What happened to Alex Mcloud, the original hostess of the show before Paige?

Thanks so much for the update. That show was the early inspiration for me to get onto HGTV, which I appeared on for 5 years. It's good to see that most have returned to their roots + doing what got them the recognition, their design business. Thanks again for the blast from the past! mindy miles greenberg - encore decor..the blog

Of course I always preferred the UK version Changing Rooms.

It's like you read my mind by posting this. I loved Trading Spaces and, even more, I loved the British version, Changing Rooms, which has disappeared from BBCAmerica as well. Very great shows that gave us all so many fun ideas as well as great entertainment.

After I graduated from college I moved home and watched Trading Spaces for HOURS. It may have been a major influence in my decision to turn around and go to design school, mostly because I knew I could do better.

They should bring this show back now that it's been a few years. It's a great format that would probably do well again.

By the way, Genevieve's December 10 blog post talks about her new "boyfriend" but if you read further she's talking about a new HP printer. Her bio still says married. :)

opriscilla - Most of Alex's later years are full of TV hosting, you can check out more of her endeavors from her official site: http://www.alexmcleod.net/

Dez Ryan was the best! She did the funkiest rooms...sadly, that most of her homeowners did not appreciate. They were always my favorites!

Haha @ Genevieve's relationship status. Her new bf is a printer!

This posts cracks me up. I was just thinking about Trading Spaces! Genevieve did this amazing kitchen re-do with Moroccan tile floors and gray cabinets on her new Dear Genevieve.

@J Dandy I found that Genevieve post confusing too . . . who dates a printer?

Why do I remember the hay being Hildi? But yes, that show was ADDICTIVE. And if nothing else, taught me to be really fearless with color. :)

As a former homeowner on Trading Spaces, I miss the show. We were lucky to have Vern do our son's room, while we worked with Gen. It was a positive experience and fun. Vern stayed in touch for a long time. He was a really nice guy!

@Brodiemojo Too cool that Vern did your home in an episode. Tell us more . . . what's it like?

hey - you forgot to update us on Kia!! she was towards the end of the show's run...

I too, loved Changing Rooms w/Laurence Llewelyn Bowen's overly-goth-inspired decor... and clothing.

I think I finally lost it with Trading Spaces when I watched Hildi cut away carpet for a dining area in a "sorta-crooked-half-moon-ish" shape so she could build up the subfloor with MAGAZINES to lay vinyl tile on top. C'mon people(!) - be daring and adventurous w/design (which this was *not*), but please do it RIGHT. That show always made me cringe because you knew it was such a half(arsed) job. Vern, however, was awesome.

Genevieve Gorder now has a baby and A NEW design show called Dear Genevieve on HGTV. She's still my favorite

I recently thought of Trading Spaces out of the blue, and a few days later was channel surfing and came across The Best of Trading Spaces at 4pm eastern time on the new Oprah network. It is hosted by Paige Davis, they show one of the makeovers, then she goes to see the people after all these years to see what they thought of it and what they have kept. Fun to see them again after so long! And now it will be fun to look at the websites you have found for us here - thanks!

I'm with Rochelle on this one!
Genevieve's my favorite designer from Trading Spaces, and I love that she's getting as much play from HGTV as she has. One of my favorite things she did on Trading Spaces was tile a kitchen backsplash with broken dishes. It looked amazing, and I can't wait to do it in my own home!

I think that show had moments that seemed to be only for the camera and not for living, but for much of it, the designers really did seem to be considerate of the home owners. I think that when Genevieve or Vern took on a project, the person really had nothing to fear. I loved that show. Like a LOT! I got a lot of ideas from that, and I'm not even sure exactly which ones I've done that I can trace back to it. I think maybe the general resource approaches they used ended up just helping stir the pot. Thanks for posting this.

I'm pretty sure Hildi was the hay and Genevieve was the moss. I always liked Laurie and Vern's rooms the best. I felt that yes, they knew they were on a TV show but that someone would eventually be living in that room, too.

oh, wow. ! The website of Paige Davis is totally scary -- but not suprising.

**surprising

Oh wow, my dad and I used to laugh hysterically over Hildi's designs! Meanwhile two thumbs way up for Vern Yip. So much love!

Yes, the hay was Hildi.

http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/trading-spaces-reveals-room-made-of-straw.html

This post brings back such fond memories. I'd come home from school and immediately settle in with my mom to watch this show.

Trading Spaces meant more to me than being just a fun show; it became a life-saver. My first (and only) child was born three days after 9/11 and of course, you could not watch anything on TV or pick up a publication that didn't contain all things disaster. The days were getting shorter and the nights longer and as a first-time mom nursing a baby at all hours, I was desperate for something different. Flicking through the channels, I stumbled upon Trading Spaces. Up until then, I really didn't have much interest in design (mostly because I didn't know what it was), but I did have a passion for color and wackiness in the home and the show really struck something in me. Since then, I have become more and more interested in design and I am actually taking my first class (Intro to Interior Design) at the local technical college. I don't know where it will lead me; all I know is I'm going to have fun and maybe learn a little something. And I have Trading Spaces to thank for it!

OMG Hildi's hideous hay room. I had to stop watching her episodes after watching her gleefully destroy a gorgeous original Craftsman mantle in the same episode. Gluing crap to the walls in a household with children? WTF???

Her arrogance, cluelessness, and utter disdain for the homeowners (see: wine-themed kitchen for teetotalers; black and screaming yellow Elvis-in-the-'70s "modern" dining room with a fire-hazard chandelier and vases full of hard-boiled eggs) was a complete turn-off. Ugh!

Give me Changing Rooms any day.

How could you forget the hotness that is Carter Oosterhouse??

Vern is the only one who I would want to have as my own designer. Too many of the others were just shock value. Vern made rooms that were livable. Many of the rooms from the show as a whole are just so dated.

First, Deserving Design was on HGTV, not TLC.

While Trading Spaces was fun, I always much preferred Changing Rooms. Bring it back please BBC.

So glad to see there are other fans of the original, which was Changing Rooms from BBC. Although I do very much like designs by Vern Yip and Genevieve Gorder, the imagination that went into what was done on Changing Rooms brought design to a whole other level of artistry and creativity; it was not just another re-decorating show.

Ahh Trading Spaces. This was by far my favorite show as a child/teen. I remember watching it every Friday night with my mom. So cool to hear what all of the designers are up to now. Wish Paige was back on TV...her personality was always so cheerful!

Ah, count me as another Changing Rooms fan who was in a flutter over Laurence Llewelyn Bowen. I was a teenager and he was soooo dreamy with that accent!

I loved Trading Spaces but I stopped watching it cold turkey the day a designer paint a grand piano. Can't remember who it was, but I was horrified. A piano is not furniture, it is a musical instrument. I turned the channel and never went back.

My favorite room ever was Genevieve's Scrabble room.

Hildi's Hay room was always the scariest.

Oh man. Trading Spaces. Old times, man... old times. The only thing that could have made it better was a little more Andrew Danjumbo. Didn't he appear on a few later episodes?

Laurie used to bug me - I found her too prim - but her rooms were almost always my favourite.

I appreciate the update. I was addicted to Trading Spaces for a long time. I actually like Doug in spite of his perceived arrogance and I loved Hildi, she could create something breathtaking or something completely crazy, one just never knew. However, I would take either of those two any moment rather than Frank. With him, I could be sure to end up with some ill-executed pseudo Tuscan style with sponged walls and chickens everywhere.
I loved Vern (who didn't), Genevieve was mostly great and Laurie occasionally surprised me although she leaned towards too frou-frou style for me.

remember Doug's Prison of Love??? The mural was amazing but I don't think anyone wants their bedroom to look like a prison.

trading spaces was my favorite! i loved watching it in high school/college, it was my first real exposure to more modern/contemporary interior design... and its was started my obsession with decorating! genevieve and vern were definitely my favs! and i love dear genevieve on hgtv!

What about CRYING PAM??

http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/tradingspaces/topten/badreveals/badreveals_08.html

gochrisgo --Vern did a soccer-themed room for my two boys, including a soccer mosaic tile floor. Gen created a retro office/guest room with horizontal stripes. I haven't talked to Vern for about two years, but he was always very kind and especially sweet to my youngest.

Oh, Trading Spaces. Many an afternoon was spent on the couch watching that show. I hated Hildi. Loved Vern. Lusted after Ty. Wanted to be Amy, but with Paige's hair and dancer's body.

I agree with the commenter who said what about the homeowners! Did they keep their new designs? Tear it down as soon as TS left? Sue? I'd love know...

Unrelated (and not meant to be snarky): What's with all the typos? AT articles always seem so well-edited, but this one's rife with them. Just odd, is all.

Hildi was evil. The hay room was horrible, but remember the room where she stapled LP records all over the walls, or that bathroom she covered in nasty plastic flowers? I think the people who got the flower bathroom successfully sued the show, even though they had signed the documents before the work started agreeing that they wouldn't.

I liked Genevive, but her moss room was another space crying out for legal action.

Doug seemed to have some real interior design sensibility--Genevieve, not so much. She should have stayed in graphic design or craft-making or something.

Don't remember who the designer was, but one of them did a kitchen with a wine theme. The walls were papered with wine labels and there was a huge wine rack that was being filled with cheap wine. The neighbors doing the work didn't want this at all as the husband who would be living there was a recovering alcoholic. The designer kept saying it was fine and plowed ahead with the alcohol-everywhere theme.

Common sense was rarely at work on that show.

Love the update! Trading Spaces was my first foray into home redesign and has led to an obsession! It's really interesting to see how HGTV, diy and TLC recycle their talent, I wonder if it leads to sharing of ideas and trends across the networks.

I see Doug in the Flower District sometimes. I still remember the master bedroom that he "redesigned" into the interior of a train sleeper car, and I think he painted a woman's Chippendale style dresser white. It was awful.

Ah... Hildi. I do remember her horrible flower bathroom (stapled them suckers right to the drywall).

Was it Hildi or Laurie who covered an entire kitchen wall with labels from wine bottle (for a couple that didn't even drink)?

Mindy Paige Dave Page (that's her name for real) was a great host.

Television Without Pity used to have great post-show write-ups that were hysterical.

Loved Vern. He always kept the homeowners in mind. The one space I remember that Laurie did was a fishing shack in Louisiana that had a horrible floor and a fantastic turquoise stove. Hildi needed to be slapped, but she probably would have liked it.

Oh, lord, Crying Pam was a legend there for a while thanks in part to TWoP.

Agree with all the Changing Rooms love. Lawrence was terrific, but Graham *never* had a bad room. Also, I could never understand a word that came out of Handy Andy's mouth.

If I was a home owner who got stuck with Hildi, I would have opted out of participating if possible.
Didn't she do a room where she put all the furniture on the ceiling? (at which point I stopped watching the show)

Oh, the memories are flooding back - Doug's prison themed bedroom with the toilets, Hildi's bathroom with plastic flowers glued to the walls, Hildi's hay-covered bedroom, Frank's chicken and barn door dining room... My favorite episode, however, was the woman who hated brown, so, of course, her neighbor/friend allowed the designer (I think it was Laurie) to use brown as the main color - mayhem ensued as the neighbors exchanged words and a few slaps.

Really BAD design. Don't miss them at all.

Thank you so much AT for posting this. After my tumultuous teen years, this show repaired my relationship with my mother. We used to watch it together. We bonded over bad design, crying homeowners, and inspiring ideas. Such good memories.

Was it Doug who, after a homeowner told him that she never allows people to go barefoot in her house because she hates feet and foot smells--painted a really large painting of his (ugly, ugly) foot and put it up on the wall?

(Loved the British version of 'Trading Spaces," too!)

Actually I loved Doug's ability to think outside the box. I liked the train car idea and I loved that episode where he suspended the dining room table. Yeah he came off as arrogant but hey it's TV. He has an awesome website too.

My favorite though was always Vern.

That was a great show, especially in the beginning. I liked Vern, Laurie and Genevieve. Their designs were the most tasteful. Paige was a great hostess. Her sunny disposition and beautiful bright smile really smoothed out the ruffles and tension between the designers and homeowners. But....ooooh...how I hated Hildi!! I think she deliberately went against the homeowners' wishes out of spite most times. Every room she did was terrible and I felt sorry for the homeowners who had to undo her mess. She would alter things that never should have been touched (antiques, things of value, etc.). She was very arrogant and disrespectful. Total nightmare!

I used to watch this show every weekend in college.

It's been a long time since Ty Pennington was entertaining and actually bearable to watch.

Genevieve and Vern deservedly have their own shows :-)

Andrew Dan Jumbo was on "While You Were Out", not Trading Spaces. But I would like to know what happened to that hottie!

Haha, this reminded me of how my (the 4-year-old) nephew wanted to be Andrew Dan Jumbo for Halloween one year. Needless to say his mom was a big fan of the show.

I seem to remember one time when a designer took a perfectly decent (though plain) living room and PAINTED THE WHOLE THING WHITE, including the exposed-brick fireplace and floors. It sticks in my mind b/c the homeowner just about passed out from shock during the reveal, and Paige didn't know what to do other than say, "Give it a few days to see if you get used to it." Does anyone remember who that was? I'm guessing it was either Doug or Hildi...

Oh, I loved Paige and Amy Wynn....I had SUCH a crush on Amy Wynn, lol...I would get so mad when she wasn't on :) My favorite designer was always Laurie...I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't like Vern...his designs were usually too cold and modern for me...what can I say? I'm a french country kinda gal :P Ahhh, I miss that show, and the BBC version!

I love your for this Apartment Therapy. Now I want to hear from people who had their rooms done.

Remember Kia and her horrible wallpaper borders?

@AmyinPittsburgh: I remember that episode. Weren't homeowners instructed to remove anything from the room that they didn't want changed? And the woman said during that initial tour of her room that she didn't want the brick painted, but of course she couldn't take it out of the room. And that was the first thing the designer wanted to do, paint all the brick. I really thought she might start cussing and slapping. Can't remember who the designer was, but I think it was one of the women.

Oh how I would cringe and scream when Hildi was revealed as one of the designers! Looking at her site now is reminding me of how ridiculous she was...she should have stuck to fine arts, and even window displays - NOT been allowed to design functioning rooms for actual people!

Changing Rooms was the best. I could not bear to watch the mess making on Trading Spaces. At least on Changing Rooms anything was an improvement using sticks from the garage, scraps of cloth dyed in the washer and 14 paint colors mixed together.

So funny to read this blog today. I was JUST talking about this show with a co-worker yesterday about it. We were reminiscing about some of the crazy designs and how much fun it was to watch that show. My husband and I now own a custom upholstery/furniture store in Napa. I can't imagine how they did what they did in 2 days. Crazy!

Does anyone remember the brick and bars painted on bedroom walls done by Doug?

In answer to the people who asked if the people kept the rooms as they were when Trading Spaces left, I do recall seeing a few of the designers' creations on eBay a few years back. Some I didn't recognize but more of them I did...and didn't blame them for selling them either.

I did click the link to Hildi's website and although most of them are just borderline crazy, the Sand Cabana room would have made me pull my hair out.

Hildi was nuts but she did one of my favorite bedrooms of all time (at least, I'm pretty sure it was her. It might have been Geniveve. It was a tiny, narrow bedroom and Ty built a gorgeous, low platform bed (very Ligne Roset) and then she put seagrass (in a planter) along one wall. It was gorgeous!

I loved that show the first season when Alex McLeod was on it. Then, when Paige took over, I about died. I couldn't stand her!!

As far as design is concerned, I think they were all terrible designers save for Genevieve and Laurie. Not that I would ever want Laurie's designs in my house, but I can appreciate that other people definitely would.

I LOVED Amy Wynn. I totally had a girl crush on her, too. She was so adorable!! I kind of had a girl crush on Alex, too, but then she disappeared into thin air and out came Paige from a cloud of marshmallows. Alex got a freaking emmy for being the host for chrissakes! I hope they didn't can her.

What no one has mentioned is that people sign on for the show; if they knew what they wanted, why not just do it themselves. How could they complain when they'd agreed to strap themselves to Lady Design/Fortune's Wheel?

Because of homeowner attitudes, I too would love to see the Before, After, and After-Everyone-Left photos!

As for hosts, Alex was so far superior to Paige, whose website says all you need to know about her.

PS: Vern's designs were so predictable. Argh.

I miss this show so much. I LOVED the crazy outrageous rooms (especially those by Hildi and Doug!) - there isn't anything nearly as exciting on HGTV/TLC nowadays. Genevieve's design show is utterly boring compared to what she created on Trading Spaces.

Didn't care for Alex - much preferred the sunny Paige, despite my general disdain for all things perky. Paige was the glue that bound the show together.

The show was a lot of fun, but I understood why some people had a breakdown after the reveals. I have yet to understand how Hildi was able to be considered a designer. Over the top does not make one cutting edge.
Carter Oosterhouse was quite the hottie carpenter. Too bad I could not get him to New Jersey for his new show and have him redo my poor hideous bathroom.
At the end of the day, I wish I could afford Candace Olson at my house.

My co-worker Monique and her husband William were on Trading Spaces. Just before the holidays, their apartment in Harlem was filmed for a follow up show on Oprah's new OWN network. It should air in the next few weeks. I think Kia did their place and they haven't changed it much.

BTW - loved Laurie's work, hated Hildi and thought Doug was kinda a douche-bag.

I remember when Kia made a bedroom look like a gravesite, complete with (fake) grass- and flower-covered casket bier!

I don't really want to associate my bedroom with death, but it was interesting.

I read that the homeowners who ended up with Hildi's hay walls spent 17 hours scraping it all off.

I missed Trading Spaces so much when it went off the air. It was a show my entire family watched together and I have sons. I always wondered what happened to the designers that no longer were in front of the camera. Enjoyed the update!

It was a addictive show but the finished rooms were sometimes awful. Kia's "gravesite" bedroom was horrible. Most all of Hildi's rooms were simply unlivable. Vern, Laurie, & Genevieve seemed to care and they are talented. I did feel sorry for some homeowners...I do think they were taken advantage of at times. I guess that it showbiz.

Genevieve's blog says that she is from Minnesota and that she lives in New York with her husband and daughter.

Yes, Genevieve is married and has a preschool-age daughter.

Loved the show. You all forgot Carter Oosterhouse... Frank Bielec lived in my hometown Katy Texas. Saw him regularly at my local Starbucks. Also saw Hildi and Amy Polar. Sometimes corny but a good family show to watch together.