TV's 'Spaces' has designs on DVDs, books
By Jay Dedrick Maybe it’s the home improvement ideas. Maybe it’s the mostly young, mostly pretty people directing the interior decorating. Or it could be the moment when homeowners open their eyes to see reinvented rooms for the first time, the instant that could lead to tears of joy — or revulsion. It’s probably all of the above that draws 6 million viewers weekly to Trading Spaces, TLC’s top-rated show and one of cable’s top five entertainment programs. In its third season, the series is invading other media, with a DVD, The Best of Trading Spaces (Artisan, $19.98), and book, Trading Spaces: Behind the Scenes (Meredith Books, $19.95) arriving in stores this week. Each episode of the reality-based series features two homes and two sets of neighbors. They agree to swap homes for two days while one room in each home is remodeled on a $1,000 budget. With the help of a carpenter, each pair of neighbors performs the work, from painting to installing flooring to upholstering furniture. Participants are at the mercy of a professional designer who chooses a remodeling concept. The friends might make requests of one another — Please don’t touch the fireplace! — and they have input during construction, but the designer has the final say. "Our show is very empowering because it’s this pseudo-how- to/decorating show where you don’t have to be Bob Vila to do it," says Paige Davis, host since the second season. "It’s not him on our show; it’s the soccer mom and the college student and your uncle. It’s an empowering thing to see someone like your mom with a power drill." Davis flits between houses during shooting, pitching in with projects and offering comments to the designers. In outtake footage included on the DVD, she isn’t shy about questioning the look of a rugged stone-and-grout fireplace makeover. "I definitely have an amateur interest in decorating, and I’ve always strived to make my home beautiful. I’ve always had a great interest in creating and in making the surroundings aesthetically pleasing," says Davis, 33. "My mom went to interior design school when I was younger, so I was used to being schlepped around to textile shops in my childhood." Still, Davis is an entertainer first. A singer-dancer, her enthusiasm and ease on camera are more vital to the show than her decorating aptitude. Designer Doug Wilson knows personality is what sells the show, too: His acting background prepared him for the series as much as his unplanned career as designer. "It was just survival," says Wilson, one of eight designers featured on the show. To pay bills while studying Shakespeare in New York, he found work as a handyman. That led to regular work doing specialty paint treatments on high-end home renovations, and enough exposure and confidence to start his own design business. "Trading Spaces is fantasy land when it comes to design," says Wilson, 38. "Interior designers work in a completely different way. We’re creating TV, and my job is to entertain. If they’re not entertained, interested or engaged, this might as well be just another decorating show." One way he entertains is by challenging expectations. In one episode, when a homeowner hands him neutral color samples that the neighbor hopes will be used, Wilson snidely tosses them aside. He’s more likely to paint a bold, red-and-white geometric pattern on the walls than blend tans and beiges. "Why do I contradict the homeowners? Because they’re not designers! They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about!" says Wilson, who built his role as the show’s bad boy with stunts such as tossing a sofa out a third-story window. "People generally try to do too much, use too many ideas in one room. "If you look at Trading Spaces rooms, they’re specific. There’s a definite concept going on. They’re not cluttered by a bunch of tchotchkes lying around. They’re clean, crisp. They have more of a modern line and edge to them. That’s because most of the designers here are young, and in order to do something for $1,000, you have to work with straight lines a lot. Curves take time; our rooms are linear and quick." Wilson figures the show is at least partly responsible for improving sales figures at big-box home improvement stores across the country, and he praises the series for heightening awareness of design within the mainstream. "There’s never been a forum for interior design to influence or reach the masses at such a young level; there are kids 7, 8, 9 who love the show," Wilson says. "There’s going to be a trickle-up effect, and it’s going to help teach our nation about design and good taste." |
