In a blend of The Dating Game and Trading Spaces, single people decide on TV whether they have designs on each other.
By JUDY STARK
Published September 27, 2003
[HGTV]
Date with Design host Richard Yearwood introduces potential couples by means of a room makeover.
It is, the executive producer says, the TV version of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.
Overlook the slightly creepy element of having a stranger walk through your apartment, psyche out your personality, and then dare to redesign a room "with romance in mind."
Think of it, instead, as that first date, the first handshake, "a way to get to know each other in an interesting way that's off-the-wall and sometimes funny," says Warren Sulatychy, 41, executive producer and director of Date with Design, which debuts Tuesday at 11 p.m. on HGTV.
Host Richard Yearwood introduces viewers to three participants who are willing to have a room in their apartments made over by someone they've never met. (And you were scared at what your friends might do if you all were chosen to be on Trading Spaces!)
On some shows, the participants are single women. A man "rummages through the homes of three very trusting bachelorettes," Yearwood says, and decides which one to make over without meeting them or knowing which woman lives there. (The viewers have met the three contestants but they don't know either whose apartment has been chosen.) On other shows, it's a woman who previews men's apartments.
The show refers to these homes as bachelor or bachelorette pads - when was the last time you heard that term?! - and on a preview tape, Yearwood refers to the women as "lovely ladies." (If you find those terms corny or demeaning, Sulatychy says blame it on Sex and the City and magazines such as Wallpaper and Details, which employ this "retro vocabulary.")
The "design dater" is matched with one of eight interior designers who work on the show, and that person takes the dater's ideas and makes them happen, Sulatychy said. "The designer is to act as the bridesmaid, not the bride," facilitating the design dater's ideas. (So don't look for a designer who acts like spoiled brat Doug Wilson on Trading Spaces.)
In the case of a female design dater, Sulatychy said, "the idea is to read the guy's personality: "I think he really likes boating, so let's do a boating theme.' They want to keep the guy's personality in the space and impress him with how much insight they have into his personality." Ditto when it's a man making over a woman's space.
Then, as host Yearwood says, "Let the romance and the makeover begin!" Over a period of three weeks the designer puts the room together. In that preview tape, the design dater was a professional comedian named Paul, who suggested getting some color on the walls of the bedroom ("This all-white looks like she just bought the place,") and wanted a rug for the bare wood floor. But he also admitted he's essentially inept at design work (he says his shopping style is "buying in bulk," and he made up the bed with the sheets running the wrong way) and let designer Stuart Swing direct the process.
It was Swing who chose the soft yellow for the walls (deflecting Paul from his choice of forest green - "too 1980s"), selected the luxurious bedding, picked the lamps and found the rug. It was also Swing who designed a new armoire, which was so big it had to be partly disassembled to fit through the door. Design dater Paul, who complained that "Stuart made me cry," provided some of the grunt labor to get it in there ("a dreaded fiasco," he said). He also selected a crystal cat knickknack for the breakfast-in-bed tray because he thought it would say something about himself, a cat person, to the home's occupant, who was known to be a dog owner.)
Then there's the moment of truth: the reveal. On the preview tape, apartment occupant Tanya did the obligatory "Oh-my-goodness-I-can't-believe-it." She and Paul instantly started chatting it up; she was thrilled with the place. (Tip: Girlfriend, if you're in love with the room, it's Stuart the Designer you should be thanking!)
When it's a man whose space is made over, "the guy's reaction in every case is, "Oh, my God, I had no idea,' " Sulatychy said. "They're expecting a staple gun, some felt on the walls, a little artsycrafts piece over here. And we do something out of Wallpaper magazine or Elle Decor. They can't believe they're going to be living in this space."
Typically, he said, before the production crew has even packed up and left, the men are on the phone to their friends, saying, " "Dude, you've got to come on down and play poker.' They're still in the bachelor mode. They haven't made the transition into the next level of living in a designer place. They think they have to have a poker party here. That's the dynamic of the show. It's the television version of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. You see how men behave as far as romance and design, and the same for women."
"Every guy will tell you, "I'm waiting for a woman to throw out all my furniture. I don't really know how to pick furniture or fabrics or color swatches.' They're waiting for the ideal woman to come along and that's when they'll get their life in order," Sulatychy said.
Sulatychy conceptualized the show about five years ago, when he was looking for a new place to live. He estimated he looked at 100 apartments or houses, and "I got a feeling for so many different lives" as he previewed the occupied residences. He wondered: "What if you tried to find a partner this way, just by seeing how they lived in their spaces?"
He pitched the idea to HGTV Canada, for which he was directing other design shows. That network was looking for "something that was MTV-ish and younger and edgier," and it grabbed the concept. The Canadian version, Love by Design, taped in Toronto, was shown on HGTV last season. Now Sulatychy and his crew are finishing up shows taped in New York for the American version that debuts Tuesday.
The show finds its participants at nightclubs, through singles' groups, through the HGTV web site, and through advertising. "We want real people living everyday lives," he said. "We didn't want people who just wanted to be on television who don't care about dating or design." (Or married people.)
"We cast on two principles: vibrant, exciting people with interesting hobbies and lives; and also on their spaces." Participants must bring photos of their homes so the producers can see whether they have makeover potential.
Most of the participants so far have been in their 30s, but Sulatychy says he'd love to cast older singles as well and is open to the idea of same-sex matchups. He would like to take the show on the road next year.
So what about that idea that the apartment occupant "comes home to new surroundings - and perhaps a new love interest," as the show's publicity suggests? Isn't this a sort of unsavory video pickup scene? All of you who want a stranger prowling through your house trying to psych out your turn-ons, raise your hand. Do we feel a sense of intrusion here? Is there something off kilter about creating a sexy bedroom for someone you haven't met yet?
Sulatychy dismisses the pickup factor. "We create spaces that are romantic," he said. "We create that cocoon and we leave them alone." And the show does result in some matchups; some couples who met last season "are still together," he said. The number isn't high, he acknowledged, probably no higher than the success rate of couples who meet in other ways.
"It's about bringing people together. It's hard enough to meet in life as it is," he said. "We're just kick-starting a relationship a bit. Then they can get to know each other. Date with Design is a first date."
TV preview
Date with Design debuts Tuesday at 11 p.m. on HGTV; repeats Saturdays at 11 p.m.
