You noticed the show Trading Spaces is back on TV, did you? Big news, it is.
Back in the early 2000's, the show was quite the thing, with fans excitedly gossiping about watching people move into friends' homes and redesign a room with the help of a designer. It seems innocent enough, right? Oh no. Some of the design jobs, involving glue and Liquid Nails and sledgehammers and all sorts of drastic changes, left homeowners in tears. And the show would just pack up and move on to the next place.
Lots of designers came and went during the show's run, but there is a core of designers that were part of the show's identity in its heyday, and those designers are back for the reboot. To understand the show, you need to understand those designers. There are many new faces on the show this season as well, but we'll all have to take some time to get to know them.
We'll list them here ranging in degree of anxiety you'll experience when you find out he/she is in charge of redesigning a room in your home without you there to stop it.
1) Vern Yip
Typical Design Trends: Throws lots of stuff into a room, usually involving elaborate shelving units and bits of cool furniture and interesting lighting. Likes lots of color, but is a master and keeping things under control. Makes a room look so good, you'll want to invite people over to see it. Isn't afraid of showing exposed electrical cords, because all that track lighting has to plug in somewhere. Has a knack for designing rooms that will look contemporary 10 years from now, yet manages to find antique chandeliers at local shops that would normally be too expensive for the meager budget of the show, and then he says "I got a really good deal," which is code for "I never have to pay full price because I am in the Gay Mafia."
Three words that describe his work: Tasteful, Contemporary, Stylish
Degree of Anxiety: 1. If Vern is designing your room, you are almost guaranteed to get something you'll like. No problem.
2) Frank Bielec
Typical Design Trends: Every room had a theme. Country Kitchen. Southwestern Living Room. Bavarian Ski Lodge Bedroom. Approaches his room designs as if they are art projects, and will spend more time creating a fun mural on a wall than designing any actual furniture. Isn't afraid of a bit of creative clutter. Known to occasionally decorate with ceramic chickens.
Three words that describe his work: Festive, Crafty, Suburban
Degree of Anxiety: 3. Frank's taste may not be your thing, but it was usually perfectly pleasant, often creative, and always safe. And entirely reversible. But why not keep it the way he did it? It's fun. If someone were to tally up all the times a room reveal caused the homeowners to scream and cry tears of joy, Frank's colorful rooms of whimsy and ceramic chickens would probably be at the top. He's big with the Fiestaware collector crowd.
3) Laurie Smith
Typical Design Trends: Never met a can of paint she didn't like. Picks a color and introduces 47 shades of it into one space. Especially fond of soft shades (pale green), earth tones (brown), and for some reason orange. which she uses to often paint interesting shapes on accent walls. Isn't afraid to design furniture or fixtures that are one size too large for the room, because why not? Uses lots of fabric, with slipcovered furniture and curtains and pillows everywhere, although sometimes things look a little DIY. Thinks TVs should be hidden from sight and does not hesitate to take down a ceiling fan if it doesn't match her slipcovered furniture.
Three words that describe her work: Romantic, comfy, pleasant.
Degree of Anxiety: 4. More of an interior decorator than a designer, she has pretty good taste and usually plays it safe. And of all the designers Laurie has always seemed to be the most concerned for designing what the homeowners would actually want. And if you don't like what she does, just take off the slipcovers and re-paint the walls and all's well.
4) Doug Wilson
Typical Design Trends: Often uses shades of grayish-blue. Rooms look like they should be in a home design magazine published somewhere in the Midwest. Considers white to be an accent color. Occasionally gets bored and decides to have some fun for the sake of the show, by designing a room like it was a themed honeymoon suite in a cheap hotel, and he's end up with his version of a jungle (painted zebra stripes, and lots of tropical plants) or a room painted like a prison cell, with the walls painted to look like concrete blocks...of course using several shades of his trademark grayish-blue.
Three words describe his work: Cool, reserved, WASPy. Just like him.
Degree of Anxiety: 6. Doug likes playing the part of the bitchy villain designer, and gladly locks horns with the visiting homeowners if they hesitate to do things to their neighbors' rooms. But in the original incarnation of the show, as the seasons played on, this became more of an act for the cameras and clearly he is a nice guy who just likes having fun on TV. However, this also means he takes great pleasure in ignoring what the homeowners would want, and instead doing what he wants, but fortunately he also doesn't like to leave things looking tacky, so things usually work out. And when he goes awry, he is more likely to err on the side of not being adventurous enough.
5) Genevieve Gorder
Typical Design Trends: of form-follows-function and knows how to make a room work, y'know? Keeps the carpenters busy by designing big, bold furniture and fixtures that create drama. Good at mixing not only colors, but textures and materials, to make a room look like the design was expensive without being fussy. Isn't afraid to take risks, and has good taste so those risks usually work, although once she lost her mind and covered a wall in metallic paint, sprayed oxidizing solution all over it, and invited the homeowners to watch it rust and change colors over time. This was inside the home, remember.
Three words that describe her work: Eclectic, Attractive, Fun. Just like her!
Degree of Anxiety: 6. Genevieve usually stands alongside Vern in the "You're going to love it" category, as her designs are timelessly contemporary; when she gets it right, it is really right. But she isn't afraid of using a hammer and a saw to tear apart a room, moreso than her fellow designers, and that permanence is a lot more risky than Laurie painting the walls brown and green or Frank creating a piece of art in the shape of a sun. And Genevieve has a few bungled rooms that haunt her, so there is a lingering worry that she will pull out her staple gun and cover your wall in living moss, which you would then have to spray with a water bottle every day or it will die. She did this. And again, this was inside the home, remember.
6) Hildi Santo-Thomas
Design Aesthetic: Approaches room design like a fashion school student would attempt to make a couture gown: everything is entirely experimental, and she's much more interested in exploring the design process than in the final result. Challenges the idea of what "interior design" should entail, and likes to use non-design materials just to see what will happen, which sometimes looks great. But sometimes, it doesn't. Seems to not test her choices before applying them to someone's home, and if it doesn't work out, the homeowner suffers as a result. However, when it does work out, the result is exciting, and can become the most interesting room in the house. Very generous with giving big shares of her budget to the show's carpenters, so they can create legitimate pieces of furniture that the homeowners can keep for the rest of their lives, which is in stark contrast to some of the goofy design choices she makes for the rest of the room. Then there was the time she designed a kitchen with a tile mosaic of her own face covering an entire wall. Hilarious for a TV show, but who wants that in their kitchen? (And tile mosaic is not easy to remove.)
Three words to describe her work: Infuriating. Provocative. Conceptual.
Degree of Anxiety: 8. When Hildi accomplished rooms that worked well, there was often a sense of disbelief that it actually worked. Sadly, there has often been a sense that she really didn't know what she was doing, and was using materials she had perhaps never tried before, which is just unfair to the homeowners. Other times, she knew what she was doing but obviously didn't care about the functionality of her choices--like when she turned a living room into a beach cabana, and covered the floor in sand. But for all her flubs, she has also come up with some exciting ideas, far more adventurous than anything the other designers dreamed up. Covering a kid's room in old CDs may seem like a gimmick, with all the prismatic color radiating off the surfaces of each disc, but to the kid who lives in that room, it could be the coolest thing ever. So it's a toss-up. If Hildi is in your house, maybe you'll get lucky. God help you if you're not.
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