Why I'm Less Than Excited About Trading Spaces

OK, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING...

"Mariel, how can you feel this way?! Trading Spaces was a classic! They were the innovators of designing on a budget...HOW DARE YOU???"

Listen, I'm just as surprised I'm saying this as you are. As a young girl who always had an interest in decorating rooms, I loved watching Trading Spaces to see how just 2 days and $1,000 could transform a space into something totally new. So lets backtrack to when my best friend text me letting me know that the rumors were true...Trading Spaces was coming back with the original cast! Needless to say, I was super excited. I mean...Trading Spaces inspired me to build my own bed when I had a vision of my perfect Mickey Mouse themed room but no one carried a bright orange upholstered twin-sized headboard! Yes...it was that serious. But with the new season of the reboot underway, the emotion I'm feeling is not excitement, its not anticipation, it's anxiety.

This weekend is the weekend I FINALLY don't have anything to do. No meetings, no consultations, no NOTHING. I slept in [10:30] and had a great breakfast knowing that I had absolutely nowhere to be and nothing to do today. Naturally, I checked the TV guide to see what shows I could relax and take in on this rare day off and Trading Spaces was just the thing.

I've already said before what fond memories I have of the show, so I settled in to binge. The first episode I watched was one in which Doug and Hildi (two of the most controversial of the show) worked on 2 Los Angeles couples homes, one in an all black motif and the other in all white. Mind you, one of the couples had the most ADORABLE bungalow that they'd spent who knows how many hours restoring the floor and wood trim so the thought of them painting over all that work already had me clutching my pearls. Needless to say the end result drove one of the couples to tears and after watching the "Prison of Love" episode, complete with a table made of toilets (how did I forget such a crappy design choice...sorry...I had to) I realized that the warm fuzzies I remembered getting from the show were just nostalgia clouding the fact that lots of these makeovers were really poorly done and left the homeowners with rooms worse off than they started.

Now to be fair, all of the rooms weren't this horrible. Trading Spaces definitely inspired many homeowners who didn't necessarily have the biggest budgets to use what they had and get innovative to create the space of their dreams. I mean we all know and LOVE the show's undoubted fave, Vern Yip who created some of the most fabulous rooms in the show's history. There were lots of amazing rooms created and very satisfied couples and that's what made the show such a hit. Sure drama and a few tears make for great tv, but what we really loved was that moment the couple opened their eyes and absolutely flipped out with excitement. Let's just hope that this new season brings more cheers than tears. And just in case you don't recall some of the more...interesting...makeovers, hit the video below to give you a little refresh. Watch at your own risk!

That's all for now...

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-MT