Creative Mastermind Week 9/2 (Sorry it's late!): Trading Spaces

Greetings once again to my readers!
I want to sincerely apologize for not having any new posts for you over the last several days. Between the holiday weekend and technical problems, I've just been running into all kinds of trouble. But finally, everything appears to be working and I'm back on track with The Creative Cabana.

Now then, even though it may be a little late this week, I still have found a new Creative Mastermind for the first week of September! Hooray! Last week, I found a unique artist who is taking her talents and using it to help hospital patients. This week, I'm looking at not so much a single person, but more like a "concept", to be exact, a television show. The Creative Mastermind for this is TLC's Trading Spaces.

This is one of the shows I can honestly say I was religiously dedicated to once I saw it. I don't remember exactly how I came across this show, but I can tell you when I saw it I was hooked! Now for those you who aren't familiar with the show, let me fill you in. Trading Spaces allowed 2 neighbors to decorate each other's rooms in their home with the help of a designer, carpenter, and a $1,000 budget. This show was funny, creative, smart, and dare I say... a little bit educational. Hosted by Paige Davis, this show was on from 2000 to 2008 and was actually a really big hit for TLC. Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Makeover was on this show as well as several interior designers such as Vern Yip, Frank Bielec, and Genevieve Gorder.

So you might be thinking, "Ok Trading Spaces is an interior design show. What does this have to do with things The Creative Cabana looks at?" Well, there's actually a lot of things I finding unique about the show. The main thing of course is the idea of the show. Trading Spaces taught people how to decorate their homes under a budget and in a fairly simple matter. A lot of the projects were made for the average-joe, and didn't cost an arm and leg to do. But something else that strikes me is that, this is one of the few reality shows that doesn't seem "fake". It's not like Survivor or Big Brother where you know (or assume) everything is rigged. Trading Spaces was more in touch with the viewers in making them feel that the people, projects, and work was real!

Finally, I not only thought the content was good and creative- the video production and graphics are really good too. Watch this YouTube clip and you can get a feel of the opening and how the show worked.

Did you see the animated graphic opening? It always reminds me of those fun design programs where you can virtually create a room and rearrange furniture, paint the walls, etc. If that's the look the producers were going for, then well done! The way each episode is produced reminds me a little bit of that "On-Location/Documentary" feel because they want you to feel as though you're a part of the project. The designers and carpenters are also good about breaking down the design steps to you so you can follow along at home with your ideas.

It's really sad that Trading Spaces isn't on any more because especially now with the advancement of Social Media I think they could have really been interactive with viewers and even former participants on the show. Never the less, this show was just a bundle of fun and creativity. I wish there was a place were you can watch full episodes. Some clips (like the one above) are on YouTube but I haven't seen any full episodes floating around.

Hard work, amazing cast, talented production crew, great concepts, and creative design ideas are why I am crowning TLC's Trading Spaces, The Creative Mastermind of the Week!

*All images used for this post were pulled from Google Images. Video clip found on YouTube- not intended for copyright distribution. Trading Spaces is owned by TLC.