Trade places! Two neighbors, two homes, two renovated rooms and a team of interior design experts made up TLC’s Trading Spaces Reality TV show.
The original eight-season TLC series was aired from 2000 to 2008 and showed how home renovators could transform a dull room in their house with limited time and budget. Each episode was set in a different location, and introduced viewers to two families who wanted to renovate a single room in their home. To do this, they gave their keys to one other for 48 hours. They were then matched up with an interior designer and carpenter to transform their space. They had 48 hours and a $1000 budget to make it happen before they revealed the final details.
“As a host in those moments, to be quiet is really the best thing I can do,” Paige DavisThe show was hosted by, who exclusively told the story Us Weekly In May 2018, of showing the final product to an unhappy homeowner. “Everyone’s disappointed. Everybody thinks, ‘Oooh, ratings! It’s so exciting!’ But nobody’s happy when the homeowners don’t like it. [I have] to let them vent and get it out, and be like ‘It’s OK, you can change it, you can always paint over it!’”
After the show went off the air in December 2008, the network eventually greenlit a two-season reboot — with several of its most iconic stars and an increased budget of $2,000.
“I will be hosting Trading Spaces again. I’m back at TLC, back home and back where I belong,” Davis announced in July 2017 ahead of the series premiere.
It aired almost 10 years after its original version was cancelled. Trading Spaces Designers are back Hildi Santo-Tomas, Genevieve Goering, Doug Wilson Vern YipYou can also fix up more rooms. Ex-show contractors are also available. Ty Pennington Carter OosterhouseThey made the transition to being designers. Newcomers Brett Tutor, Joanie Sprague, John Gidding, Kahi Lee Sabrina SotoThe program also featured a star.
“When they came to me and asked [if I would do the reboot], I said, ‘Of course, I’ll do it’ because it’s family — the family that gave me my start,” Pennington — who wed Kellee Merrell in November 2021 — told the Chicago Tribune In May 2019. “Not to mention, to me, it’s still one of the most fun formats I’ve ever been involved in. You’re doing one room, it’s only 2½ days, and you’re giving somebody with a plain bedroom something that’s different, unique and fun.”
The Ty Breaker host added: “And everybody has fun during the process. It was easy. Because of my experience, I know not only how to finish a room but also know how to make good television now, so if you let me off the leash, I’ll definitely give you some entertainment. … The thing about Trading Spaces is it’s about making something out of nothing and to try to do it in a creative way.”
Scroll down to see the cast’s adventures since their days of renovating on budget.
