Homes for the Brave
HGTV’s reality competition ‘Design Star’ remodels base housing.
by Josie Cellone
Jennifer Maldonado said she could have “charged at door” the day HGTV filmed an episode at her home on Naval Base Ventura County.
“The whole neighborhood thought it was exciting. Everyone came by to see it,” Maldonado said. “I watch HGTV and had always daydreamed about being on the show.”
For an episode of HGTV’s “Design Star,” a reality competition where designers compete for their own show on the network, teams had 22 hours and $10,000 to remodel base housing for two military families.
Maldonado’s neighbor, Andria Olson, nominated their families for the show after reading about it in an FRG newsletter.
“Design Star” contestant Lonni Paul said the “Homes for the Brave” challenge, which originally aired in August, was the most meaningful of the season.
“I don’t think the military gets enough praise for what they do,” said Paul, whose father was a Marine and whose nephew has been on four tours. “I realize what those families give up and what their lives entail.”
Red, white and beige
Olson, who tried to get her husband’s input during one short phone call to Afghanistan, said he liked the natural beige and earthy tones. The designers consulted with the families before the challenge, but despite the Olson’s request, contestant Antonio Ballatore chose a bold color for the room and refused to buy tan paint at the store. He even told the judges he’d gladly go home for refusing to paint a wall beige.
“I had no idea there was so much drama at my house,” Olson said. “When I saw the previews the week before, there was all this controversy around the color choice, and I was thinking, ‘Please don’t kick Antonio off for what I said!”
But “Design Star” judge and HGTV personality Genevieve Gorder commended Ballatore’s choice and joked, “if this country could call itself red, white and beige, it would.”
Paint the town
Families living on base housing typically have to submit a request to paint and have to paint the room back to the original color, down to the brand of paint used, before they move out.
Olson said it’s “so worth it” to make it your own space.
“I didn’t realize how dramatically color changes the room until I came into the reveal,” she said. “I would have never thought to get a lime green couch and put blue up on the wall. I couldn’t even picture in my head what they did, it came out so perfect.”
Kids incorporated
“Design Star” contest Torie Halpert, who worked on the Olsons’ room, said her favorite element was the therapy table for the family’s children with special needs. The designers built a desk and cabinet to store teaching materials – one of the elements that made it the winning room.
“I really pushed for the therapy center for the kids,” Halpert said. “Andria explained to us that the kids needed to have things that were very linear and didn’t have a lot going on. They needed a calm feature.”
Halpert, whose nephew is a Marine, said these families “should be commended.”
“With all of our hearts, we love and respect them,” she said. “It was truly one of the blessings of the show that I was able to help a family in the military.”
Chevron signature
In the Maldonado’s house, designer Lonni Paul created a signature element with a dining room wall that mimicked a chevron pattern.
“I was inspired by that pattern when I first talked to couple and saw at the insignia on his uniform,” Paul said. “It’s such a great architectural looking shape anyway, but there so much meaning behind it, and he was so proud of it.”
Maldonado said she loves the wall, and it’s her favorite part of the room. (Although a poster on her Facebook teased: “When your husband makes chief, are they going to paint it khaki?”)
Five star ‘Design star’
For the television premiere, the Maldonados hosted a viewing party in their new room.
“I got emotional listening to what Andria said, because we weren’t around each other for the filming,” Maldonado said. “It makes you think of how strong friendships can be when you’re in the military. All we have is each other when our husbands are gone.”
Both spouses said they were nervous in front of the cameras, and every time the light came on, they would forget what they were going to say. But neither would trade the experience.
“Everyone was really down to earth, the designers and production people,” said Olson, who did her own hair and makeup for the taping. “It didn’t seem like that movie star set thing.”