I've been laid up for a couple of weeks and when I haven't been sleeping or throwing up, I've been watching Trading Spaces on TLC. Do any of you trust any of your friends or family enough to let them and the mostly insane Trading Spaces decorators loose in your house?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Answers

I've never seen that show, Maggie. How about a brief overview? Sounds like you sign up for a redecoration and they go crazy in your living space. Sounds cool and scary at the same time, like a rollercoaster. :-)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Paul, if you ever do see it, you'll be compelled to watch it again and again.

The premise is that, homeowners (usually couples but not always) trade houses with another set of homeowners for two days. During those two days, the people plus an interior designer, and I use that term loosely in some cases, redecorate a room which the homeowner has chosen. Rarely is anything in that room off limits. So, the participants may end up with new flooring, new or recovered furniture, definitely a new paint job, and new accessories. The people are not allowed to return to their own homes to see what is going on for the two days. I saw an episode last week in which one couple walked in and saw their livingroom and said that they hated it. It wasn't that great looking, especially the lamps that were cannibalized to make new lamps. The result was a floor lamp that had an old chandelier on the middle of the pole. Anyway, the couple ranted about how much they hated it and I couldn't contain my glee.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Oh yeah, now you're talkin' about a good "reality series." :-) Too bad I don't have cable, and I see that Mighty Big TV doesn't recap it. :-( Someone should totally pull an Elvis "jungle room" on somebody. heh.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I love this show! I haven't seen it in awhile, but the last episode I saw was one where one couple absolutely HATED their new dining room (redone in a "gothic" theme). The wife was on the verge of tears. If I was to ever do this, I'd make very sure that the people I traded with had some taste and the guts to stand up to overbearing designers (the guy with the black shaggy hair seems to come up with the most off-beat stuff).

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Sure, why not? My house isn't worth much anyhow, and I could always switch it back.

Worse case scenairo. Somebody "really good" redoes a room in my house. I don't like it, and change it back to the way I thought it should be. Later I find out that the "really good" person says that "that room was probably my best work". The "really good" person now commands a very high price, and any work by this person guarantees a high market value. Jeez, I just shot myself in the foot. What a dumb ass.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I think I've seen that show. I don't know why people would get upset as I assume the knew about the whole idea of the show.

What I really want to know is how they choose the people for shows like This Old House or the landscape shows. I would love to have someone come over and redo my landscaping.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

No problem here. I rent :)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Maggie, I'm sorry to hear that you are ill. Best wishes on your recovery.

I would totally let people redecorate the kid's room. It's not 'done' now. Maybe that's the trick -- get people to do over little used rooms in your house or brand new ones (like a basement rec room that you just put in, filled with carpet ends and garage sale furnishings and painted beige). A week ago you had nothing and now you have nothing to lose.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Shelly, the reason folks get upset is because sometimes these room makeovers are very, very bad, and it's probably compounded by the fact that now everyone else (in the UK atleast) now knows how ugly their room is.

Word on This Old House. I'd go to their web sight if you're interested. I think you have to be planning renovations anyway, and would have to submit pictures and a budget etc. While I don't think the show covers the entire cost, it probably pays to have all of the latest materials and methods used. I loved watching the reno they did on the house that they bought for the show a few years back.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Re: This Old House, they do supply the (very expert) labor and some materials. However, you must pay tax on those items. You pay for a lot of things yourself. The homeowners usually do a whole lot of work themselves, too, to reduce costs. You have to have a pretty large budget to be considered for the show. Also, the main show of the season is always in the Boston area; the second show is usually someplace warm (Florida or Arizona, for example) because it's shot during the winter.

To put this posting just a bit on-topic, I doubt I'd allow the Trading Spaces people near my "space." I'm too picky about what I like. It's fun to watch other people doing it, though.

Hope you feel better soon, Maggie!

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I love this show also. My favorate (so far) was the rec room make over with the karioki (spelled wrong I know) corner. But I don't think I would trust anyone to do over my home because some people have no taste. And how safe are your treasures with all those people running in and out for two days? What if they hack up a precious antique from greatgrandpa to make a "nifty sofa"?

Has anyone seen Weekend Warrior on HGTV? Same basic premise except you do a home project in your own home, including all the planning, prep work, and the actual work. You have a consultant to help out if needed. I love the projects with parents and teenages (bedroom makeovers mostly). Helps the kids to appreciate the new paint, carpeting, whatever, and how much hard work it is to do home makeovers.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

My spouse and I avidly watch all the room trading shows but we love Trading Spaces best. We would NEVER go on a show like this. Especially if that freak FRANK was the designer. He is horrible. Everything he does looks cheap and crappy. And Hildy is a nasty priss and never listens to what the people say. Plus she's colour blind. The colours she picks are never how she describes them.

The reason I'd never do it is because we like doing this sort of thing ourselves. Plus I consider colour to be my forte. I just know they would pick something that I hate.

I'd love to have the carpenters at my disposal though. We always have ideas for furniture we'd like to build, but no space or expertise to do it.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Gforce, did you see the one recently in which Frank denied having good taste when the host said he did? I howled. While I don't like his work, I like Frank's personality. I really don't like Genevieve. She doesn't really have a good understanding of basic physics which is evident when she wants to tear down certain walls or structures. Plus, that black straw cowboy hat has got to go.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Oh, I don't qualify for this old house. My house is only 11 or 12 years old. Nor do I have the funds. I just want the damn linoleum (sp?) replaced with tile and new countertops! Which is on our to do list.

When HGTV had a sweepstake on their website for a landscaping makeover, I was entering daily. I didn't win. Jerks.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I've watched it a couple of times and both times, there was extensive use of stencils. On the walls. Outside the kitchen. good lord. I would trust my sister. She dislikes stencils as much as I do. (and I should clarify, I don't *hate* stencils, I just don't like them as a main decorating tool). My sister would also rid my living space of all unnecessary junk. Her place looks spartan. (Mine looks like I'm preparing for a yard sale, all the time). She would also probably strangle any one of the TS decorators just inside of 15 minutes. That might be fun to watch.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I don't understand why they let the interior decorators run the show.

Why don't they just have them there for assistance and suggestions? The fundamental ideas behind the redecoration should really belong to the neighbor. That would make it so much more interesting, because then you couldn't whisper,"Oh, I really wanted to put in parquet flooring, but the damn decorator insisted on using brown felt as carpeting!".

Yesterday I saw the first decorator I liked, but I didn't catch her name. Pretty redhead with a soft southern accent. Come to think of it, I didn't like her. I wanted to *be* her.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

It would all depend on which room they planned to do. I would absolutely not let anyone near my bedroom or living room. If I had a rec room or spare bathroom, though, they could knock themselves out. Ditto a kitchen. I'd pray that I didn't get a lime green porcelain potty, but it's hard to mess up a bathroom. Even so, you don't have to spend more than a few minutes in there at a time.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I want that gay guy to come fix up my house, Christopher ???

Failing that, I want the Iron Chefs to come battle in my kitchen.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Damn me for not having cable! That show sounds like it rules.

I wouldn't let them redo a room for me at this point because I only have a few rooms. Well, actually, they could do my kitchen or bathroom because they're both pretty freaking ugly.

But if it were a real house that I owned, I don't think I could go through with it. I'm pretty possessive of my stuff.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

After reading this it finally occurred to me that I was referring to a different show - "Changing Rooms", which seems to be the British version of the TLC show (probably produced first? Most of the UK shows I've seen recently are 2 or 3 years old). Same idea though (neighbours/friends switch rooms, are given a budget and 1 or 2 days).

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

Kate, Trading Spaces was based on that show. I wonder if the British one is better. Are the decorators as bossy as they are in the American one?

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

I LOVE Trading Spaces! I make sure I catch it Sundays at noon. I love it when the people get real hesitant when the designer is suggesting something, like painting black stripes on the wood floor or glueing moss on the bed room walls (Genevive), and the designer gets huffy. I like Frank's artistic ability, actually. He does doodles on things that look fun. One time he was redoing a young girl's room, and they hung a swing from the ceiling, and he sprayed some paint on the way that made the surface into a chalk board. What is cooler than that??

Anyway, I'm obsessed with the show.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

I don't really think that the British designers are bossy, but I do feel sorry for the carpenter guy who has to build anything they require - he's always the one stuck with the last-minute jobs, and I get the sense that he'd just love to strangle the designers.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

Ah Frank, he's got a heart of gold but he has no taste at all!

We redid our bedroom this weekend. It's harder than it looks on the show. I mean they have 3 people plus one person who helps out occassionally plus a carpenter. There were only two of us. We still have to make new stuff for the bed, make curtains and clean up the rest of our place which is now a disaster as a result of pulling everything out of the bedroom.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001

Gayla, I've often wondered what happens in the other rooms of the house while this is going on. And what a bitch it must be to remove all of the furniture from the room, put it somewhere else, and then move it all back. I have never lived someplace so large that I could fit 2 rooms worth of furniture in one room - all my stuff would have to go on the lawn.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001