Once upon a time, before Honey Boo Boo, Jon and Kate, and even Cody and his wives, TLC was commonly known as The Learning Channel. It was a magical place where you learned to revamp rooms in your neighbours' homes using materials that a wacky designer may have found at a party store. (That's if you were lucky and didn't get Hildi, who wanted to use sand or something.)
Trading Spaces ran from 2000 to 2008, and gave us such treasures as carpenter Ty Pennington, who went on to host Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Paige Davis was the face of the series, and she blessed us with her winning smile and clever one-liners beginning in season two. (True fans remember Alex McLeod as the host of the first season!)
Now that the channel is rebooting the design series [1] for another go-around, we're looking back on the original episodes. Be warned that these pictures will remind you just how much has changed [2] since the series first premiered!
Here's (Part of) the Crew: Vern, Larie, Frank, Ty, and Paige
Each show only used two designers from its pool; one for each room.
Paige Davis Was the Host With the Most, and Her Short Haircut Was Inspiring
I Always Liked Frank, Because He Reminded Me of Al From Home Improvement
There's Also Genevieve and Douglas, aka the Cool Ones
Look at This Badass
Rick Rifle (Real Name) Loved Shiny Shirts
Kia Steave Was Tasteful AF, Despite Whatever Is Happening Here
Carter Was the Carpenter Who Wasn't Ty Pennington
Who orchestrated this gallery photo??
And Then There Was the Crown Jewel, Ty Pennington
Aka Cable TV's Sexiest Carpenter
Hildi Freakin' Santo-Tomas
This Woman Is a Trading Spaces Legend
I will never, NEVER, forget the room she covered in hay.
Here's Paige and Hildi in the Early Years
Rockin' those bobs.
Give Me a Picture That Screams "Early 2000s TLC" More Than This One
They Used Hi-Tech Design Strategies, Like Gluing Things to Other Things
Honestly, They Were Always Doing Unforgivable Things to Ceilings
. . . and Lamps
At Least Frank Tried to Work With His Clients (er, Their Neighbors)
Unlike some people who just did whatever they wanted . . . yeah, you, Hildi.
Every Episode, They Had to Pose For Pictures Like This
And Then, There Were the Rooms
MY GOD, THE ROOMS.
This Is an After Photo
Can you imagine seeing this on TLC today?
This Is Also an After Photo
Where circus dreams go to die.
THIS IS AN AFTER PHOTO!
Here's Another Angle, Because You Need to See That Wardrobe
And Finally, Here's a Palatte Cleanser
Go ahead, save this image for your desktop background.