Trading Spaces is an hour-long American television reality program that aired from 2000 to 2008
on the cable channels TLC and Discovery Home.
The format of the show was based on the BBC TV series Changing Rooms.
The show ran for eight seasons.
Premise In each episode, two sets of neighbors redecorated
one room in each other's home.
Each two-person team had two days, a budget of US$1,000, and the services of a designer.
Although the producers generally allowed the teams to go over budget slightly, there was
one instance when a designer went $150 over budget and the producers forced her to return
a rug she bought for the project she was working on.
The teams have no say over what happens in their own homes, but are able to give input
into what happened in the home they are redecorating.
The teams are not allowed to enter their own home for the duration of the show, and the
transformed rooms are revealed only at the end of the final day.
The show was generally credited with sparking a nationwide interest in home decorating and
improvement television shows in the United States.
At the peak of its popularity, it inspired ancillary products such as two Trading Spaces
books and a computer software program.
The show also served as the launching pad for Ty Pennington, one of the show's original
carpenters who went on to become host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC.
Changes First season episodes featured host Alex McLeod
and some designers who never returned to the show such as Dez Ryan and Roderick Shade,
and was produced by Knoxville, Tennessee-based Ross Productions.
Beginning with the second season in 2001, Paige Davis took over as host, with the new
production company being Banyan Productions of Philadelphia.
It was a tradition for early-season episodes to be videotaped in and around the production
company's home base.
Beginning in the show's fifth season, homeowners chose up to three rooms for their neighbors
to fix up, and the rooms were selected randomly, with some rooms having increased budgets of
$2000 or $3000.
Midway through this season, Paige Davis left as host, and episodes now often featured two
carpenters.
This change allowed the two homes to be farther apart, with the most extreme case featuring
homes in New York and Oklahoma in the same episode.
On November 13, 2007, it was announced that Paige Davis would be returning as the host
of Trading Spaces beginning in January 2008.
The first episode with Davis as host aired on January 26, 2008.
The show also changed production companies, from Banyan Productions to A. Smith & Co.
Productions.
On February 6, 2009, Paige Davis announced that Trading Spaces was not picked up for
a ninth season.
Cast The show featured different participants each
episode.
The designers and carpenters alternate for each show.
Hosts Alex McLeod
Paige Davis Designers
Goil Amornvivat Frank Bielec
Nancy Hadley Laurie Hickson-Smith
Gordon Holmes Lauren Makk
Hildi Santo-Tomas Edward Walker, originally a fabric coordinator
for the show Douglas Wilson
Laura Day Mario DeArmas
Nadia Geller Genevieve Gorder
Jon Laymon Christi Proctor
Rick Rifle Dez Ryan
Leslie Segrete Roderick Shade
Kia Steave-Dickerson Barry Wood
Vern Yip Anna Ryder Richardson
Carpenters Amy Devers
Faber Dewar Thad Mills
Brandon Russell Patty Benson
Jason Cameron Andrew Dan-Jumbo
Andy Kane Jimmy Little
Carter Oosterhouse Amy Wynn Pastor
Ty Pennington Leslie Segrete
Spin-offs
Trading Spaces: Family
The first spin-off, entitled Trading Spaces: Family, also aired on TLC.
It allowed larger teams of three or four, including children considered too young to
participate in the original Trading Spaces program.
The same designers and carpenters worked with host Joe Farrell.
Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls
Another spin-off, Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls airs as a part of Discovery Kids.
Unlike the original, this version uses the same two designers and two carpenters for
each episode.
In addition, there is no budget limit, and the rooms are rebuilt into theme rooms, making
the show look more like Monster House.
Reruns premiered on The Hub until New Year's Eve 2010.
Trading Spaces: Home Free A spun off series produced for TLC in 2004.
It is a spin-off series from Trading Spaces, Trading Spaces: Family, and Trading Spaces:
Boys vs. Girls, in which the winning couple received their home, mortgage-free.
Trading Spaces: 100 Grand This was a single episode where they increased
the budget to $50,000 per team.
The Best Of Trading Spaces In January, 2011, TLC's sister channel OWN
debuted The Best Of Trading Spaces, which revisits some of the traded spaces from the
series.
Paige Davis hosts the new segments, including interviews with the people who traded spaces
in each episode and what has been changed in the spaces since the original episode aired.
References
External links Official website
Trading Spaces at the Internet Movie Database Trading Spaces at TV.com