- Home to me means solace. It means a place to escape
to, and so home is something I just relish, cherish. I'm Neil Patrick Harris, and this is My Houzz. I grew up in New Mexico. My parents, Ron and
Sheila, met in college, got married, are still
married, had two children. Brian's my older brother, he's
three years older than I am. He was a fantastic older brother to have. He and his friends would
go spelunking in caves. It was kind of cool to
hear that he was a bit of Indiana Jones. And considering I was
the annoying, performing younger brother, he was kind
to me and let me follow around on all of his adventures, and
I really appreciated that. Didn't get beaten up very
much, so that's a good thing. Brian has lived lots of
really interesting chapters in his life. He went to law school,
studied in the UK for awhile. He traveled the world. He's an historian. He's a fantastic writer. Saved every letter that he's written. His sense of humor is fantastic. And so he's done a lot of stuff. He, for the last many
years, has been pretty much living by himself, and when you
live by yourself in a house, you don't have to worry about so much. Since then, now he has a girlfriend named Sacheen, who's amazing. And she has her own family
which is now part of his family. Brian doesn't always want me to spoil him, but I think this is one
way that I can do it. Brian bought this house many years ago. It was kind of a fixer-upper. For all of the things that
he has improved in the house, he's pretty much ignored
this den and the back yard. The den right now, I think it's
not even a practical space. There's no real furniture in
it, except for a weight bench. There's a lot of things stacked. He's not a hoarder, but
it feels like a room that you put stuff in when
you're not sure where it goes. The back yard's an interesting
space because it's a big back yard, but it's
neither here nor there. It just sits there with nothin' goin' on. So I wanna renovate the
den and the back yard. I have a vision that Brian
has never thought of, and I think might blow his mind hole. Houzz is making this renovation
possible from thousands of miles away On Houzz, you can find
everything that you need for a renovation project. You can find people. You can find products, and
you can find inspiration. I went online and I
looked for professionals in the Albuquerque area. I found Lisa from Samuel Design Group. I looked through Lisa's past projects, and I loved her aesthetic,
and her reviews were stellar. I reached out and I
called her on the phone. Lisa suggested we bring
in her colleague, Solange, for the landscaping. I hopped on a plane, and I'm
meeting them in New Mexico. Fingers crossed. I'm just excited for this
opportunity for my brother to have something fresh
and new and exciting. He has lived in this place for
years and I just would love for it to feel like home. And I would really like
my brother to have a sense of pride about this house
so that he can show it off and feel proud of it. And one of the things with
this den room is that the flow is a little bit strange,
it's kind of the only way to get outside. And that space has now kind
of become a storage room, and it just feels like
a room that has no-- - No purpose?
- No purpose. - With its proximity to the
kitchen, it seems that there should be a natural connection
between the two rooms. - Agreed, because there's a
pocket door in there right now, and that seems not effective
to a kitchen moving into another room. - Right, my idea is, is that
we create a division between the two rooms, but something
that is visually beautiful and make it feel like it's more connected rather than divided. - [Neil] Fantastic. - You call a den, I call a link. - The link? - Because that will be
the link to the outdoors - That's right.
- As well. - Well, that's super important
too, because being able to do an indoor space and an
outdoor space is fantastic. It's a big back yard
- Awful big. - But it's relatively
unusable in every way. There's not really a deck. There's just kind of a concrete slab area. - Right, one idea was extending the house, create a new room. But you also generate
that contact with nature. 'Cause we're trying to
combine this is a wild flower, meadow, and then pollinators,
and eventually bees. - Bees, like you could
actually have a hive of bees? - You can actually have hive of bees. - That's safe? - It's safe, it's friendly. - Killer bees, you've
heard of killer bees? He has a family you know. - It's so dry, they don't wanna come. - So, Neil, I wanna show you the ideabook. - In the den, I think that
it could become a really nice place to relax and lounge,
and you can actually get some light in there. - I think that is the most
important, that's the key. - [Neil] Yeah, that is. - I wanna bring in a pop of blue. - I like this vibe. - This fabric is a cut velvet, so it's really inviting and comfortable. - Brian would love that. That's very cool. - Okay, very good. Well, let's buy it. - [Neil] Love it, brilliant. - We already have a fireplace in there, and I'd like to cover up all
of that ugly smoked-up brick with some beautiful tile. - Wow, in the corner of this
there's a blue throw blanket. That's a great little pop of blue. Can you do something like that in the wall?
- Absolutely. - This was an image that I added. I like that there's a little
bit of foliage, nature. - Very inviting. - We wanna bring the outdoors in. This plant in particular
is a fiddle leaf fig with great big leaves and it's fantastic. - I love an Eames chair. Brian has a variety of interests. He's an avid reader, and he
loves things that look like art, but are also functional. And it seems, I don't
know, kind of cool and hip and something he would like. - We can buy the Eames chair right now. Add it to the cart. - Done. - [Lisa] So here we see a
link between an interior room and an exterior room. - I like the decking a lot. - It's gonna be a transition
creating another room and then the nature. - That would be great. Ah, this was one that I put in here. - I really like the lights. - Love those lights. - Yeah, that creates some flexibility. - Very romantic. - Well, what I thought
was cool on this was that the pergola was covered in a
way, because in Albuquerque it gets very, very warm. And I feel like even if you
were to create an outdoor space, in the summers you wouldn't
really be able to use it without 100 SPF sunblock. - So here we have a lounge
area next to a cooking area. - This is way bigger in
scale than I was imagining, so yes, multiple zones in the
back yard would be fantastic. Can I ask you a question? - Yes.
- I'm loving this fire element with
the concrete gray square. Is that a possibility,
or is that too modern? - Not at all. I think the scale of this one
is too big for the project that we're working on. So here you see example of
a fire pit and it's smaller and much more appropriate
to what we're doing. This little white tag
indicates that we can find a visual match to a product
that's available on Houzz Shop. - [Neil] You can buy any of these? - Yes, and that's the one I
think that would be appropriate in terms of size and the look. - Cool, I love it, let's get it. Boing. Okay, what is this? This is a swing? - Yes, and if you want to see the size. - That's amazing. Add to cart, add to cart. Wait, we have to pay for this eventually? - Eventually. - Be more conscious of
the add to cart edict. - Well, Neil, so we have a concept. We have a plan. - This is super exciting. I can't be here on-site,
I'm filming in New York, but my dad has agreed to help. His name's Ron. - [Lisa] Oh, that's wonderful. - Super lovely, he's nice. I'm so appreciative for what
you guys have done thus far. I can't wait. - This is the den. The door that goes from the
kitchen to the den hasn't worked since I've seen the house. I can't repair it, I've tried. - We need to create
something that's beautiful, and we're doing that with
an open louvered wall. - [Ron] Sounds good. So as you can see,
there's a lot that needs to be done out here. - In New Mexico, we enjoy
the outdoors 10 months out of the year. - That is true. - Hello. - Hi, Solange.
- Nice being here. Ron, nice to meet you. - I'm pleased to meet you, Solange. - It's a pleasure. - She is our landscape designer. - Tell me what you have in mind. - We know New Mexico we need
water, shade, and a path. - Exactly. - Then we have it all. I think these big trees could
be a great anchor for shade. Then we're gonna create an
imaginary line that we say what is the outdoor comfort
living and the wild zone. And in the wild zone, we were
planning a flower pollinator garden, and of course, we're
gonna have water feature. - I know he'll love that. - Ron, we're starting demo
tomorrow, so you better be ready bright and early. - Let's do it, ladies. - Thank you. - Listening to what Lisa
and Solange had to say, I've gotta say it's gonna be exciting. Hey, Lisa. - Hey, Ron, how are you today?
- We ready to go? - Ready to go. - Got my hammer, ready to
take out that pocket door. I hate that pocket door. This is my favorite hammer. - Alright, have at it. - Alright. (rock music) There's the door. (rock music) (gentle music) - Hello, ladies. - Hi, Ron.
- Hi, Ron. - It's lookin' a little bit different. - Yes.
- So what have you got? - So, we were looking at the
Houzz app, and I'm thinking that this sectional would
be really beautiful. I would like to show you
how it looks in the room. I'm going to tap on
the view in my room 3D, scan the floor area. - It shows the couch - Yes, it does.
- Inside the room. I'll be darned. - [Lisa] It most certainly does. - How does it do that? - [Lisa] I don't know how
it does it, but it does it. Would you like to buy that? - Heck, yeah. - Okay, add to cart.
- And that's it. - And we're ready to go. I think it's time to call Neil. (phone rings) Alright. Hi, Neil, how are you? - Excellent, Lisa, this is
all very, very exciting. - Hey, Neil. - How are you holding up, Dad? - [Ron] Pretty well. It's gonna really look pretty, Neil. You're gonna love it. - [Lisa] Here's the entire space. - I've always loved that that
fireplace wall was so big, and I can't wait to see
how the new tiles will make everything even more impressive. - Hi.
- Hi, Solange. - I wanna take everybody to the outdoor. - Wow, that deck is gigantic. - It's gonna be semi-circle,
which is actually going around the house and
then all there will be table and chairs. - I didn't realize how big
the space is back there. It's able to that gigantic
deck, but it still feels like there's even more space all around it. It will be a great design. - Also, we're gonna have a barbecue place, and we're gonna have a
sink and a prep table. And this pergola. - Are you gonna have any
greenery that's gonna start snaking up and through that? - Yes, every column will
have a vine coming up. I wanna show you some of the ornaments. That was our way to bring water. - Is that practical? - It's ornamental and it's practical. - That's great. - On the other side of
the deck, all this area will be filled by all
these amazing plants. We are creating a little
nursery here, but pretty soon all these plants are gonna
be on ground and growing. Your brother is gonna become a beekeeper. - Oh boy. - We're creating the backdrop
for that to be possible. - I love this idea. I'm getting jealous of this whole thing. - Then you come often. - Dave and I'll come and we'll
cook up a feast for everyone. Can't wait to see the finished product. I just want Brian to love it. - Oh, he will, he will. I guarantee it. - Hey, thank you guys so much. Stick with it, stay at it, and
I'll see you guys very soon. - Bye bye. - Bye, Neil.
- Bye, Neil. Neil absolutely loved it. It's gonna look so nice. It's just gonna be a total transformation. Hey, look at you, how are you? - I'm fine, how you doin'? - I'm great. Have you seen this whole place already? - Not yet, no. - I talked to Brian, he seems nervous. - Yeah, I'll bet he is. - He didn't get much sleep last night. - [Ron] Let's go check it out. - I love it. Hey, ladies. - Hey there, how are you?
- How are you? Nice to see you. - It's good to see you. - Nice to see you. This is so exciting. Love this wall. I wanna do this in my house. I am stunned at the transformation. Wow! - [Lisa] It's amazing, isn't it? - [Neil] It's an entirely
different environment. - It is a different place. - I like that the whole
thing inside and out doesn't have a lot of straight lines, even though it's angular. The back yard is absolutely phenomenal. It feels like you're in
some sort of public park. Wait, we still have to do work, right? - Yes, we still have to work, get out. - Alright, let's get some work done. - Perfect. - This is exactly what
it looks like on Houzz. - Turn it this way a little bit more. It needs to be parallel. - There you go, perfect. - Good. - Thanks for helping.
- Yeah. - [Lisa] I think we're there. - I love it. I cannot wait to get his reaction. I really appreciate that
you guys did this for him. - Thank you. - We're done with the last
minute ja-jing, and it's time. My heart is racing. I hope he loves it. - Neil has been the most wonderful
brother that you could be lucky enough to be born with. For him to give this to
me, I'm just so excited. - Hey-ya.
- Hey-ya. - [Neil] How are ya? - I'm good, good to see you. - Welcome. - Thank you. - You really don't know much of anything. - No I don't. You could've dusted, and then
I'd be thinking that's great. - What are you feeling? - Nervous.
- Yeah? You wanna go look at it? - Alright, I'm ready. - Alright, let's go. - Whoa! This isn't, this isn't, what
have you done with my old room, and don't ever bring it back,
and leave this room here. The fireplace is all fixed. - That's tile, all gray tile. And then they added this
super cool blue tile that's from Spain. It's crushed glass. - Oh man, I like the way it
creates a little separation. - Agreed, they took out the pocket door. - [Brian] That's so cool. - It's a partition wall, but
if you're sitting in, say, the reading area, you can
see through into the kitchen. - I love that. I've never had an Eames chair. I've always wanted to have an Eames chair. - They're very classy. - I was hoping that it
would be nicer than it was, but I never dreamed that
it could be this nice. Alright, I gotta see the couch, 'cause this is gonna be critical. Oh man, this is fantastic. - Wanna check out the outside? - Will my heart be able to take it? Because I'm sort of dizzy right now just with taking in this room. - Maybe you need a breath
of fresh air, come on. Ready?
- Yeah. - Come out this way. - I can't believe this. I'd always pictured just
having a small deck, but this, it's like three rooms. It's a sitting room, a
dining room, and a kitchen, but it all like hooks together. There's shade. There's a fire pit. - Proper fire pit. Watching his face, that's really something that I'll never forget. Check out this unbelievable pergola. It's not just a simple,
boring, regular square pergola. It's made of metal so
you can do your workouts. - Man, it's an oasis in the desert. There are fountains. - This cool water feature. - It's so Zen.
- Right? - It's amazing. This is so beautiful. What is that thing? - This is a swing. - Could you spin? - Oh yeah, it's good for a
late night after a bottle of wine or something. - Yes. (chuckles) Look at this. - Cheers, to the first of many. - Thank you so much. I can't believe this. I'm speechless. - So you said that you liked bees. - We can do bees here. To find out that not only
do I get to have bees now, but that the whole back
yard has been designed to make bees happy, it's just wonderful. I'm just blown away. There's so many things
to just feel like it had a lot of input from somebody
who actually knew me. I expect that you're behind that. - Little bit. - That means a lot to me. - I couldn't be happier about
how it has all turned out, so I'm thrilled that it's
creating an opportunity and a space for you to
start your next big chapter, whatever it may be. You deserve it. - Thank you, thank you
so much for everything. We're gonna be out here a
lot, and we're gonna think about you every single
time we're out here. - This is impetus for us
to come out more often. What, am I gonna stay in
Mom and Dad's back yard now? Forget it. - I think mine's cooler now. - [Neil] Way cooler. - Hey! Oh my gosh. - Hi.
- Hi, honey. - How are you? - Good, so do you like it? - I like is way too tame a word. - [Neil] Here, have a seat, have a seat. - [Brian] The art is really impressive. - Hashtag Houzz. This piece is the close-up of my abs. - You know it's funny
'cause I couldn't see it, and now that's all I can see, is your abs. - Yeah, and gold in between. Solid gold, I bathe in solid gold. - Hey, everybody. - Hey, this is Solange and Lisa, Brian. Lisa and Solange were the
ones that were really here doing it all. - Thank you so much. - Brian, nice to finally meet you. - Almost more than
anything else, I'm excited about Sacheen, my girlfriend. This is something I'm really
excited for her to see. - Looks awesome. - This is amazing. - Oh, there's a shed. - [Lisa] I know, isn't that great? - Movie nights, you know. - [Lisa] Under the stars. - And now you can re-watch all
of everything I've ever done. That'll be so fun.
- Early stuff. It's gonna be great. We love to watch movies. I'm very excited about movie night. - I thought it would be
fun to have a little bit of a cook-out. - Mm, looks great. - It looks so nice.
- Isn't it pretty? - Bella, Bella. - Welcome, how are you sweet girls? I knew right away that the
choices made were going to be effective. He jumped right in. - [Sacheen] We're fancy. - We didn't used to be
fancy, now we're very fancy. - May I just make a toast? To my brother, Brian, I
hope that you have countless amazing new episodes in your life. May this be the first of many. Love you, buddy. - Love you too. - Cheers, everyone. - Cheers. - [Brian] Who wants a burger? - [Woman] Everyone. First hamburger. - Job well done. - [Brian] Bee heaven. - It is bee heaven. We were just talking about
what kind of bees you want. - You want the hairless
bees, they're the best. I think my brother's future
looks better than ever. He's found a girlfriend
that he cares about a lot. She's opened up his heart,
and now a space that he gets to share with her. - Yeah, in six months I'll be able to open my own organic grocery store. - Probably.
- You'll see. - I mean, he's my big brother. So I wanna make sure
things go well for him.
