Donna Decorates Dallas - Season 2

Professional football player Chris Johnson and his wife Mioshi have a master bedroom that lacks color and feels small, overcrowded and impersonal. The room is dominated by a large four-poster bed, which overtakes the other features and contributes greatly to the room's overcrowded feel. The space also features a plain monochrome vaulted ceiling and a simple fireplace and mantel on the wall facing the bed.Donna replaces the four-poster with a custom-built bed featuring an enormous tufted leather headboard centered by a large crystal-encrusted monogram of Chris and Mioshi's intertwined initials. Flanking the monogram, fixed to the headboard are luxurious crystal chandelier reading lamps. The cream colored linen bedding is accented with soothing tangerine-patterned pillows that pick up and complement the colors and patterns on the new drapes that Donna has installed. Donna has replaced the fan in the vaulted ceiling above the bed with a resplendent crystal chandelier and has painted the ceiling metallic bronze that draws the eye up, reflects the light from the chandelier, and makes the room feel more spacious. On the wall opposite the bed, Donna commissioned Nelson Nelson to create a custom wooden fireplace mantel engraved with Chris and Mioshi's favorite verse of scripture. Flanking the fireplace are two statues of two sitting lions? which is a favorite theme of Chris's. On either side of the fireplace, Nelson has created a rich wooden built-in bookshelf and desk ensemble that balances that side of the room with the fabulous new bed. On the wall across from the windows, Donna has created a sitting area featuring a curvy, inviting custom-made sofa, beneath a wall festooned with the Johnsons' favorite family photos.

Donna's daughter Ashley is getting married, and wants to update the kitchen of the home she shares with her fiancee, Weston, who grew up in the house. The kitchen is dated, and kind of falling apart, with cracked tile countertops, scruffy cabinets outmoded appliances, unattractive track lighting, and an overall unimpressive feel. Ashley and Weston differ on what the want the new kitchen to be: Weston wants to combine a sleek and modern look with a touch of the mid-century era in which the house was built. Ashley, on the other hand, wants to incorporate natural stone with touches of darker materials like slate and copper. Donna's challenge is to find a workable middle ground, while managing to stay within the couple's five thousand dollar budget. Donna and Ashley achieve huge savings by shopping at discount supply and salvage outlets, buying appliances online and by making certain improvements--like an attractive cornice board--themselves. Donna kept the original cabinets, but sanded them down and stained them a rich, dark brown, adding stylish brushed nickel door pulls. Donna and Ashley got a great bargain on white marble at a surplus outlet and they used the marble for the floor, countertops and backsplash. The white marble throughout provided a perfect counterpoint to the dark cabinets. To open up the room and provide the contemporary look that Weston wanted, Donna installed a new stainless steel gas countertop stove and venting hood, removed the old cabinets, and installed a white marble subway tile backsplash going all the way to the ceiling. On the floor, Donna put down 12 X 12 marble area tiles surrounded by black mosaic tiles, which saved money and provided a vintage look as did a white porcelain farmhouse sink that Donna and Ashley found at a surplus store for just over a hundred dollars.As a wedding gift, to replace the dated track lighting, Donna provided two elegant crystal chandeliers to complete the kitchen's transformation. Donna's daughter Tiffany is expecting a visit from her mother-in-law, and in preparation, she wants to update her guest bedroom, which lacks color and is generally uninspiring. To bring in a pop of color, Tiffany and Donna change the color of the bed's headboard from dull gray to bright red using fabric spray paint, and raise the headboard to make the room feel bigger. A barrel light in the ceiling above the bed has a translucent acrylic bottom, so Donna and Tiffany drill small holes in the acrylic and using clear fishing line to attach them, dangle three, four and five-inch chains of crystals from the bottom. Then they cover the outside of the barrel with light and billowy white feathers, sprinkled with a few touches of crystal, turning a rather mundane light fixture into an elegant do-it-yourself chandelier.

Kerry and Dee have just moved in to a magnificent Tuscan mansion with a grand entryway and living room with ceilings that reach to the sky. The rooms, however, are cold and bare and need to be filled with color and warmth to make them feel like home. Kerry is an executive in the hotel industry and wants the rooms to have the look and feel of a luxury hotel. Donna immediately takes note of the high ceilings and the copper, gold and green in the home's quatrefoil ceiling treatment, and decides to use those colors as the inspiration for the colors in the furnishings, fabrics and accessories in both rooms. Donna takes advantage of the majestic height of the rooms and installs luxurious, richly colored draperies that hang thirty feet from ceiling to floor. This gives the sense of glamour and grandeur that Kerry and Dee were hoping for. A tall, bare niche awkwardly pressed up against one wall in the living room is totally transformed by Nelson Nelson, Donna's custom furniture designer, into an ornate faux painted masterpiece framed by intricately scrolled woodwork, lit by an elegant antique hanging lamp. Another client, Talia, asks Donna and Tiffany to put the finishing touches on her rustic kitchen by installing reclaimed tin ceiling tiles and new window treatments that fit the decor in the rest of the kitchen. Donna removes the ceiling fan and installs rustic white tin ceiling tiles that she finds at a surplus store. The tiles clearly show years of wear, which perfectly complements the farmhouse chic tone of the rest of the room. Donna also repurposes an existing chandelier that she found in a hallway, bringing it into the kitchen and embellishing it with hanging crystals and new cream-colored wax candle sleeves. Donna also found some antique crystal doorknobs elsewhere in Talia's house and used them as anchors for the light and airy lace draperies she installed in the kitchen windows.

Former professional football player Russell Maryland and his wife Rose want to give their eldest daughter Kayra a nice surprise for her fifteenth birthday?her own bedroom. They call upon Donna to convert a drab guest bedroom in to a truly elegant space that reflects the fact that a sophisticated young woman will inhabit the room, but which also has elements of youthful whimsy. Rose has selected a large eclectic artwork for the wall that she would like Donna to draw upon for inspiration for the entire room. The artwork has a vintage feel, featuring birds, flowing script, butterflies and a stylized crown. Using that picture and a selection of fabrics Rose has suggested as a guide, Donna and Ashley transform the room into a colorful, interesting and exciting space. They remove the masculine and overpowering wooden four-poster bed and replace it with a lighter, more feminine bed that features an intricate hand-turned wrought iron headboard with four graceful iron posts. The bedcovers and pillows feature faux mink and animal prints, with a touch of silk for a feminine touch. Donna and Ashley also bring in a stylish mirrored desk and pair it with a soft fabric-covered chair that they have stenciled on the back with Kayra's initial, and which they have also festooned with strings of costume jewelry and pearls on the legs and base.The draperies Donna and Ashley install feature luxurious panels surrounding sheer, see-through fabric that adds a light and whimsical touch while allowing natural light to pass into the room. The tiered ceiling above the bed is painted a royal blue, sprinkled with gold flakes that pick up and match the sparkle in the crystals of the stunning new chandelier that Donna has installed. To pick up on the bird theme that is featured prominently in the artwork that Rose selected to inspire the room, Donna and Ashley create a one-of-a-kind mini-chandelier in a birdcage, placed at the entrance of the room.

Tim and Cindy Giles have recently moved into a new home. They love to entertain, and their first priority in the new home is to create an extensive outdoor living area that will facilitate the couple's love of having friends and neighbors over for parties by the pool. Their existing outdoor area consists simply of a covered porch, a small patio, and a pool with hot tub, and it just isn't adequate for their needs. The challenge for Donna is to create a design that greatly expands the outdoor kitchen and living area while blending in with the existing layout. Working with her contractor, Donna more than doubles the footprint of the area by having new concrete poured to reclaim a large section of the back yard. She is careful to match the texture of the new surface with the existing pool decking to create a seamless effect. Donna and Tiffany visit a stone dealer to shop for stones that match the color and texture of the existing stonework and, using these new stones, they install an enormous outdoor fireplace.Donna has a large pergola built to shade the new area and Donna, Tiffany and Ashley entwine the pergola's woodwork with decorative grapevine. On one end of the new space, Donna installs a magnificent outdoor kitchen complete with a stainless steel grill, a sink and a small refrigerator. A small bar is connected to the kitchen to enable Tim to socialize with his guests while cooking. The main seating area of the new space features an ensemble of metal outdoor furniture with cushions and pillows made of durable fabric designed for outdoor use. The colors in the fabric are rusty hues of orange, chosen to match the stone in the fireplace and the flagstone by the pool. To anchor the space, Donna has chosen a light green outdoor rug with sparkly orange accent lines, also chosen to coordinate with the colors in the stone. Throughout the space, Donna has refurbished and re-purposed the Giles' existing furniture, to help keep down the cost of the project. Another client is planning on putting their house on the market, and they ask Donna to give their kitchen a light makeover in order to make the house more marketable. To give the kitchen a custom look, Donna and Tiffany upgrade the hardware on the cabinets and paint an ornate stencil pattern on the two cabinet doors that bookend the stove, which is recessed into a brick alcove. Because there is a laundry room on the other side of the wall behind the stove, Donna is able to tap into the plumbing there to install a stylish and functional pot filler. To finish out the space, Donna replaces the two existing bar stools, which are chunky and too large for the space, with four sleeker and more stylish bar stools, which help give the kitchen a much cleaner, more inviting look and feel.

Jennifer lives in a marvelous house, with an enormous but underutilized game room that she wants to turn into a dynamic, multi-purpose family room the whole family can enjoy. She also wants to create a room with features that can enhance the talents of her musically inclined teenage children, Jayden and Jordan. The room is long, with a vaulted ceiling set at somewhat awkward angles, and is decorated in neutral brown and tan colors that don't really reflect the vibrant and creative feeling that Jennifer wants the room to have. To bring flair to the room, Donna and Ashley use fun, playful colors and patterns for the fabrics and carpet. They choose a purple zebra patterned carpet to be the focal point that will inform the style of the rest of the room, which features pillows and furniture fabrics in bright, vibrant colors. On one wall, Donna installs a large billboard style photo of Jayden and Jordan singing and playing guitar, and above a window, Tiffany creates a custom-built cornice board festooned with CD's that Jordan has previously recorded. After consulting with Jennifer, Donna and Ashley come up with a plan to turn a closed in space at one end of the room into a home recording studio for the kids. Then Jennifer and Donna take them shopping at a specialty lighting showroom where they check out the latest, most creative designs for LED light displays for the walls. When the recording studio is complete, Donna brings in American Idol contestant Jovany Javier to test the audio quality of the finished space. Donna also installs a high tech dance floor featuring translucent checkerboard squares lit from beneath by LED lights whose colors change when stepped on. Another client, Leslie, wants to turn one wall of her son's bedroom into a custom chalkboard wall. Donna and Tiffany prepare the wall by mixing non-sanded grout with paint, which creates a surface that resembles a chalkboard. They call in an artist to create an elaborate multi-colored chalk drawing on the wall, which can be erased in the same way a chalkboard can.

Mandy McKamie's husband Sammy works at home many evenings, but his study is bare and uninviting, lacking a proper desk and a place where Mandy can comfortably be when she wants to keep him company. As a surprise, Mandy wants to create a luxurious sanctuary for Sammy. Donna transforms the space into an Old World style retreat by bringing in dramatic furnishings and accessories that add a sense of comfort, style and grandeur. She installs an ornate iron gate in the arched entryway, which gives the room a regal feel, and replaces Sammy's small and spindly desk with a hefty Gothic desk made of dark carved wood, featuring curvy wrought iron grillwork on the front. Donna installs large heraldic shields on the moldings above the windows in the turret housing the desk, and hangs heavy drapes made of rich burgundy and tan fabric. On a formerly bare wall, Donna places an electric fireplace, with an intricately carved mantel and surround. Across the room from Sammy's desk, Donna creates a new, cozy sitting area for Mandy and Sammy, beside a bookcase housing a built-in wine rack. The two chairs in the sitting area combine both masculine and feminine elements, with a very feminine hand-carved filigree wood frame, and masculine hair on hide upholstery on the back and sides. Finally, Donna has an artist paint an Old World style map on the ceiling, and to add a personal note, writes the names of the members of the McKamie family on the various continents. Another client, Donna's friend Earlene, has a dining room that needs a dash of panache. Donna and Ashley totally transform the dining table's bland king and queen chairs by adding glitter spray to the fabric, painting the frames black, and attaching faux chandeliers to the back. For the table itself, Donna finds a set of colorful ruby, turquoise and bronze candle urns that she places atop a fine fabric throw, completing the colorful, unique and glitzy upgrade in the look of the room.

Tom McNeill is a hard-working research scientist who has recently moved into a gorgeous new Tuscan-style home. He needs help turning his entry foyer and courtyard into cozy and inviting spaces where he can do some entertaining as well as spend quality time alone, decompressing from the pressures of the laboratory. The entry foyer is a bare, monochrome circular space that formerly housed a fountain. The foyer leads into a magnificent open-air courtyard that is also unfurnished and bare. The courtyard features a large unused fireplace, and is surrounded by high, bare stucco walls. Donna begins the transformation in the entry foyer, where she installs a classic Italianesque stone fountain. She paints the formerly drab circular ceiling space a rich two-tone terracotta hue, and anchors it with Old-World style wrought iron chandelier. The archway leading to the courtyard is stenciled with an intricate grapevine scroll. Donna fills the formerly bare courtyard with comfortable and inviting outdoor furniture made of durable all-weather wicker, with cushions and pillows in tones of green and tan, also of a durable, all-weather fabric. On one wall, Donna mounts a custom-made mixed media piece of wall art, featuring colorful stones that match the colors of the fabric in the cushions of the chairs below. Upstairs, Donna hangs a wrought iron and candle chandelier from the ceiling of a covered balcony overlooking the courtyard, and fills the covered space with comfortable chairs and tasteful accessories. Back at her house, Donna takes on a project to transform a dark wood chest of drawers into a vanity for her guest bathroom. She wants the newly christened vanity to match an antique off-white chest of drawers in the bathroom. She and Tiffany paint the wood chest white, and apply a brown glaze to give it an antique look. They also apply an intricate raised stencil pattern to the face, using plaster to create the relief. To economize, Donna uses an inexpensive porcelain birdbath for the sink, resulting in a unique and stylish vanity that is functional, yet certain to be a conversation piece.

Chas and John Mulloy have five children, and over the years they've managed to decorate all their children's rooms, but they've neglected their master suite, which seems bare and lacks a lived-in feeling. Now they want to focus on their own space, and they call upon Donna to create a lavish sanctuary. In the bedroom, Donna brings in a new master bed featuring an ornately carved wooden headboard and footboard, and above it she hangs a large wrought iron chandelier dripping with enormous pear-shaped crystals. On a wall that was previously featureless and bare, Donna installs a new gas fireplace and has custom furniture maker Nelson Nelson adorn it with a majestic carved wood mantel and surround. On the other side of the bedroom, beside a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows, Donna turns an awkward, little-used alcove into a dramatic sitting area with architectural columns framing the entry and lush draperies surrounding the windows. A unique geode lamp sits atop an ornate circular side table between a pair of majestic leather chairs. In the master bath, Donna completely rearranges the layout. She re-orients the bathtub, enveloping it in a lavish surround of marble and glass tile. On one side, where the glass shower once crowded the tub, she builds a wall that houses a fireplace, essentially turning the tub into a hearth. The fireplace is surrounded by a shapely carved stone jamb, mantel and over-mantel. Hidden behind the fireplace is a gorgeous new stone tile enclosure for the shower, replacing the old glass enclosure that afforded no privacy at all. New cabinetry, marble countertops, and a faux-painted vaulted ceiling complete the remarkable transformation of the space. Another client has a new baby girl and she wants to create a lively and stimulating environment in the baby's nursery, but on a budget. Donna and Ashley create a garden theme in the nursery, applying a stylized tree applique to one wall, and populating the branches of the tree with colorful and whimsical paste-on figures of birds and flowers. They adorn the sunshine yellow walls with wire sculptures of sparkly butterflies and dragons, and for a final little-girl touch, they hang from the ceiling a dainty chandelier with pink crystals.

Brian and Michelle have a lovely house, but their back yard is bare, housing only a children's playhouse and an outdoor kitchen that is completely exposed to the elements and is seldom used. They call on Donna and Ashley to transform the space into a functional, inviting area that the whole family can enjoy, and which will be great for entertaining. To accomplish this, Donna and Ashley undertake a major construction project. They install a stunning, contemporary style swimming pool featuring clean, straight lines. They run the pool parallel to the house, which gives the area a more expansive look and feel. On the pool's shallow end, shimmering metallic tiles cover a gentle step-in feature that is very pleasing to the eye and allows easy access. Smooth limestone coping surrounds the pool, which also features a stunning firebox along one side. Donna installs a bank of trees against the wooden fence at the end of the pool farthest from the house, and in front of that, at pool's edge, she places an antique wooden canoe she has turned into a large planter and filled with colorful flowers and plants. The outdoor kitchen area is totally transformed by the construction of a massive limestone and timber pergola. The pergola shades the stainless steel grill, sink and countertops, which were previously exposed to the relentless Texas sun. Donna and Ashley have turned the area under the pergola into a luxurious and comfortable outdoor dining spot with an attractive weathered wood table and chairs. They have also added much-needed lighting by installing wall sconces and a low-voltage wrought iron chandelier specifically designed for outdoor use. Another couple, Kristin and Brandon, has a dated fireplace with a surround and over mantel made of heavy timbers, giving the room a more masculine feel than they would like to have. Donna and Ashley meet in the boutique to go over ideas for what they can do to give the fireplace a lighter, more feminine touch. They come up with a design to remove the timber and surround the fireplace with a large, single piece of onyx. The plan is to put lights in the recessed area behind the onyx so that when the lights are turned on, the backlit onyx will give the fireplace and the room a warm, inviting glow. However, upon installation, the crew discovers that the large piece of onyx does not perfectly fit the space, and in the process of trying to make it fit, they crack the surround in two places. This presents the homeowners with the difficult decision whether to replace the onyx, which will delay the project by several weeks, or attempt a repair. In the end, the project is a great success, and the accessories Donna and Ashley choose give Kristin and Brandon's living room exactly the feel they were going for.

Donna's client Christy has a lovely new home, but she and her husband, who travels a lot on business, have not had time to do anything with the formal living room. In the meantime, the room, by default, has turned into the kids' playroom, and is currently occupied by a large bounce house. Christy calls on Donna to help her transform the room into a sophisticated and elegant room the whole family can enjoy, and which will also be suitable for entertaining guests. The room has very high ceilings, and intricately carved moldings and woodwork surround the tall windows as well as the fireplace and large overmantel. Everything is painted white, so the room presents a monochrome effect that doesn't do justice to the impressive detail work. The room is also completely devoid of furniture, so Donna is working with a completely blank slate. Bookcases occupy both sides of the fireplace, and are topped by tall niches that rise all the way to the ceiling. Donna feels the high ceilings and the monochrome palette make the room feel open and cold. To counteract that effect, she puts large, elegant chandeliers in the niches on either side of the fireplace, and installs heavy, scrolled wrought iron doors on the bookcases. This, along with a rich amber paint scheme makes the area surrounding the fireplace much warmer and more elegant. To bring out the fine detail in the woodwork on the window wall and the fireplace, Donna's faux paint artist applies a tan and metallic gold glazing that highlights the intricate woodwork and gives the room a warm and elegant feel. On the fireplace over mantel that once housed a large mirror, Donna installs two elegant pieces of custom wall art that perfectly fit the bifurcated space.Donna frames the previously uncovered windows with an elegant cornice and luxurious fringed curtains that contribute greatly to the warmer feeling Donna and Christy were going for. Donna furnishes the room with a large, luxurious faux ratchet sofa and a matching swivel chair, both covered in fabric that is plush, yet durable enough to hold up well under daily use by the family. Other clients, Gene and Shelley Tyler, want to redo their daughter Mallory's bedroom, making it more elegant and distinctive. Donna and Ashley begin by embellishing three plain crystal chandeliers with colorful beads, crystals, necklaces and earrings, then hanging all three in the room. They also install brightly colored red, purple and turquoise draperies on the windows. However, the draperies that are delivered are too short to fit, so Ashley and Donna improvise by constructing a cornice board using a scrolled wrought iron piece, covered on one side by colorful fabric. The final touch in the room is a unique headboard for the bed featuring tufted fabric, scrolled iron work, and a multi-colored, remote-controlled night light installed in the curved frame of the headboard itself.

Jeana and Bryan Deleon are really tired of their family room. It's dated, with 1980's style ash wood paneling on all the walls. The room also has an all-brick fireplace and a living area dominated by a puffy leather sectional sofa that is large, but which significantly limits the number of people who can comfortably occupy the space. The room's color palette is monochromatic brown due to the paneling, the leather and the brick. Jeana would like to effect a total transformation, and Bryan would like this as well, while keeping costs down as much as possible.Donna creates a completely new look by painting the paneling a modest cream color, which, because it matches the carpet, opens up the room and gives it a much more modern and sophisticated feel. She replaces the dated leather sectional sofa with a stylish and colorful new scallop-backed sectional that her upholsterer Arturo creates by stripping down and restructuring an existing sofa and love seat that occupied another room. On the fireplace, Donna installs an ornate new surround made of decorative cast stone with a black fossil stone top. Donna also paints the brick in the over mantel black, a bold move that gave Jeana and Bryan some concern when she first presented the idea to them, but which they love when they see the result. Another client, Ron, has a condo that he feels lacks unity of design and that also needs a personal touch. The existing furniture is mismatched and uncomfortable, with no unifying theme, and the overall effect is rather bland. The dining table and chairs are cold and stark, there's no lighting, and the metal chairs give the dining area somewhat of an industrial feel. To personalize the space, Donna and Ashley create a display of Ron's family photographs and postcards from his hometown by framing the items and mounting them on hinged panels that they've covered in an attractive burlap fabric. In the dining area, Donna replaces the metal chairs with comfortable and plush fabric chairs, and places a matching banquette on one side of the dining table. She paints the adjoining wall a striking, yet warm, array of metallic bronze hues, and illuminates the area with a sophisticated and unique light fixture featuring large glass spheres suspended from stainless steel cables.

Donna's clients Chantay and Kenneth Brown have lived in their house for several years, but they've never been happy with the decor in their dining room. Chantay loves French-inspired design, and the dining room somewhat reflects that, with ornately carved wood in the table, chairs and hutch, and a Fleur de Lis pattern on the walls. But Chantay feels the room is bare and doesn't have enough seating for guests, and she'd like to do something that gives the room a much more dramatic and elegant feel. One side of the dining room opens into a circular turret that houses only two forlorn chairs and is definitely underutilized. Donna replaces the dining room table that sat on four legs, thus limiting the number of chairs that could be placed around it, with a pedestal-based table that opens up the seating area and allows for eight chairs instead of the previous six. The new table is substantial dark wood, with a Fleur de Lis carved in relief in each of the four corners. Surrounding the table are eight stunning custom-made corset chairs, whose contours mimic a svelte human figure, upholstered in a fabric featuring a French style pattern on the front, and which are laced up corset-style in the back. Donna replaces the existing, dated hutch with a grand, European style solid-wood hutch with intricate scrolled carving bordering the cabinet doors, and regal walking lions in relief in the middle. Donna totally transforms the turret area into a natural extension of the dining room, furnished with magnificent custom-built banquettes that hug the turret's rounded wall, and upholstered in the same fabric as the corset chairs. Another client, Kara, has a western-themed living room that could use some colorful touches, so Donna and Ashley create custom-made pillows using vintage clothing and other unique fabrics that can't generally be found in fabric stores. They add fringe and sparkly tuft buttons to create unique accent pieces that add a touch of panache and blend in perfectly with Kara's existing decor.