[Alison] Tonight, on Windy City Rehab...
Oh, my God, what is that?
Two very different houses...
It's so ugly, it's pretty.
-A lot of people would come in and literally just gut this. -I know.
...two very different clients...
Oh, my. And you bought this?
-We want to rent it. -Long-term rental.
[man] This is our first home together,
and we wanted to find a home where we could grow into.
[woman] If we wanted to expand our family.
[Alison] But hey, two projects are better than one...
Sometimes.
[man on phone] We're scheduled for a cleanup this coming week.
[Alison] Even with my worst projects on their worst days,
nothing ever looked like this.
-This has to be 34 inches. -What!
And if they're tall, it's gonna look really weird to them, you know.
It's gonna look stupid.
What's been happening over the last three months?
So now I feel I'm getting taken advantage of,
and that's where things just don't sit well with me.
-Come in. -Oh, my... Oh.
But sometimes dreams really do come true.
-Very emotional for both of us. -I just...
That's why I love what I do.
[Alison] I have other clients in Oak Park,
and I've done a few projects in this area.
I keep coming back because I love it.
The homes are old and beautiful,
and the streets are lined with trees.
You get all the perks of the suburbs,
but you can be in the city in 10 minutes.
-I love the brick. -[woman] Oh, yeah.
-That has to stay. -Yep.
-Once we paint the house, like, we gotta keep that. -Totally.
[Joe] We wanted to be in Oak Park
but a lot of these homes are historic and older
And usually when you walk in the older homes,
the scale is a little bit shorter, so...
-They were built for me. -They were, right?
-Everybody was way smaller then, yes. -Yes.
So this home right here is open.
The ceilings, the doorways, I don't have to duck.
It checks all those boxes. We can live comfortably.
I love how your boxes are where do you not have to duck.
Oh, it's a legit concern, yes.
[Alison] Erica and Joe are city livers,
and they're moving to the burbs.
They just got married.
They're also 7-feet tall,
so I've never felt smaller.
I like when people are taller than me that I'm younger than them.
Is that weird?
It's beautiful, but it needs some love.
It needs some new paint.
What's the paint scheme that you see?
-I'll write down what mine is. -Okay, I mean, I'm curious if it matches.
So I love a big white house. So I like black doors. I like--
Yay!
-Oh, okay, good deal. -Okay.
That's what I wanna do, is I wanna keep the whole house white,
and then I want the trim black.
You... Oh, my God!
I do like a pretty tree here.
-Really hug the house with beautiful bushes. -[Erica] Cool.
And then you have a real entry.
And then as far as just the porch,
-I think we go with black here. -Perfect
They are phasing their project out,
which is really smart
especially for first-time homeowners.
You really don't know what you're biting off
until you kind of get into the meat of it.
So, phase one is the exterior and the first floor,
which is really the biggest chunk of your budget.
Okay, here we go.
Wow!
Yeah.
I typically am not a huge fan of this honey color,
-but I really like it. I actually really like it. -[Erica] I'm glad.
Now the floors, I mean, this is not in bad shape at all.
We can refinish this
and we're not gonna go too far from the tones
-that are already existing. -Okay.
Tell me what this room is to you.
[Erica] This is the hangout family room.
I thought like a green might look pretty in here.
[Alison] Let's leave the existing trim
and let's leave the ceiling white.
We'll paint the walls a deep green
and we'll add seating along these two walls.
They love that a couple like you is buying it,
because a lot of people would come in
-and literally just gut this. -I know.
So you have to have a love for older homes
to appreciate it, and then to put the love back into it.
[Joe] This is our first home together.
I mean, we wanted to find a home where
we can grow into and we can put our own touch on it.
Joe and I share a daughter.
She's my stepdaughter, Joe's daughter.
And if we wanted to expand our family,
it's just so nice out here. I love it.
-So formal dining. -Yes.
We're looking to open this up to about 30 inches--
-So this wall goes? -[Joe] This is gonna stay,
-because behind us is gonna be our butler pantry. -Okay.
So this wall's gonna stay, but we're gonna open this up
-into the sunroom. -Got it.
[Alison] This room is gonna be the one everyone talks about.
We'll do a one-of-a-kind mural in here
with a round dining table
and an oversize brass light fixture.
It's gonna be a work of art.
-You were saying sunroom... -Yes.
...which obviously you get some beautiful light.
And here you've got this beautiful view of the backyard
-that's gigantic. -[Erica] I know.
So what are you guys thinking here? What's this room?
We're looking to open up this entire wall right here.
[Joe] We're gonna keep about 30 inches right here on the left,
but we're gonna open all this up.
Put an island here going into the kitchen.
Okay, I love it.
Let me see the kitchen obviously needs work.
-Oh, my... Well, be prepared. -[Joe] Just a little bit.
-Ah, here's where it feels dated. -Yeah.
-Obviously in this kitchen nothing can stay. -[Erica whispers] Nothing.
Nothing. But it's big. That's the cool part.
It's a lot of room.
We're getting rid of all the soffits.
I wanna do a dark soapstone countertop on the perimeter
with and apron-front sink.
Okay, talk to me about tile in the kitchen.
-You're reading my mind. -Really.
I died, so I saw this image of a kitchen
and it had butler tile.
-What is it? -Black and white--
-Oh, the black and white? -Yes.
So that would pull back our black and white theme?
-Oh, my God. it was-- -I'd love to do that.
Erica's just speaking my language.
When she said black and white tile floor in the kitchen,
it was like, I want that.
And I want that because we know that
the original wood floors don't run through the kitchen,
so how do we change that without trying to match it?
-Did you buy appliances? -Yes.
We have this really cool oven that has-- It's all black.
Your hoods are just so statement pieces, like that's--
Tell me you didn't buy one yet.
-No, we did not. -Good.
-We've gotta do something really great here. -Yep.
And I think what we do is tie the brass back in.
Every single window in here, every hinge in this house
-is that unlacquered brass. -Yep.
-Like it looks like it's been here forever. -I love that idea.
And then over there
is where we were thinking about doing a butler's pantry.
What if Ari could build us a bar
that looks old, but it is new?
We incorporate some older pieces into it.
-I would die. -Okay, good.
I would die.
What do you envision? Like, what do you wanna store here?
Joe was like, "Can we make sure we have a snack area?"
Is this the snack area?
I don't know where it's at, but we need one somewhere.
We just need a snack area somewhere. I don't know where it can be.
-Right, snack time, but like classy. -Yes.
-[Erica] That is the saddest closet. -This is so funny.
[Erica] I mean, I didn't really mean--
That was supposed to be the coat closet.
I don't know what actually that's supposed to be.
-It's a coat closet. -Yeah, yeah.
Can I find something really cool
that could be like a little mini, like, bar?
That would be so cool 'cause you see it from the front door.
-I'd love that. -A cocktail area.
How she really sets up sections in a room,
and one room becomes four rooms.
It's obvious just she's such a pro
and would be willing to work with us,
and I think I screamed.
-Yeah. -I'm pretty sure I screamed.
-You were excited. Yes. -I was very excited.
[Joe] I grew up in an apartment.
Lived in a condo for the last 20 years.
-So it was really nice to have a home of this size... -Yeah.
...and so many different rooms and so many different options.
-It's a big playground. -Yes, it is.
So speaking of, like, big, how big is this budget?
We have right now on an initial phase one,
about $200,000.
That's a good budget.
[Erica] Cool, I'm so excited.
-[Alison] I'm excited. -[Joe] Awesome.
[Alison] So next steps, I wanna meet their GC immediately.
They said that he is also a landscape architect. Bingo.
So, I wanna meet him street side.
I wanna see what he thinks.
I mean, I say that I'm not a landscaper,
but I'm pretty good at it.
[Alison] We're off to such a great start for us.
We're demoing everything in that dated kitchen.
Because the Forest project is relatively small
and it's just the exterior and the first floor,
I can also take on something a bit more ambitious.
It's another historic home,
but otherwise it couldn't be more different.
So I'm headed to the city. The house is on Monroe Street.
It's right at the edge of the West Loop.
-[Alison] You were not kidding. -[man] That's it.
Oh, my God...
It is, uh, it's a lot of house.
[man] Yeah. It needs a lot of work.
-It's something. -[man laughs]
[Alison] You intentionally bought this?
[man] Even after I saw pictures of the roof,
we still put our money on the table.
Jim and Mike are, like...
Chicago. Chi-cah-go.
They're developers, they're best friends,
they have done about nine flips together,
and they called on me and they were like,
"Hey, we're not designers. We have an architect, but it needs more."
I hope we haven't scared you, but here we are.
Listen, nothing scares me,
and I have probably not seen anything this bad.
The contrast and the textures in the materials,
the corbels and the curves in the dentals, and the...
It's just beautiful.
-It's so ugly, it's pretty. -Yep.
-It's our bulldog. -Yeah, like your bulldog.
Let's get it right. Sorry bulldog people, but it's just like a bulldog.
It's hard not to love it.
There is so much potential
in this beautiful, dilapidated building.
And we're gonna have a lot of people looking at it,
because we are renting it. We wanna rent it.
-You called the right person. -We called the right person.
Jim and Mike need me. Big time.
-I've gotta see this. I need to go in... badly. -All right, let's go.
-Is it safe to go in? -Let's go with her and make sure she's safe.
This is where we wanted you to go in.
-Should we go up the front? -Yes.
-[Jim] Just stay to the right there. -[Alison] Stay to the right.
-Oh, God. -Hold that one, and push the other.
There you go.
Holy...
[Jim] All right, are you ready for a surprise?
[Alison] Oh, my.
-And you bought this? -It's post Munster.
[Alison] The house is definitely in horrible shape.
You've got water leaking through.
You've got holes in this floor.
And then my brain, which is crazy,
is already picturing what this is gonna look like after.
Do you need any more fireplaces?
[laughing] We've got them all.
So, fireplace, fireplace, fireplace.
And another one upstairs.
-And another one? -Yeah.
-Where? In the main? -Yeah.
-So, we're gonna give you a lot to work with. -Look at this.
-Look at this, by the way. -That's right.
We're keeping this.
We do have more pieces in the coach house.
And we need to determine whether it can be put back per code.
Right. I go shopping for these things.
-You know, I take something like this-- -It's yours.
No, it's yours. It's yours.
So, formal entry,
this staircase is just beautiful.
When you walk in, turn to the right,
boom, another fireplace. This has to be something here.
-That's why we called you. -We would not do it justice.
We need Alison Victoria to do it justice.
I believe you. This is like my dream.
And I haven't even seen the whole thing yet, but like this is just special.
There's still some more scary stuff.
Currently, Jim and Mike have a repair permit,
which means they can actually do work to this house
to make sure that it's structurally sound.
They have plans that they've started,
but I promise you, those aren't going to be the plans.
So, it's really perfect time to bring me in
and to kind of just look at what they have so far,
and then just bring it up a few notches
But obviously we're doing the kitchen.
We're gonna do, like, the sitting room, dining room.
I want every room to be a usable space
with built-ins and fireplace mantels,
and just bringing back the love
-that was clearly torn out. -[Jim] Yeah.
I wanna see upstairs. Is it safe?
[Jim] Sure it's safe, but you go first.
[gasping]
What is that?
[whispers] It's so ugly. It's so pretty.
I'm so torn.
Okay, so this was the main.
Question. Can we go all the way up?
Yep. We wanna pull this up
all the way up into the cupola.
-Can I do those as stained glass? -Yep, that's my hope.
We can lift the ceiling up.
You can look right up into the cupola.
-Maybe have some soft lighting up there. -[Alison] Yes.
This is very special, you guys.
-Okay, let's go see the coach house. -Let's go.
Ahh, it's like a little chateau.
Look at the slope, and look at the detail.
-It's so pretty. -[Jim] Yeah.
I love this.
The minute I walked up, just that curb...
Let's call it curb appeal.
This is my type of project all day long.
I wanna understand, like, your timeline,
and, more importantly, your budget.
-We're looking six to nine months. -Okay.
-So nine months. -Yes, probably nine months.
What is your budget to get this completed?
We're in the probably $575,000 range to start.
So what's your real number?
-'Cause you know the budget's gonna change. -Yeah, yeah.
We're all realists here.
This budget, it is out of whack.
I'm doing homes that are smaller than this
with a $750,000 budget.
So Mike and Jim really better have their ducks in a row
with some subs and permits and materials
otherwise that $575,000 is gonna go so fast.
[Alison] I'm really excited for both projects,
Forest and Monroe,
even if it's a lot to take on.
So, today I'm headed over to the Forest project in Oak Park
to meet with Joe and Erica's contractor, Danny.
He's also a landscape architect,
so I wanna go over the plans for the entire exterior
and landscape of this house.
All right, Danny, I dabble in landscape.
We've got a lot of yard.
We've got a beautiful opportunity here
to actually start growth before they even get in.
-And that way, next spring, it's sprung. -Yep.
We're talking about doing something where
we truly hedge out the front there,
and maybe do like a Japanese maple here.
[Danny] Gotta get that burgundy color, yep.
Yeah, just to also come down from these big pines,
-and then start to taper. -Okay.
And then this ground cover will come back every year.
Like, I love this. I don't wanna take that out.
It's a little sparse in some areas.
We could pull this up, push it back,
probably just bring in some lawn.
We're painting the house. We're gonna do black and white.
-Mmm-hmm. -So all trim's gonna be black.
The rest of the house is all white.
Which one are we going with so I get the best?
-Milkshake and pure black over that. -I got it.
Good memory.
Yeah, he's... I married him for a reason.
-Yeah. -There was a reason.
-Well, his height too. -Yeah, all trust.
-I'm gonna wear these shoes every time I'm with you guys. -[Erica laughs] Yes.
If it ends up looking beautiful, come however you want.
-Thank you. -Yes.
I even wanna keep this.
Like, to be honest, I think that we should do black here.
[Joe] And then what about the ceiling?
[Alison] The ceiling I think should be black
-as well as the floor. -Okay.
-[Erica] That will look special. -It will look really good.
-[Erica] So we're good. -[Alison] Okay, cool. I'm excited.
[Alison] So now that we have a plan,
Danny's guys have started painting the exterior trim black.
Inside they're finishing up in the kitchen,
and opening up the closet where that dry bar's gonna go.
Meanwhile, over at Monroe,
the guys are waiting on the roofers to start repairs,
so we're in full design mode.
And I've done a lot of old houses,
but 1885 might be the oldest one I've ever worked on.
So I really just wanna preserve
what is old and beautiful,
and hold onto all that Chicago charm.
But I definitely need to find something special
for each of those four massive fireplaces.
I'm excited for you to see it.
Well, it's first time here.
-Get in there. -All right.
[Alison] If it's gonna be a rental, every room has
-to have something really special in it. -Yeah.
Here she is.
And I figured that this is the one
right when you walk in the door, to the right,
'cause the molding's gonna go back up
-separating the space. -Okay.
And then you turn the corner and it's like--
I like it. It's got a good size,
especially with the high ceilings.
It's a good soft color too.
-Isn't it pretty? -Yeah.
And I just wanna leave it stained.
I think people are gonna be happy that I'm leaving something stained.
-I like the rounded, you know, mantelpiece. -I do too.
-Just the carving on it. That is really special. -It is special.
-This is that touch you need. -Yeah, it is cool.
This house needs a lot of personal touches.
Everything should be something that they want to brag about
or photograph and share on social media.
-It's gonna be a showstopper. -Yeah.
-Appreciate it. -Yeah.
It looks nice.
So the next step is really get this house moving.
Get it to a place where I can actually install it
and bring in that history back into a home that
clearly has had all of it ripped out.
[Alison] At the Forest project
the guys are getting white paint on the exterior
and inside they're opening up that doorway
between the kitchen and the sunroom.
Over at Monroe, things haven't been going as smoothly.
[phone ringing]
-Hi, this is Mike. -Hey, Mike, it's Alison.
- Hi, Alison, how are you? -I'm good, how are you?
I'm not doing too well because the roofers aren't here.
Weren't they supposed to, like, start two weeks ago?
Yeah, they're giving me some permit reasons.
It's holding up everything, so...
What do you mean permit?
Like as in they don't have a permit?
Well, they were waiting for the permit.
Okay, so they don't have the permit.
Well, they haven't started because of that.
[Alison] I mean obviously if they were supposed to start two weeks ago,
they still don't have a permit,
like, when I was there the house was like it was falling apart.
So what's the house look like?
Well, it rained for about the last two weeks, up until this week.
So we've got a lot of water damage,
a lot of moisture sitting in the wood.
The sooner we get this roof on we can get all the floors,
you know, reset with carpentry.
All right, well, I mean, obviously, like, you know,
out of all the projects they've got going, like,
yours is the one that kind of scarring me a little,
just schedule wise, you know.
Because winter hits and we're still not under a roof.
I mean, fingers crossed that's not happening,
but it's like, you know, that's kind of a scary place to be. So...
We'll get moving as quickly as we can.
All right, Mike, well, keep me posted.
I will do. Good talking with you, Alison.
Yeah, you bet. We'll talk soon.
It's not a good start.
So now it's gonna sit until we get the permit.
It took over a month,
but we finally have the repair-replace permit
so we can actually fix the roof
and make some other structural changes.
But my design change requires a build permit,
and we're still waiting for that.
The project needs a lot of restructuring and redesign.
And I don't wanna get behind,
so me and my team are diving in while we wait.
This is a rental property,
but I wanna design it as a resell property too.
So on the first floor we're gonna have
a living room centered on the fireplace.
The kitchen will go in the back.
We'll add a powder room.
Upstairs, the main suite is gonna be at the front of the house,
and down the hall we can fit in
three more bedrooms and a full bath.
We'll add two bedrooms to the basement
for a total of six bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths.
[Alison] At Forest, the landscape is going in,
and drywall's going up in the kitchen and sunroom.
So, I was at Salvage One. I was looking at other pieces
for other places and other people
and I came across the piece for the Forest job,
and I just knew.
This one's just like almost the perfect fit.
So, I took pictures of it. I sent it to Erica.
I said, "You have to have it."
So I was like, "If you're in the city, let's figure it out.
I want you to come by and see it."
Here she is! Look at her shining.
I love it!
[Erica] It looks like this could have been in the house.
The middle part will be the dry bar.
Oh, cool.
So that way all, like, your liquor and everything goes up here.
And then the new unit for, like, snacks,
-pantry-type storage... -Yes.
...we're gonna use the left and the right side.
So, Ari's gonna cut this.
I don't know how the hell he's gonna do it, but he always does so much.
-So it's split? -Yeah.
-Just like a twofer-type deal. -It's a twofer.
Wow.
And you do. You're gonna be able to like have two pieces.
-One that's got a little bit of newness to it... -Yep, yep.
...and then one that's all original.
And then you got all this stained glass
that I think goes beautifully with what you have.
But what Ari can do with this is gonna be the magic part.
That's what I'm getting excited about.
-It's kind of cool. -It's so cool.
You've got so much history in, like, your windows
and your moldings and everything.
I love that we're able to bring in another, like, wow factor.
This is not an easy project.
It's gonna be a lot of retro fitting and finagling
to make it look perfect.
But if there's anybody that can do it, it's Ari.
-Thank you so much. -You're welcome.
[Alison] At Monroe, they are still waiting on permits.
So until that changes, I'm going all in on Forest.
The floors are getting patched.
The plan is to sand and refinish them
the same as the original colors
so we keep the integrity of the house.
I wanna give Erica and Joe a one-of-a-kind dining room,
something unexpected,
and a big part of that is this beautiful mural.
-Hello... Hi. -Hi.
-Joe, Keelan. Keelan, Joe. -How you doing?
So today I'm meeting our muralist Keelan
over at the Forest house.
Joe is here, Erica couldn't make it.
This is a piece I did from several years ago.
[Alison] Which is insane.
And I brought along stuff that was kind of closest to the brief.
[Alison] His work and his portfolio are so impressive.
And I feel like this dining room has to be a stand-out moment.
It's truly an art piece of its own.
[Alison] Way more foliage than something like this.
But I love the fact that you're showing us
how organic and how natural and how detailed you are.
So, less autumnal, less liminal, um, more--
Joe and I don't know what that means.
I felt kind of stupid today,
'cause, like, most of the words I didn't actually understand,
or maybe the grouping of them.
But I don't wanna sound too dumb,
but those are a lot of artist words.
Well, it's just that, um, more greens, more summer.
-Summer. -Okay, okay.
-Spring, summer... -Okay.
[Joe] I really like the colors in this, the greens and the browns.
This is a real match,
-so you have an eye for what they've mentioned to you. -Awesome.
It seems like you got a really good feel for what we're trying to do here.
-The vibe's great. -Yeah.
-I know Erica is sold on it. I am too. -Yes.
And it's just a perfect fit for this space.
-It is. It's beautiful. -[Alison] Okay, awesome.
All right, let's go over one last thing.
Okay, so, kitchen.
-We know that this needs to be snacks. Right? -Yes.
And then we talked about this being this dry bar.
-It's gonna be a bar, yeah. -Yep.
The middle now has a new home as a dry bar.
And the side pieces are gonna flank what will be
your new pantry snack-bar area in the kitchen.
I love the historic look of this
and Erica, I know, is gonna love the style
-of these windows right here. -I know.
And the fact that it's something old being put in but made new, it's awesome.
But keep in mind for the bar,
Erica won't be able to use it
for at least the first three, four months we're here,
-because she's pregnant. -[gasping]
-Shut up! -[whispers] Yes.
Congratulations.
-Oh, my God. -So, one more piece.
-How exciting. -Yes, yes.
My daughter's happy. She's thrilled. Erica's thrilled.
-We're all happy. -Oh, I'm so happy for you.
-Yeah. -That's awesome.
Well, yeah, the dry bar can just be used for--
-It'll be for me. -It's for you.
-Yeah. -It's for you.
-And then you've got your snack bar. -Beautiful.
-Right? -Snacks are important.
-Snacks. -Yeah.
-Erica's gonna want snacks. -Yes, yes, she's gonna want snacks.
-She's gonna want more snacks now. -Much more snacks.
Something is going on over at Monroe.
It has been months without any progress.
Yeah, and I was like, "I'm stopping over."
And it's like worse than I thought.
It's just a junkyard.
At least make it look like it's getting fixed and under construction.
Clean up the rubble, clean up the falling pieces.
Like even with my worst projects on their worse days,
nothing ever looked like this.
[caller tone]
-[Mike on phone] Hi, this is Mike. - Hey, Mike. It's Alison.
-[Mike] Hi, Alison. -Just standing here at the job site,
and like seeing where we're at.
The yard is like in shambles.
-Garbage everywhere, everything's just a mess. -[Mike] Yep.
We're scheduled for a clean up this coming week
- for all of that. -What day?
-[Mike] I can send you an update later today.
Well, but when do you think you're getting a permit?
-That's what it's all dependent on. -[Mike] That's right.
That's our... That's our--
Have you submitted for permit?
[Mike] No.
No?
What's been happening over the last three months then, Mike?
Like, what's... I'm super confused.
[Alison] This is a big house.
It's an old house and it's in shambles.
You haven't even submitted for permit.
-Like, this is... -[Mike on phone] Other than the parapet walls.
And, uh, that's two to three weeks, you know.
We hope to, you know, seal up as much of the building and how many windows.
You said the cleanup crew's going to come...
[Mike] I will let you know later today.
And then I've got crews to empty out the coach house
-separate from the main house. - Okay.
Something's up. Something's not right.
I have a gut feeling, and I'm not ignoring my gut anymore
'cause I did for way too long,
and that got me in trouble, and I'm not getting in trouble anymore.
We'll see who comes to clean up this week.
Back at Forest,
things are moving.
They're sanding the floor so we can refinish them.
Keelan's getting started on the mural,
and it's so detailed it's going to take at least a few weeks to finish.
I still have a bunch of design stuff to do,
and this project really needs great lighting.
Look at this. This would be a stunner.
I feel like 495, I think like retail, yeah, retail's 1,500.
This is a find, for sure.
She would die for this. Erica would love it, love it, love it.
[caller tone]
Hello!
I had to call you because I found something super cool for the dining room.
- Oh, I'm dying. -Okay, ready?
[Erica on phone] Oh, my God.
-Dining room fixture. - Wrap her up.
"Wrap her up" is what I said too.
- Oh, my God. Crazy. -[Alison] You love it?
- Love it. -Okay, good.
-All right, I'm going to get it for you. - All right, thanks, Alison.
[Alison] All right, honey. Done.
I mean, who doesn't say yes to 495?
Monroe is still just sitting there.
It looks like a dump, and the guys still haven't filed for a permit.
Meanwhile, my team's been designing and racking up all billable hours.
[caller tone]
-Hi. -[Kristy on phone] Hi.
So I've been getting a bunch of emails and even a couple of texts
about meeting with the Monroe guys,
confirming reclaim pieces.
[Alison] When did you get those messages?
[Kristy] Today, which I have no problem getting back to him,
but I didn't want to before I talked to you
because I don't think we've heard anything back from him.
We have waited for... I think it's been over five months,
where I've been asking the same questions and kind of getting the same answers.
So, I'm at the point where it's like we don't time for this stuff anymore,
and I feel this is the time to let them know, like,
"I'm so sorry, we're not going to be able to help you."
[Kristy] It feels like it is time and it is sad
because the time we're losing and it's a very cool space.
- It's not fair to us either. -[Alison] No.
First of all, it isn't a good business model.
I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.
I don't want you to ever feel like, "I gotta stay on this guy."
I'm gonna give him a call.
Let him know that we're just gonna have to pass. I mean, it's definitely time.
It's bad for business. Time to cut ties.
It is so hard to walk away from a project like this.
Something is historic and something I want to get my hands on,
but it doesn't make financial sense for me.
It doesn't make sense for me time-wise.
I have to make that decision, as hard as it is,
and just move on.
Today I'm heading up to Ari's farm in Wisconsin,
and I want to see how he's doing on his projects for Forest.
He's got a lot of his place right now, between making a hood,
and turning the antique cabinet into a dry bar and snack pantry.
-Hi. -[Ari] Hey.
-How are you? -I'm good, how are you guys?
-Good. -Golden.
-[sighs] Another hug. -Come in here.
Of course, the hood is a moment,
and it has to be awesome.
-You got the hood insert for this, right? -[assistant] Yes.
-Yes, we already framed this around for the hood insert. -Good.
-Good, good, good. -I got a ton of questions
-and I need your design expertise. -Good.
I really want this to be a very sleek, very modern,
tailored, sophisticated... I could go on and on.
But I want this to be bad ass.
This kitchen's gonna be black and white.
So, this really will be the art piece of the kitchen.
-And what is our height? -So, I have 40 inches here, so...
-[assistant] Is it going to the ceiling? -Yeah.
-I don't-- -It's not a short ceiling though.
-That is... That has to go to the ceiling. -[assistant] Yeah.
-[Ari] Does that mean-- -They're tall. They're very tall.
I forgot about this.
I mean, they're like seven feet tall.
-I'm not even joking. -Measure the--
I wear my highest heels around them, and it still isn't enough.
-Wow. -I'm not even... I'm like to her nipple.
107 is the finished ceiling height.
So, 107 minus 40
should be seven... 67.
-Should be shorter. -[Alison] Minus 40.
-[assistant] Mmm-hmm. -Because you're supposed to be 72.
[Alison] Is 67 off the ceiling?
[muttering] 67...
This has to be 34 inches then.
-That's way too big. But then we... -[assistant] Yeah, that's...
What?
Now, this hood, which already feels small with me looking at it,
is getting smaller.
And if they're tall, it's going to look really weird to them.
-[assistant] Yeah. -I mean, 72's the minimum I put the bottom of my hoods.
You know?
So it changes the look of it a little bit.
-It's gonna look stupid. -[assistant] Yeah.
[Ari] Not long and slender.
[Alison] They are tall and that ceiling is not.
-Well, we can't go wider, we built the thing. -[assistant laughs]
[Ari] You can cut it down.
Ari starts talking to me, like, "Hey, we gotta shave off this much."
I'm picturing it, it's going to be this weird, almost like a so-fitted hood.
And if the hood ends up being too squatty, I might just scratch it.
But the hood was something really special for Erica and I want to stick with it.
So, 34 is here.
We have to trim off six inches of the height of the hood?
You give the proper distance between the range, the top of the range,
and the bottom of the hood.
I don't need them smashing their heads into it.
Oh, that's not bad. You guys had me all worried.
-[Ari] So, it's 34. -We're fine.
It sounded bad, but once Ari measured it, it worked.
We're not chopping off that much.
I think six inches down is still very substantial,
and it is going to be gorgeous.
Just do-si-do.
-Like that. -[Alison] I like it. I love it.
Right there.
You know, if I'm only doing one floor, it better be damn good, you know?
So finding this bar,
and taking it apart, like pieces of it, to make something new also,
is something I actually don't think I've done.
Or maybe I have. I probably have done it.
I don't remember.
-Okay. Dry bar. -Yeah.
[Alison] It'll illuminate at night.
Glassware up here.
Now this looks like it's like own piece.
-I was able to salvage the doors. -Yes, that's what we wanted.
-I only wanted the doors. -Yeah. Yeah.
I knew that we couldn't save the sides.
-So then taking these doors... -[Ari] Yeah, took the doors off.
...this is now kind of an extension into the kitchen.
I love that we have open shelving because we have no uppers
-in this kitchen. -[Ari] Oh, really?
So this is going to really serve a big purpose.
And then the base.
[Ari] Yeah, I was able to reuse those doors also.
-[Alison] Of course, that's what we wanted. -Yeah.
So this is the base of it.
Snack time for him,
and then everything else... Okay. This is really--
-This is an old salvaged piece of oak. Isn't that pretty? -It's beautiful.
This is red oak too. I like that. This is a cool door.
It's a cool door.
They're a little crooked in the door,
-so I had to make the frame a little kinda match it, so... -It's okay.
To do this kind of project with Ari, it's like...
That is like where we like create magic.
-It's gonna be really pretty. -Yeah, it's a cool cabinet.
He is like a shining star.
This kitchen is coming together.
They're laying that beautiful black and white tile.
Cabinets are going in.
And the island is all set.
Okay, so it's one of my last days before Forest is like done-done.
I'm leaving town today.
So, I'm just here stopping in.
I haven't seen Danny in a while, there's a lot going on.
Look at this.
[gasps]
I haven't see this.
Nelson's here to knock out the built-ins in the hood that Ari built.
Look at that hood!
-That's a cool hood. -That's gonna be the showstopper.
When are you guys getting this sucker up?
I'm working on it now.
Okay. I can't wait.
Keelan's mural is looking unbelievable.
It's that day, it's the crazy day.
Where it's just a lot going on, so being here is really important.
Okay, you know, you don't really have any real uppers in here,
and I know she wanted to do some shelf.
-It needs something. -Good.
-Thank you for appreciating that. -No problem.
All right. 38 and three quarters
by 34 and a quarter.
How do we create symmetry on a wall that is so broken up?
I got a window and then I got a wall,
and the hood doesn't even sit center.
-Right there? -I would have them lower.
-Like almost like the center of the sconce... -Yeah. Yeah.
-...would be at the bottom of the hood. -Yeah.
Yeah, I agree.
And then we'll just do equal distance on the other side,
and then that determines where the open shelving is.
So we created our own central point by putting the sconces equal distance
and then doing some beautiful corner shelves.
To have a place for kinda go-to stuff.
Spices, olive oils, cook books.
-I think we only do two? -You want two only?
-Two shelves only. -All right, fine.
All right, so that's perfect then.
Okay, we'll make sure that wherever the hood stops
-'cause it'll be mounted today... -Yep.
-...that this is the same distance here... -Yeah.
...and then we'll match it over here and that's where the shelves line.
And there is now symmetry and there's purpose, and...
-Yeah. Design element. -[Alison] It's broken up the brass.
What else? I mean, you guys are moving. This looks great.
We're moving. It's gonna come together.
Took awhile to get here, but we're moving.
[Alison] When I'm in a house when the mural's going up,
and we're talking about lighting, we're there.
And that's fun for me.
Just making sure it's perfect.
'Cause then the next time I'm going to see it, it's going to be done.
Come in.
Oh, my...
-Very emotional for the both of us. -I just...
I love it!
Big, huge day.
This has just been such a fun project.
To be able to be so creative.
To have people that trust you.
They really let me fly with the vision.
So bright.
Magical.
Okay, so obviously, it's a beautiful day.
You have the most beautiful house on the block.
Oh.
It's stately, but still like sexy.
Every time we have neighbors that walk up, they always stop.
-Yeah. With the black and white. -I love the black and white.
[Alison] It's a huge difference, you guys.
Let's talk about the porch.
I mean, you don't get it in the city
because you're gonna spend your spring, summer, fall, out there.
-Grab some porch wine. -[both] Yeah, porch wine.
-[Alison] I'm all about porch wine. -[Erica] Yeah, yes.
-And now it's time to go inside. -Ah, I'm so excited.
-[Alison] Come on. -[Erica] How exciting.
Okay, come in.
Oh. Oh, my. Oh!
I love it!
[whispers] Alison...
-The green! -[Alison] It's so strong, but it's still so soft.
[Joe] I love the green.
It's not... It's not very Kermit,
which is what I was... I didn't want it to be too green.
-[Alison] But come and look at this. -[Erica] Oh, my God.
Just like take it in from this way.
-[Erica] I can't get over it. -[Alison] I mean, it's a house.
-This is very, very cool. -[Erica] Oh, my God.
-The floor, the stains. -I can't believe we live her.
-I didn't think it'd look this good. They look great. -[Erica] I'm in shock.
-Everything. -I normally am against honey tones.
-Yeah. -But yours just works in this house.
Especially with the original trim that goes around these
beautiful stain glass windows.
How do you not fall in love with them?
I'm remembering when we bought the house, and what it looked like.
- I just can't get over it. -[Alison] I know.
-Okay, you want to see my favorite room? -[Erica] Yes.
Oh.
This is dope.
[Erica] Oh, my God!
-She's crying now looking. -I can't believe this.
-I cried at the beginning when I saw the budget. -Oh, my God.
She's crying now here at the end,
-so very emotional for both of us. -I just...
I wanted wallpaper,
-and this is just... -[Alison] Look at the detail that he did.
-[Erica] Holy... -[Alison] And look at the color way,
-I mean, he nailed it. -[Erica] This is beautiful.
[Joe] This is beautiful.
-I can't believe we live here. -[Alison] Yeah.
-I'm like in shock that we live here. -[Alison] This is your house.
Not a single person on this planet
will have this look or pattern in their home.
It's a work of art. It's beautiful.
-It is. Wallpaper wouldn't have given us this ever. -Oh, God.
And this!
All the angles, and the angles in the shape, it's unbelievable.
-[Alison] We wanted something really oversized. -[Joe] Yeah.
[Alison] But I didn't want it to feel heavy.
You go from like this dark
to like medium with depth and texture
to this bright white morning room.
[Erica] It's such this transition.
[Alison] This is where you're going to have your coffee.
- This is where you're going to sit and chill. -[Erica] Yes.
[Alison] This is where I see you guys with like your laptop...
-[Erica] Yes! -...at the island.
I had no idea what to do with this room.
-Or what it would even look like. -[Erica] Yes.
-This is... -[Joe] This is chill.
-Laidback, I like it. -You like it?
-This makes sense. -[Alison] All right.
Look at this.
-[Joe] Nice. -Oh, my God.
You talked all about balance.
This is like... It's insane.
[whispers] Oh, my God. I love it.
-[Alison] Ain't it cool? -[Joe] It's hard to believe this was...
-[Erica] I can't even believe. - ...the same kitchen we started out with.
The hood!
-It's huge! -[Alison] Gigantic.
-The sconces. I love them. -[Alison] Yep.
And you do have ample storage.
Danny and I just laid that out.
-[Joe] We don't have cabinets over here. -[Erica] No.
-[Joe] This is perfect for that. -[Alison] Right!
-'Cause it's your go-to. -I agree, I agree.
-I love it. -And your snack bar.
-I mean, let's just talk about it for a sec. -Snack bar. Yes!
-[Alison] The real catalyst for this entire wall... - [Erica] Yeah.
...was just that once piece that we went and looked at.
And then we made two pieces out of it.
Giving you a true dry bar,
and then to take the doors off the side, and have Ari retrofit it
to give you your snack area.
You just have ample storage in a kitchen
that didn't really allow you to do uppers.
-[Joe] This is all beautiful, Alison. -[Erica] It is.
-How everything flows. -[Alison] Aww.
You guys deserve it. I get it. You're moving from the city, small space,
- adding to the family... -[Erica] Yeah.
And think about, like, your whole family being here,
-and being comfortable. -Oh, my God. Totally.
[Alison] I just love the flow.
[Erica] Yeah, all the things I thought about in my head,
what I wanted, it's like those things times a million.
Like everything has been elevated to like the next level.
We are so appreciative.
-Truly. -I loved, loved, loved working with you.
This is your next chapter.
[Erica] Alison crushed it. It's breathtaking.
I can't believe we live there.
There's just so many great things that are going to happen in this house
now we have a brother for Jada.
It's really cool to have a home we can make it our own,
and still keep that character and know that it's a home that we can grow into.
I fell in love with this house the first time I saw it.
So to be able to say, I had a part in making it even more beautiful,
that's pretty cool.
And we're able to give two very deserving people
their dream home more than they could have actually dreamed of.
That's the cool part of my job
is to be able to give people what they didn't even know they wanted and more.
That's why I love what I do.