Kari's Concert Collection

Squirrel fur?! Is It Real Or Faux?

I arrived a little before 1:30 pm. At the time only maybe a half dozen people were there, sitting in the grass of a neighbor's yard. The homes were townhouses, with one building between the two. After sitting for about 10 minutes, Paige came out of the home Vern was redecorating along with a crew person carrying the Paigecam. She autographed my Trading Spaces book and got a picture with her. Around this time a group of 7 or 8 12 year old girls (and 1 boy) showed up with homemade T-shirts and posters. They were also wearing sombreros and shook maracas. They annoyed me a lot, and will be referred to as the TS Teenies. There was also a guy on a motorcycle that wanted a picture with Paige on it and she wouldn't do it.

Went over to the house Genevieve was at for awhile. The carpentry area was set up on this house�s driveway, and the sewing area was in the garage of the other house. At the time there was someone playing a guitar and singing really badly. I didn't see it, just heard it, but maybe it'll be on the show. I saw homeowners along with crew carrying furniture around from the backyard. It was all painted white. Soon enough Gen came out to sign autographs. She was barefoot, and commented on how hot the tar of the street was. Someone offered their book for her to stand on, but she said she was okay and kinda hopped from foot to foot. I got an autograph and pictures as well. She was like, "Ooh, tall girl! I like tall girl!" It was funny. She mentioned how she needed to get back to work. I said, "Work?" and she replied, "Yeah, apparently they have me here to do a job or something." Gen was very cool.

We then spent the next 2 hours just sitting in the yard of the house between the two being worked on in the shade. Paige and Amy Wynn came back and forth many times. A lot of carpentry things were being carried over, so Amy Wynn was too busy to talk. Kinda talked to Paige each time she came by. She seemed a little moody. From talking to others apparently there was some drama going down earlier in the filming at Gen's house. And the rumor is in Vern's room there was wood floors put down. Another person hanging out said one of the homeowners was their nephew, and said the intro footage for shot at the Mall of America. Not very original, but okay.

And now back to the TS Teenies. They sat out in front of Vern's house shaking the maracas chanting, "We want Vern!" And the annoying part was they were being encouraged by the mom. I heard from others Vern doesn't like to come out until the very end of the day. One worker mentioned to them that screaming and yelling wasn't going to help. I know if I had little kids outside with homemade shirts and posters yelling, I would avoid going out there by all means necessary. But once done with his room he came out for a short time. He got done early, and only had time to get through the annoying kids before going back inside to change for the designer chat. Luckily the TS Teenies left after that.

Headed back over to Gen's house. Around 4:45 Amy Wynn came down and declared "I'm done!" So I got autograph and a photo with her. At this point the crowd had increased to near 30. One lady said to Amy Wynn that she was her hero because "Women can do carpentry too!" Amy Wynn threw up some horns and exclaimed, "Rock on!" I wish I got a photo of that. And then there was more standing around back at Vern's house. It was after the workday, so the crowd expanded to its peak of over 50 people. Lots were from the neighborhood and came walking dogs or on bike. 6 different people came with dogs. I noticed Gen coming out to cut some flowers from a neighbor's garden to use in the room.

Finally we get to the point of first reveal. As short as it is on TV, it took a good 20 minutes to film. Watched the crew clean up. I wanted some caution tape, but a security guy said no. They were just going to throw it away anyway. There was also a crew person wearing The Hulk gloves. Someone commented, "Oh, so that's what happens when they go over budget." There was another person carrying a box of Swiffer. I was like, "Ooh, product placement Swiffer box!" Finally a camera guy came out to go to the next house. Someone asked how the homeowners reacted, and he wouldn't tell. Gen and Amy Wynn came to talk to the crowd for a little while. Gen wanted to kidnap a girl that had come by from soccer practice.

And the crowd eventually migrated over to Gen's house. All of the crew headed over as well to watch the reveal. While the homeowners waited outside to go back in they kinda talked. The guy seemed a little cranky. As they went in someone yelled, "I hope you don't get a moss wall!" Response was, "It's squirrel fur?! Real or faux?" Someone else mentioned a zebra wall. A lot of jokes were going around throughout the day that you would only get if you watched the show. There was a girl waiting that apparently had brought candles for each of the designers as gifts, and Gen actually used it in her room. She also got to go into the other house to talk to Vern. Everyone was bugging her wanting to know what she saw. She only went into the entry, so she saw nothing. Crew was loading up the trailer, and I got my picture taken in front of it.

Finally around 7 everyone came out for autographs and pictures. I was at the front of where Vern stood. It was odd because the crowd just encircled the area. Vern was bumped and some of his Diet Coke splashed onto a lady's shirt. He was apologizing, and she said, "Vern spilled on me, I'll never wash this shirt again!" I got a picture and an autograph. I mentioned how I had been there sense 1:30, and he seemed impressed. On the autograph he wrote, "You rock!" He also came prepared with is own Sharpie marker. So typical Vern. After all that we left. On our way out a limo pulled into the court.

This episode aired on March 13, 2004. I decided to add this paragraph to my recap to include thoughts after seeing the final product. It was very interesting to see how it all turned out, and finding out the truth behind the rumors. It was true that Vern had wood floors, and the problems at Genevieve's house ended up being about the arrangement of carpet squares. The most interesting part is the fact the homeowners that got Gen's room said the comment about squirrel fur before seeing the room, and the paint color ended up being called Squirrel. There's many other things I could mention, but I want to keep it to a minimum. See what happened for yourself by checking out the reairing of "Trading Spaces Minnesota: Lakeside Circle." Check out TLC's website for airing times.

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