Woman storms out of property in tears after home makeover from hell - with designers destroying the only original feature she begged them to keep

Daily Mail​

12-07-2025

A woman stormed out of her property in tears after a home makeover from hell - with designers destroying the only original feature she begged them to keep.
Trading Spaces, an American home renovation show which aired on TLC from 2000 to 2008, sees two neighbours renovate a room in each other's homes on a budget.
The series, hosted by American TV personality Paige Davis, was famous for its expert carpenters and designers making wacky transformation suggestions to guests.
One old episode saw a particularly cringeworthy moment, where a couple was left deeply unhappy with how their house had been changed.
Pam and John Herrick agreed to let their neighbours, with the help of designer Doug Wilson, redo their family room on the set budget of $1,000.
Their one condition was that they did not touch the fireplace - but this was exactly what they found had happened when the final result was unveiled.
The characterful feature had been covered by wood to make it a plain, smooth white, with contemporary slate grey and metal finishes.
The rest of the room was similarly monochrome, with dark wall panels, denim furniture and a rug, with both the floor and wainscot made completely plain white.
Modern geometric art, an enormous number of candles and artfully placed stacks of books completed the spare, stripped back look.
Doug, who had helped Pam and John's neighbours with the makeover, confessed before the final reveal he was not particularly looking forward to it.
He confided in host Paige: 'I'm a little scared. I'm a little nervous.'
She reassured him: 'The fireplace. It's been a [point] of contention for two days but it's wonderful. Are you scared? Hey, you didn't paint it.'
With her encouragement, Doug stuck to his guns: 'I know it's the right thing to do. I think it really gives the room a focus and a centre point.'
As Paige nodded and agreed, he continued: 'I mean, the fireplace was there and it was weak as it was.
'It wasn't a strong element and we've given the room a really strong feature. And to tie the wainscot into the fireplace, it really comes together.
'It's contemporary but it has the bones of the rest of their home and they can change the colour of the walls, they can do this and that, but we've given them some basics and I hope they like it.
'They wanted a departure from the rest of their house.'
Paige backed him up: 'This is definitely a more contemporary room than what is in the rest of their house but the wainscoting really connects it to the rest of the house very well.'
From their determined mutual reassurances, it seems as if both designer and host somewhat knew how the couple would react.
And they were not wrong, as Paige gripped the couple's hands and arms tightly and somewhat nervously as she led them into the room with their eyes closed.
John said, 'Wow', as an excruciating pause unfolded before Pam reacted, as Paige looked at her expectantly with a cautious smile.
She started by saying, 'Well', with a short laugh, trying to find something positive: 'I really like the wainscoting.'
The presenter seemed momentarily relieved, asking, 'You do?', before Pam confirmed: 'I really do.'
In a damning comment, John said: 'It's different', as his wife clutched for something else good to say too: 'And the furniture needed slip covers.'
But everything began to deteriorate as John shook his head disapprovingly, while Paige asked: 'The big question is what do you think about the fireplace?'
The couple gave a calm but shockingly telling response, with Pam opening: 'You guys are going to be fixing that in a little bit. So…'
John followed up: 'Yeah, I just see a lot of firewood.'
As Paige looked crestfallen at their disappointment, Pam became overcome with emotion, saying twice quietly: 'I'm going to have to leave the room.'
She was then heard off camera sobbing, as her husband remarked to Paige: 'Boy, she's not happy, she's really not happy.'
The presenter tried to be positive: 'Is there anything you can see in the room to fix certain elements of it to make it better for the two of you?'
But John struggled to answer her question: 'I don't even know where to start.
'I mean, I see one piece of furniture that looks remotely like the way I left it. And the rest of it is just so not us.'
Despite the extremely disheartening transformation, he found a positive way to end the chat as the presenter asked if he had enjoyed the filming experience.
'It was wonderful', he said: 'I loved it.
'These two minutes I would go through again just for the experience, yeah, but it's really too bad.'
Paige concluded: 'Let's go comfort Pam, shall we?'
But the presenter defended the re-design on an episode of American chat programme The Jason Show earlier this year.
She told presenter Jason Matheson in January: 'He says, "I don't see anything remotely the way I left it."
'And it was really hard for me not to say, "Well, duh".
'Like that was kind of the point, for it to change. It was kind of offensive to say, "All I see is a lot of firewood".
'People at home were looking at that room and thinking, "This is a beautiful room".
'It was gorgeous, especially for the amount of money. And that fireplace - I don't think it was sentimental to her, I think they just thought it was beautiful.
'What Doug did to that fireplace was so much more special and rich and elevated that room in a casual way. It still flowed with the rest of the house.'
Paige explained in the contracts contestants signed, they could choose to protect certain features.
Designer Doug, she said, followed this in the sense he did not touch any of the bricks of the fireplace.
The host also explained Trading Spaces never redid rooms just because they were asked to do so by contestants, as Pam requested.
The homeowner told Entertainment Weekly in 2002 she felt 'violated' by her time on the show.
'I realised I just spent two days doing what the show told me to do and they couldn't do the one thing I asked them', she explained.
Pam revealed she redid the room with her husband after the programme.
This was partly because the renovation went against local building regulations by blocking the gas-shut off valve.
It comes after another episode of Trading Spaces recently resurfaced - containing a home makeover just as horrifyingly bad, which shocked the poor homeowners.
The walls and door had been painted with garish red and yellow stripes and adorned with matching satin curtains.
Various strangely placed tables, decorated with bright yellow fruit, flowers and cocktails, and even tiki torches added to the completely bizarre look.
It was also palm tree overload, with a fake full-size plant with red and yellow leaves, a pot of fake tree fronds and an artwork depicting yet another palm tree.
The walls and door had been painted with garish red and yellow stripes
The final nail in the coffin was the grotty sand, with barrel-loads of it dumped on the floor and raked out to cover it completely
But the icing on the terrible cake was the grotty sand, with barrel-loads of it dumped on the floor and raked out to cover it completely.
Interior designer Hildi Santo-Tomas was the expert assigned to support the renovators in delivering their clownish transformation.
Since the programme aired, she has explained the thinking behind her beachy plans: 'They wanted an adult retreat so I gave them a cabana!'
But it seems she did not quite understand their vision of a haven of peace and tranquility.
The homeowners were forced to simply laugh along in utter shock when it was revealed to them, with one exclaiming: 'Oh my God!'
Even the other professional designers on the show could not believe their eyes, covering their mouths in total astonishment at the finished result.
But Hildi backed her vision, encouraging the owners: 'See? Now we can take our shoes off and get the sand in our toes.'
Since the show finished in 2008, Hildi - known on the programme for her crazy ideas - has backed every single creation, saying she has no regrets about any of them.
This includes another home where her plans included sticking hay to the walls.
She told People magazine of the cabana room: 'It was a fabulous room. I even had a little pail of water so they could clean their feet. It didn't go over well.
'The criticism I get is wonderful because it empowers me to do better.'