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Hi! I'm Jennie Garth.
JENNIE: Welcome to my new home in sunny Los Angeles.
It's like a blank slate for me
because I can go anywhere from here.
JENNIE: I bought this dated ranch house with plans to transform it...
Here's my idea.
...into a modern sanctuary.
I've renovated several houses before...
I feel it in my abs, my arms.
...but this is the first one I've designed all on my own.
What you mean, "Oh, my God"?
Helping along the way is my contractor, Scott.
You don't have that in your budget?
SCOTT: This isn't in the budget. Yes, no.
As a single woman, mother of three,
I definitely know that there's nothing I can't do.
This is the house that's defining me
and my place in the world right now.
MAN: Are you gonna keep going?
Nope. I got to go to work. I got to go pay for it.
Come take a look.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
JENNIE: I bought this 1970s ranch house from friends of mine
who lived here for more than 20 years,
and it's not exactly what I want it to be.
It needs a little...oomph.
JENNIE: It's outdated and definitely in need of some TLC.
It's like a blank slate for me
because I can pretty much go anywhere from here.
JENNIE: And there's no better place to start
than in the very center of the house.
This is gonna be the main living space of the house.
This is where we're gonna be hanging out all the time.
The living room is the heart of this home.
It's the first room you see when you come through the front door,
and it splits the house in half
between the bedrooms and the shared areas.
JENNIE: The dining room's right over here,
and then, this'll be the living room of the house,
right here off the front door.
When I bought this house,
I wanted to put a second story on it and open it all up.
But then the numbers came in
and they don't really work with my bank account at the moment.
I've never compromised on a remodel before.
And I'm learning the art of compromise...
[ Chuckles ] and it's fun.
[ Scott laughs ]
Uh-huh.
There's got to be one place in the house
where we really put the money, and it's gonna be right there.
This view's amazing.
These are, like, solid glass.
There's no air coming in, and you can't get out.
So my vision would be that these open up,
just push open and then
you just have the outdoors and the indoors together as one,
just for "wow" factor.
JENNIE: To do this, we're gonna take out the old windows
and replace them with pocket doors
that open up to that beautiful view.
Then we're gonna patch up the existing fireplace
to make it functional and tidy.
Last, we'll brighten up the room with nice, new, wood floors
and lighten the ceiling to create a perfect balance.
It's the very first day of work,
and I can't wait to see it finally happening.
Ah! Wow. Looks good, guys.
So easy to rip it all out.
It's gonna take a lot longer to put it all back together.
"I love my construction workers."
Yeah.
No client of mine
has ever graffitied their own house before.
I hope they like it.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
We are so close to being done with demo,
but there's one last thing to take out,
and I'm not going to miss it.
SCOTT: So, these windows...
...we're getting ready to demo these out.
Just want to make sure.
If you're sure that they can't be used.
Yeah.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait, wait. Whoa, whoa.
Jennie...
Whoo!
It just keeps cracking and cracking and cracking.
[ Imitates glass shattering ]
JENNIE: I'm gonna let the crew
take the rest of the windows out the professional way.
With demo complete, it's time for Scott and I
to address the big brick elephant in the room.
JENNIE: What's up?
Hi, Jennie.
Apparently, he has a bid in
to tell me how much it's gonna cost to fix it
and to change it all up the way I want it.
Before we even get into the cost of building it out --
Blah, blah, blah. What's the bottom line?
"Rebuild side walls of the fire box,
making it 4 inches smaller"...
How much, how much, how much?
Oh.
He's saying that it's going to cost 20 grand
to do the fireplace the way I want to do it.
For something that I was budgeted $3,000.
That's a lot of money for a fireplace in Southern California
that I use maybe one or two months out of the year.
I don't know.
Feel bad taking every last thing out of that house
that was originally here.
I don't know.
Lookit, it's totally in the way.
It's definitely blocking the view.
We need to lose the fireplace.
Out with the old.
Now I'm kind of excited
to see what that room looks like all open,
without that giant brick thing in the middle of it.
Whoa!
You know what I do with sledgehammers --
knock things down.
Whoa!
SCOTT: I've come to learn that Jennie likes to destroy things.
It's like therapy for her.
Whoa! Wow.
Whoo!
Wow.
That looks amazing.
What can I do here?
I need more furniture, for sure.
Why is there smog? Do you see smog?
I asked them not to have smog for you today.
[ Chuckles ]
They didn't get the memo.
So, I just left a table-read, and I'm on my way to meet Scott.
He left me a worrisome message,
something about "structural issue" in the dining room.
I don't know.
I got to go find out.
I got to talk to you about the living room, dining room.
I was going over the layout
about how we're gonna build these pockets.
In order to make a pocket,
we have to build out a new wall.
SCOTT: There's two options.
If we come in 7 inches here, right,
we're gonna have to figure out
what we're gonna do with this closet side.
No.
But we could incorporate the bar...
...into the closet.
I have a lot of stuff with three kids
and a lot of kitchen stuff, and that's, you know...
I can't lose a closet off the kitchen.
So he's thinking like a man.
He's not really understanding that.
I'm thinking we have to take it out of the kitchen.
I'm not losing any inches in that kitchen. It's small enough.
Oh...okay.
JENNIE: The problem is, I don't want to lose 7 inches on either side.
Scott's just gonna have to figure something out.
Maybe we should have a couple guys help us.
I can do this.
SCOTT: You want me to do it?
Wouldn't want you to get a callus.
We're gonna have to figure out
No.
JENNIE: Scott is trying to convince me to get rid of the closet
to make room for the pocket doors,
but I'm not backing down on this.
Then we can't do a pocket slider.
Okay.
We could do a bifold.
We could do half a slider.
Mnh-mnh. I don't like either of those so far.
Okay. We could do... a smaller pocket.
All because of this closet.
I really need that closet.
I just have to stand firm on this,
that I can't lose my closet.
I need it.
Okay.
All right. If you need it, then you're gonna have it.
Thank you.
I'll see you later.
Today I am going to work on
stripping the old stain off of the wood ceilings.
I'm gonna see how light we can get it.
We're gonna strip it, and then we're gonna bleach it.
That's why we get to wear this really cute, little outfit.
So, this is the first step in getting the stripper on there.
Stripper has to be scrubbed in a little to work
to really penetrate into the wood grain.
Look at that. That's some strong stripper!
That's the stripping part of the process.
Now we bleach it.
And hopefully, it'll look a lot lighter.
JENNIE: Since knocking down the old fireplace,
I've been thinking about how I'll replace it.
I'm creating a mock-up of the fireplace that I want.
This is kind of what it looks like, and it's been voted
one of the most beautiful objects in the world,
and I kind of love it.
But I'm not sure if it's gonna look right in the space,
and I don't want it to block the view.
So what I'm doing is trying to make a template
so that I can kind of hang it up and see if it's gonna look good.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
VoilĂ !
It looks somewhat similar to the fireplace that I want to get.
SCOTT: What are you doing?
This is the flue.
"That's what she said."
Sorry. I couldn't help myself.
Where do you put this thing in?
I don't know.
[ Both laugh ]
Okay.
It goes in there.
I'm gonna get on the ladder, and I'm gonna --
I can do this.
SCOTT: You want me to do it?
Wouldn't want you to get a callus.
I appreciate that.
Here's a ladder.
So...this...
Are they installed?
It's installed.
Get the inspector over here.
Whoa.
Check that out.
Wow. Chickity-check yourself.
What do you think?
It's like a hovercraft.
It doesn't take over the room.
It sort of just exists in the room without too much notice,
which is what I want.
SCOTT: I like it.
Leave it up. Don't take it down.
Keep it there.
Okay.
Bye.
[ Laughs ] It is.
I was just at Fashion Week, and this is what it was like.
"Ooh, I like that one."
JENNIE: The pocket doors look so nice,
and provide an access to the outdoors
that wasn't there before.
They are totally worth every penny.
JENNIE: We're gonna be looking at furniture today.
After you, milady.
I have this big, beautiful living room
with the view and overlooking the pool and the city.
And I have along my friend Adele to help me
because I'm getting a little overwhelmed
with all the decisions.
ADELE: We've been friends for over 20 years,
and she often consults with me
on different things for the house.
I don't have a designer that I'm working with.
I'm trying to do it all myself.
I really want a nice couch that fits that size of room.
And I want it to be sort of like a statement.
It has to be, like, a total showpiece
'cause that's the first room you walk into.
ADELE: She's creating what's gonna become her anchor and her home
for probably many, many years.
And it's been a long time since she's had that,
so I have an investment, as her friend,
just to make sure that she's really creating the space
that's gonna make her happy.
JENNIE: Ooh, look at all these fabrics.
These colors kind of bore me.
Do you like that?
Mm.
This is pretty.
That is pretty.
JENNIE: It's a really crazy blue color.
I don't know.
I've never had a blue couch before.
Is a blue couch, like, old lady?
Am I gonna look like an old lady sitting on that couch?
Now the next step would be to choose your sofa.
Uh, I don't like that one.
Yeah, this style,
and these are the arms I like.
[ Both sigh ]
JENNIE: I want a color that's gonna promote
an energy flow in the house.
And I feel that blue
will look just fancy enough but not too fancy
'cause I'm not very fancy.
JENNIE: I love it. I can't wait to see it in the new space.
You could rotate them.
I have to wear that glove?
Wah, wah, wah, wah.
I don't think that's a good idea.
JENNIE: Now that the ceiling's finished, and I can see its final color,
I can make some decisions that I've been waiting on...
Ooh. Look at me.
JENNIE: ...like picking out the new wood floors.
So, I asked my friend Adele to come over
and help me decide between floor samples.
So, what are we looking at?
What are you leaning towards?
I need something that goes not just in this room,
but in the bedrooms, the kitchen, the den.
Yeah.
This one looks a lot like the ceiling.
You think? Well, I have an idea.
[ Grunts ]
Ow!
Oh, my God.
I've been shivved.
Take it out... Ahhh!
Yes, you are. Okay.
Thank God you're okay.
So, back to this.
Once I put the samples up to the ceiling,
I realized how much one looked like the ceiling color.
I don't want the floor to match the ceiling...
ADELE: That would be weird.
And you would be inundated with that sort of tone.
I'd be like, "Ahh! Am I on the floor
or am I on the ceiling? I'm so confused."
Right. You need a contrast. That would be confusing.
JENNIE: Yeah, it became so clear to me that I had to go blonde.
I had to go with the lighter one.
It's more neutral. Yeah, more Zen.
Thank you for your assistance, milady.
You're welcome, milady.
Thanks for taking my splinter out.
Yeah, all right.
JENNIE: With the floors in
and the little bits and pieces getting installed,
it's looking less like a construction site
and more like an actual living room.
And now the piece I've been waiting for.
Hey, Jennie.
Hello, hello. Hi.
Isn't that awesome?
Looks so beautiful.
Right?
We could.
Boom. Marco!
You get on that side, I get on this side and raise it.
Oh, jeez.
Oh, careful.
No, no, no. Down, down, down.
Right there. Twenty-two.
Show me four.
Down, down, down, down, down.
Twenty-three.
I think two.
Okay. Great. I think that's a good height.
Wait a second.
Yeah.
You can't see anything.
I can see a little bit of the opening,
but if I'm on that side, I'm not gonna see anything.
How does it rotate? On a button?
No, you gotta physically...
No.
How am I supposed to turn it?
I can't grab a giant, hot, metal thing and turn it.
This is what you gotta put on.
What?
You can rotate 'em.
That's the remote control?
I have to wear that glove?
Wah, wah, wah, wah.
I don't think that's a good idea.
Well, I've gotta go to work now,
but when I come back, you'll give me the remote control
All right.
Did you see this?
Oh, my gosh. It's just beautiful.
Completely making over my house has been a crazy journey.
My brain is still jiggling.
Come see how I got "down and dirty" with the renovation,
and tour the finished house at...
Nobody told me it was gonna be this hard.
I have to have this room ready for my new couch.
It's coming any minute.
Come on in.
Now, do I have to put any little felty thingies on it?
'Cause I have a rug, but it's not here yet.
It's not gonna scratch your floor.
MAN: All right.
MAN #2: Yeah.
My God, this is so pretty.
This is a vintage lamp.
Hello, gorgeous.
Look, I could use this as my wedding dress.
Well, I guess it's a little white.
Won't really work.
JENNIE: We're almost there. Just a couple more things.
We need a light bulb.
JENNIE: Adele is coming over, and I can't wait to show her the room.
I just need to put a few things away, and I'll be done.
JENNIE: I love this closet so much.
It's my baby.
Might be my favorite room in the house. [ Chuckles ]
Jen?
Looks good, right?
Oh, my God! It's amazing.
Oh, my God. It's just amazing in here.
They're doors.
Now, they open all the way and recess into the walls.
One thumb.
Wow. So cool.
And look at the view! It's incredible.
It's like you're outside now.
And look at this.
Oh, yes, lookit...
I can't even believe that this
used to be a full, brick, mammoth sculpture.
This is amazing.
Is that how you spin it, or is there a remote?
[ Laughs ]
Did you see this? My favorite room.
This seems like the only piece of the house that...
Is original.
I just painted it.
This door -- when you shut it, the light goes off.
[ Laughs ]
JENNIE: It's dark.
[ Giggling ] That was fun.
JENNIE: I'm so glad I stood my ground to keep this closet.
In the end, we didn't have to build out the wall
because Scott got creative and installed a pivot door,
saving space and my closet.
It matches the front door, but it's a baby version.
Yeah, very nice.
Mm-hmm.
Ahh!
Ooh, that could kill a dog or a child.
ADELE: Yeah. Get on that immediately.
Dining room is so beautiful.
I love the pink.
Mm-hmm.
Love it.
So, what's going on at the bar?
The bar. Isn't it cool? Look at that.
Oh, my God! You found her!
Wow! She's perfect.
She's so beautiful,
and it truly represents never taking anything too seriously
and, also, that there's some hot chicks that live here.
Who's gonna woman the bar?
We could get the kids to do it.
Yeah, yeah. Let's get the kids to do it.
I mean, that's why I had them.
I think it's great.
This is just so you, and it's so beautiful and fun.
Oh, my gosh. It's just beautiful.
This is the couch that we picked out.
Are you happy with it?
I love this couch.
This is such a great color.
It's so sophisticated.
JENNIE: I'm crazy about how this room turned out.
I mean, it's perfect,
and it sets the tone for the rest of the house.
I want to thank you for all your help.
You're welcome.
You were, like, my go-to person when I panicked.
Aw. It was my pleasure. I'm so proud of you.
I'm gonna come over a lot.
I'm busy.
Busy.
Busy.
Uh-huh.