Every forever home has its own story.
-[Drew] And we can't wait to help tell it. -[laughing]
It's been in our family, uh, for generations.
-Let me smash, let me smash! -Yeah.
[man] This is the next step.
[woman] The next chapter in my life.
-Hi-yah! Whoo! -[Drew] Love it!
-[Jonathan] After you. -Welcome home.
-[woman] Oh my goodness! -[man] Look at this!
-Oh, wow! -[laughing]
Let's go!
It feels like home.
-Whoa. -[all laughing]
[Jonathan] Come on in for group hug!
[laughter]
[upbeat music playing]
We met at a fast food restaurant
in the UK when we were 17.
It was our first job.
We've been married for... this is a test for me,
-uh... 17 years. - [chuckles softly]
[Helen] We've been in the US 12 years.
I just felt like we were just happier people being out here.
We have two kids, Elliott who is seven, and Frankie who is five.
We bought the house about five years ago.
[Jared] When we viewed the house, we walked in
and we were like, this character is just unbelievable.
We were lucky enough to get enough space
for when our parents come from England,
so they can have their own area,
which is very important if they're here for months.
The neighborhood is fantastic.
It's exactly in the area where we were looking.
We have parks nearby,
we're near good schools. It's unbelievable.
Um, our family story...
starts in this house.
I'll never forget the days when they're so young.
[Helen] I really remember teaching Frankie to ride a bike.
That special that, we now have our favorite memories.
[Jared] But, the problem is, this house doesn't
really represent us.
We're not really American,
we no longer feel completely English.
We're this mix.
[Helen] And that's why this renovation is important to us.
We wanted the house to feel like it was made for us
and we belong here.
[Jared] It has to have our hearts and it has
to be the place where we make our memories.
And we already have so many here.
[Helen] I just love this house.
I hope we can stay here forever.
[Jonathan] Jared and Helen have a nice home in a great area.
I love Pasadena, but I'm feeling like
there's a little work on the inside.
[Drew] Do me a favor. Don't do any accents.
-Top of the mornin'. -Hello. You're welcome.
-[Helen] Come on in. -[Drew] I told him, "no accents."
-How are you? -Good, thank you.
-Oh, my gosh. Thanks for having us come over. -Thanks for coming.
This is very different than probably a lot of the houses
you're used to in England.
Very. It's only got one story, for one.
Being Scottish and having lived in Scotland
and also visited our family a lot,
the houses were all two story and very...
you come in and it was a little bit cramped.
-I'm getting those vibes here because... -[laughs]
...it is very cramped when you come in
because of this massive fireplace.
Have you ever contemplated getting rid of this
so you can actually see everything?
Yeah, we love the style of it.
-The mid-century modern. -[Drew] Yeah.
[Jonathan] It's good to know that Helen and Jared like
mid-century modern style.
It's a distinct aesthetic with sleek and clean lines
that emerged in the mid-50s and it's still popular today.
I think it's a style that will work perfectly in here
because this house has a spacious ranch-style architecture
that is very '50s as well.
[Jared] If you remove that fireplace we would be removing
the only character left in the home.
Do me a favor. Can you just cover your ears for one sec?
Do you agree with everything that he said?
Um... [laughing]
Not quite.
I wouldn't mind it not being there,
but I know that he likes that kind of style,
so I think it could probably be freshened up,
so it's a little bit nicer.
I don't love the color.
-We do not like the color. -Hate the color.
[Jared] We like the brickwork, we're not attached to the mantle.
If it's functional for you to have a mantle,
for hanging stockings or putting decor or pictures.
-Stockings is a good point. -Yeah.
-You caught me right there. -[laughs]
-[Jonathan] I mean... -[Jared] Yes, okay, yeah. We want a mantle.
[all laughing]
[Jonathan] So, how do you use this big living room space?
[Helen] So, right now, this is just kind of a
free-for-all junk room.
We don't really have too much designated use of it,
like, the kids play here,
his work area is over there.
[Jonathan] Wait, this is your area?
I thought with all the toys, that was the kids' area.
[Jared] No, it's not the kids' area, it's my area.
I review toys for a living.
So, I need a lot of workspace to take photographs.
Oh my God, that sounds like the biggest cop out,
like, "Oh guys, I review toys."
-You play with toys for a living. -[Helen chuckles]
I review toys in a serious manner.
[all laughing]
Have you guys ever had an argument where you're like,
-"Honey, wait... -[Helen chuckling]
...I'm working."
-Many times. -Yeah, that's amazing. [laughs]
And what do you do for a living?
I work in corporate tax.
-Okay. Super sexy. -Oh, my God. Also so fun.
[all laughing]
I mean, that right there...
-Match made in heaven. [laughing] -[Jonathan] Exactly. Yeah.
Yeah, what would you say is the biggest difference
between living in the UK and then living here?
[both] The weather. [laughing]
[Helen] The weather.
-[both chuckle] -[Helen] I mean, yeah.
Looking in here, you've got a bit of a clutter problem.
So, I think storage is obviously key.
[Helen] Yeah, I would love to see like a more purposeful area for him,
because at the moment, it's just like...
random table, random cardboard box,
random shelves.
[Drew] How many of these things did you find in an alley
and you just dragged over here?
Only one.
[all laughing]
The table?
Anyway, we can definitely do better than this for you.
Do you want to keep the piano as part of the design?
Do either of you play?
-[Helen and Jared] No. - [Jared] It came with the house.
-[Drew] Okay. -[Jonathan] Oh, really?
-We can get rid of it. -[Drew] My buddy, Josh, has
a charity where they'll take old pianos,
they'll refurbish them, and put them into public schools
into their music programs.
And, they would absolutely love that.
-Fantastic. That sounds like a great idea. -Awesome.
[Drew] I see you have a family room
at the very back of the house.
This used to be a porch and they enclosed it
to make it an interior space.
-Yeah. -[Drew] The old exterior wall.
-Mind your head. -[Drew] This is cool.
I like the detailing here.
The space is pretty substantial.
[Jared] Yeah, this is our family room.
We watch movies in here, do puzzles, play games.
This is kind of the heart for us where we come
and spend time with our kids.
Ideally, what would you like to see the layout look like?
I would really like this to kind of be closed off
from that area, just because
in the evenings, when the kids are sleeping,
we want to be able to have the TV loud.
I can tell this is the grown-up area,
-because of the sexy furniture in here. -[Jared laughing]
[Helen] Hey, this came all the way from the UK.
[mimics roaring sound]
[laughing]
Are you cool finding new furniture that
actually fits the space, maybe like a sectional or something?
-Yes please. -That'll be amazing.
[Drew] Would you want to see the same flooring
flow throughout everywhere?
Definitely. We're not a fan of the carpet.
Again, it came with the house and it's
-old and tatty and dirty. -[Drew] Yeah.
I have to say that, it's great that Elliott is giving
the reaction that you're gonna give
-once we complete this renovation. -[Jared laughing]
[both together] Whoa!
-[both laughing] -[Jonathan] I love that photo.
So, there's a lot that we can do in here, but I also noticed
that the kitchen needs a lot of work.
Actually it feels more like a hallway than a kitchen.
[Jared] Yeah, and through the door there is the back door,
so, it very much is the corridor in and out of the home.
[Jonathan] I noticed that the cabinets are a little off color.
-All yellowy and... -Oh, it's sticky.
-[Jonathan exclaims] -[Jared] Yeah, don't touch things.
[all laugh]
-Hold on a second, hold on a second. -[Jared chuckles]
[Jonathan] I'm just gonna use the glove.
-Shortbread, shortbread! -Hold on.
-Oh no, don't touch that. -[exclaims]
-[Helen and Jared laughing] -Why is it so sticky?
What do you cook in there?
The extractor fan is broken.
[Jonathan] Makes sense, 'cause if the vent has broken,
the grease just accumulates.
-And there's not even any short bread in there. -Scottish.
I know, it's the good stuff.
We don't touch anything in that cupboard.
Okay, this is going back in there.
So, the desk is my work area.
I would love that not to be in my kitchen. [chuckles]
I also do the majority of the cooking,
so this is kinda my area.
But, in terms of storage and functionality,
it's not functional.
-Also, you're cramping the fridge's clearance here. -[Jared] Yeah.
Would you consider opening up the wall at all
or do you like to have it this size?
[Jared] We would love to open this wall up
and just have like, a nice kitchen-dining space that would be...
-Incredible. -If this wall was gone
there'd also be the option to put the kitchen
at the front of the house.
[Helen] So, we do use this dining room, but I guess
it doesn't have to be here exactly.
[Drew] The window is actually higher here already,
which is great, 'cause you could run cabinets underneath here.
This would be a pretty incredible space.
Imagine the kitchen, all around the perimeter,
open this up, big island in the middle,
then you can have your dining room at the back
where your kitchen is now.
Yeah, that'll be incredible.
I would love an island.
[Drew] Now, we already know you love mid-century modern,
but how else would you describe
your defined style?
We like things modern, clean.
No clutter.
-Simple. -Everything tucked away.
Clutter-free, modern, minimalistic. We can do that.
So, what's your budget?
I think we could go on a maximum budge of $200,000.
I don't think we can push ourselves above that.
Okay, $200,000.
That should make it possible for us to tackle
all the priority spaces for you.
The one concern that I have,
structure concern, to really add up.
This will be a low-bearing wall, all the way across.
so there's gonna be some pretty substantial
-engineering work if we do want to open this up. -Okay.
Jared and Helen have never truly felt at home in this house.
They've always wanted to make it their own,
and finally we can help them with that.
Well, they've come so far to create a new life here and,
I love the fact that we can be a part of that dream.
We'll make sure this home really reflects who they are
and they are gonna love this house when it's done.
[lively music playing]
Okay, here we go.
[Jonathan grunts] Yes, let's just...
[objects clattering]
Oh, we were actually keeping that one.
Oh, shoot.
-[Helen laughs] -Sorry.
All right. Lots to do.
Glasses, gloves.
Are you afraid of a little demolition
-or are you excited for it? -I'm excited.
I'm a little afraid.
-I mean, that demonstration there was kind of... -[Jared laughing]
Who wants to start pulling out a drawer
and who wants to rip down a door?
-Work your way out. -Door for me.
-I will take the... -Drawer.
You go.
Yay!
[Helen screaming]
[Jonathan] Well done.
-She just ripped a door off the hinge. -Yay!
It just feels like, cathartic to like finally, do it.
[Jared] That was incredible.
Grabbing the sledgehammer
taking it to that kitchen.
[objects clattering]
I'd like to take a minute to appreciate...
the original wallpaper in this kitchen.
-[all exclaiming] -Is that a people?
-Is that a person? -[Jonathan] There is--
I thought you said, "Is that a peep hole."
[Helen laughing]
Where is your mind at, pal?
-Yay! -Grab that tight.
[Drew] All right, guys.
At this point I would love talk a little structure,
so if you guys wanna grab hammers,
strip off the dining room side of that wall,
I'm gonna clear the cabinets and then eventually we'll go through.
[Drew] All right.
So, the one thing we're pointing out right now,
this is definitely a load-bearing wall.
If we did a steel beam or an engineered beam,
expanding across to where we are, we probably can get enough
-support. -All right.
Oh, woah, this is actually... this is totally illegal.
But also, very dangerous.
[Drew] This is totally illegal.
So, this electrical was run newer than obviously
when the house was built.
At some point they did some work. Look at that.
They did a tie inside the wall...
totally illegal.
Have you ever had any circuits in the kitchen
that didn't work or any lights that would flicker
-or anything like that? -Yeah.
-The fuse can trip quite easily. -[Drew] Yeah.
So this can cause that.
It's why they don't allow it. You have to have
a continuous circuit all the way to a box, that's accessible.
So, a lot of this mixing electrical,
they do have different types of electrical and that's a fire hazard.
It seems a little overwhelming the stuff in these walls,
that we had no idea about.
The electrics were kind of done badly
and that could have caused something in the house.
And you know, we have young kids.
We want it to be safe, you know, so.
Exactly, we want it to be beautiful,
-but it has to be safe. -Yeah.
The fact that the electrical is so bad in this wall
between the kitchen and the dining room
is not a great sign.
Usually that means that there is bad electrical in other places too.
We want to make sure that this house is as safe as possible.
But redoing electrical can get very expensive,
so we'll have to keep that in mind as we open things up,
and allot some money toward electrical in the budget.
I feel like, we can still
have a little peak through the wall if you guys want.
-[all exclaiming] -[Helen] Yay!
Look at this.
When we knocked through the dining room wall into the kitchen,
the immediate transformation of that space,
like, being able to see through the light flooding through.
The sight lines are just fantastic.
-You guys have this angelic glow around you right now. -[Jared and Helen laughing]
[Jonathan vocalizing choir music]
-I think both, emotional and physical. -Yes.
It's kind of just like awe-inspiring as well,
'cause you can kind of imagine what it could be like,
Man, that felt amazing.
[Jonathan] While the crew continues to tear up walls,
Drew and I need to call a friend to help find a home
for Helen and Jared's piano.
-Hello. -Hey guys, how's it goin'?
I can only assume you're calling me
because of my hammer skills.
[Drew laughs] Yeah, we need a little help.
We have something beautiful that we want to show you.
-Look at this beauty. - [Josh] Ooh.
She's pretty.
It kinda looks like it has a lot of history.
When our home owners Jared and Helen bought this house,
it came with the piano.
And they just want to see it go somewhere
where somebody can get great use out of it.
Well, um, my foundation, Find Your Light,
um, would be happy to find the right home for it.
The place I'm thinking of this piano is called Sing For Hope.
They're gonna paint it, refurbish it,
and put it in a place where a lot of beautiful noise is gonna be made.
[Drew] Such good news.
This piano wasn't even being played,
and now, thanks to Josh's foundation,
it'll go to a school
to enrich the lives of countless young music lovers.
- This is it. -[Helen] Wow.
I'm super excited to see inside.
-[chuckles] -Okay, this is good.
[Jared] I already see the mid-century modern flair from the curb.
[Drew] Yeah, I mean, some of the wood tones and the white,
there are a lot of things inside
you're gonna like, just like that.
Today, I'm taking Helen and Jared to a mid-century modern home.
I wanna see how mid-century these two really are.
All right, come on in.
-[chuckles] -[Drew] What do you think?
This is incredible.
[Helen] Wow, I love the space. So cool.
Can we just move in here?
-[Drew] You know, I'll talk to them. -[Helen chuckles]
-[all laughing] -It'll be a cheaper renovation,
just to have you move in here.
-[Jared] Just so bright, isn't it? -[Helen] Yeah.
The light coming through...
-There's so much character. -Awesome.
[Drew] Now, you guys have that huge fireplace
right near the entrance of your home.
It's pretty bulky, but you really love it, correct?
Personally, I wanna keep it and spend the money elsewhere.
'Cause one thing we could consider... Come on down here.
So, you see how they have this low profile fireplace in the wall?
This will be original, the box here. It's pretty gorgeous.
Does it give you any ideas for what you can do with yours?
[Helen] I mean, I really like the brick work,
and I like how, kind of, clean it looks with the white.
Do you think painting our fireplace white
would make the entryway seem a bit bigger?
[Drew] Yeah, I mean, we could freshen things up like this. It will make it feel lighter.
Anyway we can add a feature...
Like, they did this slab here as a nice feature.
I know that's not your style.
We'll look at something we can do for your fireplace.
Maybe a nice mantle? How about for the furniture?
[Jared] Oh, this is perfect for me.
[Helen] Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of brown
in this room, right? It's a little bit too much wood.
I think I would like
some sort of color. I really like
the dark green on these chairs.
[Drew] Yeah. Yeah, we can find more ways to bring color.
I mean, I could compromise with some of the wood,
but there was a lot of it.
So, I would want you to compromise on
-there being not so much wood and a little bit more color. -[Jared] Okay.
I can do color.
It would definitely be nice to have more of this open flow
-from your living spaces into your kitchen. -Oh, yeah.
-[Drew] What do you think of this? -[Helen gasps]
Wow, I love this island.
-[Drew] Mmm-hmm. -[Helen] This is so cool.
This is absolutely stunning, this is fantastic.
I love the counters,
I love the wood, I love the appliances.
The wood is a little bit too much for me again.
I mean, if you like the idea of not having
all the same wood tone throughout, we could do something like
the lowers and island a nice color.
If you like light for your countertops,
we'll find some beautiful tones that will match what we do.
-Awesome. -Let's go over to the family room.
- So... -[Helen] Wow.
[Drew] You have that family room in the back of your house
that could use a little love.
Skies the limit for that family room.
We could add whatever you want.
I really like these shelves, actually.
-[Jared] Yeah, they're beautiful. -[Helen] They look very cool.
[Drew] Maybe we could add purposeful storage,
or we can just do a nice display area for the TV.
Yeah, maintaining some storage, that would be fantastic.
For that back family room, the most important thing is probably comfy furniture.
[Helen] Yeah, this is cool.
-[Drew] Yeah. -Yeah, this is... Ooh.
-Yeah, nice. This is comfortable. -[Helen chuckles]
-Yeah. Nice. -[Drew] Yeah, I mean, do you guys,
like, uh, every couple, like sit on opposite ends of the sofa,
or do you actually cuddle up on the sofa?
[Helen] Jared's not too keen on the hugs.
It's not that I don't like hugs.
-But she's a fidgeter, so... -[Helen laughs]
Makes hugs uncomfortable.
But just to really make Jared feel extra special...
Just get nice and cozy. And we can fidget a lot, too.
-Oh, yeah. -Definitely need a bigger sofa than this.
-[all chuckle] -Yeah.
[Helen] The one thing I don't like about this sofa is the color.
-[Drew] Yeah. -[Helen] And this is similar to
the sofa that we have currently.
-Oh, no. This color's much nicer than yours. -[Helen laughs]
-Yeah. -But I think I'm done with the red.
-Okay, good. -I'm good.
Let's get rid of it. Let's start fresh.
Honestly, your house is the perfect footprint to make this a dream.
-You're gonna love it. -So excited.
-[laughs] Yeah. -[Jared] The brothers clearly understand
what we like, even if we don't,
because they managed to find a great inspiration home
that has all the things that we love.
I think that we gave Drew
a lot of good information to come up with something
that will work for us both.
[Jared] I'm so excited
to see what they come up with.
[Drew] All right.
Don't pass out on us.
[chuckles] Oh, my goodness.
-[Jonathan] What do you think? -[Jared laughs] Um...
- Where's the wall gone? -[Helen] Oh, my goodness.
[Jonathan] It was, like, when you have a sweater, right?
And you start pulling a thread on the sweater and then it just goes...
[mimics sound of thread unraveling]
- Before we knew it, it's all gone. -[Helen laughs]
This is crazy.
Come through your French doors
into your old dining room space.
[Helen] I can't believe
how big this feels, like, without a wall. This is insane.
Once we opened this wall
that separated your dining room and kitchen,
it was like...
I want you to see what it could look like with this completely gone.
[Jared] The space is... The sight lines, it's so much brighter.
Well, it would have been incredible
if you were able to see it with that chimney gone.
-Imagine how open it would have been. -[Jared] Yeah.
That could still be the third option we give you is to remove that chimney.
He was throwing daggers.
-[both laughing] -[Jonathan] Actually, I think, we were on the same page.
We were like, "It could go. We could relocate it."
But he was, like,
-"No." -[Jared chuckles]
So, option one,
we would take your dining room and your kitchen,
flip the entire floor plan and put it on the other side of the fireplace
where your old work area and kids' play space were.
So now, you would have a beautiful chef's kitchen in the back
with tons of storage, great appliances and a nice, big island.
Your much loved fireplace would get a facelift,
and beside it, you'd have an elegant dining area
with sightlines to the whole space.
You'd have beautiful hardwood floors and statement light fixtures.
We'd update your family room with modern finishes, a great sectional,
and custom soundproof French doors for privacy.
On this side, where your old dining room and kitchen were,
you'd have two sections.
In the front, we'd give you a great office, Jared,
with a desk, work station, and lots of built-in storage.
And in the back, a great playroom for the kids.
In between the two, we build back part of this wall,
but it would have glass panels to let the light flow through.
The two spaces would be connected
but you'd have the privacy when you need it.
Everything in here would feel,
like, "This is the way it was always supposed to be."
And you get to keep your fireplace.
-[laughs] -[Jonathan] Yeah.
It would take eight weeks to complete,
coming in at your max budget
of $200,000.
That sounds really cool,
just like, right now, we don't spend much time in the kitchen,
because it was small and kind of dark.
Whereas if we have a big open space,
we'd probably spend a lot of our time there.
Having the, the family area, kitchen, dining,
and living area kind of together...
-Yeah. -[Helen] ...makes sense. And then,
having a separate playroom, office space,
-I think that would be-- -Yeah that does sound great.
...a huge benefit.
[Jonathan] Really, when you came in before,
it was a mess of toys and for the first time, it was from a grownup.
-[both laugh] -[Jonathan] Yeah.
So, that's why I think
this gives you those two spaces.
-One for the kids, one for you-- -Right.
...where you can actually keep things tucked away,
and then keep your entertaining areas
-nice and clean, all the time. -Right.
So, option one would be absolutely incredible.
Option two, however,
gives you something that I know you would flip over.
You don't get a separate playroom and office,
because we'd leave them where they originally were
on the other side of the house.
We keep the large area open,
but all of the finishes would be completely transformed,
and you'd get the same, great family room.
But we'd put your dining room and kitchen on this side,
where they originally were.
We get rid of that wall
in the middle of the space, with some structural work,
and relocate the kitchen to the front of the house.
Same great finishes,
but we'd have room to give you an even bigger island,
and we've put in the same beautiful dining room at the back of the space.
And then you'd have this beautiful aesthetic
with light flowing through here and no obstructions at all.
Option two, same price point, $200,000,
because there's more structural work needed
to open up this side permanently.
But we can finish a little bit quicker,
because we would not have to rebuild this wall
to make two separate spaces, one for the kids and one for you, Jared.
So, it would take six weeks.
I know you said how much you'd love the idea of this being completely open.
I like the sound of that.
I think it's better to have the kitchen on the current side.
I like the idea of moving it to the front of the house,
and that big enough to see, the light flooding through.
But, I mean, that sounds good.
-You sound less convinced. -[Helen] I...
I mean, after that first option,
like, I'm picturing the big area over there, so...
Will this look as open as having the kitchen, dining on that side?
Oh, it's gonna be sunny. I mean, if you think of the footprint
that we have here to work with,
it's gonna feel so much bigger,
because this wall is gone.
And we're not gonna have this little French door separation right here,
-like this. -[both] Okay.
-[Helen] What do you think? -I'm favoring two,
but you seem to be keen on the one,
-with the kitchen over there. -I... I mean,
I had never thought about that as being a possibility.
So, I think I'm kind of
like, just thinking about new options.
So, what's it gonna be?
You guys go with your gut. I'm gonna start you off, and then at the same time
say, "Option one" or "Option two" all right?
-[both] Okay. -[Drew] The option you're gonna go with is...
[both] Two.
-Oh, wow. -[exclaims]
-Okay. You came around. -[both laughing]
-[Jonathan] All right. -[Helen] Jared's a stay-at-home dad, right?
He obviously does his work from home.
He watches the kids, he cooks,
-so, you're the one that's gonna use-- -Get my way.
-...use the house the most. -[laughs]
We will now take all the work from here.
We'll make it incredible, and trust me,
once you see your new kitchen,
and how beautifully everything flows,
you're gonna be glad you picked it.
[Drew] It's great that Helen and Jared decided
to open up the space between the kitchen and dining room.
Creating that open flow will not only improve the functionality of the space
but it will fill every room with light.
Yeah, and in order to do that, we have to put up a massive beam
where that wall was, to support the entire weight of the roof.
And we'll also have to pour footing to support that beam.
-[chuckles] Still? -[Drew] A little wider than this hole that you have.
Why would you not cut the hole to get down to the rebar
right above the hole for the rebar?
Well, there's still a load on this wall here, supporting the roof,
so we couldn't cut open right above it,
but once we get our rebar set, pour the concrete,
that'll support our post for the new beam we're putting in,
and then everything will be rock solid.
Listen. Why are...
Why am I in the hole, with my fancy sweater?
[Jonathan] Why do you wear fancy sweaters
-to do construction? -[Drew] 'Cause I wanna look good for you.
You're the only person who has a series of construction cashmere.
-I... [laughs] -[Jonathan speaks indistinctly]
All you have to do is put the rebar down, tie it in.
[Drew] I have to crawl underneath,
and like, ninja my way over. I'm like an acrobat to get over
to where I have to tie the rebar into place.
Oh, my God.
Do you see what you just dumped on me?
[Jonathan] What? Oh, shoot.
I didn't even notice that.
[grunts]
[Drew] All right. I finished all the rebar.
I wanna make sure we always
keep a nice, clean construction site as well.
-[Drew laughs] Come on. -[Jonathan chuckles]
-[Drew] Here you go. -[laughing] Oh, get out of here.
All right. Fine, you can have it.
Keeping your broom.
[Jonathan] We're opening all the walls
and ceilings just to get a closer look
at some of that problematic electrical,
and I really don't like what we're finding.
It's far worse than we expected.
There's just so much going on up here,
and I think, over the years, they've just kept tying things together
and tying things together.
Junction boxes that we found in the wall, junction boxes in the attic.
Oh, that's not even attached. You can just slide that out of the way.
Okay, that's not to code, either.
This is the problem when you have a house that's older,
years after years that go by, of people doing add-ons and little fixes
and hack jobs, then all of a sudden, when you open things up,
it is like Frankenstein inside the walls.
'Cause they've got a lot of LED lights that are tied into junctions
of the old original electrical.
They have, like, flickering...
I'm amazed that somebody didn't get electrocuted.
There's so much stuff going up here
that just looks sketch.
All right, so, everything has to go.
I, I think that let's just put in all new.
We already have to run, by code today,
new circuits for every single appliance.
But I think this is so bad, that we have to
pull new lines right back to the panel
and then they'll never have an issue with electrical again.
This house has some of
the shoddiest electrical work I have ever seen.
And we always set money aside in the budget for electrical,
but in this case, not enough.
Replacing the lines in the front of the house
will put us about $9,000
over Helen and Jared's max $200,000 budget.
They were pretty clear that they have no more money to spend,
so now it falls on us to figure out
how we can stay within their budget.
The electrical in Helen and Jared's home
is getting a complete overhaul.
We're getting rid of all the old circuits,
replacing them with brand new ones,
and running everything into an organized panel.
But in doing so, we went 9k over
the amount allotted for electrical in their $200,000 budget.
So, we'll try and stretch the remaining $191,000 as much as possible,
by saving money anywhere that we can.
Adding this door to the family room is important for them,
'cause they want the ability to separate that space, close it off for noise.
I say we bring it all the way over to this side, and start here.
-Because that's pretty well lined up with this opening. -So...
Instead of framing back each side, we'll frame this side over
-as far as we can. -Yeah, exactly.
Initially, we were thinking of giving Helen and Jared custom made soundproof doors,
but those are quite expensive.
And so, we're trying to cut costs wherever we can.
Yeah, so we're doing something a little unconventional,
and we're using exterior doors that are inherently more insulated.
They might not be the perfect soundproof solution,
but they're a lot cheaper,
and they're absolutely gonna make it quieter.
Bam.
We're putting up the massive beam
to fully open up the space for Helen and Jared's
new kitchen and dining room.
It's a big chunk of the budget
but it's worth it to give these guys a dream kitchen
that flows directly into their formal dining room.
That kind of connectivity will be a massive improvement over what they have.
It took seeing a finished space
to get a clear understanding of the clean mid-century modern design
Helen and Jared want.
Now it's time to fine-tune the finishes.
Okay. Jared and Helen.
-I want this to be spectacular. -Yeah.
[Jonathan] And at the same time
we need to do all we can to save them a bit of money.
On the aesthetic side of things
they want a mid-century modern feel.
They like color.
As far as cabinetry,
why don't we
go with something two-tone?
We can do, like, wood tones and... and color.
[Drew] When we toured the mid-century home
Helen mentioned liking green or blue.
Well, that's nice.
Yeah, I would like that.
Um, right, and for the wood cabinets
you have something
almost like a walnut, that would be...
nice. Okay, this would be good.
And it's a little less expensive than the one you picked.
That's nice! I think what's exciting is
every room will have its own feel.
I love the color for the kitchen,
the family room will have its own feel.
For the family room pillows,
let's bring in some style.
He likes green.
I think this will look great.
And it's an inexpensive way to introduce color.
Yeah, I love that. Something that's nice and clean.
Something to do with earth tones, too.
You can bring in some weave.
And again, mid-century modern is their style.
Yeah. I mean, they are definitely leaning into
the California feel.
It'll look gorgeous.
We just have to figure out how to cut costs.
One step at a time.
I was trying to think of ways to save Helen and Jared money
with this renovation,
and I think I came up with a really good one in this family room.
They wanted something more functional
than what they have with the books behind the TV.
-Something that looks aesthetically pleasing. -Okay.
When the custom framing came back
to do a whole media build in here
-it was, like, $5,000. -[John] Wow.
-Like, we don't have $5,000. -Yeah.
-Then last night... -[John] Mmm-hmm.
...I was walking into my workshop,
and I saw
-one of our old pieces... -[John mimics angelic choir]
...sitting up on the shelf.
It's just been sitting there for, like, a year and a half.
Speaks perfectly to their aesthetic.
We could
put this in and make it look built-in.
Furring our drywall on both sides,
slide in this furniture piece nice and tight,
then put a toe kick across the bottom...
Boom! All of a sudden it looks built-in.
Yeah. Doesn't do any good staying in the warehouse.
No. Exactly. They can have this for free...
-[John] Mmm-hmm. -...it'll look beautiful in here,
-save them five grand. -They'd be happy about that.
Everybody loves saving money.
[Jonathan] Jared will not part
with the huge fireplace in the middle of this home's entrance
so we'll just try and update its look.
Instead of this plain mantle
I wanna give this fireplace a really beautiful, sleek wooden one
that will really blend in with the new design.
If we could make this, like,
even just an inch
-narrower on either side... -All right.
-...I think it would be a better fit. -Mmm-hmm.
[Jonathan] Well, let's see how much damage they did
when they put this in.
Changing out this mantle
is such an easy and affordable way
to update it and just breathe new life into the fireplace.
It's gonna look amazing.
Two, three.
Look at that.
Almost perfectly clean. Little bit of patch
-repair here, but... -[John] Mmm-hmm.
-...I feel like we'll be good... -[John] True that.
...if you put the brand-new mantle
-just a little bit lower... -[John] Okay.
...I think it'll feel better.
Nice. Okay.
I like it.
[Drew] We're giving everything in Helen and Jared's space a nice coat of white paint
including Jared's beloved fireplace.
And in the kitchen our team is starting the install of the gorgeous new cabinets
which will make this spacious kitchen so much more functional.
This kitchen's gorgeous and it's so much bigger than what they had before.
It's a better use of space.
[Jonathan] The issue is that doing the electrical costs more than expected
and Jared and Helen can't go over $200,000.
So, we have to get creative
and find ways to save here and there.
I think the whole thing here is we need to find ways
so we can have that high-end look
with a low-end cost.
-We're trying. -We spend so much on electrical, too.
That's the hard thing. There is a lot of work to redo.
That's why not doing some slab
just doing a nice tile, like, this is a ceramic...
I think this will look gorgeous.
I like that. This tile will look really nice.
[Drew] And we'll definitely save them money compared to putting up slab.
I love that. Let's do that all the way around.
Do we eliminate the cabinet above the bar
and just do, like, a couple floating shelves or something?
Yeah, they... they like to tuck some things away.
-So... yeah. -[Jonathan] I'll take that as a no.
I don't know about that. We're kind of in a spot
where there's nowhere else we can...
save. We've already paid for our flooring,
we've already got our cabinets.
Any money in the drawers?
-If we could find a couple of bucks in the drawers... -[Jonathan chuckles] No.
[Drew] We've done everything we could in the kitchen,
we'll have to find ways to save in other parts of the house.
I'm gonna continue just measuring for the tile
and if you wanna, take care of the vent hood.
Okay.
[power saw whirring]
[Jonathan] The gorgeous hardwood floors are going down throughout the house
which will give the main spaces a great unified look.
And the beautiful light stone counters
will work perfectly with the rich color
Helen and Jared picked for the cabinets.
Okay. You got it? You got it?
-Are you doing anything? -Got it? No, I'm literally...
-I'm literally not even touching it. -[John chuckles] Got it.
[Jonathan] We've been racking our brains
trying to think of ways we can save money for these guys in this reno.
I think we came up with a perfect solution in Jared's workspace.
This actually turned out to be a great compromise
'cause originally
I had grand plans of wraparound built-ins
with an incorporated desk and...
Now, by having a free floating desk
and then just doing one straight shot
with the storage,
it's gonna save them a ton of money.
If we wanted to do full built-ins
this would be three times the price.
This will be so much better
than the chaotic mess of what was out here before.
No more mess. I'm doing this for Helen. No more mess.
This is great. He's gonna love the amount of storage that he has here.
Should we recess the tracks in?
-Or am I just... -Can you stop
-adding? -...I'm just...
From a design perspective.
-I'm trying to think of things that would work. -Can I have this a sec?
-Yeah. -[John] Hit him with it. Yeah, there you go.
[Jonathan] The stunning cabinets in the kitchen are a perfect combination
of the dark blue that Helen loves
and the dark wood tones that Jared's drawn to.
I love the bold choices these guys made
because it'll really make this kitchen pop.
[Drew straining] Good God.
[Jonathan] I'm warning now this is gonna be tight.
Helen and Jared needed a place to put the TV in the family room
and rather than putting in costly built-ins,
we're bringing in a great piece of furniture
that was just gathering dust in our warehouse.
Yeah, our crew has built out the walls a bit around the nook
where this piece is gonna go.
So it's gonna fit like a glove
and it will look like it was a custom-made piece for the space.
[Drew] One, two, three.
-[Jonathan] Oh, my gosh. -[Drew] I cannot believe
-how a perfect fit that is. -[Jonathan chuckles]
This goes to show
you can always find a new home for something.
Jonathan and I actually do keep a lot of pieces
from past projects
because we know there will always be somewhere that we can use that.
If we had to anything custom, all of a sudden,
-they're using up money they don't have. -Yeah.
[Jonathan] It feels great to give Helen and Jared's kitchen
the updates that'll really bring it to the next level.
A great sink, gorgeous range,
and tons of storage.
The original kitchen was pretty dysfunctional.
This one is out of the park.
We had to direct a lot more of the budget
toward the electrical than we'd expected with this reno,
so we really tried to save where we could.
And a little bit of ingenuity from me
and a little bit of luck, we managed to get this budget back in line.
[Drew] Helen and Jared permanently left England
because they fell in love with the setting
and the weather in gorgeous Pasadena.
[Jonathan] They found the ideal neighborhood
and now they have their perfect home.
It's light, open,
and full of the mid-century modern touches that they love.
It is their forever-home.
[Drew] Okay.
-[vocalizing] -Yo.
-How you feeling? -[Drew] I'm feeling good.
I feel like this is going to
-absolutely blow their minds... -[Drew] Yeah.
...Came together so nicely.
'Cause this kitchen is a beautiful place
that is going to inspire.
Are you trying to pat yourself in the back?
-Yes. Could you-- -[Drew] I can help you.
-Could you get that for me? -Yeah, one over there too.
Should we grab Helen and Jared?
-Yes, let's do it. -All right.
-[Drew] Mmm. Now we're good. -[Jonathan] Now we're good.
[Jonathan scoffs]
[Drew] How do you feel?
-[Jared] I'm getting more nervous by the second. -[Drew] Yeah?
I mean, this is so strange.
I mean, this has never happened before,
-obviously. -No, no, no, no. Your house was strange,
-but now it's beautiful inside. -[Jonathan] Yeah.
-I hope so. -Are you saying you've never had a group of strangers
come and kick you out of your house and fix it?
-Weird. -[Helen chuckles] Nope.
[all chuckling]
[doorknob clicks open]
Oh...
My goodness!
Oh...
My goodness!
This... [exclaims]
[yells excitedly]
[Jared] Oh, my.
-It looks amazing. -[Jared] This is unreal.
[in awe] This is our kitchen?
[Helen] This is our house! Oh, my...
Oh, my! [exclaims]
You don't hide your emotions at all.
[mimics Helen]
It's so funny to think of
what was here before.
-[indistinct] -[Jonathan] Your kitchen was like this
shameful secret tucked into the back of the house.
-How does it feel? -[Jared] Oh, my. I just...
I can't believe... I... I'm totally lost for words.
This is so much better.
Like, you see, it's so spacious.
The colors are beautiful. Exactly what I want.
-I love the wood. I love the darker blue... -[Helen] Oh, yeah.
-...and the white countertops, right? - [Helen] Yeah.
This is so nice.
I love this.
I don't know how you fit something this big in here
but, like, this is exactly what I wanted.
What's this gonna change? How do you see yourself using it?
Well, I can now cook and interact with the kids.
-We can... we can... we can-- -[Helen] We can stand around and talk...
-[Jared] We can be a family in our home, you know. -...and, like, yes...
...see people.
-[Jared] This is incredible. -And it's super functional.
You have so much storage
compared to what you had before.
-You have so much storage along here and here... - [Helen chuckles]
...All along the back. You have all the bells and whistles of what you need.
This is your microwave.
So you just push here
and there's a little button here. All the controls on top.
-It's nice and easy to top load. -[Helen] That's amazing.
[Drew] You have your oven over here.
Check that out.
-[Helen] Ooh! -[Jared] Oh, that's big.
Enough space for a turkey.
[Drew] You have a gigantic fridge with multiple drawers.
-[Helen] Oh, my goodness. -[Jared] Wow.
And there's... ice machine?
-[Helen] Yeah. -That's huge.
-[Helen chuckles] -[Jared] Awesome.
It's like a completely different house.
It's, like, I feel like a grown-up.
Oh, my goodness, like, this is like
where adults live.
-[Jared laughs] -[Helen chuckling] Right? Like...
I hate to tell you this
you're grown up.
What does it mean, though, to know that this is gonna be where your kids grow up?
[exhales]
She's trying to make us cry.
-[Helen laughs] -[Jared exclaims]
I feel like since we moved to
America, it's been hard.
[Jared] Well, you never really feel like you're at home, right?
Like, we're outsiders to America.
And, even when we go back to England,
now we've been here so long,
we kind of feel like outsiders in England.
Um, so it's incredible to think that there's
-like, a place for us, you know. -[Jonathan] Yeah.
[Helen] This, just like, is the icing on the cake of, like...
This is where we could live forever, you know.
It's unreal. I just can't...
-[Helen exclaims] -[Jonathan chuckles]
[Helen] I'm so excited.
[Jonathan] Come over here to your beautiful
live edge dining table.
[Helen] Wow.
I never thought we could own something like this.
-Oh, these chairs are splendid. -Looks amazing.
[Jonathan] This is a way better spot for your dining table
-than it was for your kitchen. -[Jared] Yeah.
I mean, that was a wall there. This area's
so much lighter and brighter, like,
when this was a kitchen this was such a dark space.
It's just transformed it.
It seems the natural placement
-of the kitchen and the dining room. -[Helen] Yeah, it seems like
it should be like this, right?
It's just open, right? And clean, now.
Floor is unbelievable.
[Jared] Such a perfect color.
I'm so happy that you're loving the dining room
and the kitchen but,
there is a space for the whole family to lounge.
It was important to you.
Come on into your family room.
-[Jared] Look at these doors. -[Helen gasps]
Oh, my goodness.
[Jonathan] What a difference.
[Helen giggles]
Look at these pictures.
[Jared exclaims]
And that's him when we moved in.
[Helen exclaims]
[Jared] Incredible.
Before, the way you had the TV set up
it just felt tired.
You mentioned that you loved that mid-century modern vibe
and so we wanted to make sure we introduced that
with some of the furniture pieces in here.
Like the cabinet under the TV,
the coffee table here and even the sofa.
[Jonathan] The cool thing, too,
when you want a little peace and quiet in the rest of the house...
-fully sealed doors. -[Jared] Yeah.
-Oh, yeah. -[Jonathan] So,
-it's gonna give you some nice quiet time... -[Helen] Wow.
...when the kids are yelling and screaming in here watching movies.
-Oh, I love it. -I can have the TV nice and loud now.
[Jonathan] Oh, it's for you? Oh!
All this time I thought it was for the kids.
[Helen] This sofa is so cool.
-[Jonathan] Get a seat. -We had a red sofa for, like,
-what, how many years? -[Jared] Twenty.
[Jonathan] That was a bold choice.
-[Helen laughing] -[Jonathan] What the heck?
Well, we tried to donate it but, uh, they said, "No, thank you."
[Jonathan] Uh, anyway, well, this feels very
in keeping with the tone
-and aesthetic of the home now. -[Jared] Yeah, it's beautiful.
[Jonathan] Something else that I think
the house really needed was
organization in the main area
where you had all of your work stuff.
Well, check out your new space because this is amazing.
-[Jonathan exhales] -[Helen gasps]
[Jared exclaims]
Look at my workspace.
Lots of storage.
[Helen] That's amazing.
[Jared] This table, like, standing height is
absolutely perfect, 'cause, like, I take a lot of photos.
-I'm always kind of moving. -[Jonathan] Right.
These are all fully adjustable.
So, if you do have
larger projects that you wanna showcase
every shelf you can move them up,
you can move them down, whatever you need.
You've got closed cabinetry all across the bottom here.
The shelves to showcase.
Yeah, this is such a perfect space for me.
Like, there's storage space for my bits and pieces.
And then there's space on here
for me when I'm doing my work. It's just perfect.
You have your creative outlets
and now we have a little outlet for the kids over here, too.
-[Helen] Aw, this is so cute. -[Jared] Oh, beautiful, isn't it?
Fireplace...
-[gasps] -...absolutely stunning.
[Helen] Yeah, wow.
Yeah, this is really nice. Like, having this big mantle.
And I've got a spot for my stockings to hang.
This is unbelievable.
[Jonathan] You already have this incredible architectural feature
with that mid-century brick.
We cleaned it up. We painted it.
It's now a bright focal point.
It provides a perfect amount of separation and
it's still functional.
I know, Helen, you were okay to get rid of this fireplace
but Jared really wanted to keep the character.
It's in an awkward position.
However, now, it works.
-Yeah, looks-- -[Drew] So, there's just another thing for us to say.
[both] Jared, you're right.
Oh, something I forgot to mention.
Your piano...
-[Helen] Oh, yeah. -...was completely redone...
-Awesome. -...and the artist who did the work on it
did just an incredible job.
-[Helen] Oh, my, that's-- Yeah. -[Jared] That's so cool.
-[Drew] Isn't it amazing? -[Helen] That's amazing.
And so it was donated to Savannah High School.
So, the kids are loving it.
And it gives you more room now.
-Right? Yeah. -Gives us actual space.
We have such a beautiful home here for you guys,
we need to celebrate. Shall we?
-[Jared] Definitely. -[Jonathan] Let's do it.
Wow.
I am blown away.
It's like a different world.
Seeing your space, your home being transformed into the place that works for you
it's this feeling, you can't explain it.
It's incredible.
Cheers to you guys and your new adventures in your new home.
-[Helen] Thank you. -What do you think the kids are gonna say
when they come in?
They're just gonna be absolutely flabbergasted, I think.
I'm pretty sure I know exactly how the kids are gonna react.
[Jonathan and Drew clamoring]
[Jared] Welcome home.
I like this.
Everything is new.
Wow!
[vocalizing]