Oh, my! Sounds like a pretty nasty couple months. I hope you're on the way back up now.

I've put you on my calendar.

Take very good care of yourself!

BethesdaMadMan,

I hope you are feeling better and better.

I did a little snooping around hgtv.com. They don't have anything listed for Jan 10 just now. But episode 1008 looks like it might be yours, and Jan 10 happens to be exactly one week after episode 1007, so.....

"I did a little snooping around hgtv.com. They don't have anything listed for Jan 10 just now. But episode 1008 looks like it might be yours, and Jan 10 happens to be exactly one week after episode 1007, so....."

Thanks for the well wishes. You are right about us being episode 1008. I noticed the ommission from the HGTV website as well a couple of days ago. However, I e-mailed the producer and he double-checked and wrote back that the episode is still scheduled to air Wednesday night. I guess only time will tell.

Wow, I hope you get well, bethesdamadman, take your vitamin C!

I for one, have no trouble with the people at the end telling me they've sold their house-I really need closure on those shows, which is why I have a hard time watching "Hidden Potential" because you never see the houses redone! Just a quick view on the screen of what it could look like. Heck, I've got enough imagination to do that myself.

Eh, and don't even get me started on the depress-fest of "Buy Me"!

Anyhoo, looking forward to seeing those cool countertops on tv!

I couldn't find when it was on, but I did find this:

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here

There is a typo on that link! "There" should be "their". Anyways, can't wait to see the show!

Looking forward to it!

I'm sure we'll all have lots of questions for you after we see it.

Bumping up! I think the show is tonight!

Necia

"(I guess once that happens, I will no longer be an anonymous faceless poster here, lol.)"
You're right! No longer a faceless poster. Looks like you two had a great time with the show. Sorry no sale yet, but it will come.
I really enjoyed the show, Kathy G in MI
p.s. Buy your wife some power tools

BethesdaMadMan, you handsome devil, you! Anyway, enjoyed the show. How are you are liking that the "den" is now a "sitting room"?

OMG OMG !!! I am a newbie here on this forum. I usually hang out in the home decorating site.... But starting reading this today at work and made a point to watch the show tonight. It was AMAZING. You and you precious wife were great. Your home is beautiful. I am sure that was fun.

I am so sorry to hear of your illness, but glad you are better now. My prayers will be with you as you heal.

Your home was great. I can't see that it was improved as much as "designed to sell" usually does. You and your wife were charming. I have considered trying to have them improve my KY home, but think I will plant a St. Joseph statue in the yard instead. Best wishes to both of you.

Your show just ended here on the west coast. I was underwhelmed by the show staff but your house looked great! A lot of curb appeal and nicely laid out.

I'm actually a little surprised they even picked your house since there wasn't much for them to do. It looked as if you and your wife had fun with the project though. Did you buy your wife her own nail gun? :-) And now you've got national exposure - good for the marketing!

I wish they'd shown your kitchen counters - they look really cool.

Where did you put the tv and other things they removed to make the space a "sitting room"?

Did they tell you what you planned to do and then ask your opinion or did you just agree to go along with whatever they did? You may have mentioned this already upthread - sorry if I'm asking you to repeat.

Okay, who wants an autograph?

Thanks for all the kind comments and I'm glad you liked the show (and us!). And, yes, we really did have a lot of fun that week. To answer some of your questions:

No, I haven't bought Judy any power tools, yet, lol. In fact, you may have noticed that neither one of us could actually be called "handy." I sometimes joke that my home improvement expertise ends at changing lightbulbs - - - and Judy says I can't even do that right! My toolbox is my checkbook and the yellow pages. (Although I do believe that we have a couple of screwdrivers lying around somewhere!)

With respect to the show, we did know in advance which rooms were going to be done. The production crew made that determination shortly after their initial visit to the house about a month before the actual filming. However, we did not know what they planned to do to the rooms until the actual week of filming. We also had no authority to approve or turn down their design ideas. I just figured if we didn't like what they did, we could always change it afterwords.

We really like the new bathroom and think that the sitting room looks great, although it is not as functional as the "den" was. We used to use it as an extra guest bedroom because the sofa pulled-out into a queen bed. The old TV that was in there was only used when we had extra guests (usually a child or children of other visiting friends). That TV, btw, was given to Judy and me by my grandmother when we got our first apartment in 1977! And it still worked! The turntable and records that were in the wall unit were also from my college days in the 70s. Thus all the references on the show to updating 70s-style furnishings. However the sofa was just purchased a couple of years ago. We sold the wall unit on Craigslist and got rid of the tv as well. The sofa and the rattan furniture are still in our garage.

If anyone has any other questions about the show or the process, feel free to ask. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

I'd forgotten this was your show, but by chance I ended up seeing it. I loved your house and you both seemed like real fun people. I liked the changes too. So how much work did they actually have the two of you do?

I hope your recuperation is going well; very sorry to hear about all the health issues.

I enjoyed the show; you and your wife seemed so cool!

Thanks for clarifying re: the couch; it looked new to me so I couldn't figure out why they made it sound like *everything* was from the 70s!

It's a lovely house, and I'm sure it will sell when you are able to put it back on the market.

Thanks for the comments Robin and Lyfia. As for how much work we did.....did I mention that neither one of us is handy, lol. Pretty much what you saw on camera was all that we had to do. I felt like I was a star in a hollywood movie, you know, when they get to a dangerous part they stop and yell for the stuntman, lol. That's about how it was on the show. They'd film me painting for about five minutes and then turn the camera off and the real painter would come in and finish the room. While one production crew was filming me painting, another one was in the guest bedroom with Judy and Taniya (the designer) filming them standing on ladders scraping the wallpaper border from the wall. After a few minutes of that, the crew came in and did the actual work.

What I found very interesting was that all of the scenes with dialogue were filmed at least twice from different camera angles. That was interesting, but also somewhat difficult for a non-actor like me. For example, when Taniya would ask us a question, we would respond with whatever came into our heads. Then, after the scene was filmed, the camera crew would move to a different angle, Taniya would ask the very same question, and we had to not only remember exactly what we said, but also act as if we were responding spontaneously.

BTW, there was a lot that was left on the cutting room floor. As you can imagine, there was a lot of filming over the course of the week, but the show is only 22 minutes long. Now that the show has aired, we are supposed to get DVDs with all of the out-takes. That should be really funny. If you thought Judy was cute with all of her squeals with the saw and the nail gun, you should have seen what didn't make it onto the show!

It was a great show! Although I'm not thrilled with that designer, maybe I'm too used to Lisa Laporte.

I didn't get to watch the whole show, but saw the beginning and the end product. You and your wife look like so much fun!

Since you're so willing to give us the inside scoop, I'm wondering about the open house. Is it staged? Or are these real people that come in to look? If it is, do they entice people by advertising that it's a "Designed to Sell" open house? Do tell!

And thanks so much for sharing your experiences with us, both as a celebrity and as a regular guy trying to sell his house.

The open house was staged. Those were all friends and neighbors. I don't know if all of the DTS open houses are staged, but remember, our house was not on the market when the filming took place last June.

I got a kick out of the open house attendee who kept saying :oooh this is awesome!
I liked the dancing scenes too.

I never like to see them paint wood furniture in these shows but this was probably the only instance where it really looked good afterwards. Really did a nice job.

I think having the show on tv will make people want the house. Afterall it was seen on tv. It's a famous house now.

Since you're selling because the house is too big well you could probably rent out a few of those extra bedrooms now to gweb members then call back the network to film a reality series.

You could add to your listing 'As Seen on TV' with that little rounded box icon they always use for the stuff in the dollar stores! ;-)

"Since you're selling because the house is too big well you could probably rent out a few of those extra bedrooms now to gweb members then call back the network to film a reality series."

"You could add to your listing 'As Seen on TV' with that little rounded box icon they always use for the stuff in the dollar stores! ;-)"

ROFL! You people are just too funny.

Let me preface my comments to say that I thought the house, bethesdamadman and his wife were all wonderful. However that was one of the worst Designed to Sell episodes that I have ever seen. We hardly saw any of the house except the 3 rooms that were changed (which were all secondary rooms) and all of the strange camera angles and zooming around made it hard to watch. I don't think that they even showed the potential "buyers" walking through the front door. That was the second episode that I have seen with that particular designer and it seems that she has too much of a "look at me" personality. I was also surprised that the show would pick this home, as it really didn't need as much help as most DTS homes do.

I, too, enjoyed you and Judy having fun, but agree that the show was very much full of "fluff" and little helpful info. It was all hamming it up for the camera by everyone involved. This crew seemed to show little of the actual work and nothing of how the sitting room pieces were chosen. It was just wierd. In the "open house" scenes it was clear that the guests were not looking at the the house, but were admiring the work done in the redesign.

I remember when I was getting our house ready to sell, how I would tell DH, "no, it is funny how the house hunters will pay so much attention to the decorating and the furniture, even though it does not come with the house." Now I wonder if that whole impression is invalid. I know I based it on watching D2S episodes. I have to say that now I am not surprised at how much is done just for the cameras. I lost my faith in all these programs when someone here linked to a story about how "House Hunters" used houses that were not even for sale because they were convenient to demonstrate the "plot." It is a little sad, there is enough drama in home selling that it really does not need to be staged. Yes, I know that TV production would not be efficient if they followed the real stories, but they lead us to believe that these are real stories.

BMM, great job by you and Judy. You obviously enjoyed the experience. How good a paint job did they really do on that bedroom furniture? I always envision the paint peeling off with a fingernail scratch due to poor surface preparation when they paint the finished furniture.

Dang!! I missed it. I thought it was on yesterday and it wasn't the ep. I completely forgot to check to see if it was on today. Normally these shows are repeated... BM - do you know when there will be additional airings?

Sorry to hear about your health problems, but hope that all is on the mend now.

I enjoyed watching your Designed to Sell episode, but I think that was mainly because of knowing that you come to this forum. Your home is lovely and you and your wife are just too darned cute!! As for the show itself, I think it was one of the weirdest DTS shows I've ever seen...with the swirly colors and the real estate lady and other guy dancing around the jukebox....not to mention the two guys who were doing the bathroom (they were just sort of weird with the goofy jokes and the looks they were giving each other!) I sure hope that this isn't a new format for DTS....with the shows consisting mostly of fluff, corny jokes and entertainment filler at the expense of handy information. And, I don't know about anybody else, but I was a bit disappointed to read that the open house was staged and that we can't even trust the "thanks for helping me sell my house!" messages at the end of the show.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the episode (it's so nice to put a face to people on the forum), but I would say that you and Judy were the stars of the show, I could do without all of the other people!

Take care of yourself,

Jiggreen

While I liked your home and the show was interesting primarily because we sort of "know" the owners - call my Pollyanna-ish but I was terribly disappointed to find out that the endings are not always true. While some people want to see an outcome - even if the house is not sold right after the D2S open house, they don't have to lie to the TV audience - they could just allude to the sellers are expecting an offer any day - they have done that for other shows - why did they air the clip that said you sold the house when it was not true. I think that is misleading and unprofessional. People like me believe that stuff.

In answer to a couple of the questions posted above:

1. Although I am sure that the episode will be rerun (aren't they all, ad nauseum, lol), I haven't been given any schedule.

2. They did a great job on the painted furniture. Ironically, when Judy first heard their plans she was horrified. I told her not to be concerned because we would most likely hold an estate or moving sale when we sold the house and either sell or give it away anyway. After she saw the finished product, she (and I) thought it looked great.

3. I, too, was less than thrilled when I found out that we were supposed to film the fake ending. I kept telling the producer that I was uncomfortable with lying on camera, but he kept assuring me that this was just a TV show that they were filming for entertainment purposes only. After filming was completed we received a survey asking us for our feedback on the whole experience - - this is the one aspect that I highlighted as a negative.

Thankfully my DVR recorded your show, BMM. I agree with everyone; you and Judy were a delight to watch.

But I cannot *stand* the new format. I had to fast forward through the stupid fluff parts to get to the real parts of the show.

Oh and my DH wanted to know if you get paid to be on the show? Or if the 2k budget is what they give you?

Also, does the real estate expert really give you unbiased input, or do they only critique the things the show is going to change?

Here's hoping for a "real" quick sale!

Bethesda, it was so nice to "meet" you and your wife.

I, too, wonder if the RE expert gave you a comprehensive critique. Your house was very nice to start with.

No, we were not paid to be on the show. Conversely, it did not cost us anything out of pocket. Our "compensation' was having the three rooms redesigned.

The RE expert did not give us a compehensive critique other than to say that she loved our house and our artwork. Her focus was on the three rooms that were to be redesigned. And, of course, she knew before filming which rooms were to be redesigned.

BTW, the part of the show where we are "watching" the RE agent go through the house was actually one of the last scenes filmed after all of the work had been done. The monitor that we were looking at was actually blank and the producer was off-screen telling us what the RE agent said so that they could film our reacting to her comments.

I'm sorry that some of my comments have shattered your illusions abot the show, but we really did have a great time filming it. And we thought the crew was great. Even the "stars" were down-to-earth people. We've been told by the producer and the crew that we have been their favorite couple to work with so far. (Of course, they could be saying that to everyone, lol.) They even invited us to their rap party at a Mexican Restaurant downtown where we ate dinner and quaffed numerous margaritas!

It really did look as if you and your wife were having a good time with it. Now that you're *famous* are you being recognized around town?

So, what's the latest with your house? Any news on the selling front?

I don't know about being "famous", but we have received a few calls and e-mails from people we haven't heard from in years who just happened to watch the show.

As for selling our house, as I noted earlier in the thread, due to my health issues we took our house off the market while I was in the hospital and will most likely re-list after my recuperation later this year. However, I have two more surgeries to go through, so we may not end up listing it again until next year. We did tell our realtor however, that in the interim, if he happens to find someone who he thinks would be interested in our house, then we would be amenable to having him show it.

I was just wondering if you get to keep the new furnisher that tehy buy? Also do you have to sign something that states that you will sell the house after the makeover? How would they know that you are not just looking for a free makeover?

Why would they care?

Whoa, that sounded snotty and I didn't mean for it to be. But HGTV is looking for sources of entertainment value, period. I don't think they'd really care whether you were actually selling your house, just needing a facelift, or had just bought your house and it needed help.

I've suspected that they do just that at times, ever since that episode where Lisa LaPorta tried to sell us that load of crap about "we need to paint all the trim glossy black; it'll appeal to the hip young people in this neighborhood." I say bologna -- and I truly believe that the people "selling" were really new owners and it was their specific taste that chose that black.

Call me skeptical, but there's no real house hunting happening on "House Hunters"... why should Designed to Sell be any more true to life?

tatiana: Yes, we were able to keep the furnishings, and no, we didn't have to sign anything. (BTW, the painting and the tables in the reading room were already ours, they just moved them from different areas of the house.) As far as them knowing we wanted to sell and weren't looking for a free makeover, we were interviewed in advance of being selected and one of the areas covered was when and why we were wanting to move. Now, of course, it would have been possible to lie to them throughout the process, but why do that when there are other "reality" shows that will help you with a makeover?

deeje: I think that you are partially correct. DTS is produced for entertainment purposes and they aren't really concerned with whether your house actually sells; however, they do want people who are in fact trying to sell their house.

We first got involved in this process in February 2006 when we went to a "home and design expo" weekend here in the D.C. area. In addition to the usual booths and exhibits, there was an area set up for guest speakers to give presentations throughout the weekend on various topics. The celebrity speakers that weekend were Lisa LaPorta & Clive Pearse. At the end of their presentation they had a Q & A session and someone from the audience asked them the specific issue you raised: have they ever been scammed by a homeowner looking for a free makeover. Clive answered that out of all the shows they had filmed, only two homeowners did not sell their houses. In one case, the woman was so enamored with the changes that she decided to stay. In the other instance, Clive said that he suspected that the homeowners never wanted to sell and were in fact just wanting a makeover.

Anyway....at the end of the Q&A session, Lisa mentioned that although all of the previous episodes had been filmed on the west coast, DTS had just started filming in Chicago and would be filming in D.C. in the summer. She said that if you were selling your house and wanted to be part of the show, to send an e-mail to the production company. We subsequently did that and the rest - as they say - is history. ;-)

For anyone who's interested, HGTV has updated the DTS website to show the before and after pictures from our episode. It also identifies all the products they used and the places where they were bought.

Here is a link that might be useful: BethesdaMadMan's Designed to Sell Episode

sparksals: "Dang!! I missed it. I thought it was on yesterday and it wasn't the ep. I completely forgot to check to see if it was on today. Normally these shows are repeated... BM - do you know when there will be additional airings?"

The episode will re-air at 8:00 pm. on April 20th, and then be repeated that same evening at midnight.

[QUOTE]Pretty much what you saw on camera was all that we had to do. I felt like I was a star in a hollywood movie, you know, when they get to a dangerous part they stop and yell for the stuntman, lol. That's about how it was on the show. They'd film me painting for about five minutes and then turn the camera off and the real painter would come in and finish the room. While one production crew was filming me painting, another one was in the guest bedroom with Judy and Taniya (the designer) filming them standing on ladders scraping the wallpaper border from the wall. After a few minutes of that, the crew came in and did the actual work. [/QUOTE]

So, are the carpenters, the Steve Hannamans, on the show also fake as well, or they do they actually do the work? How many people are they bringing in to do the work? Do they bring a professional painter to do the painting, a real plumber to do

Thanks for the info. I'll try to remember this time!

marvelousmarvin: "So, are the carpenters, the Steve Hannamans, on the show also fake as well, or they do they actually do the work? How many people are they bringing in to do the work? Do they bring a professional painter to do the painting, a real plumber to do"

No, they're real and they do a lot of the work off camera as well as on. It is just that there are other members of the crew who chip in. The painting, for example, was done by a member/employee of the production team. I wouldn't call him a professional painter, but he definitely did a better job than I would have done!

As an example of the qualifications of the regular construction guys on the D.C. edition of Designed to Sell, I've included a link to DTS's description of John Allen's background.

Here is a link that might be useful: DTS's John Allen

That's reassuring to know, where not everything is staged and fake. To tell the truth, given the time constraints, I always figured the work done would be substandard, where it looked okay on TV but not so good when you saw it up close. And, I always thought the LA workers were too pretty to be real carpenters. So, how many people do they bring in to help with the work?

I just recently tried to paint everything myself because these TV shows always make it sound like that's the easiest task to do, and it was much more difficult than I expected. You can easily tell that it was not done by a professional, and I figured the same would be true with the show's renovations as well but it sounds like they did a good job with your house.

BesthesdaMM:

I watched your episode last night, and have to say, your house looks great! Even before the DTS, it looked good. They had to try REALLY hard to come up with "issues" in your home. Has it sold yet, or is it on the market?

Ellen

Hi, Ellen. Thanks for the compliment on the house. We listed the house on October 1, 2006, but had to take it off the market a few weeks later when I became ill and was hospitalized for almost two months. (If you scroll up you can read my post from 12/24 that goes into more detail.) I have two more surgeries coming up this summer, so we won't be putting the house back on the market until the fall at the earliest. Most likely, we'll wait until next Spring.

Sheeesh! I missed it AGAIN! If it airs again, can you post a message as a reminder?

"And, I always thought the LA workers were too pretty to be real carpenters."

Everyone's pretty in LA. Seriously. They kick you out and make you move to Omaha if you're not.

I don't mind that some stuff is staged, it's tv after all. Not politics. Um, not history. Um, not religion. Shoot-I got nothing.

Hope you're feeling ok, BethesdaMadMan.

Keep us posted.

sparksals: "Sheeesh! I missed it AGAIN! If it airs again, can you post a message as a reminder?"

Well, you've got another chance coming up this summer. The show is scheduled to air again on July 20th at 8:00 p.m. and then again at midnight.

disneyrsh: "Hope you're feeling ok, BethesdaMadMan."

Most people go to the beach for Memorial Day, but I have my own unique "vacation" plans. I'm going to the sun and fun capital of the world.......The Washington Hospital Center.

I'll be checking in for my all-inclusive resort accommodations on Monday, May 28th. The accommodations package includes around-the-clock visits from various resort personnel (whether I want them or not). This resort is so much fun that I may never want to sleep. In fact, the resort personnel usually come by in the middle of the night just on the off chance that you've fallen asleep and wake you up. They want to ensure that guests enjoy every minute of the resort experience.

I've even signed up for the extra-special amenities package which includes a six-hour visit to the operating room on Wednesday, May 30. I'll have my own personal attendants during that period of time - one of whom will even be giving me drugs! I told you this was all-inclusive!

My resort stay will last about 7-10 days, with an expected check-out on Wednesday, June 6.

I couldn't ask for a better vacation. In fact, this sounds so wonderful, I'm already planning my next "vacation" at this resort for sometime in July.

Some people schedule two vacations at a time......I schedule two surgeries!

We'll be thinking of you with thoughts of healing for you and steady hands for your surgeon(s)!