'Celebrity IOU': Property Brothers expand Allison Janney's assistant's tiny kitchen, here's how you can do it too
This festive period became all the more special as HGTV brought back it's emotional series 'Celebrity IOU' for Season 2. It focuses on celebrities who want to give back to some very important people in their lives for their exceptional loyalty and support over the years. Season 1 saw huge celebrities appear on the show including Brad Pitt and Mellissa McCarthy. Season 2 kicked off with 'New Girl' actress Zooey Deschanel who wanted to thank her friend of 35 years/sister Sarah with a renovation that could open up her 900 sq ft home, making efficient use of all the space available in order to make it functional for the family that had recently grown by a member.
In the second episode, award-winning actress Allison Janney wanted her assistant of 20 years to have a renovation focused around her tiny shoebox kitchen layout and expand it to keep up with her love for cooking and entertaining. Janney had been speaking to Ilana's husband who helped get her out of the house for three and a half weeks. According to the actress, her assistant hadn't taken longer than a weekend off for the past 20 years. Janney had a good three weeks off and that's what could convince Ilana to take a break but little did she know that she'd be coming back to a surprise renovation.
As per the Property Brothers Jonathan and Andrew 'Drew' Scott's observations, Ilana's kitchen was super tiny but the dining room was way too big for the table. So in this case the best solution was to flip the spaces of the kitchen and dining. If you too are facing the same issue of space and want a rough idea of how you could optimize your space, keep on reading.
Janney wanted to reimagine Ilana's space to focus on her passion for cooking and entertaining. To do so, Jonathan and Drew decided to take down the wall between the kitchen and dining first — this was the first and the most important step which helped make the space look way bigger. They had planned to flip the rooms to take the largest space and make it Ilana's new kitchen. They decided to fill up the freed space with some custom cabinetry and a huge island, perfect for family meals, or a centerpiece for entertaining. The next step was to add sleek countertops and backsplash to give the kitchen unmatched durability. Along with renovating the kitchen and dining space, they'd also decided to spruce up the living area. To keep up with Ilana and her husband's love for wine, the Property Brothers also decided to include a floor to ceiling custom glass refrigerated wine cabinet as part of this stunning renovation.
'Celebrity IOU' airs Mondays at 9 pm ET on HGTV.