Trading Spaces filming show at PB women's shelter

By Bobbie Crockett/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

TLC's Trading Spaces is in town filming a show with a twist. "This is our special holiday episode," Carl Larsen, a TLC publicist, said. It's going to air Dec. 25. We're trading spaces within a women's shelter."

A TLC crew is filming at the CASA Women's Shelter for the home-design show, which often features quirky decorating schemes.

Typically, two sets of homeowners switch houses and work with a designer to makeover one room in each home. The work must be done in two days on a budget of $1,000.

For the show's holiday episode, however, two women who live in the Pine Bluff shelter will trade spaces with two women who work there. Each team will get to spend $5,000 refurbishing two common living areas in two days.

The designers for this episode are Doug Wilson, a longtime regular known for his over-the-top room designs, and Laura Day, a former Dumas resident turned New York designer who debuted in the show's fourth season.

Trading Spaces host Paige Davis and carpenter Carter Oosterhouse are also in town for the taping.

Davis said the women who stay in the shelter are really deserving of a space makeover.

"We want to remind America what gratitude and blessings are all about," she said. "We want to come in and give them (shelter residents) a comfortable and inviting place to live, and they're going to help us do it."

Lesley and Tammy are two women in the shelter's transitional housing who make up one team. Shelter employees, Joyce Jenkins, a special needs advocate, and Vebra Wainwright, a women's advocate, represent the other.

Television and print media swarmed the set Monday as design planning got under way. Lesley and Tammy smiled as they talked about what the completed work would mean to the shelter.

"It's good because we operate with donations, so there's not a lot of funding available to fix up the rooms and do repairs," Lesley said.

"In the county where I lived, they didn't have a shelter," Tammy said. "Maybe this will show women that there's a place they can go and that they don't have to put up with abuse."

"This is a blessing," Lesley said.

With the help of designers, each team will give a new look to the shelter's living rooms. The rooms are each equipped with sectional couches, book shelves, a television and other items. Although clean, much of the furniture is worn. Some walls are plain, while others are decorated with a mishmash of artwork.

On Monday, fans of the show stood behind yellow tape and a "Closed Set -- No Visitors" sign.

"This is my show," said Pine Bluff resident Andrea Washington as she watched the Trading Spaces crew get started.

She even got a hug from Carter the carpenter.

"I watch Trading Spaces to get ideas," Washington said. "I decorated my sister's dining room according to a design I saw them do."

Patti Owen of Pine Bluff said it was exciting to see an episode being taped at Pine Bluff.

"They really do help you think out of the box," Owen said.

It was that kind of thinking that got the TLC crew to Pine Bluff in the first place.

Karen Palmer, CASA's director, was thinking of ways to address some of the shelter's needs when she thought about asking Trading Spaces for help.

Palmer wrote a letter, and a few phone calls and interviews later, the crew showed up to do an episode.

"We were so excited when we found out," she said, adding that she hopes the show helps create awareness.

"We hope this will not only help our shelter but help all battered women," she said.

On Monday, the two Trading Spaces teams met and each developed a design strategy. Then, the designers were off on a fast-paced shopping spree for items they hope will help transform the shelter living rooms from plain to spectacular.

Viewers can see the results on the show, which is scheduled to air locally on TLC at 9 p.m. Christmas Day.