LSU alumni Bill Fernandez and Cindy Scott are taking the “chance of a lifetime” to build and decorate a home on the reality TV show “House Rules.”
Fernandez and Scott, a husband and wife team, originally from Baton Rouge, have lived in Houston for 11 years.
Scott saw a casting notice in the Houston Chronicle calling for couples interested in renovating old houses needing repairs, and she and Fernandez left their jobs for 100 days to participate in the construction challenge.
The show picked three couples from diverse backgrounds to renovate three houses in Katy, Texas, a city near Houston.
“We were the oldest couple competing against a newlywed couple and an unmarried couple in a long-distance relationship,” Scott said. “Although the unmarried couple had previous house-design knowledge, I think we had an advantage because we weren’t afraid to argue out our differences.”
The couple had to renovate the master bathroom, master bedroom, kitchen, foyer, living room, dining room, back yard and front yard of the houses, plus a “room of choice.”
Fernandez and Scott appreciated each other’s creative intuition and enjoyed the creative freedom they had when designing the house. They did not hesitate to try innovative projects, such as painting their dining room silver.
The couple stayed true to their Louisiana roots, painting the kitchen in purple, green and gold. Slate floors, reminders of southern Louisiana, finished off the room.
“The show was like Trading Spaces on steroids,” Fernandez said. “We had to complete a project every week, and we had to do all the work ourselves.”
At the end of each week, three judges, a realtor, a designer and a contractor assessed the couples’ work on home-improvement projects done without the help of carpenters.
Fernandez and Scott pulled carpet, laid wood flooring, painted, fixed plumbing and electrical problems and applied drywall themselves.
“Some of the tasks, like painting, were not new to us, but I had never installed electrical appliances,” Scott said. “Our philosophy to win was simply to work the hardest.”
Sponsors of “House Rules” showcased their supplies on the show and provided weekly winners with different types of prizes such as construction tools and furniture.
“Two of our weekly prizes were a whole dining-room full of tools and a trip to Jamaica,” Scott said.
Fernandez and Scott said the most challenging aspect of the contest is the time limit given to complete projects.
“We had to go with instinct because we didn’t have enough time to bargain shop or look around for material that best fits the job,” Scott said.
Viewers can vote for the winning couple from Dec. 12-14, and the winning team will be announced live on the final episode December 19. The winners receive the deed to their renovated house plus $50,000.