November 19, 2004

Reality TV rolls into town

Two San Jose families exchange keys and decorating styles

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

For “Trading Spaces Family” host Joe Farrell, San Jose will be remembered as the home of his 81st episode. The show will air later this year. Photo by Kymberli W. Brady

A large, brightly colored trailer made famous by the popular television show “Trading Spaces” recently slipped into town under cover of darkness and came to rest in a quiet residential neighborhood. At 8 the following morning, two Almaden families swapped house keys and set out to redecorate a room in each other’s home during a two-day whirlwind makeover that—ready or not, ended 56 hours later—compliments of “Trading Spaces Family.”

Although the work is now done, the rooms revealed, and the families reunited with their homes, we can’t tell you who they are or where they live—we won’t even be able to reveal their handiwork until the show is broadcast to a nationwide audience on The Learning Channel [TLC] later this year. But, according to a few “inside” sources, it promises to be well worth the wait.

We sat down with the Trading Spaces host, carpenter, and designers for a sneak peak at what to expect—and whether these neighbors knew each other well enough to make the endeavor a memorable one, or close the door to rooms they’d rather forget.

With three hours to go, the traditional “crunch time” flurry of activity was starting to build. Yet, after 80 episodes, host Joe Farrell remained optimistic and said both families offered “very diverse” styles that fit the criteria they typically look for when selecting their “teams.”

“We try to get families where everyone has different interests,” he explained. “Here, one dad is a firefighter and the other works on cars. One mother is a schoolteacher and the other is from Switzerland. The girl is in eighth grade, loves horseback riding, and wants to someday work with animals, while the boy, a sixth or seventh grader is into all sorts of activities.”

The show’s concept is simple. Each household agrees to surrender one room in their home to the other, knowing they will not be allowed back until the moment of truth. They are given a budget of $1,000 and assigned a designer, who helps with the transformation while they strip, rip, paint—even do homework—for the next two days. The formula wraps reality TV around home improvement, a ratings goldmine for today’s pop-culture audience.

“The benefit to this show is that you get to see teenagers interact with their parents,” Ferrell said. “It’s much more of a family experience than we initially anticipated—a real bonding, because you’re sequestered in one room with your family for two days.”

Armed with only videos and written interviews, “Trading Spaces” designers Barry Wood and Christie Proctor met the families on Saturday and surveyed the rooms for the first time.

“One’s from New York and one’s from Texas,” laughed carpenter Carter Oosterhouse. “Good Lord, they are completely different styles. It’s going to make for a good show.”

“The families didn’t know who their designers were until the day we arrived,” said Farrell. “That was their first surprise—it was exciting to see.”

“We have such a fun group here,” added Proctor. “The woman from Switzerland has her own unique sense of style and her husband is really offbeat and fun. The other family is hilarious. Their daughter has this huge pet rat living in the room that Barry is doing and we’ve been joking about that all weekend.”

Both Wood and Proctor admit that their working conditions are anything but typical in a profession that hinges on knowing how their clients “tick” before opening a single can of paint. It’s a risky business.

“Normally, I would never design a place without going there first,” said Wood, “Here, I had to guess a lot, but that’s part of the fun.”

Considered one part artist, one part architect, and one part rock ‘n’ roll, Wood’s project functioned in several different ways that allowed him to offer a variety of options for his team. Although sworn to secrecy, he did hint that whenever he’s involved, “expect a lot of color.”

“I normally do something a little different, but here, I didn’t get too crazy,” he said. “There’s going to be some elegance, some function, and some kind of wacky stuff.”

With Proctor, trying to satisfy two very different re-quests proved to be a test of her eclectic talent for rustic elegance.

“I tried to do something they would all enjoy,” she explain-ed. “He wanted a theater room and she wanted more classic clean lines. Even though he was more vocal about what he wanted and she’s expecting a room for him, I’m hoping I got enough of both of them to please her too. We even finished with five minutes to spare.”

“This episode had so much going on,” admitted Oosterhouse. “The designers are supposed to have only two carpentry projects. In this case, they had about five a piece. We ventured into new territory here, and were able to mess around with things that we’ve never messed with before.”

Once the plans were in place and work was well underway, each family was given a “homework” assignment that, in one case, offered very little in the way of sleep.

“They (the families) were both hard workers,” said Oosterhouse. “I know one family stayed up until 1:15 in the morning and were back up at 5:15. They worked hard and you can definitely tell by the way they painted. They spent a lot of time putting on extra coats and made sure it was nice and layered—even and consistent. It was a rarity for sure, and a pleasure to see.”

Oosterhouse couldn’t disclose whether the projects went over budget, but said the workload was much higher than usual.

“All I can say about this episode is that we pushed it to the limit. We worked until we couldn’t work anymore. I’m exhausted, but it was a lot of fun.”

With little input on the process, both families accepted the fact that they might not like the outcome and agreed in writing to release the show from any disappointment. Even with the legalities out of the way, it still hits the cast hard when a family isn’t pleased.

“There’s so much at risk in not knowing your client,” observed Wood. “We can’t help but take it a little personally.”

“Sometimes, they get really stressed out,” added Ferrell. “That’s the draw. Real people are doing the work—it’s not being done for them. It’s my job to make sure everyone stays positive and the energy stays up.”

In all, the production consisted of two designers, a host, a carpenter, two families, and two very different projects. But for the 20-member camera and audio crew, it’s a grueling, 24-day schedule that produces six of the show’s 45 episodes per season. Once Farrell says his goodnights and calls it a wrap, the trailer is loaded up and back on the road by 8—ready to slip into a new neighborhood and start shooting another episode the following morning.

“It amazes me what we get done in two days,” Farrell said. “The designers tailor their projects around the people doing them. Here, we did an office/family room and a family room/den. These designs are very interesting and very unique—we did stuff we’ve never done before, so it’s going to be very exciting.”

Because the merciless schedule offers little margin for error, projects are occasionally held together with duct tape—literally. If a room cannot be completed on time, unfinished projects are either cut out or carefully “taped” into place for the final shots—while the family is left with the necessary hardware and instructions to complete it on their own.

While the trailer houses everything needed to make the show possible, everyone agreed that the most precious commodity was the “writing on the wall—” hundreds of signatures on the plywood-lined interior from families thanking the team for turning their lives upside down for two days, while leaving behind memories that will last a lifetime.

“I can’t imagine having a better job,” said Ferrell. “We thought it would just be a room with paint and they would either like it or not—but it’s really moved people. It’s all about being able to do something really cool.”

For more information on Trading Spaces Family, log on to http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/tradingspaces/tradingspaces.html.