Original subtitles

[upbeat music]

- I'm Luke Macfarlane.

I'm an actor, design enthusiast, and a woodworker.

When I'm not on set - Ifilming movies,ane.

I'm pursuing a lifelong passion for carpentry

and home renovation,

a skill that's been passed down through my family.

♪ ♪

Together with my friend,

interior designer Olivia Westbrooks,

we will meet all kinds of families--

both: Hi!

- --and breathe new life into their favorite spaces

that have lost their way.

- We did good. - It looks great.

♪ ♪

Our designs will honor family history--

Wow.

--while making room for the present

and the future.

- Look at that.

- This is fantastic.

- We're here to restore what matters most.

♪ ♪

Because I believe memories should be built to last

and home is where the heart is.

♪ ♪

Olivia. - Hi!

- Hi.

- So good to see you. - Good to see you.

Great to see this house in person.

- Right? It's so gorgeous.

- It's a classic Victorian.

All that gingerbread and all that detail.

- Oh, my gosh.

Can't wait to see what it looks like on the inside.

- Absolutely.

- Let's go. - Let's go.

Yes.

Oh, what a fun doorbell.

[doorbell chimes]

- Hi, welcome!

- Hi! - Hunter, hi!

- How are you?

- It's so nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

- So, I'm a Southern hugger.

- Oh, so am I.

- Hi! - Brittany?

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

- Thank you for having us.

♪ ♪

Wow, look at this.

We are looking at a classic Victorian.

This is one of the best examples I have ever been in.

- It was Hunter's grandmother's house.

- This house was built in 1897 as a Victorian-style house.

My grandmother purchased this home in 2008.

- This She lived heret in 1897 for roughly about 13 years.

And then we purchased it in 2021.

I grew up here as a teenager.

It's great to see and have those memories in this house,

but also now we're starting our own memories and our own family.

- That's right.

- One important thing about living here in this house

is really preserving our family history

and continuing that legacy with our kids.

I really do hope my kids one day will own this house

and continue that for their kids, as well.

- So you always knew your grandmother

would be the person that was interested in old homes.

- Yes, she was really involved in restoring

and renovating old houses.

So this is actually the second home

she purchased here in Social Circle and restored.

[upbeat music]

Our families have been here for several generations in the area.

- Social Circle is a small-knit community.

Everyone looks out for one another,

which is something that's very important to us,

especially raising two young boys.,

We have one 4-year-old and one 6-month-old, so...

- Ooh. - Keeping a house that

still keeps its authentic aheritage of being old,...

along with making it a place for our children to safely play,

is very crucial.

- My grandmother was a collector of china.

She loved to collect antiques.

She loved to preserve the true nature of a historic home.

And one of the big things she did here was

she had everything staged, as it would have been in 1897.

When she had this house,

she didn't have young children.

So how do we preserve the historic nature of this home

and able to raise two young children in here?

So how do we preserve the hiWe can't have a museum.ome

and a- Well,raise twthere's a responsibility?

Soto an old house, too.he hiWe can'- Right. museum.ome

- 'Cause I'm looking around twat this woodwork here,ty?

Soto which has lastedo.he hiWe cover 100 years,eum.ome

and you don't see nicks and carvings and dings on it.

So you want to make sure that it stays that way.

- Stays that--exactly.

- But you want the kids to also be kids

and be able to touch things.

But this is all in just such incredible condition.

How much did you guys have to do when you moved in here?

- When we moved in, we painted.

We moved some things around.

But the structure of the home

is all the same as when she was here.

We left all the wood and trim original.

- OK, well, I'm delighted to see this.

- Yes. - I personally think

if it is made it this long without getting painted,

- Yes. why put paint on it now?

- Right. Exactly. - Yeah.

- Hunter's very pro-natural wood.

I'm very pro-paint it.

- Ah.

- So that's kind of where we differ.

I would like to paint some parts of the home

that have the dark wood,

just 'cause I feel like it would lighten it up.

I love it, don't get me wrong,

but I just feel like it would bring like a breath of fresh air

to the-- - I'm gonna stand with Hunter.

- All right, so we're a team-- - Pro.

- And you're a-- - I'm with Brittany on this one.

I really do feel like a fresh coat of paint

can really modernize a really beautiful,

historic house like this. a fr- Absolutely.aint

- Do you have any favorite colors

that you like to work with?

- I tend to gravitate towards blues and greens.

- Yeah? That's a great color palette.

- Well, we definitely need your help,

because we are just at a standstill.

We have no idea where to go from here.

So we are very glad that both of you are here.

We have no idea wher [light music]ere.

So it was a little difficult that bothat firstare here.

having the idea of moving in here.

This is always known as Hunter's grandmother's house.

So in my mind, it's remained his grandmother's home.

I always want to make sure to honor his grandmother,

but there is some struggles with making it my own home.

I alI don't feel like sure it truly reflects who we are.

I don't feel like our heart is in the home just yet,

and I would love for us to bring that aspect into the home.

I dWhy don't you show usart isthe rest of the house?

- We'd love to. Right this way.

- Great.

♪ ♪

OK, so we're kind of stepping into a different vibe here.

- Yeah, so this is the mudroom, is what we're calling it.

- Yeah, this is the door we use the most.

It leads right out to our vehicles.

It's very cluttered and needs some organizational magic

to happen to it.

- This is Main Street. - This is.

This is high traffic. - This is high traffic.

- This is high traffic.

- Everybody on their way, in and out, OK.

- You know, We have the front of the house,

but this is where we live, is in the back of the house.

- Kind of getting the sense that this was maybe

not original to the house?

- No, we don't know when it was built.

We're kind of estimating in the '40s.

- This is a great example of a space

that's missing the Victorian charm

like the rest of the house has,

and I have no idea how to incorporate that.

- I see that we're repeating another theme

with using antiques in this room, as well.

- Yes, absolutely. - Yes.

I think it's very important to include

some of those historical family pieces.

- Yes.

- You should have seen this when my grandmother had it.

It was full of antiques.

- You should have seen this whe- Quite the collector.t.

- She was quite the collector. - Yes.

- Well, the good news is,

you have this incredible big window here.

One of my favorite features in an old house,

it is...a window bench.

- Does that lift?

- It does lift up.

There's some storage under there.

There's nothing under there. - Oh.

- But, yeah.

The- It does feel brightere. and cheery.

You have a lot of light in here.

- It is very white, which is so different

from the rest of the house.

It may be an opportunity to inject some color,

some of those blues and those greens

that Brittany talked about.

- Yes. - Oh, that's a good idea.

- All right. - Yes, the only color

we currently have in here

are these lovely drapes that were also passed down

from Hunter's grandmother. we current- Mm.ve in here

- So I wouldn't say it's my style, exactly.

Victorian architecture is kind of, by definition,

allowed to be a little bit of a mix of everything.

So we don't have any super hard, strict rules about stuff.

And that's, I think, to our benefit.

We can celebrate the eclectic.

- Well, we've talked a lot about the mudroom.

- Yeah. - I'm really anxious

- Well, we've talked a lot to get into this kitchen.

- Absolutely. Right this way. - Absolutely. Let's go.

- Let's go.

- OK. - So here's the kitchen.

- OK. - - Yeah.o.

- All right. - All right.

- This is where we share meals together.

This is where we talk about our day.

This is where we talk about our struggles and our triumphs.

This is really the heart of the home.

And how do you take the space like this

and transform it into something that honors the past?

- Believe it or not, I actually met Hunter's grandmother

for the very first time in this kitchen, sitting at this table.

- No way. - At this actual table?

- Yes. - This is a true story.

- Did you think at that time

that this would be your kitchen one day?

- Not in my wildest dreams. - Did you - Yeah.t that time

- It's just a very full circle moment.

I actually have some photos for you guys.

These are us growing up.

- Oh, look at you guys. - Oh, my goodness.

- Lookit, you're babies.

- Right.

- L- Oh, my goodness.es.

- We met sophomore year of high school,

and we've been married for about six years.

So being high school sweethearts,

I feel like it's a very special thing.

We've really got to see each other grow

as individuals together.

We've really got to see - Oh, y'all are so cute.

You must have made quite the impression on grandma.

We've really got to see -- [laughs] I think so..

- Wow.

And there she is. - Yep.

- Hunter, is that you?

An- That is me.s. - What?

- Goodness. - Hu- That is me. you?

An- That is me.s. - Look at you.

- That's such a special photo to have.

An- That is me.s. Oh, thank you.

- That's actually from one of the rooms in the house.

- So this is the way it would have looked--

- When she had it decorated.

- Oh. - So, see the antiques?

- I am getting it now.

Lots of antiques.

All right. - That's right.

- And how much time do you spend in the kitchen?

- A lot. - A lot of time.

- This is, I would say, the heart of the home.

- This is the heart of the home.

- Yeah. - As Southerners,

we gather around food,

and that's kind of where our, you know,

entertaining comes from,

along with having kids.

So preparing snacks, lunches, breakfasts, dinners.

I mean, we are in here nonstop.

- Uh, the stove,

does it require you putting wood I mean, we ainto it?re nonstop.

- [chuckles] - It actually does not.

This is actually a modern stove.

- Oh, look at that. OK. - So...

- Where do you put pots?

-You don't have a piece of counter beside it, or--

- Where d- No. put pots?

We have very limited counter space.

So it's all stored in our cabinets.

Wherever we can find a place, we just kind of make it work.

- Well, it's beautiful,

and I'm glad to know that you don't have to kind of chop wood

and put it in there and stuff like that.

- I'm glad, also. [laughs]

- See, that's something that's so special.

I mean, your grandmother cooked on that stove.

- She did.

- And if she was anything like my grandmother,.

she probably threw down in this kitchen.

- She did.

She cooked a good bit.

I was well-fed.

She took good care of me.

So some of the favorite recipes were the spaghetti.

I remember coming in here, smelling the spaghetti sauce.

- Have you made the spaghetti?

I remem- I have not. here, smelling the- OK.hetti sauce.

- He said I need to learn, but I should.

I need to. - I don't mean that as a jab.

[laughter]

- I can't make it like his grandmother can, so.

[light music]

- In your dream scenario,

how would this kitchen look?

How would it function for you?

- I have always wanted how wan island in here.look?

I just feel like that's the biggest thing.

And then, on top of that, just having a place for everything.

It's a common theme with this back area.

There's not much storage.

- There's a way to sort of respect the historical elements

of this house without making it feel old fashioned

and not contemporary.

- There's definitely a way mato honor that history--ned

- Yes. an- But make it fun..

You all are a fun couple.

We want to interject some of that personality into your home.

- Absolutely. - We would love that.

- Yeah, we would love that.

- I won't say that we definitely don't

have a challenge ahead of us.

I mean, it's a little bit of everything happening in here.

Right?

IBut we've got to find a way eveto make sense for them.re.

- Right. - And make it honor Grandma.

- Right. Exactly.

- We got some ideas up our sleeve.

- We have a few tricks.

- But now we need you guys to leave for a bit.

- We'll get out of here. - Thank you so much.

- We'll get out of your hair.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

I am a bit nervous.

It is really hard to hand your home off to somebody

and trust them.

I'm excited of the fact that it's gonna be our new space.

And I'm really keen to see what Luke and Olivia preserve

moving forward.

- This is beautiful.

- We reach a chapter now that it's time to turn that page,

it's time to make it our home.

- We reach a chapter now that it's - Great. All right.age,

Just put it in the hallway it's time tfor now.t our home.

- I tell you, I really do have a lot of faith in Luke and Olivia

and what they're gonna do.

- I tell you, I really do have a They really take that to heart.

and what - Whew. gonna do.

♪ ♪

[light music]

♪ ♪

- Hey, Luke.

- I love this house.

- It's so beautiful.

- Every single time I come up on this porch,

I think this is not a bad office.

I love all the detail. I love all the wood.

But I understand our assignment.

We got to update this. I la little bit.ood.

♪ ♪

It's clear to me that Hunter and Brittany

are gonna need an upgraded mudroom and kitchen.

It's clear to me that Hunte ♪ ♪d Brittany

- Space planning and storage is a huge problem in this house.

Brittany talks about how she doesn't have

enough surface space and places

for people to sit when they come over.

- Yep. - So I think dropping

one big island right in the middle of the kitchen

would be fantastic for them.

So we know they have this lovely stove.

It's fantastic. - I'm glad you said that.

I have an idea about the stove. - Yes.

- It's kind of an old fashioned look, but a butcher block table.

- I love that idea.

- I think it's something that I can make pretty easily.

A nice maple top, put a drawer in there,

just a little bit more storage,

and somewhere to put a pot after you take it off the stove.

- I think that checks off a lot of boxes.

- Great. - So speaking of wood--

- I thin- Mm-hmm.ecks off - Let's talk about it.

Brittany and Hunter have a little back and forth

about stained versus painted.

- Here we are. - I know.

And I felt like you and I kind of took sides there.

- Yeah, a little bit.

Look, the house has incredible kind ofvintage woodthere.

that has been untouched with paint.

These cabinets, however, they're contemporary.

They're modern.

I don't think we need to worry about covering up

that wood with paint.

So I will let you have those with your paint.

- You're so gracious.

- The kids need an area in the kitchen that is all their own.

So I'd love to find a little bench

that's just the right size for them.

- I would love to add an island

right in the middle of the space,

with plenty of storage and lots of seating

for family meals and large holiday gatherings.

- And we can add even more andcounter spaceing

by adding my custom butcher block table

to live beside that stove.

- Now let's talk character.

We're taking a big risk by adding that bold wallpaper

to the kitchen,

but it has those blues and those greens

that Brittany really loves.

And it's also a nod to the Victorian era

that we keep talking about,

so I think it'll work.

- And we'll honor Hunter's nana by adding some of the antiques

and heirlooms to the space.

Let's go to the mudroom.

♪ ♪

It certainly doesn't feel like the Victorian house

that's attached to the front of this house.

A mudroom without storage is kind of a useless hallway.

- You know, everything is just so bright and white.

The ceilings are really high in there,

- Youbut it doesn't feels just like it's connected.

The ceilings are to the rest of the house.

- So in the mudroom, we have a clutter issue. - Youbut it doesn't feels just like it's connected.

I want to bring in a big piece of furniture,

like a wardrobe or a hutch

and put it in the back.

Under the stairs I want to add something special for the kids,

like a secret cubbyhole play area.

And at the front of the room, we can cut down

on some of that shoe pile by adding a drawer

underneath the window bench.

- I want to freshen up the walls with some color

to bring some warmth in that space.

It's really harsh right now with that white bead board.

- And some new furniture near the door.

will add even more storage.

- Plus, we'll give the walls under the stairs

a fresh coat of paint

to really hide that secret cubby hole you're gonna make.

Hunter wants so badly for Brittany to feel comfortable

in this space and that it feels like her home.

- Absolutely. - I think that's going to be

one of our biggest uphill battles,

is making sure that we pay respect to the home

and to Grandma's legacy,

but also make this a place that tBrittany calls home herself.me

- Absolutely, and that she feels proud of

and that represents who she is.

OK, but most importantly,

do you think Brittany's gonna like it?

[bluegrass music]

♪ ♪

- The best part of any clean-out is finding the hidden gems

and using them for inspiration.

And because Hunter's nana had such an amazing collection

of antiques, it doesn't take long before we hit the jackpot.

I found some of Grandma's treasures.

Quite a collection, too.

I found some of I feel like, you know,

they talk so much about all the sort of beautiful stuff

that Granny had and sort of not knowing what to do with it.

- These are beautiful.

A little blue and white.

- Yeah, I think it might even be valuable.

- That wouldn't surprise me.

It seems like Grandma had a lot of valuable things.

- Absolutely.

I feel like the most classic thing to do

is just, you know, put it right up here,

a place of prominence theabove the fireplace.to do

- I like it here. - OK.

- We can have the fireplace have its moment.

- Uh-huh.

- We can have the fireplace - But then what do you think

about this wall here for something?

- Well, you've got the nice light.

I just want to remind you that we were gonna do something

down here for the kids you'vso they could beight.

in the kitchen with Brittany.

- All right, so--

- But there's still space kind of here, maybe.

- So let's take a look at the wallpaper.

- Whew.

- Lots of different color. - OK, I just do wanna--

- Maybe a little green.

- I want to point something - out to you, though.--

Just keep that up there, and then put this here.

Is this a lot going on?

- I mean, it could be,

but it's a Victorian design, remember?

Keep that in mind. - I mean- Yes.ould be,

- That era had a lot going on all the time.

- Yeah, but let's not forget what Brittany said.

She was like, I'm kind of interested in doing something

- Yeaa little cleaner,forget wa little fresher..

- I don't know, I kind of like it.

So if we put this here, we can do

a kind of linear big to small, maybe the teacups at the top.

Or maybe, I don't know, small to big,

but just kind of all in a row.

- Yeah, we could.

That would be the more traditional

and even maybe expected way

to install china on the wall.

- Ah, I see.

- I'm thinking jazz it up a little bit.

- OK. - Maybe something organic,

maybe something that spills over,

I don't know, the window, perhaps,

or even this cased opening here.

I do- OK.now, t- Think about it.s,

It's almost like a dance.

- Yeah, yeah, a little bit of movement.

- It's a traditional idea-- - Mm-hmm.

- Yeah, yeah, a- In an unexpected way..

- It's a- OK, I see. idea-- You're mixing things up.

This is his Victorian thing we're talking about.

- That's right.

- Everything kind of can come together.

I got to put these down

'cause I'm afraid I'm gonna break them.

[laughter] OK.

- I'm going with you because we have that banquette

going in the corner-- - Yes.

- I think it has enough going on on that wall already.

And we don't want the kids to damage any of this stuff.

Right? - So, fireplace.

- Fireplace it is. - OK.

- All right. - All right.

OK, so we have a plan with the china.

- All right. - We have a plan.

- OK, well, I got a lot of work to do outside.

- I'm gonna finish packing these dishes.

- OK.

- I'm gonna finish pa [upbeat pop music]

- ♪ ♪

Outside at my workstation,

I'm getting to work on the butcher block table

for Hunter and Brittany's Outside kitchen.rkstation,

♪ ♪

The block will sit on 30-inch legs

painted to match a kitchen cabinet,

and the stand will be 36 inches, counter height.

This is maple. - Oh, very smooth.

- Very smooth, but also very, very heavy.

This is maple. - OhVery hard.oth.

That's why we make butcher blocks out of it.

- I love the smell of freshly cut wood.

- [sniffs] - Reminds me of college.

- Really? - Yes.

I took a woodworking course one semester,

so I really appreciate this kind of stuff.

- The nice thing about a butcher block table,

it's gonna be real thick,

so it's gonna have a really heavy

kind of permanent quality to it.

The other thing about butcher block

is that it's really important to use the end grain.

- OK.

- Now, do you know the difference between the end grain

and the side grain? - I might have an idea.

- Here's our board of wood.

- Yes. - Got it?

- This is obviously the way-- did you get dusty?

- Yes. - Just a little bit.

- You know what they call sawdust, right?

- No. - Carpenter fairy dust.

- Aw, well, in that case.

- So we got a board here.

This is going with - Aw,the grain here.case.

Your end grain is this part right here.

- It's on the end. - Aw,- That's right.case.

We call it the end grain. - Self-explanatory.

- And we really like to make butcher blocks out of end grain,

We cbecause, you know,in. when you're constantly cutting

into it all the time,

the end grain isn't gonna show your knife marks

all the time. - Ah.

- So especially if it's a piece of furniture sitting there--

- I didn't realize that.

- The end grain is also really nice,

because when you put the oil on it, it sucks it right in.

It's kind of like the straws of the plant are on the end here,

so it'll really take in the oil on it,in a nice way.ight in.

That also means we have to come up

with a decision about how the end grain

is gonna be featured.

So what we got here is kind of like a parquet design.

- Yes.

- The other option

would be to do something sort of like this.

- It's almost like a brick pattern.

And it would be little slices like this all the way across?

- Mm-hmm, yeah. - All right.

Since we're going for a heftier look on this butcher block,

we want something substantial. - Yep.

Since weI like the idea heftier of this parquet design instead.

The most important part about this is

that we're providing them more surface space,

which is what they don't have aright now.is

- Yeah, that's true.

- So let's see what you can do. - OK.

- I'll take my lemonade inside.

- So let's see what you can do. - I'll get back to it.

- You keep working in the heat.

- Thank you. - Have fun.

- Thanks for the drink.

- You're welcome.

[mellow guitar music]

♪ ♪

- Inside the house, we're ready to decorate.

But I know Hunter is still worried

that painting over the cabinet doors

will take away from preserving this historic home.

So I've called in a local resident and historian

to get us all on the same page preseronce and for all.c home.

Dena, here, is the head of the Historical Society So I've called in a local resident and historian

here in Social Circles.

- Oh, fantastic.

- So I thought she might be able to help answer

some questions about the house.

- Sure, sure.

- But there's something extra special about Dena.

She was a friend of your grandmother's.

- - She was one of myng extbest, best friends.na.

- Yeah, she was. Yep. of your - Aw.mother's.

- - - And I broughtmyng extsome pictures, too.na.

This is the house probably in about 1999 or 2000.

- Oh, wow.

- Oh, my goodness.

- You couldn't even really see it.

- No. - No.

- It's hidden behind the trees.

OK, well, these pictures are wonderful,

but the real reason we really wanted you here

was to help us settle thesthis important debate.ul,

Olivia and I have been talking a lot about it.

- Just a little. - Oh, a lot.

[laughter]

Because we want the house to retain its value,

and I think with this home being historic,

retaining its value means honoring where it came from

and not trying to erase anything.

We've noticed in the house there is a lot of stained wood

and we've noticed there's a lot of painted wood.

We'vI guess we've justouse there got to figure outed wood

what is historically appropriate therfor the Victorian era.ood.

So...

we got two different opinions here.

So the judge can rule.

You need to state your case.

Hunter, you don't want to touch the wood?

- No. Once you paint it,

you can never get that wood back.

- That's a good point. - Number two is

to maintain the historic nature of the house

and make sure that whatever we decide to do with it

is to the period, that we're not throwing away

the history piece of that.

- Brittany, state your case.

- So in my case is obviously to modernize,

you know, make it feel like my own space.

These obviously are not--

- Original. - Original.

- OK. - So I don't think there's

any harm in painting these

with it not being original to the home.

- These would not, of course,

have been the original cabinets. - Right.

- But the plate rack is very old.

- Oh. - So that is something

I would say you wouldn't want to paint.

It's kind of like a primitive design.

And the mantel youis probably original.nt.

- With that in mind, with your opinions in mind--

- No pressure, no pressure.

- No pressure. - What are we allowed to do?

♪ ♪

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- Wood--do we paint it?

Do we keep it stained?

What are we allowed to do?

- Well, the era of this house, both wood or paint,

are period to the Victorian and the Queen Anne style.

- Oh. - But back then

it was lead paint.

Paint was very expensive. - Yeah.

- They did the paint so that it showed people that,

oh, you're wealthy.

- The- Oh, wow.paint so that it - Yeah.people that,

Another thing about the Victorian and the Queen Anne

style is it's very eclectic.

The more stuff you could put in a room and the more finishes

you could decorate with, the better.

- Because that was showing that you--

you- Had some money.ith, - Had some money.

- Am I picking up on that's what the Victorian style

was all about?

A little flex? - A little flex.

Yeah, Victorian flex. [laughter]

Yeah, it's true, though.

It was like fabrics, wallpapers, different patterns.

- That's right, paint.

Now, Hunter, how does that make you feel

knowing that both stained and painted

Now, Hunter, howere both of the periodel

knowing that both stained and appropriate for that time?

Do you feel now you're a little bit more comfortable

with Brittany getting some painted?

I feel a little bit more comfortable with, you know,

that answer and that both was in the period.

- Thank you so much for helping us solve that riddle.

- Thank you, Dena. So good to see you.

[upbeat pop music]

♪ ♪

- The question is, can you, you know,

zip-cut this or something like that?

- Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

- We're working on our little hiding hole space?

- Mm-hm- Yes. yeah.

Yeah, we're about to cut into these very old walls

and see what we find.

YeaSo we're hanging itut intabove the baseboard?ls

- Yeah. - This will remain.

- Yeah. - OK.

Because traditionally a door would be installed

right at the bottom of the baseboard, right?

Yeah, but this, you know,

like Brad is saying, is fun for the kids

to crawl over.

liIt kind of feelsg, like a special door.

So here or here.

Oh, actually, the more I do that,

I start to think that maybe I do like it.

[laughter]

- So we'll drop it down into the baseboard just a little bit.

- [exhales] Yeah.

- Yeah, let's do it. - All right. OK.

All right.

What about the finish -on this door?K.

Now, remember, Hunter does like stained wood.

And this is an opportunity for us to add some of that

back into this space.

And this is an opportunity So is it worth it on this door?

- I'm gonna settle this for you right now.

We got to paint this.

It just feels completely right.

- OK.

But do we want to kind of showcase it

with a sort of pop of a dark color,

or do we want to make it disappear into the wall?

- My vote is going to be disappear

since it's a hiding hole.

- Yeah.

I don't know, I think there's something also classy

about having, like, a nice, dark door.

- I think that's a cool idea too.

- OK.

- So I'll go back to the design board

with that to see what we should do with the paint color.

But we have decided we're painting.

- Yeah, I think so. Definitely.

Let's open up this wall. - Let's do it.

- Yeah, I thi- OK.. Definitely.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Whoo!

- Ready? One, two, three.

- OK. - Oh, my goodness.

- Yeah, we have our opening.

- Mm-hmm. - Watch this.

- Oh. - [laughs]

- Perfect. - Yeah, it's pretty fun, right?

- That's great. - Yeah.

- This can work for mommies, too, right?

- OK. Yeah, that's true.

- This can work for - Put a bottle of wine in here.

Here, there we go.

- No, just to cook. - Don't tell my kids I'm here.

- Just to cook, yeah.

- No, Bye-bye.cook. - Don't tell- Bye.ds I'm here.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Outside in my shop, I've made good progress

on the butcher block table.

But for this next part,

I'm gonna need a little muscle.

To make the block,

dozens of 6-inch-long maple blocks

were clamped and glued together tightly,

and the legs are almost ready to install.

This block will stand at counter height,

perfect for chopping broccoli

or stashing hot pots fresh off the stove.

You want to get kind of dusty?

- Do I want to get dusty?

- Do you to do a little sanding?

- [sighs] - No?

- Heck yeah. All right.

- Now, this thing's gonna want to really move on you.

- OK.

- You're gonna really have to hold down.

- All right. - Actually, do me a favor.

- You're gonna really haHit the vacuum..

- All right. - Ac[vacuum whirring]avor.

You want to start? - All right.

- OK. - Easy?

Easy-peasy?

Whoo-hoo! - Hoo-hoo-hoo!

Try to hold it--hold it down.

- I got it. - OK.

- [laughs]

- You did good.

- Man, what a whirlwind. - Yeah.

- This thing has some power. - It does have some power.

- I'm sweating. That was a workout.

- You also get a sense of how long it's gonna take

- Ito make itg. extra-special smooth, too.

- I do, but I can already feel how smooth it is.

- All right, well, extlet me get at this,too.

- I do, but I can already 'cause I'm gonna to spend a--

- All - Yeah,well, I'm gonna leave you to it.

[upbeat music]

- All - Yeah,well, I'm gonna l ♪ ♪ you to it.

- Awesome.

[mellow pop music]

♪ ♪

- In Hunter and Brittany's mudroom,

the biggest issue was the relentless pile of shoes

that always seemed to build up at the door.

So I'm adding a drawer to keep this family

and this entranceway organized.

♪ ♪

- All right, it's the moment of truth.

- I got faith in you.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. [chuckles]

Come on.

- Yeah, let's see the whole thing.

- That's excellent.

That is a piece of very functional cabinetry.

That's great.

[mellow music]

♪ ♪

Hey, Olivia. - Hey, Luke.

- Getting that hardware off.

- All the fun stuff.

- Ready to paint. - Yeah.

- I wanted to show you something.

- You've been up to something.

- Well, remember that buffet

that was in the front there?

- Yeah. - I opened up the top drawer,

and there were all these old recipes.

- Oh, my God, that's so cool. - Mm-hmm.

- That's the spaghetti sauce.

- Nana's famous spaghetti sauce.

- Look at that. - Yeah.

And it's even got spaghetti sauce splashed on it.

- These are cool.

- I just love the idea that these little paper cards

have lasted this long,

- I just love the idea that that is Nana's handwriting.

We would never want to get rid of that.

- No. - I don't know.

It just kind of feels like, in so many ways,

what we're trying to do here,

trying to hold on to things from the past,

honor them, respect them.

And Brittany did say that she wanted to try

some of Nana's recipes for cooking for herself.

If nothing else, we just need to kind of

maybe put them in a place

that she can actually refer to them.

- Maybe even if it's a photo album

or it's displayed somewhere.

You know, I've got to marinate on that for a minute.

- Marinate. - You like what I did there?

- I like what you did there. - Yeah, yeah.

- Very punny. [laughter]

- I like what you did there. - Yeah.

All right, well, I'm gonna let you hold on to these.

- Yeah, let me have these while I marinate.

I'm gonna get back to taking off these handles.

- OK. - But this is a great find.

- Yeah, I thought you would be into that.

- Good job. - Treat them with love.

Treat them with love. - I absolutely will.

[mellow country music]

♪ ♪

- All right, you want to put that right here?

- This way? - Yeah, OK.

Wow. I'm really happy with that.

- - Yeah.y? - That is exactly what we want.

- Looks like a butcher block.

It looks like a butcher-- what do you think?

- I think it's really cute, I like it.

- You want to see the moment of truth?

- There's a moment of truth?

- This is essentially like a beeswax oil kind of mixture.

And what it's gonna do, it's gonna seal this

so that you can chop vegetables on it.

AAll right, here we go. it's - Let's see.his

That stuff smells good.

- So what's it smell like?

Now I'm interested. - Smell.

- Oh, it does, like orange.

- Yeah.

- Oh, that's nice.

It's really bringing out the color.

- Yeah.

- Oh, and all the detail in the end grain.

- In the end grain, now you know.

- Oh, that looks really nice.

- Right? - It does.

Yeah, Luke did a great job.

- Yeah, thank you.

I really worked very hard on this.

Well, it's just really, really satisfying,

I think, to see a really big, chunky piece of wood, too.

Oh, I'm really happy with that.

- That's really pretty. - That looks really pretty.

- Yeah. - It does.

I love it.

- Yeah. - So this is almost finished.

There is one last detail that's going to finish this piece off.

And it's kind of our ongoing conversation.

- Our ongoing conundrum.

And it's kind of our ongoing- About?ation.

- Paint versus stain. - Exactly.

- I see where this is going.

I'm studying this a little bit closer.

- And when you see it next, it'll be completely finished.

- Do I get a say?

- Mm. - It'll be a surprise?

- I think I know what this one's gonna be.

- Oh, man, I don't like surprises.

- Well, stay tuned. - Well, all right.

Leave me hanging in suspense.

- All right. - I'm getting out of this heat.

- Yeah, get out of this heat.

- All right. -- All right, have at it, guys.

- All right. - Yep, thanks.

- All right. --Yeah, she polished up nice.s.

- Yeah, it's nice, right? - It's great, yeah.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- [exhales] Love that paper.

- It's gorgeous, isn't it?

- [exhales] - Yeah, it turned out nice.

- Well, we still have a ton of things left to do.

- All right, let's hear the list.

- OK, we have to hang the light fixture.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

- Install the banquette. - Yep.

Nice.

- Hang the China.

- One down,

- 4,000 more to go. -- 4,000 to go.a.

- You have to finish your butcher block.

- Uh-uh.

- We have to hang the recipes that we found.

- Oh, that's cute.

- I've got a place decor and make this place

really, really pretty.

♪ ♪

That's so cute.

♪ ♪

Lay the rug.

Oh, my God, that looks so pretty.

It's fantastic.

And the fireplace decor.

It's - Ooh.tic.

It's like it was always meant to be here.

It's - ♪ ♪.tic.

Do you think Brittany is gonna like it?

- We've asked Hunter and Brittany to enter

through the mudroom door so they can experience a new space,

as they would in their busy day-to-day life.

Oh, they're smiling already. They're--

- Oh, she looks so pretty! - She looks so good, yes!

- I'm very excited to see what's in store for us,

and I just can't wait to get in there

- I'm very excited to see and see it with my own two eyes.

- Are you excited?

- ♪ I am excited ♪

[upbeat music]

Hunter. - How's it going?

- Hi.

Welcome home again.

- Wow. - Yes, come on in.

- OK. - Oh, man.

- Come on in. - OK.

- Wow. - This is incredible.

- Oh--oh, my gosh!

♪ ♪

- Incredible.

- Completely different from what we had before.

- Well, it was just really white.

- Yeah.

- You really brought some color in.

- They washed everything out.

It's amazing.

- This is amazing. Wow.

- We have some really nice wood pieces in here.

-The rug--love the rug.

- Wow. Love the rug, yeah.

Yeah, the rug is great. - The colors.

- Oh, wow. That bench is amazing.

- Oh, my gosh.

OK, is that where you can pull it out?

- Oh, yes.

We gave you a little drawer here.

both: Oh, that is awesome.

- So that's useful.

- Oh, wow. both: Oh- Perfect!awesome.

- That's perfect.

- Remember when we first came,

the shoes were all littered - around here?ct.

- Yeah, everywhere.

the shoes were all littered - Yes, that's so much nicer.

That's so much better. - It is.

- And that's a moment of personality over there

with the splashes of orange and blues.

- And that's a moment Take a look around. Turn around.

Look behind you. - Absolutely.

- There's more things to spot.

Look behind you. - Oh, Brittany, look in here.

-- Oh, my gosh. What is that?.

- Go take a look.

- Look in there. - Wow.

- Oh, the kids are -gonna love that.

- Oh, yes. Oh, my goodness.

- I would say it could be a little mommy hangout, too,

if ever you need to hide out.

- Yes, exactly. - Little hideout.

- I'll hide out and you won't be able to find me.

- Oh, that is awesome. - That is awesome.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Look at this.

Oh, that is a beautiful piece.

Wow. - Lo- Yeah.his.

- The thought that went into this is incredible.

- Yeah, this is awesome.

- Oh, that is incredible.

- Wow, look at that. That's perfect.

- So a place for more storage where you need it.

More storage, and this is hideaway storage.

So you can hang it, leave it.

- Leave it. - That is perfect.

- Close it up. - Yes.

We will use this a lot.

-- Oh, yeah.p. We'll use this all the time.

This is great.

- So, in the spirit of Chi-Chi in her pristineness,

you have a place to put things

and then nobody knows that it's there.

You just see this beautiful piece of furniture.

- Right.

- Y'all have really taken this

and given Brittany her flair to make it her own,

as well as keeping the Victorian touches.

- Cool. Well, we know you know--

as well as keeping that that modern house.

- That's right. That's right.

How to blend the two. that tha- Yeah.n house.

- You did a wonderful job. This is great.

♪ ♪

- Oh, my gosh. - Oh, my gosh.

♪ ♪

- This is beautiful.

- This is so, so good.

- Oh, my gosh. Wow.

♪ ♪

This is incredible.

- This is so good. - This is gorgeous.

Oh, man. - I love everything about this.

I love this. - Wow.

Oh, man. - IThis island is incredible.s.

I love this. - Love that.

- So you finally have - IThis isthe island.redible.s.

A lot more space, obviously. - Yes.

- Yes.

- That was one of the biggest challenges

in the kitchen before, right?

- Exactly. - Was having a place

for everybody to sit. - Exactly.

- So this gives you a lot more surface space.

- Oh, love it. - Perfect.

- Oh, man, that is so nice.

- People can sit around, finally, in the kitchen.

- Yes. Love this island.

- No, this is great. I love all of this.

- I love this. - And there's tons of seating.

- Yeah. - Yeah, seating's great.

- Tons of seating. - And there- Yeah. of seating.

- And it's another play on stain versus paint.

- Right. - We tried to find opportunities

in the entire kitchen to give you both what you wanted.

- Right. - We tr- Right. Perfect.tunities

- We also-- - Oh, my gosh.

- Right. - W- Originally were actuallyies

gonna remove the drying rack above the sink.

- OK. - But then it actually

gonna remove the drying rack worked out so nicely because

it was the wood, kind of, paint conversation

that we were having so much.

If you love something, why would you get rid of it?

- Right. No, this is gorgeous.

- It looks so good.

- God, this looks awesome.

- I love that lighting fixture. Holy cow.

- Yeah. Look at that.

- I love that lighting fixture. That is so pretty.

- Oh, my gosh. - Yes, wow.

♪ ♪

- And we kept the cabinets.

They were in great shape.

- A fresh coat of paint, some new hardware,

they look like completely different cabinets.

- A- They really do.int, - They really do.,

the- I cannot get overely dthe sink faucet.s.

Like, that is so nice.

- That is so pretty.

- Like scared to touch it, it's so nice.

- You know, you have to have a little bling

in Victorian style. - Absolutely.

- That is your bling-bling.

- The flex, right?

- That's right, the flex. [laughter]

- Exactly.

♪ ♪

- Really love the wallpaper.

This is great.

- So much personality to the space.

- It does. Look at Chi-Chi's China.

Yeah!

- It's cool, right? - That is--

I would have never thought to have displayed it like this.

And it matches the wallpaper.

- Oh, wow, that is beautiful. hav- It's all so, so good.s.

It is a piece of art.

- Oh- That's exactly whatful. hav- Iwe were thinking.od.s.

Can we install it so that it looks like an art installation?

- Oh- That's exactly whatful. And it just dances up the walls.

- It does. - It does, yeah.

♪ ♪

- Oh, my gosh. Look.

- Oh, that is--look at that.

- And that was the perfect place to highlight it.

Before it was in the mudroom.

It just kind of got lost. Didn't make any sense.

- Right. B- This is where it belongs..

ItIt's its home, right?t. Didn- That's right.se.

- Exactly. - This was my grandmother's,

Iand to have it decorated and displayed as it should

in the house means a lot.

- So we obviously had to keep andthis amazing stove,ould

but we noticed there wasn't a lot of space on either side.

- Right. - So I made this little

butcher block table for you guys.

- Oh, that is incredible.

- Wow, that looks so good. - Thank you, Luke.

- Well, it's just one of these things

-that I feel like it isod. classic piece of furniture.

- Well, it's just - That is beautiful.

- And now you have a place

that you can take your vegetables right off your block

and right into the pot there for you.

- Without having to carry them vegetaacross the kitchen. block

and right into the pot So that is wonderful.

- Without having to carry them - And if you look, up we also--

- Wow. Yes, those are the recipes.

- Look at that.

- Preserved some of the favorite ones.

- That is awesome. Yes.

- That is really cool.

That's really special.

- That is really special.

- We made sure that we had the spaghetti sauce on display

because we know - how important that is..

- I'm sure that's the first recipe

I'm about to try in this new kitchen.

[laughter]

- Well, and they're on eye-level, too.

You know, you don't have to be standing up there too high.

- You thought it all through. - Yes, that is great.

Wow. - Yeah.

I think you kind of get a sense of what was at the core

of so many of the things we were trying to do,

trying to give you something that feels both updated

but fresh but respects Victorian.

- Knocked it out of the park, both of you.

Both of you did-- did a phenomenal job.

We couldn't be more happy--

happier, happy-- with how it all turned out.

I mean, it is fantastic.

- Did you get your kitchen?

- I did. - [laughs]

- I can't wait to have friends and family over and holidays

- I did. and parties.

- I can't wait to have friends and I'm so excited now.idays

- Aw, well, that warms our heart.

That's why we do it.

- Yes. - Yes.

And I feel now this is a space--

- Yeah. - That is my space.

- Good. A- I mean, from the wallpaper,--

the chandelier, the butcher block,

the beautiful hardware--

I mean, everything is just jaw-dropping.

But it also still honors the his grandmotherare--

I mean, everything with the pieces in here.

So now I feel like I'm not cooking in Grandma's kitchen

where I met her. - Yeah.

S- But it's my own space,t coobut it still ties backhen

into his family heritage.

So y'all did a great, great job.

I'm very excited to see our home inow feel like our home..

So I'm just excited to get in

and start living in it as a family.

I really do love our house.

It's so nice to finally be home.

- Good. I reBrit, welcome home.use.

- I'm excited.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- I don't know about you, but standing in this kitchen,

I can smell the aromas of Chi-Chi's spaghetti.

So I think we should maybe cook the spaghetti in this kitchen.

Or maybe you guys should cook the spaghetti.

- Absolutely.

- Well, the recipe is on the wall.

[laughter] We can do it.

- ♪ They say that home is for the heart ♪

♪ Like the sky is for the sun and for the stars ♪

♪ At the end of the day ♪

♪ It's still my favorite part ♪

♪ Home is for the heart ♪