Husband about this thread and the article and the stories. I have never seen the show and I was still laughing so hard I could barely spit it all out. LOL

I think I would love this show. Wonder where I can watch it without cable. I will have to try to find it somewhere.

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MzzJoplin
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #11 on: Jan 5^th, 2003, 12:02pm »

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MzzJoplin
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #12 on: Jan 5^th, 2003, 12:25pm »

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OK, after this article, I promise that I'll leave the "hay episode" alone ... lol

Oakland survivors of home decorating TV show try to paint over cracks in friendship

Two couples, both homeowners in Oakland, learned the hard way about reality television when "Trading Spaces" the highest-rated show on cable channel TLC and a full-on cult hit across the country, came to town.

The series' premise is pretty simple: Two neighbors redesign a room in each other's house. Each gets $1,000, the advice of a professional designer and some carpentry expertise. All of this takes place in 48 hectic hours with the cameras rolling.

The hook is that you work on your neighbor's kitchen, for instance, and they work on your bathroom. Neither gets a say in what the other does.

"Trading Spaces" is based on a wildly popular British series, "Changing Rooms." It takes the home-fix-it show and adds a layer of fun - or tears, depending on the tastes of the designer - and climaxes with "the reveal," where the neighbors' reactions to their redone rooms are caught on tape.

For partners April Kilstrom and Leslie Hoover, that taped reaction is nothing compared with what they feel now - after discovering just how bad the actual makeover and experience really were. The same goes for their neighbors Rhea and Mike Wisherop who, despite the fact that they actually liked the work April and Leslie did on their kitchen, felt like they almost lost some friends over what was supposed to be a fun experience and a chance to be on TV.

"We were going to have a "Trading Spaces" party and 'reveal' our rooms to our friends," Rhea Wisherop said, laughing at the thought. "We're not doing that."

The problem started when the "Trading Spaces" designer Hilda Santo-Tomas (known as Hildi on the show), came up with a less-than-traditional way to spruce up Kilstrom and Hoover's living room: Putting glue on the wall and having the Wisherops toss a kind of hay-straw hybrid on it.

Wisherop, a die-hard fan of the show (and an interior designer) originally thought she and Mike might have a say in the design, as the show sometimes makes it appear. But the concepts are done in advance and the materials are purchased in advance, so each neighbor is reduced primarily to worker-bee status, although they can try their best to steer the process.

"The homeowners have no control," Rhea Wisherop said. "They want us to say what we like or not, but it's all their concept. I guess they want the shock factor. I did not say,'I think my neighbor would like hay and straw on the wall.' "

"I was so disappointed," Kilstrom said about the experience. As for "the reveal," well: "I was stunned - I said a bad word." But they didn't get her real reaction, which came after she realized the hay wasn't the worst part.

A 13-foot section of Douglas fir that served as her fireplace mantel was sledgehammered and sawed out - replaced with pine, for some reason - and hidden under part of a renovation that included bookcases (that immediately pulled away from the wall).

"We didn't know they had taken out the mantel until (the show) was gone," Kilstrom said. An early estimate puts replacing the wood at $3,000. That's on top of the $500 the couple spent to put their kids, ages 15 months and 3 years,

up in a hotel with Kilstrom's mother and to board four pets for the duration of the filming.

17 HOURS TO REMOVE THE GLUE

"Sorry, I'm a little bitter," she said. But it would be hard not to be upset at what happened. It took five adults 17 hours to get the glue off, Kilstrom said. Two of those adults were the Wisherops, who knew as it was happening that they'd have some cleaning up to do.

Both couples said there was pressure from the designers and on-set producers to work fast to complete the remodel and get it filmed. "You just get run over," Kilstrom said.

Rhea Wisherop said she brought up the fact that their neighbors' living room was a health and safety hazard. "They weren't hearing it. They just didn't care," she said. "The baby the next day was gagging on the hay. We loaded (the bookshelf) up with books and the next day it was pulling out of the wall. What if that fell on the kids?"

Within 24 hours the kids had splinters from wooden window slats that were put in (and now taken down). Two glass rods that jutted from the fireplace were broken off at the direction of the designer so that the spark screen could be wired up to look like "hung art." When Rhea Wisherop complained about the danger, she was told not to worry and to keep working. Later that night, Mike Wisherop took a blow torch and rounded off the edges."

Kilstrom and Hoover had asked "Trading Spaces" to make their living room more adult, given that it needed work anyway and was full of kids' things. "Were they mocking us?" Kilstrom asked. "They made a room that's hazardous to kids."

Both neighbors got a sense that "Trading Spaces" was looking for a provocative "reveal," because nothing made much sense. Kilstrom said that in a pre-interview, she and Hoover told "Trading Spaces" that they didn't like pink or yellow and they didn't like wicker. Later, Kilstrom said she was asked what color shirt she wanted (each couple wears matching shirts, their neighbor something different, to set up a "team" look). She said anything but red.

The result: Red shirts, a pink ceiling and wicker in the new living room. "I think they're going to make us look dumb," she said.

Not so, said Denise Cramsey, executive producer of "Trading Spaces." She pointed out that this season "Trading Spaces" has shot 35 shows - that's 70 homeowners - and only five people have complained (counting Kilstrom and Hoover).

"As far as deliberately going after someone - it's not something we do," Cramsey said. "Every sixth homeowner has to have a bad reveal - we don't have that rule."

LIABILITY LIMITS
Cramsey said each couple signs a liability release form and there's an area to list what's "protected." That means, don't mess with the floor, or a door, or a fireplace mantel. "April and Leslie wrote nothing on the form."

Cramsey wasn't at the Oakland site. She said she was concerned about the safety issues raised there. "We do take that seriously." As for the shirts, Cramsey said it's not policy to ask people what color they want, just what size they wear. And she said the pink-wicker information probably came from Kilstrom and Hoover too late to get to the designer and that it was a coincidence.

"I'm sympathetic to homeowners and have spent many hours on the phone with them," Cramsey said. "We make a great point to say, 'Anything goes.' "

Cramsey said she didn't think Santo-Tomas was trying to get a reaction from the Oakland couple, but the show does try to pair a "bold" designer with more timid homeowners. Design is subjective, Cramsey said, and the idea behind the show is to create change, to nudge people out of their creative safe zones.

"You can undertake a plan and not really know how it's going to turn out. That's different from saying, 'These people are going to hate hay on the wall -

let's do it.' "

And Cramsey denied that "Trading Spaces," which has had relatively few on- air blow-ups (one woman ran off camera, crying) was trying to push in that direction. "What we have tried to do is make a bigger transformation - a bigger 'Oh, wow!' factor."

It was big in Oakland, all right.

Perhaps part of the shock for the Oakland couples was not fully understanding that with a mere $1,000 and less than two days, House Beautiful wasn't going to happen.

"I didn't expect the quality of the work and materials to be so bad," Rhea Wisherop said. "They make it look good on TV. You don't see the flaws."

Despite "doing everything half-ass," the show does give viewers and homeowners ideas, she said. Since she and her husband liked the "idea" of the kitchen redesign, they're sticking with it, but fixing the paint drips (Kilstrom and Hoover also said they had balked at painting over other paint that wasn't dry yet).

Rhea Wisherop said she got past some workmanship but questioned the bad decisions - like painting her stove top - and wondered about the credentials of the designers, given the odd choices made. "A trained person is not going to do that."

Cramsey said it's important to remember that "Trading Spaces" is on a time crunch and only uses $1,000 per house. Plus, she said, your neighbors are doing the bulk of the work, so some of the drips are their fault.

'REAL' TV IS NOT REAL
But it was clear to both Oakland couples that watching from home is different than having it happen to you. "One thing I tell everyone - don't believe what you see on TV," Rhea Wisherop said.

"Everybody thinks 'Trading Spaces' is totally real and 'Trading Spaces' is totally not real," Kilstrom said. "It was all TV. If we didn't do (something on camera) right, we had to do it again. They influence your reaction. It's funny, you become an actor."

One of those influences included a fake "cut" from the producer while the camera kept rolling. Neither Oakland couple fell for the trick.

"Yes, we do it," Cramsey said. "But it isn't a trick. When the camera is on,

they don't want to hurt their friends' feelings. So we continue to shoot. That's not really a trick."

Cramsey was quick to point out that of six sites in the Bay Area, everybody else had a great time and loved their home make-overs. "They say it was the greatest experience."

Apparently Oakland was a cursed site, because the problems didn't end inside the house. Kilstrom and Hoover share a yard with a neighbor in back. Despite putting up a temporary fence and telling the crew that the neighbor's space was off limits, some of the off-camera workers tore plants out of the neighbor's garden - including limbs stripped off a young lemon tree. That neighbor just happens to be an avid gardener who knows the plants' Latin names.

"She said,, 'Oh my God, those are my plants in your vases,' " Kilstrom said. "It's kind of put a strain on the relationship."

Cramsey said the neighbor did write a letter complaining and that, in turn, Cramsey has offered to pay for any damages but has yet to hear back from the neighbor.

"Trading Spaces" aired an episode last week where two sorority houses in Santa Clara were made over. (The TLC channel is available in most of the Bay Area but not in San Francisco.)

Tonight, two Pleasanton neighbors have at it, then a bedroom and family room in two houses in Hercules get revealed on March 2. The Oakland woes can be witnessed on March 9, followed by a Hayward dining room and living room swap on March 13. TLC will air a "Trading Spaces" episode featuring a sorority and fraternity make-over from the University of California at Berkeley sometime in August.

While the couples will be watching their remodels happen (Kilstrom said that after viewing her living room through a digital recorder it actually looked good, so it'll probably seem fine on TV), neither would do it again.

"No," said Rhea, laughing. "Can I say, 'Hell no?' "

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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #13 on: Jan 5^th, 2003, 1:22pm »

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those poor people...the damage that hildi did in that room...it just doesn't make sense to rip out a perfectly good fireplace mantel and replace it with crap or to glue hay onto the walls knowing that some toddler who will put anything and everything into their mouths will be close to there! i did not know about this episode...thanks mzzj! i would have been pissed too! :huh2:

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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #14 on: Jan 5^th, 2003, 6:24pm »

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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #15 on: Jan 6^th, 2003, 7:41pm »

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I despise that show. Of course my field is Interior Design, so I see it from that perspective, but those people are worse than untrained idiots, they're often dangerous (as the article shows). Only two of them have any training in Interior Design (Vern and Laurie) and it shows! They don't even know the most basic principles, taught to design students in their first year. It really gets up my nose (and I'm by no means the only designer who feels this way) that this show passes those idiots off as professionals. :rifle: Believe me, real designers do NOT behave as illustrated by this horrid show.

Did I say I hate the show? :censored:

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MzWings
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #16 on: Jan 7^th, 2003, 8:39am »

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on Dec 31^st, 2002, 8:05pm, MzzJoplin wrote:

... one word: YIKES!

.....and I ask you: can you imagine how much time and manual labour it will take to remove nearly 12,000 staples? Good grief.

This bathroom - IMO - was quite beautiful to start with. Lots of marble and glass, etc. Very classic lines. And then to cover it in garrish fakes posies just doesn't make good designer sense. ICK!

But in the long run I really do love this show but I'm taking some of the rooms with a grain of salt.

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chickmama
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #17 on: Jan 8^th, 2003, 8:20pm »

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The stupid part about the hay was when the neighbor said " they have small kids, they'll be pulling hay off of the wall", and Hildy said "they will just have to tell them not to". Duh!! Obviously Hildy's never been around kids.

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chickmama
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #18 on: Feb 19^th, 2003, 11:30pm »

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I saw a preview for The Today Show, and it said that they are having Trading Spaces this week....or it might be next week. Anyway, maybe you can check it out Addams.

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Rhune
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #19 on: Mar 17^th, 2003, 10:06am »

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'Trading Spaces' Gives Fans More
Fri, Mar 14, 2003 00:08 AM PDT

by Kate O'Hare
Zap2it, TV News

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - As if episodes every single day -- and premieres in primetime on Saturday -- weren't enough, fans of TLC's "Trading Spaces" can now relive favorite moments and personalities from the redecorating show both on screen and on the page.

On Tuesday, March 18, Artisan Home Entertainment releases "The Best of TLC's Trading Spaces," a DVD that features outtakes, extended project footage and favorite moments with cast and crew of the show that gives two sets of neighbors two days, $1,000, a designer and a carpenter to entirely redo a room in each other's home.

The host of the DVD is series host Paige Davis, who functions as a combination of referee, den mother, drill sergeant and extra set of helping hands.

"My role has remained relatively consistent," Davis says of her two seasons in the job. "I continue to be the conduit between what is happening in the homes and the viewing audience. I just try to be the voice of any question that's floating out there. Sometimes I'm the voice of the designer, sometimes the homeowner or neighbor on the team, and sometimes I'm the voice of the people at home, screaming, 'What the heck is going on?'"

"And, by all means, I'm the voice of authority and the barometer of time and budget."

Also included on the DVD is a collection of "reveals," that moment at the end of each show when the weary neighbors get to see what was done to their own room while they were hard at work at their neighbors' home. One segment offers happy reveals (lots of squealing and the occasional swear word) and not so happy (from stunned silence to tears).

Along with a history of the show, the DVD offers information on how fans can apply to take part of a future episode. And those applications still come in droves, despite the risks -- which in the past have included moss and straw being glued to walls, spray-painted furniture and the demise of many an innocent ceiling fan.

"In a way, we should push limits," says Ty Pennington, resident pinup boy and one of the show's carpenters. "It's not like we're 'This Old House.'"

At the same time, Meredith Books is releasing "Trading Spaces: Behind the Scenes," a large-format book loaded with color photos, cast biographies and interviews, poster-size portraits and decorating tips and tricks.

"I thought it was exciting," says Davis of the book. "I thought it was late in coming, actually. It's about time, and I knew that fans would really be dying for that sort of thing."

"There are very few people who are just a little bit of a fan of 'Trading Spaces.' Most people are really obsessed and really love the people who are part of it. They want to know more. That's exactly what the behind-the-scenes book is. It's more of an introspective look into the cast."

For example, people might not know that Pennington designs and builds custom furniture (not made of plywood or MDF, unlike most of his work for the show).

"The show's been running for three years," he says, "and not everybody knows how much experience we all have. The truth of it is, I've got quite a lot of experience. It might not show on the show, because we do many things that are just flat-out wrong."

"There are some shows that I'm not on, that I've watched, especially in the first season, and I've seen designers put down ceramic tiles with Liquid Nails, and I'm like, 'What are ya'll thinking?' That just doesn't work. Especially in the first years, a lot of the guys, say, had alternative backgrounds, definitely creative backgrounds, but I'm not sure they were interior backgrounds."

"So it was funny watching some of these designers learn the ropes."

Along those lines, the DVD also has a section on designers ideas that got completely out of hand, including a fireplace project from designer Hilda Santo-Tomas that wound up a nightmare of half-dried mortar, falling stones and endless sponging.

For Davis, though, the pain is worth the payoff. "When 'Trading Spaces' rolls into town," she says, "we shake up a lot of things. We shake up the neighborhood; we shake up the room; we shake up how people look at their own home."

"That's why it reaches so many people, hits people so powerfully. Not to be deep or cliché, but it's definitely part of the appeal. That's why people are hooked, because it's so much more than just a decorating show. In an ironic way, it has less to do with decorating than almost any other element on the show."

"I'll be honest with you," says Pennington. "Sometimes we do run for shock value. Let's not kid ourselves."

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Rhune
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Re: Trading Spaces, Season 3
« Reply #20 on: Mar 20^th, 2003, 5:27pm »

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Redecorating? Get tips from Yip

By SALLY JOHNSTON -- Edmonton Sun
EDMONTON -- It's not just women that have designs on Vern Yip.

"We have fans from five or six years old ... right up to grandparents, and many men," says the celebrity designer/architect from the hit show Trading Spaces.

Yip is in Edmonton to share his tips at the Home and Garden Show taking place at the AgriCom today through Sunday.

A longtime Edmonton Oilers fan, he's disappointed his hectic schedule won't allow him to take in the team's two weekend home games.

"Growing up I idolized Wayne Gretzky, so naturally I turned into an Oilers fan," says the Atlanta resident.

Yip credits Trading Spaces's unique formula - where two sets of neighbours decorate each other's room with a $1,000 budget each and a designer's help - with making The Learning Channel series a runaway success.

"A lot of home renovation shows are about pure information. The one, two, three of how to do it. That's not really interesting to a wide audience.

"But we have the human drama of seeing ... a space transformed with no money and no time. It's about how people relate to one another."

Yip is happy to offer a peek behind the scenes.

Do you really get the room done in 48 hours?

"Actually it's less - just 30 hours. We start at 8 a.m on Day 1 and for production purposes have to be finished between noon and 2 p.m. on the second day."

Is there a crew of invisible workers the viewers don't see?

"Yes. The carpenters have an assistant, Fast Eddy. He's extremely skilled and wonderful to work with.

"While we spend a lot of time in front of the camera - when we can't be very productive - he makes sure that work really gets done.

"Also, there's a production assistant in each room who steps in to keep work progressing if the designer or homeowner is pulled away to do another scene."

Does Yip kip?

"I don't usually sleep between Day 1 and 2. I tell the homeowners to go to bed when they want but about 90% are so enthusiastic that they stay up too."

Trading Spaces carpenter Ty Pennington is hunky, huh?

"I think (female handy gal) Amy Wynn Pastor has the same thing going for her. A lot of men out there really enjoy a woman who can handle power tools and who can negotiate her way around a carpentry shop."

Some of the other designers seem to delight in working against the homeowners' decorating desires - painting walls a hated colour or covering a favourite fireplace.

"I'm not likely to come in and do something that somebody would be traumatized over," says Yip.

"This is not a TV set ... it's their real home where they live, sleep, communicate, have dinner. I don't feel I could pull off a space without taking their thoughts into consideration."

His own 1920s house has a simple interior.

"My bedroom is minimal, very stark, very functional. White walls, white duvet, and above my bed I have an old Chinese framed graphic of black and white calligraphy.

"There's also stacks and stacks of books."

Yip's presentations take place at the Home and Garden Show today at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m and tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. (More on Trading Spaces)

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