Tricks of the trade
By Kathleen Merryman Several million people think Pam Herrick is far too attached to her fireplace. They wonder if Pam and John Herrick and their best friends, Laureen and Charlie Jobe, are still talking. People who have never met the couples, or seen their houses, comment about all of them on the Internet. The Washington Post, without ever speaking to Pam Herrick, called her "amply sized, happily outdated, stubbornly unadventurous" and described her as mourning "the loss of her saggy floral sofas and the dull brick of her fireplace." The same writer called John Herrick "generally clueless." Cheap shots, it turns out, are the price of fame obtained by participating in a television reality show — even a reality show about home decorating. The Jobes and Herricks of Puyallup did not imagine it would be like this when they filled out the Web site application to appear on "Trading Spaces," on TLC, formerly The Learning Channel. A knockoff of the British hit "Changing Rooms," "Trading Spaces" has become a surprise phenomenon and the highest-rated show on TLC. More than 6 million people tune in at 8 p.m. Saturdays to watch room redos fueled by equal parts of talent, ego, angst and adrenaline. Even more have made standing dates with daytime reruns. Here's the show's premise, as described in the contract participants sign with Philadelphia-based Banyan Productions: Trading Spaces is "about friends and neighbors who redecorate a room in each others' homes over the course of three days with a budget of just $1,000 and the assistance of an interior designer and a handyperson/carpenter." The Jobes and Herricks signed their contracts Oct. 25, 2001. Remember that date. It will come in handy later. They had applied in June. In July, they were asked to send information about themselves and photos of their homes. "In September, they said they wanted to send out a location scout," said John. He arrived in October. "We had entered our rec room," said Pam. "It was too big for the camera, so he asked, 'Do you want to do another room?' We said, 'How about the bedroom?' And he said, 'How about the living room?'" Rather than scotch the project, they agreed. But they had just watched a "Trading Spaces" fireplace disaster unfold when a designer plastered it, then stuck beads into the plaster. The beads popped off and shattered on the cement floor that remained after the same designer had ripped out all the carpeting. "I said, 'It's a deal breaker if you touch the fireplace,'" Pam said. "He said it would not be a problem." He was, as fans of the show now know, flat wrong. The scout told the families to set aside Nov. 26-28 and warned them that over those three days they would have to unplug their phones, board their pets and send their children elsewhere, all at their own expense. They agreed, and the scout asked about their personal styles. John Herrick said he liked the look of an English library or a Nantucket beach house. The Jobes, who have four children, told the scout they hoped for color and more seating in their family room. With that said, their homes measured down to the last lamp base, the fireplace protected in the contract and the sense that they would influence the finished product, both families got back to their lives while the TV producers lined up the talent. Designer Douglas Wilson — the young one with the movie star glamour — got the Herrick home. Designer Frank Bielec — the bearded one who could be anyone's zany uncle — got the Jobe home. Wilson took an instant dislike to the fireplace, which would not go with the dark brown walls and matching denim upholstery he proposed. "The designers get the specs and pictures for the room, and they come up with a design plan and a vision for the room," said Denise Cramsey, the show's executive producer. "Doug has a modern and cosmopolitan taste. His vision did not include a fireplace with pink brick. He wanted to paint it white. I said, 'You cannot. It's protected.' He got a little bit upset about that." Cramsey and Wilson brainstormed the idea of building a facade for the fireplace out of the same wainscoting Wilson intended to install around the room. Still, Wilson was not happy and, on Nov. 15, faxed Cramsey his design for the Herricks' living room. He gave it a flippant and insulting title that played off the "Nantucket" theme. On Nov. 26 — the day after Thanksgiving — the crew arrived and set up work sites — Carpentry World, Sewing World, Craft World — in the Herricks' driveway, the Jobes' garage and various dining rooms. The couples switched houses for the weekend, forbidden to talk to each other or glimpse the work in progress. In the Herricks' home, Wilson gave the Jobes masking tape and set them to measuring and taping squares onto the wall above the wainscoting he was installing. He showed them the brown denim for the slipcovers. As you can see, when the show repeats April 27, they were getting along swimmingly. "Now I want to paint the fireplace," Wilson tells the Jobes. "No way," counters Laureen. He persists. She insists. It would all be great anyway, she tells him. "I'm not happy," he says. "It's OK not to be happy sometimes," she says, smiling at him, trying to make peace. "If it's going to be so great," Wilson says, "why don't you guys go ahead and do it? I'll give you guys a plan and you guys can just do it yourselves. I came here for a reason, to redo the room. If I can't do the room how it needs to be done to make a whole, you know, a wonderful change, I don't know what I'm doing. You guys can do it yourselves." He walks off and slams the door. "Well now, he's a little cranky," Laureen says, trying to make the best of it. Mind you, at this point, Wilson already had plans drawn and materials purchased for the fireplace cover. Still, we see him stalk out and commiserate with carpenter Ty Pennington. In no time flat, he's back with a plan for the surround that would not permanently harm the fireplace. The Puyallup couples felt Wilson set them up to create tension. Cramsey said that wasn't the intention. "Doug being Doug and the character that he is, he could not let that go without making a scene," she said. "Then, once the idea of the fireplace was introduced, from a storytelling vantage, we had to find a way to have Doug change his mind on camera." When Wilson returns, the Jobes keep on smiling and working, being good sports. Never mind that they were constantly waiting for the production crew to catch up with the job. Never mind that there wasn't enough time to add a paint treatment Wilson said would soften the dark walls. Never mind that they were worried their friends might not like what Wilson had done to their living room. "We're pretty good-natured people," Laureen said. "We tried to do our best." Meanwhile, the Herricks were having a ball with Bielec. They were sure their friends would love the deep red and textured gold they painted the walls. They painted a fireplace screen and made folk-art self-portraits for the wall. "We had so much fun, it was worth what happened next," said John. That was what the show terms The Reveal. Each couple is taken to their room with their eyes closed. The camera films them as they open their eyes and react to what they see. That moment is what has made this episode of "Trading Spaces" the most talked about in the show's two-year history. It's the top topic on the show's message boards, where Pam and Laureen have been hurt by insults. It's inspired the episode's informal title: "The Weepfest in Seattle." Pam cried. For a minute or so, she tried to comment on the things she liked — the wainscoting, for example, and an area rug. But the dark brown, sleek, modern room bore no relation to their lifestyle, taste or the rest of their home. She was exhausted. She was upset with the fireplace. So she said she had to leave the room, and, off camera, with her microphone still on, she cried while her husband said of the room, "The rest of it is just so not us." The moment overshadowed The Reveal of the Jobes' room, which they loved. The strain between the two women was shocking. Standing with the two couples, the show's hostess, Paige Davis, tells Laureen, "They had an adverse reaction." "We were afraid of that," Laureen replies. "Then why didn't you say anything?" Pam asks. Puyallup couples reveal inside story behind 'Trading Spaces' redecorating TV showPaige looks concerned. "Are you guys still going to be friends?" That, say the couples, is the same question they've been getting constantly since the show aired this winter. "In the grocery store people will ask, 'Are you the guys from "Trading Spaces?" Are you guys still friends?' I say, 'Yes, we are,'" Charlie said. And they are. They would be friends even if Pam had not found the proof that her friends never had a chance to influence the design. After the crew left town, leaving behind 21 sacks of garbage and the money to take them to the dump, she went looking for two light fixtures ripped out in the remodel. She found a copy of Wilson's design fax. Pam read Wilson's derogatory title and interpreted it the way most people in her position would - as an indication of the designer's lack of respect for her wishes, sensibilities and home, not as a private joke. The fact that the mirror nailed to the fireplace surround fell off didn't soften her opinion. Neither did the Herricks' discovery that sawdust trapped between the surround and the gas fire had come close to combusting. Shortly after the crew left, the Jobes were over at the Herricks' with an extra gallon of their red paint, which Charlie applied in no time. It looked great with the wainscoting. By Christmas, Pam had blue plaid slipcovers on her furniture, and a hand-painted Santa — a gift from Bielec — on the mantel. It's a bold, updated country look. And the fireplace fits right in. |
