Dream Home Makeover - Fourth Season

This neighborhood is so pretty.

There's horses everywhere.

Get me a cowboy hat and chaps.

Wow.

-I thought you were scared of horses. - I'm very scared of horses.

I have a healthy respect for powerful things.

-But why horses? -Oh my gosh!

They could fall on top of you.

They could do the little horse hoof thing, like...

What do you do to that? You gonna fight a horse?

I think horses are so pretty.

Yeah, they're beautiful killing machines.

I'm really excited about this project.

It's hard to know T and not love her.

She's so deserving of, you know, a place to, you know,

make all of her delicious salsas and tamales,

and I know she has done so much for the company and for our team.

Like, the team just loves her.

Yeah, T deserves it.

Teresa's been with us for a very long time.

She started as a customer experience...

-Manager? -Yep.

And now manages the largest team in the entire company.

- Hi! - Hi.

- Hey, what's up? -

How are you?

It's my first time in your house.

I've never been to your house before.

-It's awesome! -Yes. I'm so excited for you to be here.

-Hey, Syd. Hey, Shea. -Hi. Good to meet you.

-I'm Teresa. -I'm Justin.

And I actually work for the McGees, as their VP of operations.

I've got some churros, 'cause I know that you love sweets.

Yeah.

And then for you, my queen...

- Oh my gosh! -And...

I love you so much.

I feel like a fairy.

Like I'm gonna go into your kitchen and do, like, one of these.

And then...

-This is quickly gonna be used against me. -

-"The queen needs some water." -Yes.

Even before I started working at McGee & Co.,

I was such, such a fan.

Well, remember when I first interviewed,

and I told you Shea was my spirit animal, and that I had a major crush on her?

-Yeah. -You got the job!

Not to make it awkward, but I can melt in your eyes.

They're beautiful. I love you so much.

I've just been obsessed.

I can attest to this.

I...

I was like, "Okay, this could either go really bad or really good," you know?

I just tried not to, like, you know, be creepy about it,

but my love runs deep.

-Not at all. -I only get creepy with Syd.

You know, I've never designed a project for one of our team members before.

-I know. I know. -So I'm a little nervous.

Okay, Shea, but, see here's the thing.

My style is your style.

You do whatever you want.

Yeah, you light up a room when you walk in,

-so we need your house to feel like that. -Oh my gosh! Okay, all right.

-Can we look at your kitchen? - Please.

This is the formal dining room we don't use,

because we're not formal people.

And even when we do have friends over, and family, it's all in the kitchen.

- I'd love to go in and take a peek. - Let's go in.

-This is great. And it's big. - Yes.

We picked this house because we love the neighborhood.

But one of the areas that we really wanted to take on

is the kitchen.

The color schemes and some of the design choices

are just not what we would want them to be.

Being able to have family here is so important.

In the Mexican culture, everything we do is really done here in the kitchen.

Like, the really hard conversations,

the really, um, emotional ones, they all happen here.

This is, like, the heart of the home.

We spend 95% of our time in the kitchen.

Cooking is really how we share and express our love.

When your family comes, what does it look like in the kitchen?

We're all in the kitchen doing everything.

My mom is typically the one cooking, so she's typically at the range, Juana.

I'm right by Juana's side, eating.

- Yes. -

I thought you were a sous-chef, but...

-Eating? - No, I just eat.

- No, all we... -Like, what is your favorite?

She cooks a lot of great salsa, a lot of great steak, chicken.

All made from scratch.

Everything has to be made from scratch, and so it takes up a lot of space.

Does it feel like the family restaurant days...?

-Yes! All over the place. -You're, like, production.

Cooking is just ingrained to us.

My mom, that's how she shows her love best to Justin is by cooking.

And she'll always joke, "Oh my gosh, you're just not feeding him enough."

-Yeah, she thinks I look too skinny. -Yeah, all the time. And I'm just like,

you know, he knows how to heat up his own tortilla too, you know?

Like, what do I look like, you know?

What's not working for you?

This island is, first and foremost, too high.

- Very high. -Yes.

Like standing-desk high.

-Standing... -

The usability of storage, I think, is another problem

because we only have that one pantry.

-Can I peek? - Yep.

-Okay, but no judgment, okay? -I won't judge.

So storage is an issue?

-Yes. Mm-hmm. -You would like...

So it's standing. It's not a walk-in pantry.

-No. -Okay. You have a good range.

-Does the size work for you? - Yes.

Anything you wish was different about that range that you have now?

That the oven worked.

Okay, we'll get you a working oven.

That the oven worked.

Jeez, freaking high maintenance.

So, here's what I'm thinking.

The countertop, a great quartz option that'll be super durable for your family.

I see this big window and I'm thinking, like, we can go bigger on the sink.

Definitely need a bigger sink. You can't fit pots and pans.

You can't fit anything.

And I think this wall is just, like, the wall of opportunity,

because there's so much space to be used that I think can be better utilized.

I want to give Teresa and Justin a kitchen that will be warm and welcoming,

but also meet the demands of a family used to cooking for large groups of people.

The kitchen will kind of be like me.

Good-looking, but ready to do some heavy lifting.

-Yep. -

I want to create a focal point out of the range wall

that is both beautiful and functional.

We'll start with a sleek 48-inch range and a new working oven.

We'll add elegant but durable quartz countertops.

Then we'll continue the countertops up the wall to create a high backsplash

topped with a matching six-inch shelf

that will hold cooking utensils and some fun decor.

Then to put a bow on it, we'll add a grand custom plaster hood with graceful curves.

To tackle Teresa and Justin's storage needs,

I'm going to create the wall of opportunity.

We'll remove the existing pantry, cabinets, and refrigerator,

and replace it all with floor-to-ceiling closed and open cabinets,

a hidden counter-depth refrigerator,

a five-in-one oven,

and a designated coffee station.

This space is just so meaningful to us.

But it's also just such a proud, proud moment

for me and for my mom and for my siblings whenever we're here,

because we didn't have, you know, such niceties growing up.

And it really lights up my mom whenever she's here,

and that's, like, the most important thing to me and my sisters.

-That's awesome. -No pressure.

-No pressure. Um... -

To know that Shea is going to be personally working on my home,

I'm internally losing it.

It's something that's so near and dear. And I just... I can't wait.

I'm gonna take this.

Yes.

Time to go work some magic on your kitchen.

-Yes! -

Okay, we're gonna tear out this kitchen.

Ow.

Props to Teresa. This is not that dirty back here.

Woo-hoo!

- It doesn't have to be pretty. -Hi.

Oh, hey, Shea.

This is going to be so amazing now that it's out.

Mm-hmm.

-You have questions? - A handful.

-Bradshaw, let's take five. -Okay.

- I know... I'm like... -What did you say?

-My bad. -I love the enthusiasm.

So, I have questions on the range.

So we're not gonna have any uppers on this wall?

Not on this wall. This is the main focal point in the kitchen,

and the goal is to just create the most beautiful look possible back here.

So now that we're changing this wall

to be a bunch of storage and closed cabinetry,

it's a lot of cabinetry,

and I feel like that means we don't need to put upper cabinets on the range wall.

I want to take the slab from the countertop,

and I want it to run countertop, up the backsplash,

and then I want to do a really small ledge all the way across here.

Okay.

And then that will be what I call

-salt and pepper and spice station. - Okay.

I'm really excited about this backsplash combo

because I've never done anything exactly like this before.

This ledge will be great for easy-access storage,

and with no upper cabinets on the wall, we can put the ledge high enough

to keep everything safe from splatters while cooking.

We drew out this curvy plaster hood.

I want to soften the curve,

and I want to slim up this band across the bottom.

-I'm just hoping you'll make me a mock-up. -Okay.

I love a mock-up.

And then the kitchen nook stays in the same location,

but right now, it looks like it's supposed to be French doors,

but it's actually not.