Classic Trading Spaces: 2001-2008 Seasons Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Your Past Seasons Topic!

[FormerMod-a1]

I think I'm going to have to see if any of the old episodes are available for streaming or On Demand.

[auntjess]

12 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

And I'll state that I know the rooms had to be done within a certain budget, but looking again on YouTube, I was struck by how cheap some of the re-decorations ended up looking.  It was something I didn't necessarily see on the first watch.   

This is what struck me when I saw the reruns of WYWO.  They air one once in a while on one of the Discovery channels, and they're really crap.
Now, we see people like John DeSilvia, or the Crashers shows on DIY, and they do decent work with quality products, and this is why I wonder if TS will work unless they too do good work.
 

[starri]

6 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

That red toile bedroom with the shadowboxes was one of my favorite rooms on TS ever.

I remember the other thing that REALLY impressed me about that was was that when Amy said she didn't have time to make the shadowboxes, with nary a complaint, Hildi went over the the table saw and made them herself. 

I really liked that episode. The HO that worked with Hildi had gotten divorced after applying for the show, and she was determined to have a good time.  And Laurie also gave her a nice refresh of her bedroom to make some good new memories in.

Despite how awful she could be, and despite the fact that the lesbian couple who owned that beautiful Craftsman had every right to go after her with torches and pitchforks, I have to admit that I was kind of fond of her.  She had this kind of cool, crazy aunt vibe that I dug.  And she really did well when asked to make over rooms for kids.  In the season where they gave the designers the choice of three rooms to make over and a $3000 budget if the one the HOs wanted was selected, she turned in some astonishingly good work with the extra money.

[auntjess]

Who hung the furniture from the ceiling?  It was in Philadelphia, I think.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

Hated Kia and her fugly wallpaper borders.

Loved Vern and Laurie.

The Hildi ep that sticks with me is the wine labels pasted all over the kitchen of two ministers who were teetotalers.  And she wanted to suspend a wine rack from the ceiling despite the neighbors' objections.   It was just completely disrespectful.   I loved the neighbors bringing them a steamer to steam those suckers right off the second the cameras stopped rolling.

[roughing it]

I remember having to hurry home, or not make any plans, on Saturday nights because Trading Spaces was on, and it was must see TV for us.  However, toward the end it turned into "how bad can we fuck up these rooms for these people?".  Like any reality TV program, it starts out with good intentions, then they have to turn up the crazy and ruin a good thing (like Say Yes to the Dress, which I can no longer watch).  I want to see the designers challenge themselves into providing nice, attractive, functional spaces for the homeowners.  To make me say "wow", in a GOOD way.

I always thought the room Doug did for Crying Pam was really pretty, certainly not anything to cry about. 

Edited July 26, 2017 by roughing it

[roughing it]

I'm really surprised there are no reruns on HGTV or TLC, as popular as this show was back in the day.  Actually I can't remember what channel this was on...

[AZChristian]

28 minutes ago, roughing it said:

I remember having to hurry home, or not make any plans, on Saturday nights because Trading Spaces was on, and it was must see TV for us.  However, toward the end it turned into "how bad can we fuck up these rooms for these people?".  Like any reality TV program, it starts out with good intentions, then they have to turn up the crazy and ruin a good thing (like Say Yes to the Dress, which I can no longer watch).  I want to see the designers challenge themselves into providing nice, attractive, functional spaces for the homeowners.  To make me say "wow", in a GOOD way.

I always thought the room Doug did for Crying Pam was really pretty, certainly not anything to cry about. 

Frank worked with Crying Pam on their neighbor's house.  Rumor was that he stayed afterwards to fix her house so she would like it.  Apparently, her grandmother had just died within the past couple of days before filming, but production pushed her not to cancel out because everything was all set for taping.  She was an emotional wreck already.

[auntjess]

There are a lot of reveals, and at least one entire episode, on youtube.  Too many to list, but the entire show was Everett. WA. and a homeowners son posted it.

Here's the IMDB cast list for the entire series, and you can click to see episode list.

Edited July 27, 2017 by auntjess

[friendperidot]

It's been a long time since I saw it, but I seem to remember one of the problems with Crying Pam was that Doug did something to her fireplace, covered it or something and the fireplace was on her do not touch list. Doug enjoyed playing the bad boy and touching things on do not touch lists. He was pretty, but he could also be petty. I seem to remember some major flirtations between and one of the people he worked on a room with, I don't think she was the homeowner, I think she was a friend recruited to help. But it's been a very long time. Maybe I'll pull up some of the episodes on Youtube.

[FormerMod-a1]

He did cover the fireplace, but it was literally a facade, not even drilled into the original.  It was easily removed.  Like just slide away easily removed.  He made the facade so they could see the full effect, hoping they'd decide they liked it.  She obviously didn't.  But this was one time that he take some considerations.

[auntjess]

I think it was Kia, who painted a piano, which really can mess up the sound.

What was that strange town makeover show that Gen was in?

[friendperidot]

here's the Doug & Crying Pam, they hated the fireplace

[Maverick]

I thought Pam hated brown and Doug did that to her room too, but the Brown fiasco was another homeowner.  I just remember that woman ranting at her neighbors off screen about how they could let them do that to her house.  I can't remember if it was Doug or Hildi who took the "no brown" as a challenge, but it sounds like Doug.  

[auntjess]

Do you remember the April Fools' one, where they pranked Doug and Hilde. 
One couple said they'd found the neighbors' dog dead when they came in that morning, so they had it stuffed, and wanted to use it in the decor.

[Asp Burger]

It was always fascinating to me that Laurie had so many bad reveals. Most of the time she was so safe and conservative, but she still had some of the most notorious ranty meltdown reactions to her finished rooms, like Sunburst Kasey and Jackass Jessie. She did love her a brown room, though. She was also big on yellow and orange.  

Edited July 28, 2017 by Asp Burger

[auntjess]

Laurie seemed to design to show off her line of fabrics.
 

[Asp Burger]

Amayyyyzing fabric! 

Wasn't there a backstage controversy about other designer(s) resenting Vern for making $2,500 rooms on a supposedly $1,000 budget by stacking them with expensive things he "happened" to have with him?

If anyone wants to revisit the classic Edward/Hildi episode with the 7th Heaven stars, it's embedded in this article. I just watched it. It's a lot of fun, especially for a "celebrity" episode. The actors were good sports (the Stults brothers were funny), and I liked both finished rooms too.   

http://people.com/home/things-we-want-to-see-in-trading-spaces-reboot/

Edited July 29, 2017 by Asp Burger

[roughing it]

On 7/28/2017 at 11:56 PM, Asp Burger said:

If anyone wants to revisit the classic Edward/Hildi episode with the 7th Heaven stars, it's embedded in this article. I just watched it. It's a lot of fun, especially for a "celebrity" episode. The actors were good sports (the Stults brothers were funny), and I liked both finished rooms too.

I just watched the link.  They did seem like they were having fun, and liked their rooms.  However, that gargantuan albatross they called a TV case in the brothers' apartment would be the first thing to go.  That was hideous. 

I'm curious for each homeowner, what's the very first thing they dismantled when it was all over....

[Asp Burger]

11 hours ago, roughing it said:

I'm curious for each homeowner, what's the very first thing they dismantled when it was all over....

Sometimes the reveal reactions left no mystery. I hope Doug's giant mural of his own foot for a "Back to Brazil" living room fetched some eBay dollars for the homeowners, because it was obvious they weren't keeping it. (TWoP recapper Miss Alli: "She says right away that the foot is not staying. Yeah, there's a real shocker. You can hear Brad say, in reference to the foot mural, 'That is terrible,' and he's dead serious.")

Doug and Hildi must have been in competition that season to see who could go furthest with the idea of "leaving something of themselves" in someone else's home. Hildi did the pop-art painting of her own face ("Dot Hildi"), which might have been cute if it were one of the homeowners or a loved one of theirs, but the designer?! 

Then she gave the 7th Heaven guys the blown-up B&W photos of parts of her and the actresses' bodies, but that actually came out okay. It was more tasteful and artistic than it sounded. The Doug foot painting was just spiteful. (The rest of the room was bad too, so unfortunately, amputating the foot wouldn't have saved it.)

Edited August 5, 2017 by Asp Burger

[dorcastrilling]

I collect vintage Fiesta and  absolutely loved the serape ceiling Frank painted to go with the owners collection. Also loved Doug. Wish they would bring his Moving Up show back.

[Maharincess]

On 2/1/2018 at 9:34 AM, dorcastrilling said:

I collect vintage Fiesta and  absolutely loved the serape ceiling Frank painted to go with the owners collection. Also loved Doug. Wish they would bring his Moving Up show back.

Doug was my favorite designer and I loved, loved, loved Moving Up. I wish I could find reruns somewhere. 

Edited February 6, 2018 by Maharincess

[Katalina]

Laurie was my favorite designer---always tasteful, very few mis-hits. And yes, she had an eye for fabrics, but I'm into fabrics so that's okay. Oddly, I never found Laurie's personality all that engaging, and sometimes she seemed very patronizing to the h.o.s she was working with.  And while Frank's style was a bit gimmicky for me, I have to say, he was a great designer in that he took a look at the room he was doing, and improved it, rather than doing something drastically different. People always liked Frank's rooms, and that's a big plus for a designer!

I'll watch again if they re-boot the show. I've been in withdrawal for years...

[auntjess]

As people, I liked Frank and Edward.
I'd liked Edward's designs, but then he removed a ceiling fan from a home in south Florida.
I'm in north Florida, but ceiling fans are vital.

[Nordly Beaumont]

Watching the reruns tonight - they showed Doug's "Prison of Love" bedroom. I actually really loved that room. It was my colors, I loved the mural, and would probably even keep the toilet bench (at least for a while!). But what I really loved about the episode is the Prison of Love's homeowner reaction! I'm always jealous of people with a great big easy laugh - and that homeowner's reaction was so priceless! I really couldn't tell if she even liked it - but she had such a fantastic reaction! I wonder what, if anything, they changed.

[Iwunderu]

I am so excited for this reboot! There has been a severe lack in decorating shows for quite a while now.

I am watching the original run on demand and this show was on at a perfect time in my life. I was a new, young homeowner without a lot of money. Boy, we sure like the celedon green back in the day! I have watched about 4 episodes and, I think, all had that similar shade of green. I have to admit, I painted that color in a bathroom and I wonder if I got the idea from the show. 

[auntjess]

The ones I saw were earlier that what I'd seen, and by the time I started watching, there were already lots of crappy ones, and old timers on TWoP reminisced about "crying Pam."
 

[drafan]

I loved the original TS back in the day.....I think it was one of the first "home design" shows on TV. (My all-time fave was "Curb Appeal"....wish they'd bring that one back.)

I watched a few of these vintage episodes in the past week or so....my thoughts.....

Genevieve's pseudo-baby-voice was super-annoying. Hope she gives that up in the reboot.

Vern used too many candles......so dangerous and who was going to light wall-candles to eat dinner every night?

Ty talked like he had a mouth full of nails.

Doug's shtick was bordering on sexual harassment. I think once TLC caught onto the Bad Boy Doug theme, they encouraged the behavior.

Frank's rooms all looked like baby nurseries.

Paige's little bitty t-shirts are so dated.

I think Vern cheated and spent more money or pre-bought his stuff.

It's so funny watching them wrangle huge bulky TVs.

The rooms were all horrible by today's design show standards.

I think the invisible crew did most of the work. The carpenters are mostly shown measuring, or nailing something already completed.

I think all the designers look great (in the previews) .....maybe they've had "work done", or have just aged well.

Can't wait to see them back !  ((Glutton for punishment!!))

[Maverick]

 Vern's use of candles was a running joke even back when the show first aired.  I think it even followed him to HGTV.   I remember Vern saying that  he had a storeroom of decorating supplies (things he would pick up during sales, etc) and would pull from to do the rooms.  

[joanne3482]

16 hours ago, Maverick said:

I remember Vern saying that  he had a storeroom of decorating supplies (things he would pick up during sales, etc) and would pull from to do the rooms.  

I wouldn't be surprised if most of them did this. I think they all had their own design businesses so I can see them having some items they picked up on sale, especially after season 1 of the show when they kind of had the flow and knew how much/little $1,000 could buy.

 

16 hours ago, drafan said:

The rooms were all horrible by today's design show standards.

As I've been watching the reruns, it's been interesting... Frank's beloved faux painting technique is so incredibly dated. There was a recent rerun where he did a kitchen and faux finished the floors to look like "tile," faux finished the walls with both sponging technique on one and rocks on another and faux finished the counter tops. I think he came out either at or over budget and all I could wonder was what he spent his money on.  

I was always partial to Vern so I think some of his looks withstand the test of time better. I did always like that he seemed to try to appease the clients' taste. There was a recent episode where the room was full of collectibles and he designed spaces for them even though that wasn't his aesthetic. Hildi would have removed all the heads on the bobble heads and made them into some weird custom art piece. 

[AnnieHeights]

2 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if most of them did this. I think they all had their own design businesses so I can see them having some items they picked up on sale, especially after season 1 of the show when they kind of had the flow and knew how much/little $1,000 could buy.

 

As I've been watching the reruns, it's been interesting... Frank's beloved faux painting technique is so incredibly dated. There was a recent rerun where he did a kitchen and faux finished the floors to look like "tile," faux finished the walls with both sponging technique on one and rocks on another and faux finished the counter tops. I think he came out either at or over budget and all I could wonder was what he spent his money on.  

I was always partial to Vern so I think some of his looks withstand the test of time better. I did always like that he seemed to try to appease the clients' taste. There was a recent episode where the room was full of collectibles and he designed spaces for them even though that wasn't his aesthetic. Hildi would have removed all the heads on the bobble heads and made them into some weird custom art piece. 

I posted Frank's kitchen episode in another thread!  I just thought it looked so horrible and the sweet lady who lived there seemed to just love it!  It looked nothing like stone nor tile IMO and the very formal curtains for the domed window was awful as well and I totally agree I could not figure out what he spent his budget on.  I caught one where it was Laurie doing a kid friendly room in a basement and Vern did a bedroom for a couple and they surprisingly held up fairly well to today's designs.  Laurie did a Matisse themed mural and Vern did a padded wall/headboard that although slightly dated was by far the best two I have seen since watching the reruns.   Oh and I had to laugh at the earlier poster talking about his love of candles.....this bedroom had them all over the place and I kept thinking what a fire hazard!            

[Maya]

2 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

As I've been watching the reruns, it's been interesting... Frank's beloved faux painting technique is so incredibly dated. There was a recent rerun where he did a kitchen and faux finished the floors to look like "tile," faux finished the walls with both sponging technique on one and rocks on another and faux finished the counter tops. 

I just watched that one too. I remember being appalled the first time I saw it too. I wonder how long that painted floor lasted. Five minutes? 

[auntjess]

They should show the April Fool's episode, where they pranked Doug and Hilde.

[roughing it]

15 minutes ago, auntjess said:

They should show the April Fool's episode, where they pranked Doug and Hilde

I don't remember that.  Can you explain?

[auntjess]

I remember that one homeowner was supposed to have left their dog for the others to care for, and they said it died on them, and they said they'd had it stuffed, and brought it to Doug to put in the room.
Can't remember what they did to Hilde.  
It was set up between the crew and the homeowners.

[Mountainair]

On 3/27/2018 at 3:05 PM, Maya said:

I just watched that one too. I remember being appalled the first time I saw it too. I wonder how long that painted floor lasted. Five minutes? 

I think he also painted a tablecloth on the formal table in this same episode. Paint can be expensive! 

I saw the one episode where Hildy I think completely covered this couples fireplace with a huge entertainment monstrosity! This particular couple was kind of anal about their sconces because they were part of a historical homeowners society or something so the fact that their beautiful fireplace and mantle were now hidden from view I just knew they'd have a heart attack when they saw the room but they seemed to love it! Not only do the designers make built ins for those big box tv's that aren't really around much anymore I've also seen them make built ins for CD's and magazines which have also gone by the wayside. 

[fountain]

I am enjoying the reruns.  I forgot how much styles have changed both with home design and hair/clothes.  It is crazy to me that I thought some of the stuff was nice back in the day lol.  So far the only grey I have seen was in the prison bedroom, as crazy as that was back that so far it has been the most liveable room I have seen.  Currently watching one with Laurie so it might end up okay (although I remember it and it is the plastic bins on the fridge episode).

[chitowngirl]

The black and white rooms that Hildi and Doug did was shown last night. I can’t believe that Doug ruined a beautiful room for his gimmick. Both he and Hildi viewed this as a game. People had to live there and had to undo so much of their damage.

[LexieLily]

25 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

The black and white rooms that Hildi and Doug did was shown last night. I can’t believe that Doug ruined a beautiful room for his gimmick. Both he and Hildi viewed this as a game. People had to live there and had to undo so much of their damage.

I just saw that one last night and I don't remember if I saw it when it originally aired or not but at least the black room was fixable because it was ribbon on the walls and ceiling and not paint; it would just be time-consuming to take it down. I can't believe Doug painted the wood white after those homeowners had spent so much time to sand it down. That was probably what that homeowner was so upset about more so than the white. All he could see was a room that now had to be completely re-done and he could have done that by himself without having to do the show.

Paige seemed very unconcerned about the homeowner's reaction that he was so unhappy with his room. I don't remember if she was always like that or whether it was just for that episode. How did she react to Crying Pam and Brown Jessie? Or hay-on-the-wall homeowners or the not-wine-drinkers-that-had-wine-labels-all-over-their-kitchen? 

[Bastet]

I watched the black and white episode last night, and I wouldn't have wanted either room in my home, but at least the couple doing the black room knew their friends were actually going to dig it, and they did.  Their friends knew they were going to hate the white room.  I know they're pretty much stuck, by having signed up for the show, and the designer is going to do what he wants no matter what they say (well, certainly if the designer is Doug, because he's an asshole), but they could have at least told Doug, "If you want this window molding they spent untold hours sanding painted, you are going to have to do it yourself.  I'll paint the walls, I'll even paint the floor since you've protected the wood underneath, and I'll paint all this white furniture, but I am not personally going to be responsible for the windows or the fireplace."  Because Doug would never put in that much work.

[Mountainair]

I just watched the black and white episode and both rooms were awful! I felt sorry for the friends having to do the white room knowing the homeowners were going to hate it and they'd have to re do it all again later. And homeboy was pissed when he saw that white room!  Who ponies up the $1,000 in the first place? The homeowners or the show? Then the homeowners have to pay out of pockets to fix the rooms if they don't like it? 

I didn't recognize the carpenter so this must have been by the time I quit watching. 

[Spunkygal]

I posted about the b & w rooms on the Reboot forum. I would beat the crap out of everyone involved in that white room if I were the homeowner. This is the one and only episode of this show I've ever seen and I will give it a trial run of two of the new episodes but will skip any episode featuring that jackass Doug. Not only was painting the window trim outrageous, but he painted the fireplace AND tiles. He must smoke some real whacky shit. If this episode had occurred  recently, I'd start a Gofundme for the homeowners to help with putting that room back to where it should be. 

ETA: I was not too impressed with the lady decorator and her black ribbon room. 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Spunkygal

[LexieLily]

I was setting the reminder on my TV for the premiere of the reboot and the first episode is a Doug/Hildi episode. Make of that what you will. Maybe time and age has softened them?

[Nordly Beaumont]

9 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Paige seemed very unconcerned about the homeowner's reaction that he was so unhappy with his room. I don't remember if she was always like that or whether it was just for that episode. How did she react to Crying Pam and Brown Jessie? Or hay-on-the-wall homeowners or the not-wine-drinkers-that-had-wine-labels-all-over-their-kitchen? 

I just saw Paige do a talk at the Home and Garden show today. She said that she was proud of how she handled the reveal with Pam and felt she did the best she could with an awkward situation. I agree. Pam left the room with her mic still on and you could here her crying (Paige today "Trust me, there's not a producer in the world who would have turned that mic off!") After Pam left Paige asked the husband if he felt there was anything they could do to salvage it. He said no, there's "only one thing in the room that looks remotely like it was." Paige (today) said "When he said that I thought "Well, duh! That's the whole point of the show!" And that's the thing, I know some people want the designers to give the homeowners what they want, but that's never been the point of the show. It's always stated you have no say in what goes on in your home. That's the deal. And some homeowners say they don't want things and actually like it if that's what they end up getting. Paige gave the example of one woman who said she hated Asian style. And that's what she got. She loved it. Paige asked her how she could love it when she hates Asian style. The woman said "It's not red and black" - so she said she hated a style she didn't even really know. The point is to do something the homeowner couldn't think of on their own.

She also said that she was not proud of how she handled the reveal with Brown Jesse (who she calls "Angry Jesse") and felt she didn't do the best she could with an awkward situation, because she really didn't know if Jesse was kidding when she knocked her friend to the ground and started to choke her. She thought it had to be a joke, but then realized it might not be and just didn't know what to do. She said to her knowledge it's the only friendship that ended because of the show.

She said very firmly several times that she stands behind the designers. But when asked which room she truly hated, she said "The hay!" She said when the first thing the homeowner said was "The ceiling is pink" she thought "Seriously! That is the first thing you mention!!" She said she knew what Hildi was going for but it just didn't turn out. 

The wine label room wasn't brought up. It wasn't a bad reveal IIRC. They just didn't care much for it. I never got the angst over that one. They weren't alcoholics or even teetotalers. Wine labels just don't seem offensive to me, they're just labels and they can be quite pretty (having said that I didn't think the ones used were all that pretty).

I honestly don't care if a homeowner doesn't like the room, it's a chance you take even if you get the much loved Vern (he's a snooze fest to me and I would most likely be disappointed in a room he did for me). But I did feel bad for the white room guys. I always hoped that they were able to get the paint of quickly since it wouldn't have fully cured yet and might be easier to remove. At least Hildi's room had texture and purpose. Doug just painted everything white. No thought or design at all.

[LexieLily]

1 minute ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I just saw Paige do a talk at the Home and Garden show today. She said that she was proud of how she handled the reveal with Pam and felt she did the best she could with an awkward situation. I agree. Pam left the room with her mic still on and you could here her crying (Paige today "Trust me, there's not a producer in the world who would have turned that mic off!") After Pam left Paige asked the husband if he felt there was anything they could do to salvage it. He said no, there's "only one thing in the room that looks remotely like it was." Paige (today) said "When he said that I thought "Well, duh! That's the whole point of the show!" And that's the thing, I know some people want the designers to give the homeowners what they want, but that's never been the point of the show. It's always stated you have no say in what goes on in your home. That's the deal. And some homeowners say they don't want things and actually like it if that's what they end up getting. Paige gave the example of one woman who said she hated Asian style. And that's what she got. She loved it. Paige asked her how she could love it when she hates Asian style. The woman said "It's not red and black" - so she said she hated a style she didn't even really know. The point is to do something the homeowner couldn't think of on their own.

She also said that she was not proud of how she handled the reveal with Brown Jesse (who she calls "Angry Jesse") and felt she didn't do the best she could with an awkward situation, because she really didn't know if Jesse was kidding when she knocked her friend to the ground and started to choke her. She thought it had to be a joke, but then realized it might not be and just didn't know what to do. She said to her knowledge it's the only friendship that ended because of the show.

She said very firmly several times that she stands behind the designers. But when asked which room she truly hated, she said "The hay!" She said when the first thing the homeowner said was "The ceiling is pink" she thought "Seriously! That is the first thing you mention!!" She said she knew what Hildi was going for but it just didn't turn out. 

The wine label room wasn't brought up. It wasn't a bad reveal IIRC. They just didn't care much for it. I never got the angst over that one. They weren't alcoholics or even teetotalers. Wine labels just don't seem offensive to me, they're just labels and they can be quite pretty (having said that I didn't think the ones used were all that pretty).

I honestly don't care if a homeowner doesn't like the room, it's a chance you take even if you get the much loved Vern (he's a snooze fest to me and I would most likely be disappointed in a room he did for me). But I did feel bad for the white room guys. I always hoped that they were able to get the paint of quickly since it wouldn't have fully cured yet and might be easier to remove. At least Hildi's room had texture and purpose. Doug just painted everything white. No thought or design at all.

Thanks for the updates, Nordly Beaumont.

Wow, I remember the tackle but I don't remember that Brown Jessie tried to choke her friend. Yikes! I'll need to go to YouTube for that one. If I'm remembering right it was actually a pretty room, just - brown. I also didn't know the friendship ended because of the show. These are the kinds of details the nosy version of me lives for ;)

Wasn't the removal of all the hay paid for by the production company? 

[Maverick]

 I can't feel too bad for the homeowners, especially in the later seasons.  They producers were all clear, even when the show was still on the air, that it was a game show.  You had no say in your room and what you got.   You being given a design consultation.  Some of the shit Doug and Hildi did went too far, but even after a while you knew that was risk of playing the game.  I have little sympathy for the hay wall couple.  If anything I was annoyed at them.   If you have a Craftsman, Victorian, Cape Cod or other type of historic/style-specific home and you want to stay true to the architecture, then don't sign up for a cable reality show where a stranger comes into your house without your supervision and tries to redo your room for $1,000.  I did think it showed a lack of professionalism (or showed a huge ego or both) when the designers would alter or destroy historical architecture or furniture.  The thing that bugged me the most on the homeowners behalf was when things were agreed to be off limits and then used/changed anyway.  It may have been a game show, but every game has rules.    

[Nordly Beaumont]

1 minute ago, LexieLily said:

Wow, I remember the tackle but I don't remember that Brown Jessie tried to choke her friend. Yikes! I'll need to go to YouTube for that one. If I'm remembering right it was actually a pretty room, just - brown. I also didn't know the friendship ended because of the show. These are the kinds of details the nosy version of me lives for ;)

Wasn't the removal of all the hay paid for by the production company? 

Honestly, I don't remember choking either, I seem to recall wrestling around and it looked joking to me, too. Paige said they looked for two hours today to try to find that reveal online and couldn't. So if you find it, tweet her! She said through the interview process Jesse never mentioned hating brown. On "day zero" when they film homeowner interviews and the designers shop, that's when Jesse brought it up. So Laurie was out buying brown (taupe really) paint while Jesse was revealing she hates it! And for cryin' out loud - it's just paint! I think her friend is well rid of her!

The first question Paige got was did the production company ever go back and fix anything. The answer is no. There are "a multitude" of contracts signed before starting where the homeowners agree that anything goes. Unless of course an item is "protected" - meaning it's been written up as protected. They never altered anything officially protected. When Crying Pam said "you're going to be fixing that" - she assumed Doug actually altered the fireplace, which he didn't. Paige said that it was "kind of catty" but the whole crew wondered what she thought was so special about the fireplace (personally, I think she just didn't want painted brick, and I don't blame her at all) - but Paige said that since the brick wasn't very pretty, the style wasn't unique - she figured there must be a memory to make her so sentimental about it. Then she did a sort of Mae West voice and said "just what did they do in front of that fireplace?"

[LexieLily]

I wish you hadn't told me that last paragraph. I like Paige and I want to keep liking her, but that little anecdote makes me not like her a little bit. (Unless of course Crying Pam didn't have the fireplace protected, whatever that means. Maybe they did and Doug wanted to skirt the edge by making the painted fireplace cover but not actually touch the fireplace). It doesn't much matter what was special or not about the fireplace, Crying Pam didn't want it touched or altered for whatever reason so of course that was going to be the first thing she saw when she saw the room.

The show should be somewhat grateful to Crying Pam ;) Wasn't that one of the first "OMG they hated it" reveals that went semi-viral (as in it got viewers talking) before "going viral" was a concept? 

[Nordly Beaumont]

2 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Unless of course Crying Pam didn't have the fireplace protected, whatever that means. Maybe they did and Doug wanted to skirt the edge by making the painted fireplace cover but not actually touch the fireplace

Pam did have the fireplace protected which means no alterations of the item protected. No paint, no nails, no cutting the top off grandma's hope chest. Doug did honor that by not actually attaching the surround to the fireplace.  I'm sorry I didn't do well in my writing (I rarely do!), the bit about wondering why it was so important to Pam was more lighthearted in person than my dull storytelling conveys. I like Paige very much and the way she told it was not mean spirited at all. But apparently Pam made such a big deal of it that the crew just wondered why it was so important to her. Again, IMO, it was just not wanting the brick painted because, as I understand it, it's super hard/expensive to remove paint from brick. And painted brick is a totally different look from brick, unnatural vs natural. Some of us vastly prefer natural. I'm not sure why Paige and the crew couldn't think of that, maybe it's just being so immersed in design. I feel like if Pam knew it was a removable surround she wouldn't have cried. She still wouldn't have liked the room, but she wouldn't have been so upset. She thought Doug broke the contract, and that certainly would be upsetting for a lot of reasons.