HGTV filming Designer Finals show in Maricopa

The master bedroom of two Rancho El Dorado residents is undergoing a makeover that will be featured on national television. Home & Garden Television is in Maricopa today filming an episode of its Designer Finals series.

Designer Finals takes top design students out of the classroom and into the “real world” for their first taste of client relations and the design and execution of their first-ever professional design job. Dala Al-Fuwaires, a senior at Arizona State University, is the student designer in charge of turning the ordinary bedroom of Hannah Boucher and Chris Kirkpatrick into a “Moroccan Oasis.” Ultimately, Boucher and Kirkpatrick hope to have an independent theme for each room in the house.

“As new homeowners, we never realized how expensive and time-consuming it was to design and furnish the whole house,” remarked Boucher. “HGTV and Dala are definitely a blessing.”

Hannah Boucher and Chris Kirkpatrick in what is now their former bedroom.

Designer Dala Al-Fuwaires, shown here sanding a table, is using both her brains and brawn to ensure a successful outcome.

Greg Streeter (left) and Clyde Gaston provided the handywork, setting up shop in the garage.

Al-Fuwaires, 22, is excited about the progress at the midway point. “Yesterday wasn’t as busy as today’s going to be,” Al-Fuwaires said at the beginning of Day Two of the two-day makeover. “But we got everything done I had planned.”

The program’s viewers see the whole process unfold: the choices the students make and the risks they take in order to carry out a specific design vision within two days. First, the rookie designer has a consultation with homeowners and then fleshes out a first draft using research, rough sketches and the guidance of a teacher or mentor. Once the homeowner approves the plan, the student heads out shopping on a bargain hunt for materials. At the end of the grueling two days, the homeowners are invited back to re-claim their space and judge for themselves whether or not the student makes the grade.

In addition to a $3,000 budget for materials, furniture, artwork and the like, HGTV provides two contractors to do the labor required to complete the project. The student designers are responsible for creating the design concepts, purchasing the necessary furnishings, managing materials and time, recruiting and supervising work crews, and more.

Phil Wazny (left) and videographer Jeff Halperin (right) are among the crowd working in tight quarters.

“It was a little intimidating to have 15 people watching me install a ceiling fan,” said Phil Wazny, a Maricopa resident who aided the effort. “But it was neat to experience the production first-hand and see the many elements and people that go into making a TV show.”

Come back to inmaricopa.com in the coming days to read a follow-up story inclusive of “before” and “after” photos and reactions from the homeowners.