Newspaper Page Text
Page 4
Entertainment extra • 4/23AM thru 4/29/04
'Trading Spaces' builds
on a strong foundation
By Kate O’Hare
©Zap2it
More than a few home remod
elers have fallen prey to "While
we're at it. why don’t we ...?”
syndrome, in which a simple
bathroom redo can mysteriously
morph into a new addition and an
in-ground swimming pool. So it
should be no surprise that a show
about revamping rooms would
also believe that more and bigger
is better.
An unqualified phenomenon.
The Learning Channel's
“Trading Spaces” - in which
neighbors have two days, SI,OOO.
a designer and a half-share in a
carpenter to secretly redo rooms
in each other's homes - has
spawned several offspring.
There’s TLC’s Sunday-night
“Trading Spaces: Family.” in
which parents and children work
together; NBC's Saturday-morn
ing “Trading Spaces: Boys vs.
Giris.” from Discovery Kids, in
which parents are not allowed;
and "Trading Spaces: $100,000.”
a highly rated, two-hour special
last October that had budgets of
$50,000 per room.
On Sunday. April 25. TLC airs
the finale of the latest spinoff,
"Trading Spaces: Home Free." in
which eight sets of neighbors
have competed for the chance to
pay off one family's mortgage,
with viewers choosing the rooms
they like best.
As the competition pro
gressed. designers threw chal
lenges at the homeowners, who.
unlike regular “Trading Spaces,”
were in charge of designs, budg
ets (which, in this show, spiraled
as high as $20,000) and shop
ping. The finale recaps the com
petition and reveals the ultimate
winners.
“I'm not a homeowner yet.”
carpenter Carter Oosterhouse
says, “but I relate it back to my
parents' house in Michigan. It's
the house I grew up in, that they
still live in, and if they had the
option to just pay it off. it would
be much better than having
another house in Traverse City. It
means more.”
Os course, putting the home
owners in the driver's seat made
for a different experience.
“People usually listen to what
the designers say and the carpen
ters say,” Oosterhouse says, “but
now. they're so much more
intense. They rise to the occa
sion.”
As for what it means for him
to work off the homeowners'
plans. Oosterhouse laughs.
"Well, come on now. you’ve seen
the designers' plans. It’s not a
bad thing. It’s just different,
because now you're dealing with
somebody who is not really sure
how to put together a piece of
furniture. They'll just bring pic
tures of what they like. I usually
end up drawing it up.
“Some have had outlandish
ideas, and I've said, ‘That's not
going to work with the budget we
have and the time we have.' But I
definitely want the homeowners
to have their full input. It’s their
opportunity to shine.”
On "Trading Spaces." design
er Doug Wilson is known more
for staying true to his design
vision than taking a lot of home
owner input. But that doesn’t
mean he hasn’t enjoyed the
"Home Free” experience.
“When people do come to the
table and bring a concept, well
thought out and ready to execute.
I think that's fantastic.” he says.
“I really welcome that. If I think
they’re doing something wrong
and they need to rethink. I'll tell
them. It's been a great experience
to have people come to the table
with something to lose or gain.”
The ever-expanding universe
of “Trading Spaces” doesn’t stop
with “Home Free.” At a recent
meeting with advertisers in New
York. TLC unveiled a slate of
prime-time specials, starting
with a bloopers special, “Trading
Spaces: Unglued.” on June 12;
then, on July 11. "Trading
Spaces: Inside Out.” which visits
cast members' homes and reveals
how an episode is made.
But there's more, starting in
the fourth quarter of 2004. and
Wilson plays a large part in the
plans.
“I'm signed on to ‘Trading
Spaces' for three more years." he
says. "I'm making TLC my
home, so people know where to
tune in and find me. So, I’ll be
hosting four, two-hour quarterly
segments for TLC. called
‘America's Ugliest Rooms' - big
budget. lots of fun.”
Included are bathrooms,
kitchens, bedrooms and living
rooms. “They will start ugly and
JB
& I
Carter Oosterhouse is one of the stable of carpenters appearing in both The learning Channel’s
“Trading Spaces” and its spinoff, “Trading Spaces: Home Free,” which has its season finale on
Sunday.
hopefully, by the time I’m done,
they will end ugly ..." Wilson dis
solves in laughter at his perhaps-
Freudian slip. “I mean, they will
end pretty. They'll end pretty."
Wilson says there are plenty
more specials under the “Trading
Spaces” banner. The first takes
advantage of the musical talents
of Wilson, host Paige Davis and
carpenter Ty Pennington (and
some Broadway guest stars).
“We’re doing ‘Trading
Spaces: The Musical,’ ” Wilson
says. We're going to be redoing
two castles in Scotland in
‘Trading Spaces Goes
Medieval.' We're also going to
let the viewers choose the next
new designer that will be coming
up. this fall, in ‘Trading Spaces:
Choose the Next Designer.' So
the show’s not getting stale at
all.”
One upcoming show res
onates on a personal level with
Wilson, whose urbane persona
belies a rather rural upbringing.
"We’re doing a show on my
family farm in Illinois.” he says.
“It’s been in the family for 125
years. It’s going to be my broth
ers. who live three minutes apart.
My four brothers will switch
rooms. That'll be interesting,
because people will be like.
‘What?' Juxtaposed against my
brothers. 1 don’t know where I
came from."
With any luck, Oosterhouse
will also get to have a family
affair on “Trading Spaces."
“There's a possibility we
might go to Michigan in the
summertime," he says. “1 push
for it every day."
While he says an emphatic
“No" to the question of whether
it will be in his parents' house.
Oosterhouse allows it may be in
the home of a friend or relative.
“It would be a blast," he says.
"Hopefully in August, we’ll be
able to."