Mega Dens - Season 5

Jill and Susan are big fans of the show, so much so that Jill tried DIYing her own Mega Den. But her efforts have completely scared the rest of the family out of the rec room. Anitra and the team to the rescue! Jill's black ceiling was meant to create the illusion of space, but makes the room feel like a cramped cave so a new grid of shiny tin tiles is the first order of business. Everyone takes turns busting stone off the dated fireplace to make way for an artsy treatment that uses scrap wood from every Mega Den ever built! Anitra wraps the massive built-ins in sleek black faux alligator vinyl and shows an inexpensive trick for making matching doors to totally hide the clutter! And the larger-than-life bar that dominated the space before? Bye-bye. In its place, Anitra and Mikey bang out a curved serving space that mixes rustic wood, rusty metal, and rocking LED lighting. Jill and Susan had the right idea for their Mega Den, but after a week with Anitra and the boys, they truly have one of the sickest Mega Dens ever constructed!

Steve and Heidi Hausler used to live the big-city lifestyle in an intown loft, but moving to the suburbs and having a family has dulled their metropolitan edge. Anitra and the Mega Dens team will help them get their groove back in a new space loaded with loft-like details. The carpet comes up to expose the concrete floor but Anitra wants to make the rest of the cul-de-sac green with envy by staining the slab a sick shade of green that screams industrial chic, then stenciling on subtle accents that call to mind an old over-dyed carpet. Using the family's collection of mismatched dressers and cabinets and then adding a few secondhand store finds, she plans a furniture collage for an unused nook that will become wicked wine storage. Steve and Heidi get busy with pieces of a smoking hot ceiling treatment- a combination of artificially-aged wood and sleek metal beams that create a cool coffered look. Custom pieces complete the vibe, including a walk-up bar with a one-of-a-kind exotic wood top, repurposed school lockers that get a hot new hue, a storage bench upholstered with funky floor rugs, and a century-old Asian antique that has to be completely dismantled before being resurrected as a sweet entertainment center that's the perfect blend of old-school cool and big-city bad.

Kitty lives in the same home she grew up in, but it still stands the way her mom left it! No furniture has been moved, nothing has been altered, only one coat of (the same color) paint in over thirty years! The home has become a shrine to Kitty's mom instead of the sanctuary it should be for her and her boyfriend Chris. Anitra to the rescue! Old paneling, faded carpet, rotted subfloor, and inadequate floor joists make way for a hip, hot hangout that's more fitting with Kitty and Chris's style. Intricate molding dresses up a huge wall to get the update party started. Then Kitty tackles an out-of-code spiral staircase, learning to weld steel safety rods onto the banisters. After they dismantle a dangerous catwalk, Chris helps construct a new system that offers great overlook views while eliminating the potential for a fall. And since this home has history for Kitty, Anitra honors it big-time. The old floor joists become a banging new dining table, which is set back into a corner with custom bench seating that offers much needed storage underneath. The team transforms a sideboard into a low-slung media console, and manhandles a 500-pound solid teak tree stump into a one-of-a-kind rolling coffee table. Even Lily the dog feels the love as her crate gets dressed up with scrap wood to tie it into the finished Mega Den, one that pays homage to Kitty's amazing mom, while providing an amazing place for Kitty and Chris to call their own.

Karri and Sandy have a son, Bennett, and their names on an adoption wait list. But their home is too cramped for family fun! Anitra and the team blow open multiple walls to create a large all-purpose space that combines full-family entertainment and dining areas all in one seriously swanky space. Anitra gets the homeowners involved in unprecedented ways, inviting them antique shopping and then giving them an entire piece of the build to do on their own refurbishing an heirloom desk. Joey takes a table originally built by Kerri and makes it the centerpiece of the dining space by adding pull-out extensions to accommodate extra guests. Sandy, the non-DIYer, aids in the building of the Mega Den's biggest item, a built-in reading nook with secret storage underneath. And Anitra goes off the wall with a chandelier made of driftwood, an entertainment center built from mismatched pieces of furniture, and her wackiest idea yet, an accent table cobbled together entirely from leftover parts that she calls the Frankentable. Far from a monstrosity, it's the most eye-catching thing in a free-flowing space that captures the family's personality and gives them room to expand in style.

The Liebs never use their formal sitting room. Literally. They moved furniture in over two years ago, and haven't set foot in the space since. The family room, on the other hand, has become an adult hangout, a kids' playroom, and a cluttered and cramped mess. Something has to be done about the wall separating the two rooms, but Art and Jen can't decide what. They've nicknamed it The Wall of Contention. Anitra has no qualms about knocking that wall down to create one supersized space that will have something for everyone. She gets Jen over her fear of color and creates the Mega Den's new mood by having the family spread the comfortable color of blue jeans on the walls. An outdated built in wet bar is partially demo'd to become a funky freestanding beverage station with high end details. To class up the room's built in bookcases, Anitra and Joey build custom doors from scratch, using a salvaged steel gate cut in half and encased in mortise-and-tenoned lumber frames. Anitra adds appliques for extra style and a touch of Old World elegance. Mikey and Art reclad the fireplace in slick stone tile, and Anitra uses tape and paint to whip up a stenciled rug with one-of-a-kind flair. Finally, with wood reclaimed from another Mega Den, Jen builds large panels that become the doors that hide secret hidden storage. And Joey takes it over the top by hand-painting the entire wall to look like an old side-of-a-barn billboard that features the name of the family dog for that extra shot of personality. They may not have ever used that sitting room before but the Liebs may never leave it now that it's a Mega Den!

Lisa Anderson has legit film credits on her resume as a professional actress. Her husband Basil and their two kids play well over a dozen musical instruments in total. But this entertaining family has no place to entertain guests. Anitra and the team will turn the unused terrace level into a multi-room retreat for them all. Lisa plays the role of a DIY diva when she helps install a theatrical wall of mirrors with added elegance in the form of trim molding. The kids get involved with a spray-painted chandelier and wall sconces that use metal chainmail for some cool vintage-meets-va-va-voom. A tin ceiling provides some glitz and glamour overhead, and a coffee bar with wine chiller and beer tap gives the whole fam a place to lounge after the show. From mood-changing LED lights to a ballet bar to an antique dressing screen reborn as a kicking media console, the entire space will soon be ready for its closeup as the ultimate backstage hangout for the ultimate family of performers.

The Goulds' rec room has become a catch-all that no one uses. Anitra's team plans to give Dad his home office, their young daughters a play area, the whole family a hangout zone, and Mom the flexibility to accommodate overnight guests all in the same space! But things get off to a funky start when black mold is discovered lurking behind the walls. After remediation, the entire build is behind schedule, and everyone needs to pitch in. Ladd helps on a kids' playloft that doubles as a bunk bed, and Cindy lends a hand on a banquette bench that transforms into a full-size guest bed. Old beams become a new multipurpose table, and a pair of secondhand nightstands are reinvented as a killer media console to anchor the family fun zone. Nothing about this new Mega Den is easy, except for the hundreds of ways the Goulds will be able to use it every single day.

Bethany Anderson and her young son David are DIY junkies who built a bar and massive fireplace mantel in their living room. But the space still doesn't feel like home. Enter Anitra and the Mega Dens gang, who demo the pair's own builds to make way for a swanky two-room hangout. Bethany builds a new bar that keeps her glassware and bottles safely contained behind built-from-scratch doors. The brick fireplace gets a futuristic new look with 3-D concrete tiles that turn the entire structure into its own piece of art. And a neglected sunporch that was rarely used for anything but storage is completely reimagined. New framing, new insulation, new windows, a new vaulted ceiling, new flooring. It's no longer a seasonal sunporch, it's a genuine room of the home so this fun fam can spread out in style. And with clever Anitra touches like an industrial-chic rolling mudroom rack and candles made from heirloom birch logs, it's a Mega Den that suits Bethany and David to a perfect T.

Dave and Orran have adopted twin sons, so turning their just-finished basement into usable space has been put on hold. Anitra and her team come to the rescue with a swanky hangout that recalls the dads' world-traveling past and offers their new family room to grow. The awkward space under the stairs becomes a killer wine cellar with a Mega Den-original wine hammock system that allows bottles to be displayed and cradled by leftover fabric. For the concrete floor, Anitra talks the crew into trying pink stain for the first time ever, with mind-blowing results. Both homeowners get in on the build, too. Orran helps construct a custom bar, while Dave cranks out a wall's worth of built-in bookcases. But the bookcase also houses a top-secret surprise, a clever reading nook that converts to a guest room when company comes! Designer details, custom creations, and high-tech toys all combine to create one of the smokingest Mega Dens the team has ever attempted!

The Black family loves to dance, and they love to dress up in costumes for any occasion. Anitra and the Mega Dens team are ready to turn their plain basement into a fun destination where this family can get the party started in style! The whole Black clan dons overalls and fake mustaches to demo the 80s-era bar, then Lauren goes to work with Mikey on a replacement: a tabletop that will pull away from the wall for 360-degree use and hide wine storage underneath. Joey uses scrap pieces pulled from previous Mega Dens to create a patchwork-themed media console that Anitra compares to hobo pants, but insists it will be a good thing. The surprise centerpiece of the room comes together piece by piece, a classic red British phone booth that will serve as the entryway to the guest bedroom and bathroom? and be the ideal spot for quick costume changes. But the family has a surprise of their own for Anitra when they show up to brick a wall of the basement wearing T-shirts with her high school cheerleader photo on them! From indestructible vinyl flooring to simple accent lighting built entirely from scratch to a kicking DJ booth complete with turntables, lights, lasers, and a fog machine hidden in a classy sideboard buffet, this Mega Den will help the Black family dance the night away!

When the Schlesingers bought their home, they were intrigued by the inclusion in the listing of a space called The East Wing. They were less than thrilled to discover it was an oddly-shaped loft above an RV garage! The space has been Ben's haphazard man cave, but will now become a full-on family hangout with the help of Anitra and the Mega Dens team. Structural issues take center stage early as ceiling supports are found to be unattached and the floor has three crazy stairstep levels just a few feet inside the door. After those problems are fixed, let the custom begin! Ben, a DIYer himself, works on a surprise playhouse for twins Carter and Chloe and a walnut railing system for the upper portion of the loft. Kelly gets her power on by sanding down a magnificent slab of solid walnut destined to become the new bartop in their party zone. Anitra and Joey get stymied, but only briefly, by some stubborn stonework that will lend an earthy elegance to the space. Then she and Joey rock some rehab by sawing apart an old hutch and turning it into two pieces of a new kitchenette that will house a fridge and kegerator and offer even more entertainment options for family and friends. Last-minute touches like a sleeper sofa for overnight visitors, a refurbished pool table, and a killer media system turn The East Wing into a true Party Central and not just a catchy phrase to sell a house.

The Gusts bought their home in a hurry, and now Dana wishes they hadn't. As a last-ditch attempt to convince her to cancel the moving men, Dave has called in Anitra and the Mega Dens team to transform their unused attic loft into the best room of the house! The space has been (and will always be) a play area for their three sons, so organization and storage is key. A series of custom built-ins will contain the clutter and are designed to make the most of the funky ceiling angles and actually make the room feel taller than it is. Mom gets handy for the first time ever with tools and helps prep a secondhand dresser for Anitra's most smashing paint job ever, a super-stylish Union Jack flag across the entire thing. The old stair railings are replaced, and the existing columns get an easy facelift with sleeves constructed from simple one-by lumber to become architectural statements all their own. Finally, the team tucks a built-in bed into one of the dormers for sleepover parties or impromptu relaxing in a swanky Mega Den that convinces Dana that her house is way cooler than she ever realized.

The Mehlbergers' rec room is guilty of Anitra's Number One design faux pas: exposed TV wires and cables everywhere! That's just the jump-off point for a total redesign that will bring swanky style to this forgotten room in their house. Anitra and the Mega Dens team construct an ambitious walnut entertainment center, with matching bookshelves, that will be recessed into the wall cleverly hiding all cables and wires in an accessible hallway behind. Lauren is put in charge of stripping away old layers of brown paint from an antique biscuit-making cabinet once owned by her grandmother only to have Anitra repurpose it as the workcenter of a brand new craft and sewing station hidden away in an unused closet. Steve rolls up his sleeves and helps build his new bar, getting hands-on with both the framing and the decorative finish detail. An intricate door panel becomes the front of the bar, with back bar storage and tall cabinets to match. The stone fireplace gets a new mantel, a chunk of live-edge tree pulled straight from Joey's own yard! And Anitra has a bright idea for reusing a collection of old crystal decanters that were collecting dust, she lops off the bottoms and turns them into hanging light pendants for over the bar! Add in a secret hideaway spot for the Mehlberger boys to hang out, read, and draw on the walls and this Mega Den easily turns the room no one ever used into the space no one will ever want to leave.