The Most Memorable Trading Spaces Makeovers

Remember when “Trading Spaces” shone a light on your budding love for interior design? If you’re like me, you found your teenage self confused by your strong desire to stay home on the weekends and peep TLC’s most riveting home design programming. From Doug’s jungle room to the Jessica Biel episode, we’ve unearthed some of Trading Spaces’ most memorable makeovers, that you probably (some for the best) forgot about.

Before we begin, we will preemtively apologize for the fuzzy, warped quality of some of these reveal images. Blame ’90s television production for this one.

First, we’ve got Doug Wilson’s wild and crazy jungle room. We loved his out-of-the-box approach when it came to design. If you can’t go to the jungle, why not bring the jungle to your bedroom…every night? It’s really a nice idea, in theory. Also, move over Ty Pennington…can we talk about Doug’s babe factor?

Then there’s Hildi. Let’s be honest, if we’re really talking memorable, all of these rooms would be Hildi Santo-Tomas originals. Remnants of Hildi’s outlandish ideas haunt the internet to this day, but we totally respect her commitment to her artistic vision. Speaking of remnants, we’d be surprised if the owners of this hay room aren’t still finding straw in their morning cup of coffee.

As you probably know, Genevieve Gorder has since made quite a name for herself in the interior design world. This surprising minimal Southwest-inspired design in Chicago was definitely ahead of its time in 2001. Personally, I loathed this makeover then, now it’s one of my favorites.

Frank’s colorful-borderline-childish designs were hard to forget. Another take on Southwest design (which, just to reiterate, was not popular at the time), this matchy-matchy dining room features a fiesta of colors, pink-stained walls and everything we loved (loathed?) about Frank.

These reveal and the next were less memorable for their design, and more memorable for the homeowners themselves. Here, Beverley Mitchell enlisted her 7th Heaven sister Jessica Biel to help her in her makeover swap with their costars George and Geoff Stults. Both the before and afters are heavy on the purple and under on the whelming, but surely satisfying at the time. If nothing else, this one worked because who doesn’t like seeing celebrities as “regular people”? Look how normal those jeans and t-shirts are?!

Lastly, Natalie Maines’ was another memorable celebrity TS makeover. The Dixie Chicks front woman (shown above in a photo from their heyday, via Elite Daily) is still a legend in the country crossover world, but was wildly popular when the episode ran in 2002. With the help of Hildi and Vern, she swapped spaces with her mom and got to glamming. The lush rooms were decked out in satin and low, dramatic lighting and met our expectations for these Texans. Honestly, we’re kind of feeling the bright white “before” bedroom.

Do you have any memorable Trading Spaces moments? Hildi’s furniture on the ceiling reveal, perhaps? Chime in on the nostalgia and share your recollections!