(lively music) - For me what makes a
home are the people in it. A house is not a home
unless someone's there. The love is there. So it starts with who's in the house. But the people that I
love, I really love them and they know it. I'm Taraji P. Henson and this is My Houzz. Home for me is Washington D.C., Maryland, the Virginia that area. That was where I was born and raised. That's primarily where most
of my family still lives. That's gonna always be home for me. I met my stepmom, Angie, when I was 16. She just made my daddy a better man. He was just lost 'cause my
daddy was homeless at one time, when I was really young. Then she stepped into his life and she was everything he needed. I was so happy. I just loved her right away. You need the meal, you need
clothes, you need somebody to watch your kids, your
dog, whatever it is, Angie's there for you. My dad always considered
himself an artist. He's a metal fabricator. Really a handyman, crafty with his hands. I still incorporated all
of the art that he gave me they're in my house in California. Just makes me feel close to him. So his dream was to
purchase a house and finally they found the house in Maryland. And the house was always home. That was just the place
where everybody gathered and it's always been that,
'cause it's just that feeling. It's very nurturing. It's something about those
walls and my stepmom. Unfortunately in 2006, my
dad got sick and passed away. And my stepmother was just
left alone with the house. When I went home this past time, I went in the kitchen
and pulled out the drawer and it just disintegrated in my hands, fell apart like in two or three pieces. And I was like, "We gotta do something." I wanna renovate my
stepmother Angie's house. I think this house needs a
makeover because it's time. It's a old house and a
lot of the things in it, it just needs to be updated. So the living room, it's just
too boxy, it's too small. The dining room and kitchen
seems a bit cramped. Seems like it could
just be opened up more. And the appliances are old. The cabinets are falling apart. It's a bit dark in there
too, so I just wanna bring more life and light into that house. Because when my father first passed, it was really hard for my stepmom 'cause he was so still in the house and so we just kinda wanna
make the house hers now. And still keep my dad in it. You know people when
they give, give, give, they never expect. She didn't expect this. (laughing) I have a really busy schedule,
so I turned to Houzz. Houzz is a place you can go,
to design your dream home. You can look for the interior designers, find product inspiration,
shop and you don't even have to leave your house. I went to find a pro and I
looked up local designers. I found Stephanie Gamble Interiors. There's something about her work that just jumped out to me. So, we're gonna meet in
person and I can't wait. (upbeat music) Well Stephanie, it's such a pleasure to finally meet you in person. - It's great meeting you. I'm so excited. I can't wait to start
working on this project. How would you explain Angie's style? - I think she's very traditional. You know what I mean? - Okay. - Classic with hints of modern. Her favorite color in the
whole wide world is red. - Okay. - Red, red, red. She loves red. - [Stephanie Gamble] That's great. - So this is what I find problematic about the house when we gather: okay, you walk in the living room and then there's this wall. I'm really a Feng Shui
person, I'm into energy. And the energy is stagnant. Just knock that wall out and
make all of that area open. - [Stephanie Gamble]
One big gathering space. - Yeah. One big gathering space
because she loves to cook. - Okay.
- We always entertain in the kitchen. I think it'll bring light in there. - [Stephanie Gamble] Yeah. - So in the dining room,
there's this big window. - [Stephanie Gamble}
It doesn't seem to have a lot of light coming in? - [Taraji P. Henson] No, not at all. - So I had this idea of,
in place of those windows, we're gonna put a seven
foot sliding glass door out to the patio.
- That's gonna be amazing. I never even thought about that. - [Stephanie Gamble] Yeah. - She's never gonna leave home. - Yup. - [Taraji P. Henson] I love it. - Now, I would love to
show you the ideabook that I've been working on.
- Great. An ideabook for me would
be like a fashion lookbook. You can pull looks, you can pull ideas, and you can collaborate. - So the first picture is,
this great two-toned kitchen. - I like that. Light is an issue in the house and it'll brighten it up. - Exactly.
- The kitchen is pretty dark right now. - But I'm thinking that we
do the island and all of the perimeter cabinets, in the dark finish. And then do all of the uppers
in a white finish with glass. As you can see, we've got
two pendants over the island. - [Taraji P. Henson] I love pendants. - Which is very similar
to what we're gonna do. But I'm gonna change
these a little bit because the metal finishes are gonna
be more of brassy bronzy tone. - Yes. - And how I'm gonna do that is
by using these pendants here. - [Taraji P. Henson] I like this choice. This is more her. - [Stephanie Gamble] Okay. - [ Taraji P. Henson] The bronzy tone. - Okay, so why don't we just buy them now. - [Taraji P. Henson] Yes. - [Stephanie Gamble] We can
just add them to the cart. - [Taraji P. Henson] Yes. - [Stephanie Gamble] And, that's it. - She's gonna love that. - Oh good. - I like that idea.
- Okay, good. Awesome. - [Stephanie Gamble] So
going into the dining room. I'm thinking that we do
a really great wallpaper. - Yes. - Which I really
- Some texture. - [Stephanie Gamble] This is actually a grass cloth wallpaper. - [Taraji P. Henson] Ohhh. Oh that is beautiful. - So I wanna do it in one of the lighter tones.
- Yes. Thank you, because that
was a bit dark for me. - [Stephanie Gamble] This is a picture that you had put in here.
- Yes. What did stick out to
me is this chandelier. It's like art. It's reminiscent of
something maybe my father would do with metal. - Really great thing
about Houzz is they do what's called a Visual Match. So if you click on that little tag, the visual match will pull up. - [Taraji P. Henson] Oh. - [Stephanie Gamble] This one I think is a much better fit. - [Taraji P. Henson] Are you kidding me? - [Stephanie Gamble] It'll
show you the same product or a similar ones. It's so easy. It has the tones that we're looking for. - Yup. - Keeping in line with
the brass and the gold. - [Taraji P. Henson] Add that to the cart. - [Stephanie Gamble] All
right, you bought it. - Yes.
- It's ours. - [Stephanie Gamble]
This is a rug that'll be under the dining table.
- Okay. That is gorgeous. I thought it was a picture. - It looks like it, doesn't it? - It does. - [Stephanie Gamble] It
brings in all of the colors that we're looking for those
the grays, the blushes. - I love it. - [Stephanie Gamble]
We're gonna go with that. - [Taraji P. Henson] Add it to the cart. - Stephanie Gamble] Add that too. Let's talk a little bit
about the fireplace. I'd like to change out the
surround and have it be a same quartz that we're
gonna be using in the kitchen and the countertops. - Okay. - And so we're gonna
completely modernize it. It does seem like a lot of
TV viewing happens in there. So the TV has to stay. - So my dad was quite an artist. He made these beautiful masks
and there's this coffee table in the living room.
- [Stephanie Gamble] Okay. - He found a piece of
driftwood and he saved it, dried it out, sanded it down, finished it, found a glass top to
put over it, you know. - Well we will definitely keep that. - [Taraji P. Henson] Yes, please. - Speaking of art, I'm looking at this, it's actually 50 by 50. I'm thinking about using it on that wall where the mirrors. - [Taraji P. Henson] Where
you took the mirrors. - [Stephanie Gamble] Exactly. - I love it. That's a place where
you can just daydream. Well Stephanie this has been great. You're thinking about things that I never even thought about. Unfortunately I can't be
there every step of the way. But my cousin, Nikki, oh, you are going to love Nikki.
- Great. - She's gonna be there. So I'm putting you in good hands. I'm excited. - Me too. - I can't wait to see
the finished product. I feel incredible being able to do this. My dad always said, "If
you have been blessed, "then it is your duty
to go out into the world "and be a blessing." So I feel like I'm doing what my dad told me I should do. Oh, I can't wait. - I can't wait too. (lively music) - [Taraji P. Henson] Today
Nikki and Stephanie are meeting each other to go over
the renovation plans. - I had a great meeting with Taraji. We have a really nice plan. So I just wanted to see the space and talk to you about what
your thoughts are too. - Okay. I don't know if you can
tell, but there used to be a wall right here . Angie had knocked down that wall and she's done a lot of work in here you know, herself.
- Okay. - She was trying to open up the space.
- Open up the space. - It used to be carpet in here. So that's why the floor didn't extend into the kitchen.
- Okay, okay. - Because they were two separate.
- Well that makes sense. But we thought it was
really important to save the original floors. - Yeah. - We're gonna thread in the new oak and then we're gonna
refinish all of the floors so that they all match. - Yeah, I'm sure she will
love the wood to extend into the kitchen. - Well we're definitely
gonna finish the job. And then also with the china cabinet, it's a little too big for the space. But we're gonna be giving her so much more extra storage in the kitchen, she's not gonna need it. Everything in the dining room is gonna go. It's gonna be all new. - It's gonna be a totally new room. I mean the wall is gonna be
down, a total transformation. - Total transformation. Let's talk about the kitchen. I think there's a lot to be done in here. - [Nikki Hopkins] Well this
is where the project started. Story goes, Taraji was
helping out in the kitchen. - [Stephanie Gamble] Okay. - Opens the drawer, drawer falls. Taraji was done. - Well we'll make sure she
gets drawers that work. - Perfect. - My plan is to give Angie
some more prep space. We are gonna extend the
counter top all the way over. - [Nikki Hopkins] Wow. - She'll have about a six
and a half foot island. And we're gonna be doing
all of the countertops in an easy to clean quartz.
- [Nikki Hopkins] Okay. - This wall will be removed. The refrigerator will come over a little bit.
- [Nikki Hopkins] Okay. - And then the refrigerator
will be built in and we'll have a finished side panel. - That sounds gorgeous. - Well my idea for the
cabinet colors was to do a two-toned cabinet. All of the base cabinets
will be in a dark gray. - Okay, gray is pretty. - And then the, all of the
upper cabinets, including the hood, are going to be white. - [Nikki Hopkins] Are you
gonna take the cabinets up? - [Stephanie Gamble] We are. We're going to remove the soffit. - [Nikki Hopkins] Okay. - Then we're gonna bring the cabinets up.
- Soffit, okay. I like that, soffit. - 'Cause it's really dead space. That's really dead space up there.
- And it could be used. - It could be used
- It could be used for storage, so we're
gonna take the cabinets all the way up to the ceiling. - Okay. - Finish them off with a
little bit of crown molding. - Oh, I love those. - So all the uppers are gonna have glass. So you'll be able to see
everything that's in there. Might as well use the space that she has. One really big thing that
I thought was a big deal, was giving Angie a
really nice sized range. - Wow. - So we're gonna give her six burners and she's gonna have
an oven in the bottom. I think it's gonna be a really
really great kitchen for her. Really functional, lots of storage. - Amazing. I'm gonna cry. - Don't cry. Hopefully good cry. - Oh yeah, yeah. - Okay, okay good. - When is all of this gonna start? - It's starting tomorrow. - Tomorrow? - We're gonna start doing demo tomorrow. - Can I come? - Of course. - I'll wear a hard hat. - You should. - Okay. - 'Cause we're gonna have
you do the first whack. - Oh, I get to whack the wall. - You get to whack the wall. - Yeah, we got it.
- Definitely. - We gonna hit the wall, let's go. Let's do this! - We have a lot of work to do. We've gotta clear this space out. - Okay. (energetic music) - [Taraji P. Henson] Today
we're starting demo baby! - Hey Nikki, good morning. - Stephanie. - Are you ready? - Yes. Well want you to introduce
you to TD from Winchester. - Hi Nikki. - Hi TD, how are you? - Nice to meet you. - Thank you.
- He's gonna help us transform Angie's home. - You ready to get some demo going? - Yes, the wall must go. - I can adjust them if you need 'em. - Glasses on. - Safety first. Here is sledgehammer for you. Go to it. - Go Nikki! - This is gonna feel so good. (loud bangs) - Nice shot.
- Wow. - Nice one!
- Woo! Good job! - [Stephanie Gamble] Thank you. (fast-paced music) (ripping and banging sounds) (light music) - [Taraji P. Henson]
It's been three weeks. Today Nikki is stopping by to get an update from Stephanie. - You painted the door? - [Stephanie Gamble] We did. - That is so cute. - [Stephanie Gamble]
We heard she loves red. - [Nikki Hopkins] She does. - Big transformation. - Wow. The wall! Where is the wall? - [Stephanie Gamble] The
wall is, we tore it down. The wall is gone. - [Nikki Hopkins] The
window is a whole door. - The soffit are gone. - You know I've been goin'
around to everybody's house talking about soffit? - You have? - Yes. - [Stephanie Gamble] Now the cabinets go all the way up to the ceiling. - [Nikki Hopkins] Wow,
she gonna have to have some nice China up in here. - I want you to take a look at something. TD and I were just talking
about the dining room. There are a couple tables
that I'm looking at. I just wanted to get your opinion on it. Houzz has this really great tool. View In My Room 3D. So we'll go to our ideabook, click on that. And you hold the tablet like this. It shows up in the space. - What? - So what you can do
too, is you can rotate it and you can move it around. What do you think of that table? - Maybe a little darker. I like a darker finish. - A little darker? Okay, well that's great
'cause I have another table in my ideabook. Let me show you that one
and see what you think. So it's a little bit darker. It has extendable leaves. I think it would look great in the space, especially with the wallpaper and everything else we have going on. - [Nikki Hopkins] Yeah, I like that. - What do you think of this one? You like that one?
- I like that one. - Let's buy it. - [Nikki Hopkins] Okay. - [Stephanie Gamble]
Just click "add to cart". - Well if you're good with that, let's go ahead and give Taraji a call. Hey Taraji. - Hey! - Hey girl! - Let me see, I'm excited. - [Stephanie Gamble] I
know, I'm excited too. - That mirror's gone. - [Stephanie Gamble] The mirror is gone. - Oh she's gonna be so excited. Ohhh! The wall is gone. Wooo! Look at that. So open and light and airy and I love it. You like it K-ball? - [Stephanie Gamble] Hey K-ball. I love him. - [Stephanie Gamble] Okay,
so now we are going to go over to the fireplace. - So much better. Very modern. I love it.
- [Stephanie Gamble] Yes. And you can see the door. - Oh that is beautiful. My dad built that deck
and took away a little bit of the sunlight. And you just brought it back
by opening up that wall. That's amazing. - [Stephanie Gamble] Okay
well there's more to show you. We've got our cabinets with
the gray on the bottom, and the white on top. - She has so much more
counter space now that you got rid of that pantry over there. - [Stephanie Gamble] Yes. - [Taraji P. Henson] I love it. - The other thing I wanted to show you is, we're getting ready to stain the floors. We did a little test spot
'cause I was thinking that we would go darker, like a dark walnut. We have the little test
spot for you so you can see, to makes sure you like - [Taraji P. Henson] I
like the dark better. - [Stephanie Gamble] Okay,
great, so we're gonna go with that stain then. - Yeah because since you have
so much light in the house now I think the dark is gonna be good. Oh she's gonna be so excited. And I know, you're not finished but it, I see where you're headed. It's really gonna be beautiful. - [Stephanie Gamble] Oh good, I'm so glad. - Well thank you for everything. Take care, bye. - Okay, bye. - Love you guys, I'll see you soon. - We'll see you next month for the reveal. (exciting music) - I'm finally back in D.C. and I'm excited because this is the day of the big reveal. I have to meet Stephanie and Nikki to add the finishing touches
before Angie gets there. (light music) - Ohhhh.
- Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. - And I match, we match. This is so different. It's a whole brand new house. Ah, I don't wanna step on the carpet. - Thank you. - She's never leaving this house, you know that right?
- [Stephanie Gamble] Oh good. - Never. - This is so much better. I love the colors. Like an antique feel to it. I love it. Yeah, I'm overwhelmed
because this is way beyond what I thought, what I ever expected. - High five. - Ohhh, I'm sorry. - [Stephanie Gamble] It's all
right, I'm already crying too. - My grandparents. It's so beautiful, look at this. - Yes, six burners. - Wow, although everything is new, it still feels familiar. The essence is here, but
we just dressed it up. What is she gonna do in here? Yes, gold utensils. Looks pretty. I'm stealing some ideas. Oh, these are the pendants
we ordered on Houzz. - [Stephanie Gamble] Yes.
- I remember. - They look great. So we have a lot of work to do. - Yeah. - [Stephanie Gamble] Wanna
help me hang the art? - Yes. Here we go, let's hang them up. Is it straight? There. Let's see, let's see. To the left a little bit. That's great, perfect. I think this'll be really pretty. I love that table. It matches the floors,
brings everything together. - [Nikki Hopkins] Looks just
like it did in the Houzz app. - [Stephanie Gamble] Yup. - That 3D imaging. - Stephanie this is amazing. You've done a Thank you, she's gonna love this. - Thank you - Okay, so we'll see
you later for the party. - [Stephanie Gamble] Yup. - Go ahead 'cause Angie's on her way. I can't wait to see Angie's reaction when she sees the space. She really does deserve this. And this is gonna change her life. - I just feel very happy to have Taraji think about me like this. - Whew. - Hello. - Hey boo. I know y'all been so sweet. - Hey you. - I am so nervous.
- Wait a minute, come here, I want to tell you what's going on. So, I did this for you because,
Angie, you give so much. - Thank you. - Daddy always said, "If you
are blessing then you should "be a blessing." So this is your blessing.
- Thank you. Okay. - I love you so much. - Love you too, thank you. - You ready? - I don't know, I don't know. - All my life, your
favorite color has been red. - Yeah. - So there's your red door. - I love it. - Okay, close your eyes. - Okay. - I'll guide you. Come on, keep your eyes closed. Keep 'em closed, keep 'em
closed, keep 'em closed. Okay, now open 'em. - Oh, this is so pretty. Thank you. Oh wow. - [Taraji P. Henson] I know, right? - [Angie Henson] Oh my God. - [Taraji P. Henson] This has always been you and dad's house.
- [Angie Henson] Right. - Now you need to enjoy
this house for you, Angie. So we tried to put feminine
elements to make it yours. Brighten it up some. We refaced the fireplace. We left daddy's art in here. - And the table's still here. Oh this is so pretty. - [Taraji P. Henson]
The table's still here. - Oh, look at my kitchen. Oh my God. - [Taraji P. Henson] The
kitchen, I know that's what you want to hurry up and get to. You're still in shock, aren't you? - Yeah, I just, I love everything. - [Taraji P.Henson] Oh my. Here, you need a tissue. - The tears fell and that's
exactly what I was going for. Tears of joy. Before the kitchen just felt so small. I felt like it needed to be open. So, we took the wall out. I thought that was great. - This is really nice. - [Taraji P. Henson] And
look at your new range. You got a for real oven. This is like top notch. - I love cooking. So I'm in love with the kitchen. I'm really in love with the kitchen. - Isn't that great?
- This don't even look like - It's a different house right?
- Yes. - And for ambience, you
can turn your lights on. - Yeah that's nice. - Isn't that beautiful? And I picked these pendants
out myself on Houzz. - [Angie Henson] Oh wow. - It gives me so much
joy to see her so happy. You have the sliding door now. Remember this was just the window. - Oh boy, I am so overwhelmed. I don't even know what to do. I just don't know what to do. This is beautiful. I love the lights. - I love this wallpaper. I kinda want this in my house now. - Y'all really did a great job. Whoo, I don't think I
could, I need to sit down. - Sit on this way. - Oh God. Oh it's so pretty. I don't think I'm gonna
take it in in one day. 'Cause I'm gonna keep
coming out here to look at Oh wow, they brought the pictures up huh? - [Taraji P. Henson] Yes. - That is so, Taraji, I
don't know what I'm... You know how I am. I'm a low, calm person. But after this, I don't know. It's just, it's just
taking my heart, really. It's cozy, you know what I mean? - I was very adamant
about keeping it cozy. 'Cause this is where the family convenes. - Right, everybody does come here. - Now everybody's been
anticipating this day. - Okay, all right. The way the house is, is
very comfortable to me. Because the artwork my husband
did is still in the home. Deep down in my heart, I
really really appreciate it. I'm sure he'd appreciate it too. What she had done for us. - Hey. - Gorgeous. - Isn't this beautiful? - Love it, I really love it. - I'm gonna move back home. Do you like it? - That looks like your kitchen. - Right? Yeah, right. - Angie, own it. - So look, look, easy access to out back. - Look Soccer, look at Soccer. - Love was put into this
place and you can feel it. - Hey. - Stephanie and TD
bring a beautiful energy with their work. - You did a beautiful job. - [Stephanie Gamble] Thank you. - I love it. - I can't believe I even
wore the color theme. It was meant to be and then I show up and Stephanie has on the same color. (laughing) - And the champagne! - The Champagne. - Wooo. - Yeah, look at that. I was an amazing waitress
before I became an actress. - I just feel very blessed
for Taraji thinking about me. - Who's doing the toast? - You, you do it.
- Me? - Yes. - And I'm really really
going to enjoy the home. - Here's to new beginnings. - Everybody. - [All] Cheers. - I'm blessed enough to have two moms. She never treats me like
a step daughter ever. And I love her. I love to cook. - Well you always did. Must say, you did cook. - You taught me a lot about cooking. - Now we don't put the
greens on top of the stove. We put them in the oven. That'll only take like 40 minutes. So you gotta know - 40 minutes? - Right at home. - Gonna try that. I'm just happy that I was
able to help her enjoy a place that means so much to her. This is the most stress
free renovation I've ever experienced in my life. Using Houzz. - I'll probably be still
crying tomorrow morning when I get up. - You're going to cry first thing. 'Cause it's gonna still
be peaceful and quiet. It's hoooo. I wish I was a fly on the wall. - But I'm bein' a little
bit selfish for two weeks. - You should. - Nobody in my space. - As you should. I'm sure there's gonna
be more parties in here, after she enjoys it first.
She’s so beautiful