[Karen] For the last decade, I've been helping neighborhoods
in Indianapolis get a fresh start.
Amazing.
[Karen] I thought I was ready to retire my hammer,
but I am just getting started.
♪♪ 'Cause you ain't got♪
♪♪ Nah-nah, nah-nah Nothing on me... ♪
[Karen] I am off on a new adventure in a new place.
I bought a house in Wilmington, North Carolina.
A classic Good Bones house.
Taking on a project that may seem like familiar territory,
but it's like nothing I've ever done before.
[man] This hurricane is on top of us.
This is my first house
that's just me
with new friends and old.
[Cory] This neighborhood needed a pop of Karen
and we're gonna give it to 'em.
[Karen] Still alive, still vibrant,
still got a story to tell.
So, here's to the next chapter
because I'm not done yet.
[Karen] This is a really great little gizmo.
-[MJ] Whoa. -[Cory] Mattress.
-Oh, you've got the mattress. -[MJ] Wow.
[Karen] Boom, boom, boom.
[MJ] How long is the drive?
So, the drive is about 700, 800 miles.
So, why are you sleeping in the car?
[Karen] So, the drive to Wilmington
takes me in my EV two days.
And so what I can do is I can find a charger.
I can just take a nap while I charge.
Yes! Karen's car camper.
[Karen] I'm not working for a paycheck anymore.
I retired in 2019, and I can do anything I want.
[chuckles] I've been doing everything I want to do.
I've been doing some landscaping projects.
I've been doing some lawyering.
Taking care of grandkids.
That's fun.
And I bought a house in Wilmington, North Carolina.
-I am tired of Indiana winter. -[chuckles]
And I had this idea,
wouldn't it be nice to retire in Wilmington?
Wouldn't it be nice?
'Cause I went there once and I loved it.
So, I went back in January.
It was 80 degrees during the day.
So, I got on the interwebs
and I found a house for sale, and I bought it.
It needs to be down to the studs,
if there are any studs.
[all laughing]
[Cory] You got a magic house on your hands?
This house is like one of our original Good Bones houses.
Just wretched.
Oh, we got a jack holding up the house
on a pile of rickety bricks.
Oh, there's part of this foundation that's sitting on air.
It needs a lot of love.
But we can fix anything.
I'm gonna finish packing up the car.
A few more things to put in, and, uh,
I don't know what you guys are gonna do.
We'll see you down there at some point.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, come join me.
♪♪ Come on, come on Come with me♪
♪♪ Come on, come on You know you want to♪
♪♪ Come on, tear it up It's a new day♪
♪♪ Come alive, come alive It's about to blow♪
[Karen] Wilmington has everything.
It has beautiful weather year round.
There's an amazing river walk, bike trails, there's parks,
and there are so many beaches.
♪♪ I am the one You've been waiting for ♪
♪♪ Best time You've ever had... ♪
[Karen] It feels like a small town. I'm so excited.
[Karen] This is my new little baby.
Adelle, come here. Let's take a look.
This is my kinda house
because I can make this better.
It's currently about 525 square feet.
There are two bedrooms and one bath.
And according to city records,
it was built back in the 1900s.
So, it's seen some things.
[sighs] What have we done, Adelle?
What have we done?
So, I have a nest egg. I've saved up.
And I'm going to have to spend some of it
to rehab this house.
I bought this house for $71,000.
And based on everything I know now about the house,
an estimated repair value of $200,000 is close.
That's my budget.
But with the house in such bad condition,
it's going to be a challenge.
This house needs us.
Oh, I love houses that need a little love.
♪♪ Make you love me Make you want me ♪
♪♪ Yeah, I want To make you mine ♪
[Sean] Oh, that's bad.
I thought I heard something out here. [laughs]
Corky.
Uh... so what do you think?
You've got a mess.
[Karen laughs]
Sean and Corky are my contractors for this job.
And I'm in line at the little local hardware store,
and I said, "Hey!
Maybe you girls know some contractors."
She says, "Yep, I'll write you a list."
And I say to the man in line behind me,
"I'm so sorry.
No one should get in line behind me."
And she says, holds up the list,
"Don't worry, it's Sean."
And I'm like, "Oh, Sean, things just got worse for you than being in line behind me."
So, welcome to my Wilmington dream.
-Oh, boy. -Yeah.
This is what the universe has done to you.
This is what happens when you get in line behind me at a hardware store.
-This is what happens to you. -[chuckling]
[Karen] Some squishy spots in the floor.
[Sean] I feel 'em as I'm walking.
[Sean] We will be cross bracing it
-just to keep any walls from moving. -Okay.
With having so many different roof lines,
nothing's locking anything together.
I know.
[Sean] It happens when you don't take
the necessary precautions on building.
My job would be a lot easier if it just fell over
because then we could start from scratch.
But she's got a dream for this house.
And I don't want to take that from her.
So, what I want is, I want
-a kitchen back there. -[Sean] Okay.
[Karen] I want a side door.
'Cause that's the one I'm going to come in and out.
This area here,
this is my living-dining office,
all this open space.
Basically, the bathroom can stay
in the same-ish location, and that's bedroom back there.
I want the second story to be a loft
that is open to the downstairs.
It could be used for guests or as my art space.
What we've heard, take all the interior walls out.
-And essentially open this space up. -[Karen] Right.
[Sean] And then reframe all new for your floor plan.
Maybe we should look at the foundation in the back.
Let's go take a look at it.
[Corky] That block is just sitting there.
[Karen] This is just purely decorative.
This isn't doing anything.
We know we have a foundation problem,
but until we get inside and see what extent we have
to go through, it's still too early to tell.
All right, let's get to work.
-Oh, my God. -[worker] Ready?
I love it when it comes up in big pieces like that.
What's crazy is once the flooring is up,
the joists are just rolling around.
And they're rotten.
[Sean] Hey, I'm just letting you know,
you're walking out in the valley right there.
Oh! You okay?
I'm fine. I landed on my squishy part. I'm fine.
I already fell through the floor once, all right?
Which means this entire floor system needs to be replaced.
And I can see that the foundation needs to be replaced too.
Yeah, this is a lot more money than I thought.
And step one is lifting the house
and rebuilding the foundation.
-Yep. -[Karen] Okay.
What we need is a brand new, continuous pour foundation
all the way around the outside of the house.
That's $30,000.
How do I live the rest of my life
if I spend that much of my nest egg on this house?
'Cause what I could do is I could walk away.
I could sell this house at a loss and be done.
But there's no way I'm giving up on my dream.
I'm just not.
You know, the silver lining is
I'm gonna spend a lot of money,
but I'm gonna have a brand new,
perfect foundation.
Gonna have a perfect house.
Heads up.
[Karen] Whoo!
These guns aren't for nothing, baby!
-Karen's definitely a worker. -There we go.
She's definitely giving us young bucks a run for our money.
[Karen] Got it!
I'd hire her any day.
-[Karen] You ready, boss? -[Sean] Uh-uh.
[Karen] Pull it and run!
-[cheering] -[Karen] Yeah!
We got all the roof off the back quarter of the house
that's all rotten and all has to be replaced.
What's gonna happen next is
we're gonna put some bottle jacks,
we're gonna put some beams, and we're gonna jack that baby up.
Getting a new foundation under her
is gonna make a huge difference.
Safety is priority number one.
-[Karen] Mm-hmm. -If I feel uncomfortable,
you're getting out of the house.
[sighs] You get to do the first honors
-of pushing the house up. -Yes!
So, just to let you know, since you touched the jack,
you're just as much at fault if it falls as I am, okay?
-Keep pushing. -[Karen] Okay.
[Sean] Push, push, push.
It hasn't fallen on me yet.
Look at that. We got air.
-[Sean] Mm-hmm. -[Karen] This is fantastic.
The front of the house went up easy
'cause that's where we started.
I mean, just think about anything, all right?
I'm jacking this end of it. This is what's gonna happen.
So, there's a lot of weight on the back end.
[Sean] Start pushing up this back corner right here.
[Karen] Okay.
[Sean] All right. Put a little pressure on it.
-Boom! -[Karen] There we go.
Oh, man, you can see it moving.
[Sean] Hold, hold, hold, hold! Stop.
[Karen] Yeah! Hold, hold, hold, hold! Stop.
-[Sean] Oh, [bleep]! -[Karen] Yeah.
-It's... Yeah. -[Sean] Get out!
-Go, go, go! Go! Go! Go! -[Karen] Yeah. I'm trying.
[Karen] Oh, man, you can see it moving.
-[Sean] Get out! -Yeah, I'm trying.
[Sean] Go, go, go! Go! Go! Go! Go!
The house is in the air, which is fine,
but it's wobblin'.
It made some noises.
Like it wasn't happy about its situation.
But it's holding. We're okay.
Putting lags into the ground, hopefully to support the house
so we can finish getting it in the air.
Once we put these braces down, it'll stiffen up.
And see, it's not wobbling anymore
when he jacks it.
First, we stabilized it.
Then we put in some more support.
And now we're okay.
[chuckling] Nice.
[laughing]
Look at her just hanging there.
[sighs] She's floatin'.
-She's floatin'. Nice work. -Whoo-hoo!
[Karen] I've been playing in the dirt
for far too long with this house.
All I want to do is think about
how we're going to make it pretty.
For once, I don't have to think about resale,
so I can make this house
as bold and colorful as I want,
and I'm getting started on that today.
There's Tiffany sitting on the bench waiting for us.
Except I don't want to call you Tiffany
now that I know your friends call you Nugget.
[Nugget] That's what everybody calls me.
I am meeting Nugget in Carolina Beach
because I have become a huge art fan,
and I want a local muralist
who will do a mural at this little house.
I would love to take you and show you a couple different murals.
That way I can get a sense of your style.
We can talk about what you like about them,
what you don't like about them.
-Okay. -That helps me understand your visual language
and gives me a direction when I'm starting
-to create something for you. -[Karen] All right.
So, what drew me to Carolina Beach today
is the Carolina Beach Mural Project.
They want to create public art in Carolina Beach.
They have murals all over town,
and Nugget has one too.
But first, she is showing me works from lots of different muralists.
So, this is one example.
As you can see, it's kind of quasi-realistic
-with some muted down colors. -[Karen] I love it.
It reminds me of a postcard from the '50s.
But, you know, this is a little more subdued than what I'm looking for.
Aiming more vibrant than this.
-Excellent. -[Karen] Where are we going next?
[Nugget] We're gonna go see another piece down the street.
Okay.
Oh, look at this.
[Nugget] The scale is just always so impressive.
[Karen] Yeah, not interested in fish,
but these animals aren't actually this color.
But somehow, not using their real colors
makes it even more realistic.
-[Nugget] Yeah, it's poppin'. -[Karen] Yeah.
So, what else you got for me?
I'm gonna take you to my mural.
Saving the best for last. Yes!
So, this one is yours?
Yeah, this is the one that I did.
[Karen] Clearly a Venus flytrap.
-[Nugget] Yeah. -[Karen] Oh, that's cool.
Let's get some shade.
This is my favorite.
That we can sit in the art like,
"You know what? I'm just part of the art now."
There needs to be a bench
that's part of the mural, right?
[Nugget] Yeah, I would love to do that.
[Karen] Right? And Venus flytraps
are not actually this color.
-We know this. -Yeah.
-They're mostly just kind of green. -Yeah.
Venus flytraps
only grow in a 70-mile radius around Wilmington
because there's a specific kind
of nutrient-poor soil they need to live in.
So, I think I have to pay homage
to the flytraps with this mural.
This design, it was something that I had made
because I was so interested
in doing the florals at the time.
But this has never come to realization yet.
It has now.
I couldn't have told you that until you showed it to me.
-[Nugget] Excellent. -[Karen] Right? It's perfect.
I feel like I have settled
that where this needs to be is on the back fence.
So, from my kitchen window, I see it.
From my bedroom window, I see it.
I'm so excited for this.
This project's gonna be amazing.
[Karen] With the house up in the air on jacks,
the guys are pouring the footers
and building the new foundation.
I feel confident it's in good hands,
so I'm heading back to Indy.
You have to cut,
eh, three-eighths of an inch in from the line.
[Kelsy] But I still don't know what I'm doing.
This is why I have you.
[Karen] Kelsy is having her first baby soon,
so I have to get back home
because there is so much to do.
So, we are working on a dog food bowl holder for Kelsy.
She has a to-do list, and we're trying
to check things off the list before the baby comes.
Once the baby comes, they're never getting done.
That should be good.
Oh, look at that.
-Perfection. -That.
So, now we just need to screw these guys down.
How do you feel?
-[Kelsy] That feels fine. -[Karen] Great.
Are you gonna be here when the baby's born,
or are you gonna be in Wilmington?
Oh, no, I'm going to be here.
Are you kidding? Wild horses couldn't keep me away.
The plan, when I bought this house,
was to retire to Wilmington.
And then my children had different plans.
'Cause the one who lives in San Francisco
moved back to Indianapolis.
They were excited when I first built the carriage house.
Oh, my gosh, it's beautiful.
I love the, uh, staircase there.
[Karen] Now I live in that carriage house,
and they live in the main house with their four kids.
And so now there's four grandkids
in Indianapolis,
and my daughter Kelsy got pregnant.
So, now the scales weigh differently.
This is the first time in my life
I'm in a position where I can really invest time
in being the kind of grandparent I want to be.
And there's something about Wilmington that speaks to me.
I don't know how to balance them,
but I know the balance will come.
This needs to happen soon though.
I'm pretty excited for this.
It is gonna be weird with you so far away.
I'm gonna go back and forth, and I'm gonna figure it out.
That would be helpful just in the beginning.
-[Karen] Mm-hmm. -And then--
[Karen] So that you get some sleep.
-[Kelsy] Yeah. -[Karen] It's important.
[Kelsy] Ted can watch the baby.
Yeah, I think he could. I really think he could.
Nanny Ted.
[Karen] See how Ted feels about it.
How do you feel about that, Ted?
Oh, look at that.
-That's a good height for you. -[Karen] That's perfect.
[line ringing]
Well, hello, Karen.
Hey, Sean. What's up?
[Sean] I'm doing okay.
Uh, calling with some bad news.
[Karen] No, I've talked to you about this before.
You don't call me with bad news.
[Sean] Well, we're getting called with bad news today.
Uh, I've been keeping track of this hurricane.
And it is going to make landfall
very much so near us or on top of us.
[Karen] Oh, my gosh.
[Sean] I've been keeping track of this hurricane.
And it is going to make landfall
very much so near us or on top of us.
Okay, so that's not good.
Hurricanes are not something I've ever had to worry about
in Indianapolis, but in Wilmington,
they're a reality.
And apparently, one is heading straight
for my little house, which is not good.
We need to take steps to secure it.
I've got to buy material. It's going to be time.
But I think it's the right call to make
to shore up the house.
'Cause if we don't do this,
we run too much of a risk that the house falls.
That is not okay.
But I trust that you will do all of the bracing
that you can possibly do,
and then we just, you know, we say our prayers
and we wait until the hurricane passes.
I will keep you updated. I'll check on the house
the second it's safe to drive,
and keep you updated on how everything's going.
Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you. Bye.
Bye.
[Karen] Because of the storm,
I feel like I need to be there,
but there's literally nothing I could do if I was actually there.
Now I'm just gonna keep myself busy and distracted
so I don't worry too much
about my little house in this storm,
and I'll fly out as soon as I can.
[cellphone ringing]
[Karen] Hey, Sean, how is the house holding up?
[Sean] I'm gonna be honest with you.
We prepared for the wind.
We braced the house up.
It's sixty, seventy mile an hour winds.
But there's absolutely nothing we can do
about the five to ten inches of rain they're calling for
washing our footers out.
Worst case scenario... house washes away.
If it falls,
then all the money that I've spent is just gone.
[Sean] It's a waiting game. Try not to think about it
and freak out about it
'cause there's nothing you can do.
All right. Thank you.
I was expecting to walk up and see
either it be tipped over, part of it be broke away.
Thankfully, nothing fell.
We dealt with seven inches of rain.
We got lucky.
It's been stressful every night going to sleep
and knowing this thing's in the air.
Hopefully ready to get this house set down
and sleep a little better at night.
Do we want to swing for the fences and set it down?
Keep going. Keep going. Go, go, go, go.
Go.
Set it down.
-I can live with that. -[worker] Yeah.
[Karen] Look at that foundation.
-[gasps] -[Sean] Finally.
I thought maybe I didn't get a call from you today
because you fubared the whole thing up.
[Sean grunts]
I'm super happy with the way things have turned out.
We survived the hurricane.
Nobody got hurt, nothing got broken.
Sean did a great job bracing everything.
Tomorrow, we're gonna start taking the roof off
'cause the goal is to put in solar panels
that capture all the electricity I need
to run my house.
I've wanted solar for 15 years,
and I'm willing to spend the money.
I may have to cut some corners somewhere else,
but this is the project where I get to make
all my house dreams come true.
And the roof that I currently have on this house,
there's five separate roof lines.
They are not efficient for capturing solar energy.
I'm gonna give it a little tug,
and it's just gonna fall down on those joists.
-Now pull it. -Okay, just pull it?
-Yeah. -Ready, set, go!
-Well, that was easy. -[Corky] That was quick.
[Sean] All right, Karen, Don't throw your hip out.
[grunts]
-[Sean] Corky, move! -I'm moving!
-[Sean] Hey! -[Karen gasps]
What happened?
-[Sean] Corky, move! -I'm moving!
-[Sean] Hey! -[Karen gasps] What happened?
[Sean] My tools!
You owe me a new drill!
[worker chuckling] Damn, that was close.
[Karen] So, what we have here
is the cutest little house ever.
It just doesn't know it yet.
We are going to have a gable roof,
and it's kinda steep because that makes a statement.
And we have a window up there, a shed porch roof to give us
just a little bit of shade on our south-facing porch.
So, we're gonna have a fence along here.
We're gonna put a gate on this side
because I need some sort of security back here
'cause it's just me
and this is my first house
that's all mine and nobody else's, just me.
-[Sean] Awesome. -[Karen] Yeah.
[peppy music playing]
-[Karen] Hey, -[Nugget] Hi, Karen.
[Karen] This looks amazing already.
[Nugget] Thank you.
I found a bench.
-[Nugget] Really? -Yeah. Your bench has inspired me,
and so my guy should be here any minute.
I found this bench,
that's made out of an old bed,
while I was exploring a local antique store.
And I want to make sure
she sees what I see, which is
this can be a really cool part of the art.
[Karen] What do you think?
I've never seen a bench like this before.
And when we sat on your bench,
it's like you're part of the mural,
and I liked that experience so much,
I'm like, I have to get that bench.
And this is beyond my wildest dreams.
And I know you're just starting.
So, what I was thinking
is that we could have you do some painting on it.
As long as you can fix it if I mess it up,
I'm happy to try painting something.
This mural is a reminder
that I have chosen a unique place to get reenergized.
And the Venus flytrap is the symbol of that.
And it's a reminder that...
of the reason I reenergize,
and it's to be with my people that I love.
[Nugget] Look at that.
-[Karen] That's all I'm doing. -[Nugget] Yeah...
feathering it in.
[Karen] Okay, that's not horrible.
That's not horrible.
I'm not mad at myself right now.
[Nugget] You're doing an awesome job.
[Karen] This art is balanced
and it doesn't require that being perfectly in the center.
[Nugget] Yeah, I think that's really good.
Yes, yes, yes.
[Karen] Now that my mural is coming together
and Sean has begun work
on the new floor system,
I feel good about getting back to Indy
to see my grandkids and start focusing on design.
[energetic music playing]
[Karen] What are you doing with my flag?
I don't know. What does the flag mean?
That is a signal for the grandkids
that they can come up,
but I'm not gonna pay attention to them.
So there's a green one,
"You can come up, we'll play board games.
We'll do crafts, whatever you want."
There's a red one, "Don't even..." [chuckles]
[MJ] Okay.
I better put this one back.
There's a lot to do with this Wilmington house,
so I'm bringing MJ in
like, a little at a time.
So, I asked MJ to help me
with the Wilmington house,
because although I'm designing it myself,
I have a lot of ideas,
and maybe he can help be a filter
and maybe reel me in a little.
I want my house to be like, really charming
and outside of the house seems to want
to be colorful.
I feel like this is a color story.
Maybe try a yellow and a green.
How do you feel about that idea?
Both these, I would do a test run.
Oh! No, of course.
-Hundred percent. -Of course.
Hey, Caz! How are you?
-[MJ] Hi. -What's going on?
I just came up.
Thanks for coming up. I appreciate it.
MJ and I are working
on the outside colors of my house.
Do you have any feelings about any of these colors?
-[Caz] Um, yeah. -[Karen] Yeah. What are your feelings?
[Caz] Green is my favorite.
Green is your favorite.
CR and Andrea and their four kids moved back,
my days were very predictable,
everything was on the calendar,
I knew exactly what's gonna happen.
With children
there is no predictability.
[Karen] Hey, Dom.
So, everyday is an adventure.
It's an adventure.
All right, tons of snacks in the kitchen.
You can go grab anything you want.
Okay. So, there are things
I don't like about this space
after having lived in it.
But I love the grand ceiling
and the way the joists are all exposed.
I think that's fantastic.
But there are definitely some mistakes
I don't want to repeat
in the Wilmington house.
I have a loft here, and there's a loft in the Wilmington house.
Maybe I should not be climbing a ladder every day.
It's a tight space, but I've got to figure out
how to fit a staircase in the new house.
[MJ] I mean, it's scary for me to climb.
-[Karen laughing] -So, I get it.
[chuckling] As excited as I am
to be starting this new life
and building this new home in Wilmington,
the idea of being away from my grandkids,
makes me sad.
But then there's the bright side
that there's a new place
that I can bring them
and we can have new experiences,
and I can share all of this with them.
There's a beach,
there's miniature golf.
[Caz] Yeah!
There is a ghost tour.
You and I are going
on the ghost tour for sure.
What do you think of that idea?
-Yes. -[Karen] Yeah.
Ohh.
-Hey, Sean! -[Sean] Yeah!
[Karen] Look, there's a house.
It's been many weeks
since I've been in North Carolina,
and things have been happening while I was gone,
which is very exciting.
[upbeat music playing]
So now the space is enclosed
and you can really feel
what the space is like.
-Oh! -[Sean] What do you think?
This looks fantastic.
[Sean] So, now there are gonna be collar ties
-that come down to about... -[Karen] Further?
-Sure. -...right here.
[Karen] I love this...
-V so much. -[Sean] It's huge.
It really makes me want
to leave those collar ties exposed
and drywall up to the V.
So, the space I live in now
I have a gambrel roof with a manufactured truss
that I painted white
and those exposed trusses are amazing.
They are this great architectural element.
And that V of that gable
makes me feel the same way.
And I don't want to lose it.
The V, exciting. Flat, mmm.
But I know that, that creates problems.
Creates problems not that we can't solve.
-Right. -At that point,
then you are thousands and thousands of dollars,
dry walling around it and find us something to do with them,
-painting them. -This is the thing.
There are some things
you spend the money on.
-Yeah. -You spend the money because--
I don't think that's somewhere to spend money.
I appreciate Sean watching out for me
on the financial aspect, but this house is my dream.
There are certain things I want in it.
I'm going to spend money on the things
that are important to me,
and I'm not going to compromise on those things.
So, just put in the collar ties.
[Sean] So, we ordered windows, right?
-[Karen] Yeah. -They don't fit in the holes.
-[Sean] Solution. -Yeah?
-Cut the headers out. -[Karen] Yeah.
[Sean] Shift the framing over.
-Yeah. -About an inch.
[car honking]
[man] Karen!
[Karen] My friend Cory's here.
-[Sean] Oh. -[excited greetings]
Hi sunshine!
[peppy music playing]
[car honking]
-My friend Cory is here. -Oh.
-[excited greeting] -Hi sunshine!
-[Sean] He's really excited. -So, he is.
-[Cory] This is so freaking cute! -[Karen] Cory's here!
-[Karen chuckling] -I'm here.
[chuckling] I'm so glad you're here.
-Cory! Sean! -Sean, How are you doing?
-How you doin' bud? -Oh, my God, guys. This is so freaking cute.
[Karen] I know. Isn't it cute?
[Cory] I'm just so thrilled.
You were painting the picture for me.
And like, this is beyond what I...
-Oh, my God! -[Karen chuckling]
[Karen] Cory was one of the project managers
on the houses we did back in Indy.
Karen called me to come kick it with her, basically.
That's what I'm here to do.
I'm here to help, any way I can.
I'm free labor.
I don't... I really I don't know what I'm doing here,
-but I love it. -Yeah.
So, this is my tiny little
galley kitchen back here.
[Cory] I love this little small kitchen.
[Karen] So this is the entryway to the kitchen.
And there is an island right here.
I have room for a little
24-inch refrigerator. I feel confident.
I have room for a 36-inch base cabinet,
feel very confident.
This place needs to pack a punch because of the layout.
And the layout is amazing.
It's just we need to make sense of the size
of the things that are going in there.
[Karen] How much do I need?
I need one plate.
[Cory] Yeah, you're not running a catering
-operation out here. -I need one bowl.
Well, you're gonna have me and the whole family over for dinner.
Get out the paper plates for that.
That's the spirit. That's the spirit!
[Karen laughing heartily]
[Karen] As Sean and the boys carry on
with the interior framing
and exterior trim work,
I'm treating Cory, like the tourist he is,
and taking him to a must-see Wilmington site.
-Yeah. -What is this?
This is the Battleship.
[Cory] This is freaking sweet.
We are at the USS North Carolina Battleship,
and I brought Cory here
because I had this idea from being on boats
that we could get some ideas
about how to best utilize
the small spaces in the house I'm building.
[Karen] It looks like we're in a cafeteria.
[chuckles] Oh, this is awesome.
[Cory] Oh, hold on.
This would be perfect
for your little overhang
-in your galley kitchen. -Yes. Yes.
So that you have a little thing that pulls out
-to sit on. -Can we go sit down?
[Cory] These are perfect,
because then you can stow them away.
[Karen] Yeah. Love this.
[Karen] Oh, my gosh!
One of the things that makes a space seem larger
is to not have things on the floor.
If things can float,
-it looks more spacious. -[Cory] Yeah.
And if the grandkids come,
they will have so much fun spinning those things around.
They will just think that's the best thing in the world.
That will take hours out of the day.
-Just, yeah. -Yeah.
[Karen] Look at these beds.
[Cory] Okay. I think we're getting
a lot more inspiration than we anticipated.
I don't know if you have a need for these,
maybe up in the loft space
for grandkids or whatnot,
but this is fantastic, too.
You know what? I bet this was pretty comfy.
You put a mattress on it?
[Cory] Yeah. All right.
-This is where I'm going next. -[Cory chuckles]
[Cory] Love all of this.
-[Karen] Ohh! -This is fantastic.
Love exposed plumbing.
Look at how beautiful this is.
[Cory] Love this little soap dish above, too.
-[Karen] Yeah. -[Cory] For toiletries.
Everything is so purpose driven.
-[Cory] Yeah. -[Karen] Oh, Cory,
I'm digging this green.
-Is it speaking to you? -It is.
It's speaking to me.
One thing I did not expect is color inspiration.
It just really got the creative juices flowing.
And I think that there were a lot of takeaways,
from this tour,
that we didn't really expect.
Yeah, And you know what?
This place, I thought was gonna be
a good example of how small...
it makes this feel spacious
-compared to my place. -[both chuckle]
[Cory] This might be bigger.
I agree.
[Karen] While I have Cory here,
I'm taking full advantage
and putting him to work on the siding,
because I'm ready to get it on the house
and get some color.
Let's see how we did.
All right, we're done!
[Cory] All right, that's band board.
Love that color, actually.
This is exciting.
[Karen] So we're gonna put a lot of options on the house.
We're gonna stand back.
We're gonna think about it.
Karen, you've got some good choices here.
[Karen] Yeah, I do.
You know what this reminds me of?
The crepe myrtles.
-[Cory] What's that? -[Karen] The crape myrtle is a tree
that blooms in Wilmington most of the summer.
Some of them are this deep... rich,
you know, l like this color pink.
These are very vibrant and super fun.
With paint on the body of a house,
the way that the sun refracts
-on different sides of it. -[Karen] Yep.
We should walk around
'cause right now we've seen it in the sunshine.
-[Cory] Yeah. -Let's go see it in the shade.
Okay, let's step back.
[Karen] The pink is this crepe myrtle pink
-that's going to be on the doors? -Yes.
I think the yellow
could work with the pink.
I don't think that pale green can.
-The bright green is too much. -Yeah.
-That... the left hand blue? -[Cory] Uh-huh.
[Karen] I think it's perfect.
[Cory] Yeah, I love it too.
I feel good with my decisions.
[Cory] Yeah, this neighborhood
-needed a pop of Karen in here. -Oh, yeah.
And I think we're going to give it to 'em.
You see the siding start to go up?
This is fantastic.
[Cory] Do you feel like it's actually
becoming your second home now?
[Karen] It's becoming a home.
[sentimental music playing]
I have to get back to Indy,
which is super unfortunate.
I... I don't think that this is my last
-hurrah out here. -No, you're coming back.
-Yeah. -You're coming back.
[upbeat music playing]
[Karen] Now that I've picked my colors,
I can't wait to see this entire exterior come together.
So, we're focused on getting that finished.
And inside,
drywall is almost done.
This is finally starting
to look like a real house.
Let me see that door.
Ohh, yeah!
Ohh...
-[Sean] Drywall! -[chuckling]
[Sean] This is a statement.
[Karen] This is so much nicer
than the ladder I have right now.
I'm very excited about this.
[Sean] It came out really good.
[Karen] I'm really happy with this.
Those collar ties just add an element to the space.
It's so architectural feeling.
And I think it's worth the extra effort.
[Karen] We are so close.
I am not leaving Wilmington
until I see this exterior finished.
I'm taking more inspiration
from the Battleship, painting my front porch deck
that green we saw inside the ship.
And I'm splurging on some copper gutters on the front
and matching copper spindles on the porch.
Because every house needs a little jewelry.
To balance out the cost of the gutters,
I'm saving some major money in the backyard.
So, what I have in my backyard
is what we call a postage stamp-size yard.
I saved these pavers.
I salvaged them.
We had a job at a house in Irvington
when I was still working
with Two Chicks and a Hammer.
And they gave us way too many pavers.
So I took all the pavers home,
came down here with the truck,
and I threw the papers in the truck,
and now I have them here. Yay.
[Sean] A couple of first graders
playing in the sandbox.
[Karen chuckles softly] Yeah, it's fun.
-[Sean] We spray it? -[Karen] Yeah.
It'll all kind of start to pan out.
-Rinse it off. -[Karen] Okay.
I want to get the pavers in first
and get that all done,
because Nugget is going to come with the mural
and we're going to get it installed today.
And I haven't seen it.
Oh, Nugget's here!
[Karen gasps]
Holy crap.
[Karen] Oh, Nugget's here!
[gasps]
Holy crap.
This looks really awesome.
[Karen] I know, right?
What can I do to help?
This is beyond my wildest imagination.
You can stand it up and lean it up
against the fence, if you like.
[Sean] Okay.
[Nugget] Uh, is this going back there?
-Yeah. -[Nugget] Okay.
And which piece is this?
The far right piece?
[Nugget] Uh, that's probably the middle piece.
[Karen] Oh, middle piece.
It should fit perfectly.
You planned this all out?
See.
Look. Just look at this.
You feel this energetic movement.
There's a lot of color,
and there's pitcher plants
and there's sundews.
And there's Venus flytraps.
[Nugget] Okay, so, we're gonna go
to about right here.
[Nugget breathing heavily]
Yeah.
[Karen] This is just amazing.
[Nugget] Aw.
I just... It's been so awesome
'cause I've been having it at my place.
People have come and seen it,
and they've just been so, like, taken by it.
You know what this mural says about me?
She ain't done yet.
And it feels like Nugget got that.
Still alive.
Still moving. Still vibrant.
Still got a story to tell.
I have one more truck with two more pieces.
Yeah, I know. There's more pieces.
-All right. -Can I go get it?
Yes. Please. Please, please.
I'm gonna go look through
my kitchen window now.
-Yay! -[Karen chuckles]
[energetic music playing]
[Karen] It's so good to see
the exterior of this little house come together.
Solar panels are getting installed
so this house can be super-efficient and low maintenance.
[Sean] What are we planting?
[Karen] This is rosemary.
[Sean] Why are we planting rosemary?
[Karen] I have grown rosemary in Indiana.
You have to bring the rosemary in,
in the wintertime.
And when I was looking for some place...
to retire,
one of the requirements...
was I can grow rosemary in the ground.
There are several places I have visited--
[Sean] Oh!
[Karen] Oh, no.
[Sean] I hit the [beep] waterline.
Well, now we've got to find the water shutoff.
I heard it crack, and I heard the water.
I was like, damn...
this is getting her to turn south!
Get it off?
Son of a biscuit!
[Karen chuckling]
We're just going to let it water the plants a little.
These guys needed to be watered.
This won't hurt the plants
because the water is off now, so, it doesn't matter.
This water line is in the wrong place.
It was going to be abandoned all along.
So, he's gonna get the plumber here.
We're gonna get the permanent line, so, it's fine.
[Sean] Well, that's an unfortunate event.
You know what? I'm just glad I didn't do it.
-[Sean] Karen? -[Karen] Yes?
You know, how I've been really nice today?
[Karen chuckles]
Yeah, you gotta do something different with the front door.
I don't think that's an acceptable color for anywhere.
Sean feels very strongly about the pink door.
He's felt strongly since he opened the can of paint.
Well, now that the copper's up there,
I'm conflicted.
What color do you think it should be?
Only because I'm building the gate
and I know what color
the gate's gonna be.
-[Karen] Okay. -Black.
[Karen] My plan was a simple wooden gate to the backyard.
But Sean said he could build in his garage
a massive black metal gate
that will operate on a track system.
And he's not wrong.
And I do get Sean's concern about the pink door.
[Sean] You've got a lot going on
in the front of this house.
Do we have too many statements going on here?
I think maybe...
I agree...
black is on the list of possibilities.
So, this is what I'm willing to do.
-Get a bunch of colors. -Okay.
And then we're gonna have this whole conversation.
Okay.
[machine drilling]
[Karen] With the black gate going in
and looking incredible, by the way.
I agree with Sean
that the door color does need to change.
So we're going with black,
and while it isn't as fun as the pink,
it's the right thing for the house.
Now, the exterior is almost complete.
MJ's coming down because where we are in construction is,
basically I have a white box...
and that's a really good time
for a designer to see the space.
And I want the porch
all dressed up for him.
So that he can see
what we can do together,
and then we can do the whole house.
[lounge music playing]
[sighs in relief]
Okay, cutest house on the block.
Well, hello!
I was not expecting all of this.
[MJ] This is incredible.
[Karen] It's come out really, really well.
This I also love.
Sean made that for me.
[MJ] This is so cute.
Well, and it has come so far.
From the shack with the five roof lines
on the crumbling piers
to a solid foundation,
and I mean, it's just come so far.
I love this. Pickled?
-[Karen] No, it's just stain. -[MJ] Okay.
[Karen] And copper gutter, copper spindles.
-Wow. -Everything's just playing
-well together. -Chef's kiss.
[Karen chuckles]
Oh, did you see the solar panels
-when you were walking up? -No.
I have solar panels.
I don't use all my power.
So I'm giving power back to the community.
Yeah. You've managed your low maintenance dream.
[Karen] Exactly.
[MJ] This is really, really cute.
[Karen] Thank you.
Let's go to the backyard,
because that's where you're gonna be wowed.
-Come on. -All right, I'm excited.
[Karen] You should be.
♪♪ Can we put it All on the line ♪
♪♪ No waste of time Make you mine ♪
Wow!
Wow! Wow! Wow.
[Karen] Right?
♪♪ Can we make this Last forever ♪
♪♪ You and me together ♪
[Karen] This is why we make friends with artists...
Yeah, absolutely.
...as soon as we get into a new town.
My new friend Nugget,
well, I found that bench,
and she put it in the mural.
These are all the carnivorous plants
that grow in Wilmington.
Wilmington is the only place
that Venus flytraps grow.
I've heard that.
And the mural will be an experience for the grandkids.
[MJ] So, I see that we're going for color.
-[Karen] Yes. Yes. -[MJ] Yes. Okay.
-All right. -Yes. Exactly.
I think I can definitely draw a lot of inspiration
for the inside from this...
-just alone. -[Karen] Yes.
[upbeat music playing]
[Karen] I've got a little place in the back
where I can drink my coffee
and enjoy my mural.
This was the back door,
and it had a little preformed
concrete step that came down
and we kind of re-imagined the space
so that there would be
a little porch, which I love.
-Yeah. This is great. -Yeah.
This is so great.
This is for me.
And I absolutely love it.
I am just so happy for you.
And I'm so proud of you.
And this is so incredible.
I am so happy that you invited me
to get a glimpse into the second era of Karen.
[Karen] So in building this house,
what I have proven to myself is...
I have a lot of talent.
I have a lot of energy,
way too many ideas.
And I can do this.
And now I have this house,
which is fabulous. [chuckles]
Well, I know what you can do.
I definitely am going to need help inside.
-I'm excited to see it. -Let's go.
It's all just white box now, but...
-[MJ] That's my favorite. -[Karen] Yeah.
We have done so much,
we have rebuilt an entire house.
And we are not nearly finished.
So, I'm very excited about this.
♪♪ This is my moment now ♪