Up Close with Paige Hemmis

Paige Hemmis of Extreme Makeover Home Edition in Buffalo last November.THRiVE! caught up with Extreme Makeover Designer Paige Hemmis this past November. Here is what she had to say.

THRiVE!:  Thank you so much for taking a couple minutes to talk with us!

Paige:  No problem! Sorry to make you wait, I have been working on the other houses.

THRiVE!:  Have you really?

Paige:  Yeah, is that what you are doing the article on?

THRiVE!:  Yes, we will be covering the whole makeover and many of the projects that have been going on. What has been the most unique part about this show and this project?

Paige:  We’ve only done this one other time where we’ve taken on a whole neighborhood. But that was just 15 homes, and we were, like, really overwhelmed with that. What is really unique is that WNY Americorps has stepped up and allowed us to be able to not just fix a few houses but to really get into the neighborhood. We heard when we were coming to this town, “Oh, this is a rough area, this is going to be hard.” From what we have seen, it has been the opposite:  people have been opening their arms, been so loving, and the whole community has stepped out; it has been wonderful. Everywhere we go around here people tell us this is the City of Good Neighbors, and I believe it. This is the City of Good Neighbors; they are amazing.

THRiVE!:  What do you love most about working with the family as a designer?

Paige:  I love the fact that we are able to change people’s lives. At first I remember thinking that just because we are giving them a house doesn’t mean we are changing their lives. But what I have seen over the years is that a new house takes away the worries about that so they can excel in other areas. Kids get better grades. They can spend more time as a family because mom and dad aren’t working on the house. On weekends they are spending more time with their children. So it increases the quality of life, and that is pretty amazing to be a part of.

THRiVE!:  Do you do a lot of follow up with the families?

Paige:  We’ve done quite a bit in the past. Actually, the last two shows we did, I am still e-mailing the daughters, and I have a family that I am really close with from Season Two that I am still in touch with. I send them Christmas presents every year.

THRiVE!:  What sort of process do you go through when designing a room for the hero family?

Paige:  You really just have to listen to the kids, especially with little girls. I will get a lot of girls that like princesses. But what makes it different is that you really find out what they like. For instance, what do they like about princesses?  Do they like the castle? Do they like Prince Charming? Every child is different. Therefore, every room is different.
So, I really listen. Like these girls, one of them loves music. She loves to sing, but she is older.  The other girl really likes reading. She is quite a little scholar, but she is also older. So, I am giving her kind of a really pretty romantic room. I am just trying to think of what would be story book for an older child. Really it’s just listening to what the kids want.

THRiVE!:  Which did you get into first, acting or design?

Paige:  I got into remodeling homes. I had a real estate business in California. I had been doing that for five years. I had a rent-to-own business where I would help first time home buyers get into their first homes and that was really, really rewarding. I was also helping out with Habitat for Humanity, and then when I got on this show it was like, yeah, this is kind of what I am doing anyway but now it’s going to be on TV, which is really cool.

THRiVE!:  Yeah, that’s awesome. Well, thank you so much for talking with us.

Paige:  Thank you. Nice meeting you!