Deborah
B+
119 users
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MPDP appears in a t-shirt, denim jacket, and jeans, and announces that they're in beautiful Downers Grove, Illinois. We see a shot of the homeowners, perched on a child's slide/playset, holding their four young children. Julie and Jill turn out to be sisters, as well as -door neighbours, and will be redoing each other's homes along with their partners. Gen, Vern, and Ty are shown by some water, feeding some geese. Ty says something about a goose needing to "shave his tongue." Gen's wearing an I Heart NY t-shirt; Vern's looking mighty fine in a mocha ribbed turtleneck. Ty's wearing the slacker outfit of a short-sleeved t-shirt over a long-sleeved t-shirt. Gen will be redesigning Jill and Dave's basement; Vern will be renovating Chris and Julie's kitchen.
MPDP goes on to describe Jill and Dave as the "quiet, outdoorsy type." They're shown outside rolling some brightly coloured balls in a game I don't recognize. It's a nice, quiet, outdoorsy game, though. Jill says that the fireplace in their basement gets used a lot, but that they don't like the look of it. It's plain flat brick, painted white (with some smoke staining), featuring a shallow stone mantel. Dave's been mulling over what to do with the basement for five years. We see a shot of it: greyish white walls; white tiles on the low ceiling, many missing; three saggy, old, lamentable couches (one grey, one gold, one cream) arranged in a U-shape around the fireplace; some kind of low-pile greige carpet. He says he'd been planning to put in pressed aluminum ceiling tile and pine panelling on the walls. He also wanted to paint the fireplace and put in a new mantel. They're interested to see what will be done to the room.
There's a shot of Julie's kitchen as Jill says that Julie and Christopher hate their kitchen. They don't have enough storage or counter space, and they now have three kids. The kitchen is pretty small, with a sort of dining area just off it. The kitchen has lots of Rubbermaid-type storage bins in it; the countertops are cluttered, and there's a general mishmash of storage items and furniture in an attempt to provide enough working area and cupboard space. The cupboards are a fairly dark brown with very little detail. Dave thinks they'll see just about anything as an improvement, and will not be disappointed. Jill: "Have you seen their room? It needs work."
Cut to Julie and Chris, who are sitting on their deck playing with some action figures. Julie says their biggest problem is that their dining area no longer accommodates their family; she just had twins in May, making, I guess, five people in their family. There's a shot of their dining area: it's a plain white box off the kitchen, with grey vertical blinds in front of what's probably a sliding door to the deck; a small round pine table with four chairs, and a pretty godawful light fixture centred above that. The floor is white 12" tiles. She adds that they have peel 'n' stick vinyl flooring as their backsplash; there's a quick shot of it behind the stovetop. Julie says that's a big problem for her. It's about to be a bigger problem for Vern and Jill and Dave. They reiterate the lack of storage and workspace problem, and that it's just not working for their family. Julie says that her sister's basement is a dark, dingy-looking room, adding that they should just give her a sledge hammer and tell her where to go. Dave adds that anything would be an improvement over the current basement.
“ Gen says that she's thinking of a cabin-y, woodsy look. The room is going to be a 'wood extravaganza.' This room is so bad I'm not even scared by the sound of that. ”
Key swap. MPDP is probably a 7 on the Hyperometer.
Gen's in the basement, calmly ripping out the existing ceiling tiles, as Chris and Julie bound in. MPDP voice-overs that they'll be replacing the tiles with wooden planks. She's glad to see they're revved and says, "This is a cave, and we need to un-cave it." She says that the ceiling tiles have got to go, and that she's thinking of a cabin-y, woodsy look. The room is going to be a "wood extravaganza." This room is so bad I'm not even scared by the sound of that. Gen removes tile while her team tells her its vision. Chris says that Dave and Julie hardly ever watch the TV, but they do sit by the fireplace all the time. Gen says that the fireplace wall is the "wall of drama." Julie says they also play a lot of board games down there, so it would be nice if there were a table large enough for that. I can't see any table in the room now. Julie also suggests couches that match. Gen's all for it. Fast-forward room-clearing commences.
Jill and Dave go into the kitchen to find Vern with a screwdriver and hammer, chiselling away at the vinyl tile "backsplash." (I will not go on a "what is wrong with people" rant, I will not go on a...) MPDP voice-overs that they're in for a long day. Dave and Jill ask how Vern is; Vern says he's good, but he'll be a lot better once the tile's off the walls. He asks about their ideas for the room. Jill says they need a lot more of every kind of space; Vern acknowledges that they've been improvising with a variety of items. He adds that there's a lot that needs to happen "aesthetically," and describes the room as a "time warp" that's screaming for help. Dave jokes that he enjoys the '70s. There's a shot of another, very dated overhead light fixture. Vern says that they're going to prime and paint the cabinets, and add new hardware; get new light fixtures; take down the "backsplash"; remove the wallpaper (which I can't really see); prime and paint all the walls, including in the eating area. Holy ambition, Batman. He says the furniture's going to go: Chris and Julie are getting a new table and chairs, barstools, and a custom built-in bench with some wall-mounted pillows as backrests. And they're getting new window treatments, because "vertical blinds are out." They really are. They always look to me like they belong in the waiting room of a not-very-successful dentist. Vern, Jill, and Dave unload the room.
Gen gives her team some safety goggles and gloves and asks them to start taking down the tiles. She'll follow them, pulling out staples.
There's a shot of some yellow paint being painted on the wall; Jill seems to like it. Dave finds it "interesting." Vern teases him about having hoped for beige. Then we're off to commercials. Seems early in the episode for commercials.
While Gen's team continues ripping down tiles, Vern shows his team some of the fabrics they're going to use: some white fabric for 18" x 36" wall pillows that are going to slide on a rod, accented with buttons in a chartreuse cotton. Vern says that they have a lot to do, and then adds, as if there's not enough on this particular plate already, that he know all four of the homeowners hate this kitchen's countertops, so they are also going to recover them with new black laminate. The cabinets will be white. Vern, are you sure you don't want to also rip up the floor? Frankly, you're not making all that great an effort here.
They're still removing wallpaper, but Vern's happy because he's getting a large section off in one piece.
Gen dumps some dye into the washing machine; it looks very red in the water. They start feeding the fabric in, and says that they have to put it on an extended wash cycle so it can "brew" longer.
MPDP decides to put in an appearance at the kitchen. Basically, she's there to harangue them about the schedule. She informs them, based on her experience in other homes and the amount of demolition work and so forth that they're doing, that they're way behind. Jill's surprised to hear it; Dave thanks MPDP.
Gen's vacuuming up the tile-removal mess as Ty arrives to receive his assignments. Ty keeps looking up at the ceiling, as he and Gen sit on the floor. He says, "This is a great room! This is exciting." I guess he sees something I don't. Gen: "Architecturally, so stimulating!" They crack up. They agree on doing the ceiling first. Gen's main concern is that there's a place for them to stack their wood on the fireplace wall.
MPDP is saying, "This is really harsh," and looking dismayed as Dave explains that there's a layer of paint under the wallpaper. I can see behind Jill that some of the drywall paper is coming off the walls as they remove wallpaper. The walls are a mess. Dave thinks it's going to take all night. Vern is hammering in the background (probably chipping away at those stupid peel 'n' stick tiles). Jill wonders if Vern has some kind of miracle for them. MPDP asks Vern about that. Vern says, "I totally agree with the homeowners that even now, it's a huge improvement, and I would be satisfied with leaving it at this stage..." MPDP cackles.
Gen shows Ty her sketch for the shelves that will surround the fireplace. Ty tells her about some adjustments he's made to accommodate budgetary constraints. Gen informs him that she's going to need him to chop some wood. Ty pretends to complain about this.
MPDP's got her arm around Vern, and is hassling him about the fact that he's not only removing wallpaper but taking down tile, too. Well, you're not helping him get it done any faster, standing around chewing the fat about it, lady. Move along. Vern comments sarcastically on the bright person who thought of putting floor tiles on the drywall as a backsplash, and about how they're paying the price. For the benefit of those who can't see what the big deal is here, it's that peel 'n' stick floor tiles come with adhesive that's meant to stick to a plywood subfloor, not drywall. You can hardly help taking the wall with it when you remove that stuff. When I interviewed Vern, he told me this was the most difficult room he did in all of Season Two (and also, that it was already surpassed in aggravation factor by one of the very first Season Three episodes they shot).