[theme song playing]
[upbeat music playing]
[Christina] James and I are on our way
to meet new clients, Sophie and Aaron.
They live in a beautiful mid-century house
close to the beach in San Clemente.
-[James] Wow. -[Christina] It's such a cute town.
-We're, like, in the very beachy part of San Clemente. -[James] Are we?
This is so cute.
All right. It looks too nice.
[Christina] I agree.
-Hi. -[Sophie] How are you? Come on in.
-Hi. Hi. -[Sophie] So nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you. Thanks for having us.
Hi, so nice to meet you.
[upbeat music playing]
[James] This is really beautiful.
[Christina] Yeah. What year was this house built?
It was in the late '50s.
Yeah. I could tell by all the windows
and mid-century modern flair.
-[Christina] Hi. -[Aaron] Hi, guys. How you doing? Welcome.
Hi. Nice to meet you.
I grew up in Quebec, Canada,
so my first language is French.
I took a break from college for a year
and moved here.
You know, I grew up in the mountain and the snow,
but ended up meeting a, uh, beach boy.
-I made her a beach girl. -[chuckles]
It wasn't that hard. Yeah, and I've grown up in the beaches
my whole life.
I grew up just a little bit north of here in Huntington Beach.
Once we landed here, we just knew we'd found home.
Yeah, and this feels home.
[Christina] So tell us all about this.
We walked up and we're like, "We don't really know why we're here..."
-We didn't. -...'cause it looks so nice from the front.
No, it's really beautiful outside.
The view is incredible.
[Aaron] Yeah. That's a perk. But once you get into the roots,
you're gonna see exactly where we need
some extra advice, without a doubt.
We love the house because it's close to the beach
and it has a beautiful view.
But it's not functional.
We fell in love with the location,
but it's just... it hasn't really been touched
except for us doing exterior paint
and a couple of things here and there,
and it just needs to be modernized through and through.
It needs love.
[Christina] Is there anything you guys are thinking in here?
[Sophie] You know, it'd be nice to switch the windows.
-[James] They're original? -[Sophie] Yes.
-They're single pane? -Single pane.
We're on the street, noise is an issue.
Yeah, they're great, as far as light.
-[Aaron] Yeah. -But, yeah, as far as just the noise and...
-It's a pain to cool the house in the summertime... -[James] Oh, my gosh.
[Aaron] This isn't the biggest problem by any means.
[Christina] What's the biggest problem?
It's the kitchen, for sure.
Show us.
[Sophie] You have to see the kitchen.
[Aaron] Come on. This way, guys.
[upbeat music playing]
[Christina] Wait. What?
[James chuckling] Oh, my gosh.
-[Christina] This is a big house. -[Sophie] Yes.
[Christina] Why does it have such a small kitchen?
[Sophie] I don't know. It feels like a bachelor pad.
How many square feet is this house?
-It's 2,100 square feet. -Yeah.
Yeah, this is the size kitchen, maybe for, like, 800 square.
[James] 800 square feet, yeah.
We wanna make sure we have the perfect space to enjoy our time together.
[Aaron] We have two kids.
We have a daughter who's 16. Her name is Sasha.
And our son is Lennox. He's 13 years old.
[Sophie] They're growing up fast.
We're so excited about this remodel to have an environment
where we can gather, entertain,
be with our family, be with our friends.
[Christina] How have you guys been doing this
with two kids and you two in here?
You know, I don't know.
[Aaron] Breakfast is like synchronized swimming.
-[Christina] I bet. - Sophie] Yeah.
[Aaron] It's us moving as one, for sure.
[Sophie] It's very challenging.
[Christina] So do you guys like to cook?
[Sophie] I love to cook, but we, unfortunately, will do like pre-made meals
'cause this is not the space where I wanna spend a lot of time.
Well, especially, after a hard day of work
and you wanna, like, zen out and make a nice meal,
like, this doesn't feel like the zen zone.
You wanna be in that part of the house with the windows
-and everything. -Exactly.
There's no entertaining in here at all.
Just trying to have people over for fun,
it's, like, you kind of can't, really.
It's like, we've always got to be like,
"Hey, let's have a party at your house."
You guys, there's no dishwasher in here.
-[gasps] -[James gasps]
[Sophie] Eight years of hand doing dishes...
[Christina] That is a lot of work.
[Sophie] You have no idea.
[Christina] If you could have your dream kitchen,
what would that look like to you?
It would be more spacious.
It would have a pretty big island...
Ideally, connecting somehow into the living room if we can.
You know, we wanna be able to entertain, and you need space to do that.
What does this go to?
-[all laughing] -Why do you laugh?
What's in there?
So there is a unusable bathroom
that we just use for storage,
-and then... -It's a shower pantry.
[upbeat music playing]
-Oh! Shower pantry. -[Christina] Okay.
-[James] Everybody needs one. -[Christina] Yeah.
[James] But you need more shelves.
[Aaron chuckling] Yeah, for sure.
[Christina] We can use some of that.
Obviously, we need to expand...
-Yeah. -...and we wanna open everything up.
-Yeah. -But then we start taking down walls.
Now we're losing more area where we could be putting things.
Naturally, it seems like it needs to go this way and this way.
[Aaron] Yeah, that's an option, for sure.
As far as this outdoor area here,
is this something you guys are currently using?
We're not using very much because we're barely in the kitchen.
And our kids are grown,
so we don't really need a bunch of space out there any longer,
to be honest with you.
They've got the whole beach to go play at.
-[Christina] That's their backyard. -[Aaron] Exactly.
Okay. Is there anything else you guys wanna show us?
-Yeah. There's a couple other things. -Yeah. Follow us.
Okay, so...
-there's a little storage right here under the stairs. -[Christina] Oh, yeah.
[Sophie] Nothing very pretty,
but seems like maybe there's something you guys could do in here.
-Um, this is our son's bedroom. -[Christina] Cute.
[Sophie] Our daughter's room.
And here's the bathroom.
Could use a little--
[Christina] Oh, this is original.
It's so narrow, though.
-It's a little low -[Sophie] Yeah.
It would be nice to have two sinks.
We have two kids.
If they could each have a sink in here, you know?
It's not a good space to share for two teenagers
-to try to get ready. -[James] No, I get it.
[Christina] Thought we wanna give this its spruce up.
Okay, well, let's go upstairs.
All right. Well, this is our bedroom.
[Christina] Very nice.
Wow. This is very nice. It's big.
[Sophie] Aaron works from home,
so it's, kind of, a challenge to sleep-in in the morning, here and there.
It's super convenient for me, though.
-[Christina] Oh, yeah. I bet. -[all laugh]
[Aaron] I do have to hide the bed on conference calls
just 'cause it's... like, you don't wanna be that dude that's, "I'm in my bedroom."
Yeah, totally.
[Christina] So are we wanting to relocate the office?
That would be a wonderful idea.
I think she would love that.
-Don't know if there's room. -And I would be okay.
-Okay. -But if there is,
-I would be happy with that. -I'm sure we could figure it out.
Okay, what's happening up here,
-where all the... -[Sophie] It's where the view is.
-Let's go check that out. -You wanna check it out?
I do. I...
I can't pass up an ocean view.
Gorgeous.
[James] That's amazing.
[Christina] Okay, I have to ask.
It is everyone's least their part,
but what are you guys looking to spend here, overall?
What's your budget?
-Like, 200. -200k.
-[Christina] 200? So... -Yeah.
200k is a great budget.
There are some unknowns,
so I feel like what we need to do
is really start with the kitchen
-'cause that's your priority, right? -[Aaron] For sure.
[Christina] Figure out what that entails
and then work backwards and spend some money to allocate
towards the windows like you mentioned
-and the bathroom. - Aaron] The bathroom, yeah.
And last but not least, the office.
So I'd love to get started with demo
and really figure out what that looks like.
But I'm sure we can get everything done.
-That's exciting. -Also what's your guy's style?
I would love something that is very clean, personally.
So is it a bit of like the Scandinavian style?
-I like that, for sure. -I like that, too.
Are you guys planning to live here during this or no?
-No, we're not gonna be able to. -No...
Our teenagers need a little bit of room.
I just don't think it's feasible.
-Yeah, we prefer that. -Right.
-Less stress for you guys. -Yeah.
[Christina] Get into a rental for a little bit,
and we'll move quick,
-and get you guys back home. -[Sophie] Yeah.
[Christina] Are you guys ready to get started?
-Please. -Immediately.
-Please. -[James laughs]
As soon as you're ready, we're ready.
[upbeat music playing]
[engine accelerating]
♪ Where are you ♪
♪ Running away, running away running away ♪
♪ Why don't you just stay... ♪
[thumping]
[upbeat music concludes]
Hi.
-This looks much better already. -[Michael] Yeah.
[Christina] I mean, so much more open
just getting rid of some of this.
But in a perfect world,
I'd like to still have a powder bath
and the laundry room here, right?
So then that takes the kitchen and the dining room
really only into this room,
which, again, is not super big.
They don't even use this area.
So it'd be amazing to blow out this wall and carry the kitchen
all the way back to the wall back there.
But what do you think it's gonna cost to, structurally,
do that whole thing? It's a big project.
Well, with you just dropping that on me,
um, once again here.
-Just wondering. -[Michael] Okay?
[Christina] Aren't you used to it yet?
I'm getting somewhat numb to it,
but just to clarify,
you wanna remove this wall,
put kitchen where the patio is right now?
-So remove this wall... -[Michael] Yeah.
[Christina]...and that sliding door right there
and then bump the kitchen...
all the way out here.
That entails quite a bit of work.
We have to bring in some beams to, evidently, support the roof load,
and then we'd be defining a new roof
over the new kitchen you propose right now.
I mean, altogether,
you're probably close to a 100 grand
to demo that, build a new roof,
push a whole kitchen over here with utilities.
Their all-in budget,
where they wanna stay is 200,000.
Obviously, that's 50%.
So do you think we can get everything else done
for 100,000?
An additional 100, right?
-'Cause we have 100... -Yeah.
...that we allocated towards the kitchen
-and now 100 to do everything else... -Right.
With your connections, I'm sure we could, probably, make that work,
-you know? -I'll call in some favors.
Call in your favors, definitely, on this one
now that you wanna enclose a patio.
Yes. Okay, perfect.
-We can do it. -We can do it.
We can do it. Yes.
[upbeat music playing]
[thumping]
[cell phone ringing]
Hello.
[Michael] Hey, Christina. Um...
-I just left Aaron and Sophie's house. - mm-hmm.
[Michael] I got some bad news.
Uh-oh. What's going on?
[Michael] Um... The inspector showed up today,
and he said we need fire sprinklers.
Fire sprinklers?
[Michael] Correct. Fire sprinklers.
For the most part, we don't need fire sprinklers
on these renovations.
-On this one, we're required. -[Christina] Why?
[Michael] Due to the scale of the project,
there was a limit with the city of San Clemente.
And with additional square footage being one of them,
we hit the threshold that triggered the city to this happen.
It is what it is.
Is that... expensive?
[Michael] Well, the first number I got
was 35,000.
What?
[Michael] The first number I got was 35,000.
-I know. -That's really expensive.
I'm working on another... estimate as we speak.
Hopefully, we get something lower.
Okay, well. I'll break the news.
I have a meeting set up with them tomorrow.
So... I will let them know.
[Michael] Like I said, I'm working on those other quotes.
I'm gonna try to get 'em a lower number.
Okay. All right.
Thank you.
- Michael] You're welcome. -All right.
- Michael] Thank you. -Bye.
Brayden, Krispies.
[upbeat music playing]
- Sophie] Hello? -Hey, Sophie. It's Christina. How are you?
[Sophie] Hi, Christina. How's it going?
I have some numbers for you and some information.
The good news is, we can do the expansion.
So if you're okay with losing the courtyard,
we can give you that big, beautiful kitchen that we spoke about.
[Sophie] Oh, wow. That's amazing news.
It's not cheap, though.
It will take up about half of your budget.
[Sophie chuckles nervously] Really?
Yeah, it's a big project.
There is a lot of structural work,
a lot of work, in general, that goes into it.
But, ultimately, you're gonna gain square footage
and it's probably gonna be about 300 to 400 square feet.
And without having that space,
we really couldn't maximize and do a really gorgeous kitchen
with a big island and the whole thing.
Big projects are really hard to predict,
especially when it comes to adding square footage.
There's extra steps when it comes to planning, permits, inspections.
It could take six months to a year,
but you just never know.
If I were you,
-that's where I would spend my money. -[Sophie] Yeah, go for it.
-Yeah. -[Sophie] Mmm-hmm.
-It's gonna create delays. -Yeah.
-We might have to move again. -Right.
-It's... It's gonna create a lot of pain. -Yeah.
So this is a big decision...
-Yeah. -...but the outcome will be really big.
We've own our dream kitchen, right?
-Yeah. -[Sophie] So we can't compromise too much.
I think if you didn't do it, you... you would regret it.
So I think that's great.
And then I do have a little bit of bad news.
Uh... I don't even wanna say this right now
because, obviously, I just hit you with some big expenses,
but the city came out and...
we have to add fire sprinklers throughout.
The first estimate was 35,000.
But Michael did get a lower bid.
We're looking at around $18,000.
-[Sophie exclaiming in grief] -Yeah.
[Sophie] Okay, that's a pretty big one.
Oh, my gosh.
I know it's a really expensive curveball
that's being thrown at you,
but when it comes to your family's safety,
and as we know, there's a lot of fires in California,
so... it's really not something that I would mess around with.
[Sophie] Honestly, I think that's the right call.
-Let's do that, for sure. -Okay.
There's a lot of money for something that nobody will see.
I get it.
You... You have to do it on a new remodel like ours,
but it's a bummer.
Oh! I'm gonna show it off to everybody.
I'm spending $18,000 on it.
I want everybody to see it, for sure.
In the meantime, I can let Michael know that we wanna move forward
move forward with the kitchen expansion.
[Sophie] Yes, yes and yes.
It's gonna be a big transformation. It's gonna be gorgeous.
[upbeat music playing]
[machinery whirring]
[Christina] With all of the inspections and change orders,
we are already six months into this project.
And I think getting everything dialed in when it comes to fire sprinklers
is going to set us back an additional three months.
It's not what any of us want, but we have to get this project right.
-[Christina] Hi. -[Sophie] Hello.
-How are you? -[Christina] How are you?
-Good to see you. -You, too.
-How's life? -[Aaron] It's going.
-Going? -Yeah.
-Third rental, you know? -Third?
Are you just short term rental hopping?
-[Aaron] Kind of. -[Sophie] Yep.
-[Aaron] I don't know why we did that. -That's... yeah.
I mean, the process hasn't been easy.
Hopefully, we don't have to rent another spot,
but we knew what we were signing up for.
We're like full steam ahead now. Now let's go over the layout.
It's a little hard to tell because we have this giant tarp,
but basically you can see how much significantly bigger
this whole space is gonna be just by opening it up.
We're gonna have the back of the kitchen against that wall.
We're gonna have the slide-in range, the hood vent,
all the cabinetry, the huge island.
We'll have those bi-fold doors.
-Let in all that wonderful natural light. - Sophie] So nice.
[Christina] And then over here, the laundry area powder bath.
- Aaron] Perfect. - Christina] The dining room over here.
-[Aaron] That'll be cool. - Christina] Yeah.
So there is one more thing I want to talk about
-since, you know, everything's opened up. -[Sophie] Mmm-hmm.
Your front door,
I noticed that when you come in it,
you walk right into the fireplace.
So I was thinking, what could be nice is if we transition
and we do the front door right here instead.
And that way, you open it,
you're just into the open inside,
as opposed to the fireplace.
And then this will be walled off.
And we can do a really beautiful front door, so it becomes a focal feature.
That way, when your guests are coming upstairs or you guys...
-[Sophie] Yeah. -You're walking straight into this beautiful feature
that really is gonna reflect the inside.
[Aaron] We are on kind of like a busy the intersection here.
And like everybody nowadays, we get a lot of packages dropped off.
I'd be a little concerned of theft of our packages and stuff.
-Okay. So packages are getting stolen? -Yeah.
I think what we could do is because we have this closet right here,
We could create some type of a door for mail situation that
-they can put in but no one can take out. -Oh, I have seen those.
[Aaron] That's a great idea.
And I don't think it would be too much more for both projects.
I think around $2,500.
[Aaron] Wow. On your feet, girl.
-[Sophie] Problem solved. -Nice work. [laughs]
-Does that work? Okay. -[Aaron] Yeah, for sure.
[Christina] Sophie and Aaron's project
is in the midst of all this heavy construction.
They've been in multiple rentals, and unfortunately,
their project still has a long ways to go.
So I want to do something fun with Sophie
that will get her excited about the finished project.
And that's picking out some really beautiful kitchen and bath counters.
-Hi. -[Sophie] Hello.
Thanks for coming.
Thank you for having me again.
Oh, I am so excited to be here with you.
This place is phenomenal.
-I can see. It looks like an art museum. -Right?
-Beautiful. -That's why I brought you here for the artsy one.
So I'm excited because I rarely get to choose
counters that are actually fun.
Well, let's have fun for sure.
I want to make it a masterpiece.
Oh, it's gonna be a masterpiece, sweetie. Come on.
[upbeat music playing]
Okay, so, for your kitchen,
something like this with this kind of movement.
Is this more what you're thinking?
I'm not a huge fan of anything that is super shiny,
so I don't know if there's anything we can do about that.
Oh, yeah, there's matte for sure. I can go with a honed piece.
What about this kind of a moment?
-Too much? -Ooh.
-Um, yeah, I think that's too much. -[Christina] Right.
-I love the circular motion of this one. -Ooh.
-I like this. -[Christina] And the hound.
It's really beautiful.
I really, really like this one.
Okay, so we'll plan for this.
And I think the next step is the kids' bathroom.
-Oh, yeah. Okay. Let's do something fun. -Yeah.
[Sophie] Maybe something with colors.
[Christina] Yeah. Where are the colors at?
-Oh, and right. -[Sophie gasps] Oh, pink.
Pink onyx. Oh. In my single lady house,
-that's what I'll be going with. -[Sophie laughs]
[Christina] She's really pretty.
I think Aaron and maybe Lennox might not be as inspired.
My son would be so mad at me.
-So I understand. "Mom, really?" -Yeah.
[Sophie] I actually like this a lot.
[Christina] It still has a little bit of the beachy feel,
but without being beachy.
Yeah. I feel like I'm envisioning as a statement piece.
So, like, If we're gonna go with colors, I would want to go all in.
[Christina] It'd be really nice if we did this as the counter,
but also incorporate it into the sink as well.
So no sinks. This would be the sink.
-[Sophie] Oh, I love that. -[Christina] You know what I'm saying?
You know what? We don't even need cabinets underneath.
-You don't? -No.
-Are you sure? -I'm 100% sure.
[Sophie] We don't even need cabinets underneath.
-[Christina] You don't? -No.
I want the visual to be so strong,
and it doesn't have to be all about function all the time.
I'd rather make it a beautiful art piece.
So no cabinets in the entire face of the vanity,
-the entire vanity in this material. -[Sophie] That's it.
[Christina] And that's gonna be so stunning.
I'm like, jealous of their bathroom.
[upbeat music playing]
[Christina] This addition has been a big project,
lots of permit reviews and retrofitting the entire house
for fire sprinklers.
They've already been out of the house for eight months,
and they still have a few more months left to go.
So it's been a long process, but thankfully,
our last rental, our third rental.
We've been able to extend it, and they've been flexible
to allow us to push out a little bit further.
And so, we're making do.
Yeah, and I'm excited to really get into creative stuff.
Let's talk design.
-[Christina] Hi. -[Sophie] Hi, Christina.
Oh, this is gonna be fun.
-This place's pretty. -It's so beautiful.
[Christina] Yeah, it's gorgeous, huh?
[Sophie] Yeah, it's insane.
All right. So now to the fun part.
this is like the powder bath, laundry, pantry area, okay?
These are different options for counters.
You said you wanted to do bold, and I listened to what you said.
-Correct. -[laughs] You look terrified.
That's a lot. Wow.
-[Christina] So... -[Sophie] They're both very cool.
I like how the colors are also kind of complimentary.
-What do you think? -[Aaron] That's a lot going on.
I mean, can this be the sink and this be the counter and just...
[Christina] Yeah, it could. Could you want to do both?
[Sophie] I would want to do both and just go for it.
I love that. I've never done that before.
-No? -No, but I think it's so fun.
Can you make a sink basin out of this?
-Really? -[Christina] Anything's possible.
[Sophie] And then what about the floor? What did you do then?
Well, you could do this flooring,
give it a little more darker look
or you tie it back in kind of the counters with the marble flooring.
[Sophie] Well, we had talked about maybe doing
some sort of checkerboard or diamond floor or something.
Are you thinking mixing the two? That would be really pretty.
So basically we would have this on the ground.
And then this above, right? Somehow.
-[Christina] Mmm-hmm. -[Sophie] Yeah. It's a beautiful chaos.
I love it.
And this I was choosing for the walls.
[Aaron] How far up the wall does this go?
All the way up the entire wall?
-Or is it-- -It's up to you guys.
I think that's what we should do.
Let's just go for it.
-How are you feeling? -This feels way above my pay grade.
-You're gonna love it. -Look, it's not your bathroom.
-That's true. Exactly. -Powder bathroom is a chance to do something wild.
It's not a huge space.
It's going to feel a little more subtle than probably what you're thinking.
We've got to make a statement somewhere.
-I'm cool with it. -[Sophie] Yes.
Okay, so we're for sure?
Counter, sink basin, walls.
And then these two flooring combined
-to make a checkered pattern, but laid diamond. - Sophie] Yes.
So fun. You're seriously like, all your guests
are gonna be taking selfies in your bathroom.
That's very, very original. I love it.
Okay, well, we're getting closer now, so we'll get this ordered.
Give Michael the instructions and, um, yeah.
[Sophie] Perfect.
[upbeat music playing]
[Christina] The wooden slats we're installing on the stairwell
will provide both structural support and natural light.
-[Aaron] Hello. -[Christina] I'm back here.
-Hi. -There you are. Hi.
-How's it going? -Good.
Welcome to your new potential office.
-This is it, huh? -Yep.
[Aaron] All right.
[Christina] I know it feels a little dark.
We do have the slatted wall for the stairs that went in.
It looks gorgeous.
That gives us more natural light.
[Aaron] Yeah, I think this would be perfect.
So tell me a little bit about how you work, what you need in the office.
That way we can kind of design around that.
Yeah. I mean, I'm remote, right?
So it's a lot of video meetings for sure.
Are we like, multiple monitors?
-Are we one monitor? -I do have one big screen
-and then the secondary laptop screen that I utilize. -Okay.
So I need a fair amount of desk space.
So I feel like the spot that makes the most sense
is to have you facing this way like you're facing now.
Facing that way all the time would feel a little claustrophobic.
[Aaron] Yeah, that feels like you're under the stairs for sure.
-Looking at that way-- -Yeah. Facing this way,
at least when you look to the left,
-you're still seeing, you know... -Ah, I can look at the view.
[Christina] The big open window.
-The view, gonna be able to see the ocean. -[Aaron] Yeah.
You're right. I will be able to see the ocean from this spot.
-Right? So there you go. -My day just got better.
Right?
So, I feel like we have the desk here.
It wraps around, that we can have your double monitors.
-[Aaron] Yeah. -We can have an area to hide a printer.
-We can do a ton of storage on this wall. -Mmm-hmm.
Yeah, I'm impressed, actually.
I was a little concerned with being the person under the stairs for a bit
to be honest with you, But I think this will work out good.
-You're the best. -Thank you. Easy, breezy.
[upbeat music playing]
♪ I believe we're gonna make it ♪
♪ Whoa, whoa ♪
♪ I believe no one can take it ♪
-[Christina] Hi. -Hello.
-What do you guys think? -Ooh.
We're moving in today, huh?
-Oh. Oh, no. -[laughs]
[Aaron] It looks more like a room now, that's for sure.
-[Christina] We have walls. -[Aaron] It's coming along.
We love where the door is,
but I think we need to switch the door and make it cool, modern.
-[Christina] We can find a nice, wood door. -Yeah.
[Christina] Okay. So, I want to go over the island with you.
So I told one of Michael's guys to bring in some wood
so we can visualize what it's going to look like.
Thank you, guys.
Your island has arrived.
-[Sophie] Whoo! -[Aaron] Here it is.
-[Sophie] Thank you. -[Christina] Okay.
So visualize that this could be the size of your island.
We would have the sink, dishwasher, trash.
So...
This is cool, but I don't want to like... I don't know
how flexible we are right now, but is this thing too big?
[Aaron] Is this thing too big?
-Is the island too big? -No. No.
-So I'm crazy? -[Sophie] Yeah.
-You are for sure. -I think this is the perfect size.
Is it? Like, this doesn't become a gnarly traffic jam or anything like that.
You'll never regret having a big island.
-Really? All right. -[Christina] Yeah. Trust me.
More storage and stuff like that.
It's like where you prep and cook and congregate.
That's where everyone hangs out.
It's kind of the focal point, eh?
From no island to big island.
-[Christina] Yes. So... -All right.
To recap, we're going to have that gorgeous counter that we chose.
Doing the overhang on this side and this side,
and then we'll have the waterfall going down that side.
I love that. It's going to be absolutely stunning.
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Dive in ♪
[Christina] With all the materials ordered for Aaron and Sophie's house,
the project continues to move along slowly but surely.
Meanwhile, I've been working on a flip
back in Tennessee with my best friend, Cassie.
And unfortunately, I have some not so great updates for her.
-Hi. How are you? -Hi.
-Good. How are you? -I'm good.
Cassie and her husband, James, put their life savings on the line
to invest in this flip with me and Josh before we got divorced.
Well, we found quite the gem.
-[Cassie] Tell us about it. -This is definitely a bigger project than we had intended.
However, it has potential that we could sell it
anywhere between $1.6-$2 million.
-Are you in? -[James] Absolutely.
Needless to say, a lot has changed since then.
I think we need to sit down. 'Cause unfortunately, I have a bit of bad news.
I got a text from Zach, the contractor, like two hours ago.
Do you see that? Where the basement foundation walls
failed during framing. It's terrifying.
I've never seen anything like this in my life. Um...
-The whole... -Oh, my God, the house is collapsing, Christina.
Yup.
We started this flip over a year ago,
and it's just been one thing after another.
Christina!
-That is the foundation of the house. -[Christina] I know.
-[Cassie] Holy [bleep]. -I know.
-Christina. -I know.
-What are we gonna do? -Guess how much that cost?
I know. Oh, my God.
-It is 45. -Oh, my God.
I get this is a big freaking deal.
-It's your first- -Our life savings.
Yeah, this is your life savings.
So obviously there's a lot of stress and pressure on me for this.
-I know. -So, at any time,
seriously, if you tell me, "I want out."
-"Get me out." -No, this is-- we got--
-We made it this far. -Look, I got into this as well.
I feel like we're gonna be okay.
I feel like we're gonna still turn a profit.
We will. I trust you.
You know that. I did this because of you.
I believe in you, and I know we're gonna be good.
-We're gonna be good. -So how much is Josh trying to stay involved?
I said, "You can be involved if you contribute financially.
You don't just get to take a profit anymore without helping."
And he's like, "Hmm. No, thanks."
So I said, "Can you put in writing that you're out of this project?"
And he said, "No problem. I'm out."
I guarantee that he will come back
-when we make money and ask for half of my profit. -He's-- Absolutely.
-He's going to want half of what you're making. -Yes.
More importantly, how are you doing?
I'm just trying to...
Dial in all my things that I was disorganized about.
So, like my finances and my you know, my trust and my kids stuff.
And then also, the divorce is very costly.
Do you feel like a weight's been lifted off your shoulders?
Because Josh is gone? Yes, a 220-pound weight.
-Yeah. -Oh, yeah, the house is so much better.
The kids are so happy.
Like everyone in this household is like, thriving,
and the kids truly are doing great.
Everyone's just doing better since he's gone.
It's just all that negative energy.
I've like truly tried to make that work
and tried to, like, give him the self-help tools
and tried to keep him busy and tried to say,
"Why didn't we start flipping houses?"
and like all those things, which is no matter what,
like you can't fix, you can't make someone else happy.
They can only make themselves happy.
There's nothing you could have done.
Look, I'm proud of you because I know that wasn't easy to really,
finally, like, step out of that situation that was so bad, so toxic.
And then also know what you're about to go up against.
-Three divorces. -All of it.
-Of course. -Yeah, of course
I didn't want to get divorced for a third time.
Look, I know you love a relationship.
-I know. -You love to be in love.
Not one thing has changed
in our 25 years of our friendship or knowing each other.
Okay? But for real, you have your family.
Your family, you have your beautiful children
and a beautiful life and career. It's...
You know... All right, let's slow down.
-Like, you know? -I'm slowing my world.
It's not easy to be, you know, the topic of headlines for your personal life
and really hard things that you're going through.
And I'm really proud of her 'cause she could have
you know, kept in a situation just to avoid those types of things.
But she has really she put herself first and is really growing
and putting in the work to not make the same mistake again.
It's all gonna be fine.
-I appreciate you. -It's gonna be okay.
-All right? -Okay.
All right. We'll fly out there in a couple of months and see our lovely house.
It's all gonna work out.
This flipping life is not for the...
-The weak of heart? -...the weak.
-Yeah, it's... -It's not.
-No risk, no reward. -That's for sure.
[Christina] While we figure out this mess in Tennessee,
I really need to focus on getting Sophie and Aaron's house finished up.
[upbeat music playing]
We're at about the 10-month mark on Aaron and Sophie's project.
And I think all of the stress of bouncing from rental to rental
is totally weighing on them.
-Hello? -[Sophie] Hey.
-[Christina] Hi. -[Sophie] How are you?
[Christina] Oh, man. A lot going on out here.
[Sophie] Oof. It's a lot.
-How are you? -I'm okay.
-And you? -Stressing?
Yeah, the kids are all over me.
They're tired. Moved a couple of times.
-I know. -I don't know what to say.
-It's so stressful. -It's really taking a toll on our family.
We're pretty much done. We need this to be over with.
At least we are like actually at the phase where we're making progress.
The worst part of it is always just waiting on the permits.
-Yeah. -But if it makes you feel better,
I'm going through a renovation I started 13 months ago,
and the house hasn't even start to be put back together.
-Oh. -So at least you're not there.
-You're right. -But anyways, okay.
So what are you thinking back here?
Well, this is kind of like a little nook
that we don't ever really use
and after all of this specifically, I was thinking that
maybe we have a little kind of like relaxation station zone.
-I have an area like this at my house. -You do?
Um, yeah, it's tucked away and I have a cold plunge and a sauna.
-And an outdoor shower. -Ooh, okay.
-It's wonderful. -Yeah.
It's a nice little retreat.
Feel like this would be like, a smart investment for our health
to relax and enjoy, and it's kind of like our forever home, right?
So let's do it right.
Perfect. So between pouring the cement slab,
some outdoor plumbing, the sauna, the cold plunge
all in, I would say $20,000.
And I have some vendors I can ask for discounts
-from the sauna and cold punch, too. -Okay.
Yeah, we set some money aside.
It's something we've been wanting to do.
So I think that's something we could pull up.
$20,000 is a lot of money,
but we're gonna use this all the time on the weekly, on the daily.
So I really think we need to do this.
-Thank you for being patient. -Of course.
And I'll keep you posted.
-Awesome. Thank you so much. -Thank you.
Since the bulk of the renovation is happening inside the house,
adding an outdoor relaxation area
should not slow down the progress at all.
[upbeat music playing]
So we had to get out of our rental.
The time was up and we had to move to our house.
So we've been dealing with all the construction around us.
Every morning, waking up,
we've got the crew in the living room, we're in the kitchen,
but we're getting through it.
[Christina] We do still have six to eight weeks to go on the project,
but there is one working bathroom upstairs, so the house is livable.
-Dalton? -Back here.
It's been a challenge, but we're close.
-You know, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. -We're so close.
Hi.
-Hey. -What?
Why are you giving me that look? What's wrong?
You know, that big, beautiful slab you wanted to put in here for the vanity?
-Yeah? -It's not gonna fit.
Huh?
[Dalton] The counter. It's not gonna fit.
What do you mean it's not gonna fit?
The door heights and with those slats right there,
they're not able to swing it through.
Okay.
We have a couple options that I was discussing with fabricators.
The quickest and cheapest would be to cut the slab in two.
We cannot butcher the slab.
-It's a very beautiful, very expensive slab. -Yes.
And cutting it would be... Sophie would not like that.
-Yeah, obviously not ideal. -Yeah. Okay.
-What is option two? -Option two, to keep the slab in one piece,
would be to remove some of the slats right there.
So, basically, if the giant counter is coming in through here,
the issue becomes when you try to turn it into the room...
-Yeah. -...it would clip all these.
Yeah, and we'd have to take out at least...
I mean, four or five to be able to swing it in enough
-to get into the bathroom. -If we took them out, are they destroyed?
You really don't want to reinstall them.
And we'd have to put a new temp wall up
because these are holding up the second story.
Okay. It sounds very expensive.
-What's behind here? -[Dalton] Daughter's room.
Right now, there's nothing back there.
There's gonna be a closet there soon.
-[Christina] So the closet's not in yet? -[Dalton] Not yet.
Can this come out?
It wouldn't be great because we've already had the plumbing inspection.
-[Dalton] I mean, -What happens if we broke through this wall temporarily?
Just drywall. There's nothing on the other side.
We just tried to maneuver the slab into here, turn it around.
Think it would fit without having to remove the plumbing?
We technically could.
I don't know when they want to get the closet doors in.
Okay, the closet's not that big of a deal. This is a big deal.
And that sounds very expensive to get rid of that wood and the temporary wall,
and that just sounds stressful.
We'll see if it'll fit through here first and I'll give you a call.
I have never seen this before.
I've never had this happen in all the hundreds of houses I've done.
I've never had a slab not fit into the bathroom.
Okay. Appreciate you.
-Thank you for letting me now. -[Dalton] Appreciate you. Thank you.
-Let me know how this turns out. -[Dalton] Yes.
[Christina] Let's hope it works.
[phone ringing]
-[Christina] Hello? -[Dalton] Hey, Christina.
-I just wanted to give you an update on the bathroom slab. -Okay.
We were able to get it through the wall between the bathroom and the daughter's room.
Didn't have to break it up. Just cracked a little drywall open.
-[Christina] That's great news. - Dalton] Yeah.
So Aaron and Sophie are actually headed out of town this weekend.
What do you think about us being done by, like, Sunday night, Monday morning?
That way, when they get back, it's like, "Surprise! The house is done."
[Dalton] Well, there's still a lot left to do.
Um, so if we have a few more pairs of hands,
I think there's a decent shot that we could be done.
Maybe not by Sunday night, but by Monday morning, early.
Okay. That would work.
I'll give Kylie a call, see if the furniture will come in.
But I think that'd be a really nice surprise for them.
They've been through a lot, so, yeah, let's just give it
everything we got and see what happens.
-[Dalton] Sounds good. -All right. Thank you. Appreciate you.
Aaron and Sophie's home is finally complete, and it's absolutely gorgeous.
I can't wait for them to see it.
-Oh! -Hello. Hi, Christina.
-[Christina] Hi, guys. -How are you?
-[Christina] Good. How are you? -Good.
-Good to see you. -Hi.
So I hope you guys had a nice trip.
The team has been working around the clock and your house is done.
-[Sophie] No. -Yeah.
-Come on. No way. -Yep. Go on in.
-No way. -[Sophie] It was a... What?
-Okay. All right. -[Aaron] Go for it, babe.
I like where the door is now. So much better.
Yeah, it was just kind of like an odd entrance
-this way. -[Christina] So much better. Makes so much more sense.
-Oh, my God. [chuckles] -No way.
-Oh, my God, you guys did it. -Holy moly.
This is crazy.
This was all plastic, like, three days ago.
-[Sophie] Yep. -[Aaron] How in the world did they do this?
[Christina] There was like a hundred people here.
-Can you believe it? -[Aaron] It's better than I imagined.
-I gotta say it. -[Sophie] Oh, my gosh.
Do you feel like we accomplished your style?
Oh, yeah. Are you kidding?
-Better. Better. -[Aaron] I think you nailed it.
Like it is just enough flair.
[Christina] I love that it has a little bit of, like, Scandinavian,
almost like a little bit of like Parisian...
-[Aaron] Mmm-hmm. -[Sophie] Mmm-hmm. Little French touch.
-It's in there. Yeah. -[Christina] Yeah, a little subtle.
Guys, can you believe your kitchen used to, like, start here and end there?
But this was all part of your outside house.
[Sophie] If we tried to just work with the available space,
it would never have this impact.
[Aaron] It's weird to imagine it now
-'cause it's like it was meant to be this way. -[Christina] Oh, yeah.
Oh, my gosh, I'm so stoked.
[Sophie] This is a good size island.
Yeah, Aaron, do you think it's too big?
No, I don't. I think it's perfect.
There's plenty of space for the dining room table. The island's huge.
We can put six people around the island.
And then, like, the island itself, it's such a showstopper.
You've got a beautiful view out the front windows
-here from the sink. -[Sophie] Yeah. Yep.
-Oh, my gosh, and then we have a dishwasher! -[Christina] Yay!
Double? What?
-I can't believe you didn't have a dishwasher. -[Sophie] No.
-Eight years. -So wild.
I feel like I should have had a medal.
I mean, everybody did dishes, but I'm pretty sure I did more.
-[exclaims] -I don't know if I can handle any more today, Christina.
I need you guys to go in here. That powder bath is so cute.
-[Sophie] You like... Okay. -[Christina] I love it.
Yeah, I took a selfie in there. It's so cute.
-[Sophie] Okay. -[Aaron chuckles]
[Sophie and Aaron] Oh!
-[Sophie] No way. -That's a statement.
[Christina] Statement all right.
[Aaron] That play of all of the natural stone
works together perfectly, but it's different and unique.
It's not monotone at all.
It's like there's a bunch of different features, a bunch of different looks,
but they all play together so perfectly, it's amazing.
-Check. Check. Check. -Yep.
Your artistic creativity definitely paid off in there.
-[Sophie] There's so many cabinets... -[Christina] Yes.
-Everywhere. -...everywhere. That's so...
[Christina] Especially compared to what you had...
-[Sophie] Yeah. -...this is a lot of storage.
-Holy moly. -And then your living room looks fabulous,
-Obsessed with the fireplace. -[Sophie] Ooh.
-[Christina] That's so gorgeous. -[Sophie] It's so different.
[Aaron] It was painted black, and that's all it was before.
-[Sophie] I mean, it was just black brick. -[Christina] I love this tile.
-And the rounded edges. This is, like, sexy. -[Sophie] Yeah.
More big windows.
[Christina] It is so pretty here in the afternoon.
All the natural light just feels like... You get the beachy element.
We're close to the beach, but we are on a bit of a busy corner here.
-Can you hear it, though? -[Sophie] No.
-[Aaron] Like, you can't hear. -[Sophie] No.
[Aaron] It's so quiet in here now,
-with all these new windows and stuff. -[Christina] Yep.
And it's just so peaceful inside the house now.
-It's so quiet. -Yeah. Yeah.
[Aaron] Oh! The office is done.
-[Sophie] Yeah. -[Aaron] Awesome.
[Sophie] This is such a good use of this space.
-This was... -[Aaron] Junk, right?
-[Sophie] I mean, it was... -Yeah. Everyone's closet.
-No, but it's on a whole other level. -Nice.
[Aaron] Man, this is so cool.
[Christina] And then we have the most beautiful vanity I've ever seen.
-[Aaron] Oh, my gosh. Wow. -[Sophie] Oh! Okay.
So gorgeous.
The print goes from here all the way to the sink.
-[Christina] Seamless. -[Sophie] Yeah. It's like an art piece.
-That is so amazing. -[Aaron] I'm in awe.
Came together so nice.
The thing is big, so I'm not surprised
it was an issue to bring it in, but, yeah, you did it.
-Where there's a will, there's a way. -Yep.
Last but not least, we have the outdoor Zen area, which is pretty fabulous.
Got these gorgeous bifold doors.
[Aaron] God, this whole walk out here is so cool.
[Sophie] Oh, what? Look.
[Aaron] Now we have a real indoor-outdoor area.
-[Sophie] Okay! [chuckles] -[Aaron] No way.
-Holy moly. -[Sophie] It's all up.
I've got all the toys now. Are you kidding me?
-Isn't this gorgeous? -Oh, my gosh.
Look at this thing.
-Wow! -[Christina] So gorgeous.
-It's like an art piece. -[Aaron] The outdoor shower, and a cold plunge and a sauna?
[Christina] This sauna's so pretty.
It has again, like, kind of a Scandinavian feel too.
-[Aaron] Yeah, totally. -[Sophie] Yeah. Yeah.
It just kind of blends in with the house.
Even though it's close to this area, it's not an eyesore.
-[Aaron] I can't believe it. -[Christina] Happy?
-So happy. -So happy. So happy.
Are you kidding? This is so surreal.
So much better than we ever dreamed of, honestly.
-[Christina] I love it, too. -I love it.
-[Christina] I have a question for you. -[Sophie] Uh-huh.
You know, you guys just went through a very large remodel.
You were displaced. You were in multiple rentals.
Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?
-Oh, yeah. I would. -Yeah?
-Wow. She didn't hesitate at all. -[Sophie] Oh, no, I would.
For sure. I mean, this is such a transformation.
I just can see so many gatherings and happy moments.
It was the right thing to do.
I can't believe that Christina was able to piece all this out together
and make it feel like us.
It's artistic, hopefully classic, I think.
Just the right balance of who we are
and what we like and just our vision.
I'm gonna let you guys enjoy your home now.
Yes. Thank you so much.
-[Aaron] You're the best. Thank you so much. -Thank you.
-[Aaron] Love it. Love it. -You guys are the best. So fun to work with.
And this house is absolutely stunning, so...
-[Aaron] Come back anytime. -Thank you. Thank you.
-[Sophie] Oh, I can't wait for the kids to see this now. -[Aaron] I know, right?
They're gonna freak out. They better keep this place clean.
-Oh, my God. -[Aaron] Hey, guys.
-Hey, Dad. -[Aaron] How are you?
-No way. -This is amazing.
-No way. -Oh, my God.
The process was challenging at times, for sure.
You know, it was a lot of work and... and, uh,
-just a lot of uncertainty through the whole process. -Yeah.
[Aaron] But now that we're done, we got exactly what we wanted.
You know, we wanted to be able to have a place that our kids were excited
to bring their friends and hang out.
A spot that their friends wanted to hang out.
I was so excited for you guys to hang out and enjoy it.
This is all very new but
I can tell like, this is already, like,
it feels home, like, it feels right.
[Aaron] She nailed it.