'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition': Team raced against time to build Mosley family a new home with community help
HGTV's 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' began with an emotional episode that featured happy smiling faces of the Mosley family who were stunned and in awe of what had become of their erstwhile three-bedroom house. The design team — Darren Keefe, Breegan Jane, and Carrie Locklyn — transformed it into a modern, Spanish home featuring five bedrooms and a double island kitchen equipped with smart gadgets.
To build a house from the ground up is tough but the design team on the job makes it look easy.
In a chat with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), the designers shared their two cents on how they get it right and done on time. They are thankful for the help they've received from 1,000+ volunteers from Bakersville, California and John Balfanz Homes who worked round-the-clock to ensure the house was done good and on time, Darren Keefe said.
Even though the house was sparkling and new, there was a hidden challenge that the designers had to keep in mind while putting it through an extreme makeover. The old had to be retained in the new house and the team did a fabulous job of it.
But, the question remains, how did they do it? Breegan Jane said the challenge really was that the house had to be done in a short period of time, which led them to ask a lot of questions about the preferences of those who would live in that house.
"So it was, it was really just getting down to the vulnerability of what pieces do you want to see and then trying to bring that spirit into the design. For me, personally, that just felt like such an important undertaking that it made me nervous because you're truly trying to honor somebody's spirit that you didn't personally ever get an opportunity to meet but that is still so important to the members of the family you are designing for," she elaborated.
Carrie Locklyn shared that it's a challenge to ensure that families moving into their new homes feel as if it were their own home. And, to be able to pull that off, the team leans on the ideas the family has.
Even they had ideas in place, time wasn't on their side and it was one of the biggest challenges they face, Breegan Jane pointed out. But it was the community support that made all the difference and without them building a house that efficient and beautiful would not have been possible.
"Throughout the season there were more than half a million donated hours and there were ten thousand volunteers and half of those volunteers were skilled laborers and tradesmen. So people with you know, tile expertise, window, construction," she added.
But amid all the mad rush of constructing walls and setting pillows on the couch, Darren found time to spot a handful of behind-the-scenes moments that had him going. "It was when the cameras shut off and they had this small alone moment away from everyone where they kind of check-in with each other and you could really just see that their prayers have been answered. Like this was the fresh start that they had been looking for," he said.
While Carrie Locklyn shared that the best moment from the time she designed for the Mosley family was when the bus moved and the family was able to take the first look at their new and improved abode. "It was pure and total raw emotions," she said.
The family now doesn't have to share one bathroom and beds. They can live comfortably and enjoy privacy in their own rooms. But to give them that, the design team had to work on maximizing the space and also taking into consideration that three different generations were going live in that house.
"For me, the pressure was on with Miguel because he had not only kind of crawled into my heart but also it would be his very first room and I just wanted to make sure that I really delivered for him. It would be a room that he could grow into you know," he shared.
All the hard work paid off for the design team. Jessica Mosley even said that the house looked like a billion-dollar resort in Dubai.
Catch all-new episodes of 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' on HGTV every Sunday.