Sarah’s House showcases the challenging, high impact and true reality of home renovation – the dirt, dust, disaster and delicious end result.
Host Sarah Richardson of “Design Inc.” and “Room Service” fame buys a house needing serious TLC. Over the course of 13 half-hours cameras track Sarah and crew as they tackle the renovation room by room, bringing sense and style to this teardown. All the while Sarah demystifies the entire renovation and design process, balancing wants and needs, headaches and sweat equity to create the home you’re after!
Episode 1 – Find and Buy
Sarah Richardson takes to the suburbs. Her goal: to show you how to make design choices in a new-build home to end up with a more personalized and desirable place to live. Sarah tweaks the home’s layout with the developer, and then she and design sidekick, Tommy Smythe, pick exterior finishes. As the house is built they learn valuable lessons on how choices made early on can have huge impact on the final outcome.
Episode 2 – Living Room
In the developer’s original plans the living room in this large suburban home was chopped into two small rooms. A floorplan tweak results in one larger, formal entertaining space scaled to the size of this home. Sarah Richardson and design sidekick Tommy Smythe create two distinct seating areas that seamlessly mix new and vintage furniture, while tipping their hat to a focal fireplace. It’s all placed against a fresh and bright paint scheme.
Episode 3 – First Impressions
First impressions mean everything, and Sarah’s House does not disappoint. Sarah Richardson’s goal is to create style, sophistication and impact in an entryway, mudroom and powder room that tease expectations to the rest of a typical suburban home. She and design sidekick Tommy Smythe use colour, materials and furnishings that play off connecting rooms, provide practical storage solutions and make a design statement!
Episode 4 – Kitchen
Sarah Richardson sets out to create a dramatic kitchen that works in both family and formal settings. To do this Sarah and design sidekick Tommy Smythe must devote a larger than anticipated chunk of their upgrade budget to the cause, but still must strike a balance between higher quality fixtures, vintage finds and additional smart spending solutions. The result is a kitchen that slips easily from harried family breakfasts to loungey gatherings.
Episode 5 – Family Room
To create a family room thats comfortable, beautiful and neutral – the inspiration being caffe latte. After a slight floorplan modification in the new build house andTommy search out pieces that serve the many needs of a family space. Seating, storage and entertainment play a role in a room that bridges the kitchen and dining room.
Episode 6 – Dining Room
Colour, pattern, texture and lighting all help to make what is often an orphan room feel connected to the rest of a typical home. Sarah adds drama to the space with among other touches crown moulding, chair rail and grasscloth wallpaper. She and design sidekick Tommy Smythe search high and low for furnishings that bring an historic appeal that welcomes all in a lighter, more contemporary way.
Episode 7 – Girls’ Bedroom
It’s a lesson in creating a kids’ room that has style and can grow with the child. Sarah Richardson and design sidekick Tommy Smythe use a fun polka dot fabric as jumping off point for a space that is light, bright and inspiring. Painted vintage furniture and other finds help to prove that there is more than one way to achieve colour and fun in a young person’s space.
Episode 8 – Craft Room
Sarah Richardson carves a dedicated craft room from the blank canvas of bedrooms in this new build suburban home. Sarah’s design vision of “stylized lab” is molded from a space that can easily revert to a bedroom if the need arises. She and design sidekick Tommy Smythe find innovative, practical work surfaces durable enough and the right height for crafting. Storage also plays a huge role in a space where imagination takes flight.
Episode 9 – Boy’s Bedroom
Greys and blacks find their home in a blank canvas boy’s bedroom. Sarah Richardson kicks off the design with a zigzag fabric that inspires the rest of the finds – an Edison bulb light, wooden spool dresser and charcoal chair round out the sleeping area. Sarah and design sidekick Tommy Smythe carry greys into an adjoining bathroom through tile and vintage lighting.
Episode 10 – Master Bedroom
Sarah Richardson introduces romance to this large, builder beige master bedroom. Sarah kicks it all off with botanical inspired fabrics and prints, fresh crisp paint colours and wallpaper on a feature wall. A vintage desk, dresser and other pieces also add personality to the room. A pair of columns form the piece de resistance, positioned in such a way as to delineate space and provide further decorative impact.
Episode 11 – Master Ensuite
The oversized master ensuite in this new build suburban house is proof that you can have too much of a good thing. Sarah Richardson’s challenge is to use the money she and design sidekick Tommy Smythe saved with standard finishes in other parts of the home to introduce marble and other natural stone elements. A freestanding tub and separate shower stall plus unique accents and accessories also help create a master ensuite befitting a custom home.
Episode 12 – Rec Room
An all purpose room the entire family can enjoy. Sarah Richardson invested a serious amount of her upgrade on a basement walkout to the backyard, and ups and ante by combining a series of small boxy rooms into one multi-purpose destination. Bold colour, a Persian rug and versatile furniture layout make it a true recreation space – pool table and flat screen TV included.
Episode 13 – Curb Appeal/Finale
Most new build homes come with little more than a patch of grass and struggling sapling. Sarah Richardson revises the front-scape of the custom suburban home with plantings and accessories that convey a “been there all along” appeal. A trio of real estate agents tour the home and assess Sarah’s and design sidekick Tommy Smythe’s work – did they spend their upgrade budget wisely?