Dream Home Makeover (2020) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[upbeat music playing]
[Syd sighs] I just wanna eat cereal
all day, you know?
[Shea laughing]
A lot has happened
since you last saw the house.
-Are you excited to go over there?
-Yeah!
And it's fun to do a site visit
with friends.
Two years ago,
Linley Hutchinson came into the office
and she had followed me on Instagram.
She said, "My husband builds tract homes,
but we wanna build
the home of our dreams."
And we immediately just hit it off.
So we started the process
of designing their dream home
from the ground up.
It's rare that you find a couple where
you like both the husband and the wife
so I hope they still like us
at the end of this process.
-You know?
-Yeah, me too.
It's added pressure
if you're going over there
and you're like, "I know
we're gonna be neighbors and friends."
[Shea] Nate is a developer. He was like,
"I'm gonna build our house.
I know you're looking for a lot.
Like, we could make this
a really cool cul-de-sac
and raise our kids together."
-[Syd] It looks good.
-[Shea] Yeah.
-Lots of work has been done.
-Let's go check it out.
The stucco color looks good,
but I'm excited to see the inside.
We're about 11 months
into a 13-month build.
The budget is into the millions
and we are going to be living
across the street, so
-No pressure.
-Yeah.
I do feel a bit of pressure
to make sure it's right.
[gentle upbeat music playing]
Guys?
Hi!
-Hey!
-Hi, how are you guys?
[Nate] What's up?
-You made so much progress!
-How you doing?
-So excited.
-[Shea] So good!
-Home stretch for sure.
-I know.
We just It looks like there's a lot,
-but only a few more things. 
-[Linley] I know.
Our company builds communities of homes,
but we don't necessarily specialize
in building custom homes.
So the process for our home
-has been pretty different in that sense.
-Yeah.
Our new house will be roughly
7,900 square feet.
And it's got six bedrooms,
five and a half bathrooms.
Island is starting to come together.
-We have the wood beam in.
-[Linley] I know.
-So excited.
-Beautiful.
It ties the spaces together.
We're bringing in more warmth.
It's gonna be so pretty.
[Linley] I remember the times
where Nate and I
were trying to make ends meet
and it was paycheck to paycheck,
and now we're building our dream home.
-And we're super grateful.
-Just keep going.
[Linley] We wanna be the house
that our kids bring their friends to.
We want people to come in
and feel warm and welcome and cozy.
It looks like, Nate,
you're trying to decide TV
[Nate] Uh
-TV sizes?
-We're not trying to decide.
No, there definitely is a debate
Shea's gonna be our final decision maker.
All my choices are in blue,
you'll see throughout the house.
And all Nate's are in green.
Are we gonna do a 70-inch TV
or a 65-inch TV?
-Big or bigger?
-[Nate] Yeah.
[Shea] I feel you can do
the bigger size in here.
-It doesn't feel too big.
-I'm shocked.
I think, officially, is that one to Nate?
-[Shea] One to Nate, yeah.
-One to Nate.
We wanna talk about what's happening on
the stone surround for the fireplace here?
-We ran into a little hiccup.
-Okay.
So, our finish-work guy framed it, I came.
It was hugging one side. Pretty dramatic.
Let's measure it.
-[Nate] We have two options here.
-[Shea] Okay.
So, this side is six and half-ish.
-[Shea] Mm-hmm.
And this side is seven.
Do you think, walking in,
you would see it that much,
or do you feel
I hardly noticed it
when you pointed it out now.
[Shea] High-end homeowners
get obsessive about everything.
Nate and Linley are obsessing over
a half-inch detail on the fireplace,
and I think that that pretty much
describes the entire experience.
So you would just frame it how it is
and hope that my OCD doesn't kick in
when I'm watching TV.
I don't think that the half inch
will make a bit of difference
once you have all the beautiful stuff.
Here's another question,
before we before I forget this.
So, this overhang, this is gonna be
marble waterfall overhang on both sides.
Linley's dream has always been
to have an all-white kitchen.
So we wanted to make sure
that we delivered that
in a way that felt unique.
We've designed
a double-edged waterfall island,
so the quartz countertop
continues down both sides of the island.
Above that will hang
massive brass pendant lights
from the huge ceiling.
Let's head to the master bedroom.
This looks so good!
The ceiling, the stain is on.
I haven't seen this yet.
-The fireplace!
-The fireplace.
The seam looks so good here.
I love that dark plays off of the light.
A lot of that
happening in the room.
-You have your switches on either side.
-[Linley] Yes. That'll be convenient.
[Nate] And then there's one more question
on his and hers TV.
-Lin wants blue, Nate wants green.
-[Linley] I know what Shea's gonna say.
-It needs to be the smaller one.
-Yeah.
One to Nate. One to Linley.
We started our home-building company
in 2009,
the bottom of the housing market.
We were the only ones buying land.
It's, like, we were crazy.
But the market here has been really robust
the last few years.
I'm gonna get emotional.
[voice breaking] It's been so long,
so much time.
-He's laughing because
-It's beautiful.
-It's been so much time and effort and
-Lot of hard work.
I'm just so excited
and it's a dream come true.
-[Shea] Look at this basement!
-[Syd] Oh, my gosh.
[Shea] I have never seen ceilings
this tall in a basement ever.
-[Syd] This is rad.
-It doesn't feel dark here.
The excavators got a little excited
and dug the hole for the house too deep.
The mistake of going two feet deeper
in the basement
is the best thing
that could have ever happened to them,
because they now have
these amazing ceilings,
-huge windows.
-[Syd] Insane.
[Shea] So much natural light.
You want to be able to open up
those huge doors,
look out at the view.
So we had to divide it
into a couple different spaces.
On top of all that, the footprint
of the basement is massive.
We'll put a ping-pong table
and a ratan swing
by the foot of the stairs.
An entire craft area for the kids
over here.
And in the main space,
a super-sized sectional
with a kitchenette behind it
and a large projector screen
in front of it,
with two additional TVs on either side.
In here, we have the two-tone
on the bunks,
we have the white and the wood.
We just need to add
all of the cute bedding and pillows.
-Excited to see it finished.
-We're wallpapering the ceiling.
I didn't know that that was a thing.
[Nate] Well, Leonardo da Vinci
did a lot of it.
Of course. [laughing]
-These are big beds in here.
-[Linley] Yes.
Fulls. Four fulls.
-Fulls?
-Yeah.
So, I come from a big family
and so this is cousin party, friends.
Always people staying in our homes.
-[Shea] Syd's testing it out!
-I love it.
-Children.
-Did we sleep in a full
-when we got married?
-When we got married,
our apartment in California was so tiny.
We were newlyweds, so we were really
in love with each other at that point.
Wait, we were really in love then.
So Are we really in love now?
Is it just different love?
[Shea chuckles]
Do you still love me?
Do you still think we should do
a firepit here in the front yard?
-Yes.
-Yeah, I think so.
You could put dual firepits.
One on each side.
You guys love it so much?
Prove it. Do it in your house.
We made the right choice
to live next to them.
-We did.
-[Syd laughs]
I'm excited to come back,
check on the progress,
to see the movement that's been made
in just a little bit of time.
I could be like,
"Don't we need a hangout space?
Don't you want a firepit?"
It's really fun. Knowing that
they wanna go that direction,
I can really push it there.
We're in month 11. Therapist tells us
we're doing well
with everything that's been happening.
Building a house is no joke!
[insects chirping]
[mellow music playing]
[indistinct chattering]
[telephone ringing]
[Shea] I cannot believe it's been
five years since we launched Studio McGee.
Remember, we started in the rental house
-while Wren was sleeping, at naps.
-Yeah.
-It's been a long road.
-Yeah.
In the early days, I would say
that when something bad happened,
we were like, "It's over. We're done."
-[exaggerating] "We're dead. It's done."
-"We're never gonna make it."
When you just keep going,
that's how you become a great company.
-Round 'em up.
-Round 'em up.
[Syd] Come on, guys. Even you guys.
-Come on over.
-Come on.
Happy anniversary.
-Five years!
-[cheering]
[Shea] Studio McGee has gone
from being me, um
It's not a person anymore, it's this idea.
It's a lifestyle, one that we feel
is beautiful but also very approachable,
and I feel like,
that's how I feel about all of you.
That's cheesy
and I'll probably start to cry,
but I look at all of you guys,
and everyone is so kind
and supportive of one another.
And that translates from homes to people.
And so, I am so grateful for all of you
who do all of the things that I cannot
because you're so good at what you do.
I will never forget
sitting in Wren's nursery, all empty.
[voice breaking]
We had sold everything that we had
to leave and start this dream.
And I didn't know
if we'd ever have a house again
'cause I didn't know
if the business would work,
and I was just giving everything I had.
It feels so easy, five years later,
to say, "Yeah, we sold it all
to start this business."
But when it was happening,
we didn't know that it would work.
Cheers to five years. So Yeah.
[clapping]
-Good job, babe.
-Yeah.
[birds chirping]
[Shea] Any other lights
you need me to look at?
Walking down the hallway,
I feel like I want the lights to go up.
It feels like where it's hanging now
-should be the bottom.
-[Rob] Bottom of the dome?
The dome's about 12 inches deep,
so we could move that.
They have these quick connects on them.
-I'll undo 'em.
-Okay.
I can lift it up and hook it easily.
-Perfect.
-That looks good.
I can do that. I can get on the ladder
and start throwing those domes up.
[Shea] My formula
for deciding light height
is that you always have
at least seven feet of clearance
underneath the light.
But any time the ceiling is higher
than eight feet,
you add a couple more inches.
Are there any other lights
that are up already?
[Rob] If you wanna leave these white,
-or maybe paint 'em?
-I don't want them white.
-Hi, guys.
-How are you?
Good to see you.
I'm all gross from working out.
-You're fine.
-Hello. How you doing?
-What are you talking about?
-I don't like the white rim.
We should go with a can
-that doesn't have the rim.
-[Rob] Okay.
They're a more expensive light,
but I think, in here,
there's no amount of faux paint technique
that's going to really hide that.
I don't wanna take away
from that ceiling.
They work on the white ceilings,
but here it doesn't work.
[Linley] Shea brings this professionalism
always, wherever she goes,
and I admire that.
I'm not a career, business woman.
I stay at home with my kids.
And so any time I interact with Shea
and I see her in her element,
it gets me excited about being a woman
and the possibilities of having a career
and doing it as seamlessly
as she's done it.
-[Linley] I'm excited.
-Let's see these guys.
Are these your kitchen countertops?
Pretend you're standing at your sink.
Comes together.
It's gonna be so pretty.
Yay.
-Nacho, you're the best.
-[Nacho] Thank you.
[Shea] Walking the plank.
[Shea sighs]
-Okay, so this is a new height.
-Yay!
-I like that a lot better.
-Oh, my gosh.
[Linley] Hallway of dreams.
-[Shea] Looks good.
-Coming together.
Yeah, I think that's perfect height.
-Let's continue.
-[Rob] Okay.
-[Shea] Thanks for doing that quickly.
-No problem.
If you have high ceilings,
you have a lot more flexibility
to do all sorts of different things.
Doing large ceiling fixtures
is a really great way
to fill all of the extra volume
we have when you look up.
We have light fixtures that
are sometimes four feet in diameter
in multiple areas of the home
and they don't feel over-sized,
which is the crazy part
that's how big their home is.
-How's it going?
-It's going pretty good.
Beautiful, sunny day.
How's Daly?
Pregnant.
-Wh Oh, my gosh!
-[chuckling] Yeah.
Is she far enough along
to know if it's another boy?
I hope it's another boy.
She wants a girl. We're not quite there.
Tyler's wife is pregnant
and they're having their third baby
and I am so excited for them.
He has two cute little boys
and is such a good dad.
There's that joke,
"What's it like to have a third kid?"
"It's like you're drowning,
then someone throws you a baby."
-There you go.
-[both laugh]
-Let's start right here.
-[Shea] Yes.
[Tyler] So this This is finished edge?
-The real thing.
-You won't see any of this?
-[man] No.
-Just this.
So we rub this little edge
nice and smooth.
When he puts his two-inch waterfall on,
we'll still see this pretty
And your waterfall will just go
to right here.
-It's not gonna be flush with this.
-I think it works out.
This was a quarter.
This is a half inch past that.
-Three quarter inches past that.
-[Nacho] It would pass half an inch.
-[Shea] Okay. Great.
-It'll go all the way. That looks right.
[Shea] Installing quartz countertops
is a really big deal.
Of quartz.
[laughing]
[laughing] Oh, my gosh.
Gosh.
You went for it, babe!
-Oh, my gosh.
-I'm just letting it fly today. Whatever.
[Shea] They have to maneuver
this large piece of stone around corners,
and they're so heavy.
Sometimes ten feet long.
Thousands of pounds.
Woo! Looks good.
Having that clean quartz,
it's going to be durable
and stand up to kids.
It feels organic and natural.
They're white,
but they have a gray veining.
If you're going for something
that feels a bit rough
and has that great gray tone,
quartz is your best option.
The gap there was making me nervous
but you got it to close.
Woo! Good job, guys.
[dreamy electronic dance intro]
[Shea] You guys ready to see Dad?
-Daddy!
-[Syd] Hey, guys.
[Wren] I look so cute!
-Hey.
-She does look so cute. [laughing]
-We're trading off.
-Did they have dinner?
I haven't fed them dinner yet.
So, maybe you guys can have 
just a night out on the town?
Go get some dinner.
Frozen yogurt for dinner?
Fro-yo, yay! Fro-yo.
Am I ready for this? Yeah.
I saw people lining up.
In the last five years,
our business has grown.
We have attracted a clientele
that is high-end.
But there's a lot of people
that love design
that can't afford items
at the full price point.
And that was how
I decorated our first house.
When we got to the point where
we had enough in our warehouse to do it,
I wanted to be able to give
that same experience to people.
[woman] Here we go. Ready?
[together with Shea] Three, two, one!
-[Shea] Woo!
-[woman] Woo! Go, go, go!
-[woman] Go!
-[excited chatter]
Hi. How are you?
[Shea] When we were in California,
living in our first home,
I was obviously on a pretty tight budget.
And I would drive up to LA,
sit in traffic for hours
to go to warehouse sales,
so that I could buy lamps and pil
He It's true!
I had no freakin' idea
what these things were.
And then would come back and be like,
"I got this lamp,
and then I put it down,
and then someone else took it,
and I was like, 'That's my lamp.'
And then she said,
'No, it's mine. You can't put it down.
-It's not yours anymore.'"
-I learned a lot on those warehouse sales.
Hi. How are you? Do you have a rug?
Do you need help?
[groaning] Oh, my gosh.
[laughing]
I love that people come.
They'll bring swatches of their sofa,
pictures of their rooms,
and can ask me questions.
I think that sometimes you just need
to add that runner to your kitchen
or a new vase to your entryway
to give it a fresh life
and for you to feel a little bit
more confident in your space.
[woman] I'm missing
half a wedding for this.
-What?
-Which is worth it.
You know what? Yes!
-I love hearing that. Testimonials, Tawny.
-Yes.
She missed half a wedding for this!
[upbeat electronic dance music]
[Shea] Tyler, hi.
This house is so big.
This is an "all hands on deck" situation.
-Hey, Syd?
-[Syd] Yeah?
It's in the wrong spot.
-Can you tell me more?
-[laughing]
[Shea] So that's why we've got Syd
here too.
-Even though my hands aren't that big.
-Stop!
I can come help. It's a big job.
-But I got little hands.
-[laughing] Stop!
[Syd] Have you seen his his toilet?
-Does he have a bidet?
-It's really intimidating.
Does it light up?
-[beep]
-[Shea] Ooh, yeah.
-Detects when you walk in.
-[beep]
-It has front wash, rear wash.
-[Shea] Yeah.
-Rear cleanse. Oh, man.
-[Shea] Yep.
-It's like laser tag for your
-For your butt.
[both laughing]
[Syd] Okay.
-[man] Here?
-[Syd] Yeah.
Cool.
[sighs] That's not gonna work.
The sofa at the foot of the bed,
it's too tight.
Originally on our plans,
the fireplace box was inside of the wall,
and there was a bumpout,
but this is extended.
-[Syd] Feels like it will catch fire.
-It's too close.
So we have this great spot
here, under the windows over here,
so I feel like let's try it over there.
-[Syd] I'll watch.
-[Shea] Just direct?
-Some pointing?
-[Syd] Make sure they don't
[Shea] Yes. It's like it was meant to be.
-Well, hi.
-Oh, there Syd is!
Just a little No. Back.
Yep. Perfect. Thank you.
Oh Back. Back. The left side
needs to go down a little bit.
There you go.
[Syd grunts]
-[laughs]
-[Linley] For the last week,
Studio McGee asked me
to step away for a minute,
so that they can come in
and do their thing,
and it was torture!
I'm so anxious.
We have security cameras,
and it took about everything,
all my willpower,
not to peek in on my security cameras
to see what was happening.
Oh, wait, they're coming up.
Okay.
Hey, guys.
Oh, my gosh.
I already told you I was gonna cry.
-[Nate] Honey, I'm home.
-Oh, my gosh!
Honey, I'm home.
-[Shea] You're gonna make me cry.
-[Nate] 'Sup?
-[Syd] Don't cry.
-Is this even real?
How do you process?
How do you take it all in?
-It's a lot.
-[Nate] Room by room.
-Okay!
-[Shea] Room by room.
[gasps]
-Wow.
-You guys, I can't even believe this.
[Nate] This is spectacular.
Your open shelves look so pretty.
[crying] I'm just so grateful.
It's so beautiful.
I can't believe it's mine.
[Shea] Let's look at your kitchen!
[Linley] This is unbelievable.
[Linley gasps]
When I first walked into the kitchen,
it's inclusive.
I won't feel like I'm in the kitchen
by myself, doing my thing.
My family will be part of it.
[Shea] So you have
the double waterfall detail here.
There's so many
all-white kitchens out there
that you've gotta make it different.
There's a couple things that do that.
One, you have
these amazing pendants.
Also, we went with the largest pulls.
-Unreal.
-Refrigerators are in.
-I love that it looks like the cabinetry.
-Totally.
Those are the things
I would have never thought of.
And the paint color looks good.
-[Shea] Much better!
-[Linley] No yellow or pink.
[Shea] Go through the hallway of dreams.
The double arches.
It turned out so beautiful.
-[Linley] Unreal.
-[Shea] Your master bedroom!
Oh, my gosh!
-It's [squeals]
-[Nate] Wow!
[Linley] It's so cozy!
It doesn't feel like a room
with white walls.
-Get your shoes off my bed!
-[all laughing]
[Linley] I have never had a complete room.
I love it.
[Shea] And then we brought the sofa
over to this window.
I feel it makes better use of the space.
[Linley] Every detail is perfection.
My mind was just blown
-and I just can't believe that it
-[imitates explosion]
Yeah, it turned out the way that it did.
-Wow.
-[Linley gasps]
-[Linley] Perfect!
-[Shea] This is a master bathroom!
[Nate] Wow. Now we're talking.
-There we go, dude.
-Gosh.
[Nate] Holy
-There we go!
-Oh, my God!
What a beautiful shower.
Turn that steam on!
-Turn that frickin' steam on.
-[Linley] Gosh.
-[Shea] The space in here is just a lot.
-[Linley] Right.
[Shea] With the huge window,
the tub looked tiny,
so we brought in the chair,
-and it works.
-[Linley] I like it
'cause that's when we do
-a lot of our conversing.
-I like loungin'.
Syd said it was a perfect spot for you
to feed her grapes.
-Yes!
-Yeah. There you go.
-[all laughing]
-[Nate] There you go.
[Nate] This is what I've been waiting for.
-[Syd] Gosh.
-[Shea] Come on down!
-[Linley] Unreal.
-This is the most incredible basement.
Shea!
-[Nate] Let's go.
-[Linley] These pictures!
[Linley gasps]
-We're gonna have so much fun!
-[Shea] It's a party.
[Nate] Oh, my gosh.
[Syd] A disservice to call it a basement.
Welcome home, Lin.
[Shea] This was just a random area before,
but it has purpose now with the built-in,
and working around
the asymmetrical window,
having this over here
makes it feel right.
[Nate] There's a lot of features
we haven't had,
so looking forward to creating memories,
playing ping-pong, watching the game,
-shooting baskets.
-Yeah.
-When in Rome
-[laughter]
[Shea] Bring it on, huh?
Beautiful.
Oh!
-A little nervous.
-[all laughing]
Wow, the bunk room.
-Cousin parties.
-[Linley laughing]
[Linley] This is what
bunk room dreams are made of.
We want the teenagers in our home
and we feel like we've created a space
where our kids will want to be home
and will bring their friends here.
I know
They might be embarrassed about dad,
-so that may not help.
-Yeah.
[Shea] Oh, yes.
Excuse me.
Seriously, get your feet off my couch.
-Little small.
-[Linley laughs] It's a little small.
[Nate] The couch is super comfortable.
[Linley] It's huge.
It's huge.
-It seats about 84 people, I think.
-Yeah.
-We can get a lot of people here.
-Exactly.
If it happens to be crazy night,
you can do four games on the 65 inch,
four on the big one, four on the other.
I don't know how good this is
for our marriage.
-You guys are an inspiration.
-[laughs]
Thanks, Syd.
-[Linley] Couple goals?
-Couple goals.
[Linley] I feel like the luckiest girl
in the entire world to have
-To be married to me? Oh Sorry.
-Yes! Yes.
You guys have done a spectacular job.
I just wanted to say, "Thank you."
-Yeah.
-It means a lot to us.
-And we're
-I will forever
I'm gonna get emotional.
be grateful.
-Thanks, guys.
-You guys deserve it.
[Linley] My goal
as we're living in this home
is to make sure
that everyone feels welcome.
[voice breaking] What's mine is yours.
And that, what we have,
will never be just ours.
We want everyone to come in and enjoy.
[chuckles]
I'm so excited and grateful
to call you a friend, too.
And that's been the cherry on top for me.
To be able to cultivate a friendship
out of this, it's been
It's awesome.
We moved you out of client zone
into the friend zone.
Yes!
[all laughing]
I always aim to have a happy client
at the end of the process,
but when designing
for a good friend like Linley,
it's more to me than a project.
I'm stoked. We're gonna have
some really, really good block parties.
Fourth of July is gonna be crazy.
Nate was already talking
about getting some
commercial firework guy.
-As long as you're not doing it.
-I won't be doing it.
Last time, I set a bush on fire.
[gentle mellow music playing]
We were able to give Nate and Linley
the home that they have been dreaming of.
For them, their children,
their children's friends,
and really for the whole neighborhood.
The Hutchinsons really see
their home being the place
where we all congregate and hang out.
I think that we have achieved a space
where people will want to be,
but it's also really beautiful too.
[upbeat music playing]