HGTV to the rescue

A local Chicagoan gets a home-decorating boost from the folks at TV’s ‘Designed to Sell’

By Andy Hanacek

I admit it. I deceived my wife.

As I crawled into bed late one night last November, I mumbled to my wife, Gina, “Honey, if someone from HGTV or ‘Designed to Sell’ calls, listen to them. They’re not telemarketers.”

She replied, half-asleep, a muffled, groggy, “OK.”

Hardly any fanfare was involved, simply because, I figured, they must get something like hundreds of applications a day, so there’s no way they’ll even notice ours.

In the following weeks, Gina would be quick to point out to friends and family that I did this behind her back. But why convene on something that isn’t likely to happen, right?

Little did I know that the following week, we would defy what we thought were terrible odds and get a call from one of the producers who wanted to “audition” us and our place, in a sense, and move us on to the next round in the application process.

Since we watch the show pretty religiously, we knew the first thing that had to be done in advance of their arrival was to declutter the place as much as possible, without overdoing it.

They had seen pictures of the second bedroom, which was more like a storage unit/office/workout room/catch-all. So we could totally empty it out. But we did remove some of the extraneous things, such as the bike that wasn’t used much and the exercise machine that was used even less. (For shame, we know!)

After we auditioned, we were told it would be a few weeks before they knew if we’d made it, and we found out shortly before Christmas that indeed, we would be featured on “Designed to Sell.”

Oh, and by the way, they were coming out the first week in February to do the work. Not much time, that’s for sure!

Now, our condo is quite large, space-wise, but when you try to cram about a dozen people, each with their own set of power tools, workbenches, production lights, cameras, donuts and coffee cups into a space like this, it’s certainly not for the claustrophobic among us. For the work week, Gina and I had a narrow walking space through the living room to the door, and a portal, of sorts, through which to watch TV from our couch during non-work hours. And they weren’t even renovating the living room!

Suffice to say, the changes they made were excellent. I walked around wishing I’d thought of some of the things they’d done. The crown jewel was a giant pantry/cabinet storage area that they built on one of the empty walls of our 17x13-foot kitchen. For the two years we lived in the condo, we’d wondered how we could get more pantry space. In one week, that problem was solved. Of course, now we’re moving, so we have little time to truly enjoy it.

But that’s not all they did, of course. They focused on the kitchen, the main bathroom and the second bedroom. In the kitchen, they also refaced our cabinets, using wallpaper (believe it!) and thin boards to create a contrast against the dark cabinet bases. After breaking the light fixture in the ceiling by bashing one of the new cabinets into it, they replaced that with a fixture that was a bit more stylish.

We painted all three rooms that they worked on — neutral colors that they chose, of course, to attract as many potential buyers as possible.

The “Designed to Sell” team also replaced the window treatments in the kitchen and second bedroom to add a little trendy look to things and draw more light in, which was a departure from the plastic mini-blinds we purchased on the cheap at Home Depot years ago.

In the bathroom, they replaced the toilet, vanity and sink and tore out all the wall tiles outside of the shower area. They drywalled those areas and painted them a darker, contrasting color to the light tan tiles in the shower.

While the “Designed to Sell” team renovated those three rooms, I targeted the half-bath/powder room for a much-needed update. With the help of Gina, my friend Luis and my dad, I still say I put together a better bathroom than they did. But I’m a little bit biased, since I did about 90 percent of the work. My brother and his wife helped us by staging our master bedroom with a much more space-enhancing layout.

All in all, the place looks great. They took our condo, which was pretty good before, and put it on another level. As of Feb. 22, our condo remained on the market, patiently awaiting fresh-faced spring buyers once the weather warms up a bit.

By far, being on the show was well worth every bit of sweat and stress, and I’d definitely do it again. And you know what? Gina — wide awake this time — completely agrees.

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