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CNN.com
7.16.02

'Trading Spaces' show spins beige into gold
Surprise hit remakes residences

By Thurston Hatcher


ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- It's hot. It's happening. It's the home improvement show that isn't just for housewives.

"It's wild," says Ty Pennington, one of the increasingly recognizable stars of TLC's "Trading Spaces" series. "Even the young hipsters, you know, on low-rider bicycles are like, 'Hey man, we love your show, dude.' "

"Trading Spaces," which kicks off its third season September 7, follows the well-worn trail blazed by Bob Vila, Martha Stewart and a bevy of HGTV programs, but it has quickly built its own unique cult following.

"It crosses all racial and gender and age boundaries, which I think is fantastic," says Genevieve Gorder, one of the show's rotating crew of six designers.

Since its debut, "Trading Spaces" has emerged as the ratings leader at TLC, the reality-oriented cable network formerly known as The Learning Channel.  

Like many American hits, it's actually patterned after a British series -- in this case one called "Changing Rooms," which now airs on BBC America.

"I think it's the concept that really does it -- the fact that these people, these homeowners are just regular people like you and me," says Pennington, an Atlanta carpenter whom PEOPLE magazine recently ranked as one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors.

"It's not like we're doing the standard showing how to build a 12-by-20 deck. We're going in and doing things that not a lot of people do."

It might have something to do, too, with the reaction on participants' faces when they see what has become of their bedrooms.  

Pullman cars and racy lingerie

For the uninitiated, the hour-long show features two couples who agree to exchange homes for two days and, with the help of a "Trading Spaces" designer and carpenter, refurbish one of the neighbors' rooms for less than $1,000.

More delectably, applicants sign releases acknowledging that the show isn't responsible for redecorating a room that isn't to their liking, thereby granting the designers free rein to assert their artistic will.  

Like the time in Maryland when designer Doug Wilson retrofit a train-lover's bedroom to make it look like a Pullman car -- which didn't go over particularly well -- or in Houston, when he enlarged a photo of a resident in racy black lingerie and made it the focal point of her overhauled living room.

The makeovers aren't always so extreme, but if host Paige Davis and the fun-loving "Trading Spaces" gang descend on your home, it's a safe bet those off-white walls won't last long. Given their shoestring constraints, the designers use creativity, craftsmanship and some clever resourcefulness to dream up dramatic makeovers.

Along the way, Gorder insists she's on a mission to spread the word about innovative interiors.

"I feel the country has kind of gotten stuck in the pattern of trying to be like everybody else and not really celebrating their individuality," says Gorder, speaking by phone from an Amtrak train zooming through New Jersey toward her New York home.

"I think it's kind of our job to come in and, through design, color, texture and form, celebrate people's personalities on their walls."  

'They really do some interesting things'

Janice Craig, a North Carolina decorator who is president of the Interior Design Society, suggests Gorder and her colleagues may be making an impact.

"I can't tell you the number of times people have said, 'By the way, have you seen that "Trading Spaces" show? They really do some interesting things on there,' " she says.

Even if the "Trading Spaces" decorators don't always leave their customers satisfied -- and they don't -- Craig says the show is good news for the interior design industry.

"As far as I'm concerned," she says, "that kind of show only helps what I'm able to do because it shows them they can take a room that's absolutely nothing and turn it into something that looks pretty darn good."

For Gorder, the show brings its own personal rewards: those instances when, as she puts it, she helps awaken someone's imagination.

"That is the most precious moment," she says, "that I wish I could bottle and sell."


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