american living rooms

- hey, i'm kane. a couple months ago, ihelped kristin from ladylike redecorate her desk. you all seemed really into it. after that, i helped freddieredecorate her bedroom space so she could spend morestress-free time in there. i really do believe thatwe'd all be a little happier if we had our own versions of an oasis that we could go home to.

today i'm meeting up with melina, who wanted help redesigningher living space for her adult son whohappens to have autism. come on, check it out! this is your new living room. - [melina] oh my goodness! - she wanted help figuring out how to make their space uniquely adult and hopefully help them transition

into the new phases of their lives. - my name is melina fernandez-burn, and i'm a mom, and ihave two boys, 18 and 21. as a mom, you think they'regonna be children forever. now that they really are adults, it would be a great wayto bring in the new phases of adult life. it is just a special timeof coming into your own. - what is autism?

- autism is a neurologicaldevelopmental disorder. it doesn't mean they have low cognition. it just means, if they're on the spectrum, they're going to be impacted on a social, communication level, on an executive functioning level. - what is the spectrum mean? - the spectrum means somebodycan be impacted minimally, somebody can be impacted extensively.

- where does collin kind of fall on that? - he's considered high-functioning. but it's kind of a misnomer. even though they're high-functioning and very able in certain areas, they still may be challenged. maybe in an emergency,or to defend themselves, or to express. - how was collin diagnosed with autism?

- when he was about two and a half i took him to a state agency. they only assessed him for delayed speech, and as a new parent, that's the hardest, most difficult path to bedenied he even has a diagnosis. and then the school districtdeclined all services because he did not have autism. that was really a difficult time. after a year, researched a lot,

and i noticed other behaviors. finally, took him to a psychologist who did diagnose him at the age of four. - [kane] why is it importantto diagnose it earlier? - when caught young, theirbrain is truly rewiring on a minute by minute basis. if you can use that momentum of growth to remediate sensory processing issues, eating issues, balanceissues, motor skills,

those are things thatare just a big challenge for the autism community. - then melina gave me a tour of her space and i got to hang out with collin a bit. - this is where collin reallyenjoys watching the lakers and the dodger games. - what kinds of thingsdo you do in this area? - i go on the ipad, andwatch tv, i watch youtube. - what percentage of time do you think

collin spends in this area.- oh my, i would say this is 85% of his day. - where's your favoritespot in this living room? - the sofa right there. i like how it's comfy.- yeah. - the minute he gets home from school, is to take off the shoes and lay down. - [kane] what made you decideto have such a big sectional? - collin is almost sixfeet, he needs space.

- that's good to know. - well this table's interesting. - whoa.- it raises nicely. and it also stores. we don't quite need thistable as much as we did when they were younger. the wall unit is your traditional piece where all your cds, anddvds, and books go in. this nook used to be wherewe would store bicycles.

- you see kind of--- the bike tires. and this space isn't that large either. it would be great if it was used for something in particular. its not been the easiest to figure it out. - you said that you were into meditation and things like that? - i'm teaching him a little bit of the stillness of the mind.

using essential oils, i'veseen really nice impact on collin. i constantly have new ageand soothing music on. this particular area is very challenging. it's in between two doors, soyou have a very small corner. - [kane] are there anyparticular things in here that you for sure wanna keep? - [melina] no (laughs). - okay.

- [melina] really enjoy, collin and i, playing in this room is smash ball. we've gotten really good at it. (rock music) (laughing) good job. try it one more time, kane. - okay, one more time.- nice and easy. good! (laughing)

- [kane] it's like ping pong kind of. after getting a tour of the living room, i wanted to see if i might be able to help with collin's bedroom. - the space isn't too big. i don't know quite where to put this bed in terms of direction. the blinds were here, they're fairly old. they've been with us since we moved here.

now that he's 21, trying to figure out for an adult, what's the best for him. - i like the color a lot.- oh good. - of the wall. what's your favorite color?- blue. - [melina] he's great withblue, yeah, he chose it. - it's very calming. i'm taking some widephotos so i can draw on it. when's the last time you redid this space?

- i would say about eight to 10 years ago. the boys' taste, they're older now, i would like to sort ofinject their adult-ness into the space. - are there things you're afraid of? - protecting himself. that has to be one of my biggest fears is him being taken advantage. you can teach them, butyou can't be ensured.

even though he has the mosttraditional forms of autism, he's still so thoughtful. - what are some of the best things that you've learned from him? - the most important thing he taught me was what's important, sincerely. - which is?- it's all in the heart. it's just so easy to get bummed out. i mean, it's a devastatingdiagnosis for any parent.

he doesn't think so much about tomorrow. he thinks a lot about now. and the times and the years that i forgot, he taught me how to bringit back to the heart. if you didn't decide,instead of being devastated, you're gonna shift into beingthankful no matter what, it really can be a journeyof your own growth. - what are some coolthings about your mom? - she's kind and helpful.

- now that he's older,at a vocational school, i'd like to transform this space. more matches where he's at in life. (upbeat music) - after getting a tour of melina's home, taking a few photos, and getting a feel for the family's vibe, andwhat they really needed, and i got to work. i usually like to draw out potential ideas

to see what i could do with a space. the first thing you see whenentering the living room is a giant tv wall unit. it's big, it's heavy, and very 90s. my aunts and uncles totally had this in their living room. feels very heavy. i wanted an unassuming tv console, just enough to hold their electronics

and found a great onein a darker wood tone from home goods. it features a unique, sliding barn door that makes it stand out. i wanted to mount the tv. the tv was actually really light in weight and the pros from handy.com hung it up securely on the wall. just like a piece of art work.

since collin clearly loves,loves, loves his couch, i didn't want to swap it out in case he didn't likehow the new one felt. but the shade of brownreally made the couch feel way older than it was. so i wanted to change the colorto gray with couch covers. i found really great onesfrom bed, bath & beyond. they worked really well fortwo of the sectional pieces. i didn't realize how extra long

the third sectional piece would be. uh oh. - [man] uh oh, what's going on kane? - this is too small. the coffee table theyhad felt really heavy, kind of like a giant brick. i wanted to swap it out for a sleeker one, in a darker tone, withminimal compartments. i found the perfect one at z gallerie.

it looks so good, and it's functional with drawers for boardgames, art supplies, and remote controls. only two pieces of furniture are in and i'm already super excited. the blinds also feel pretty outdated here. so i'm gonna swap these outfor a row of teal curtains over a set of sheer, white curtains. i found beautiful ones, alongwith sturdy curtain rods,

from t.j. maxx. halfway through the day, it dawned on me that none of the lamps i had ordered online were here. we can't find the six lamps. they were supposed to be delivered. they're all perfectlychosen for this space. otherwise i have to runout and go pick some lamps. somehow i thought that theystill might arrive today.

so we just kept moving,hoping for the best. for this little nook area, melina had no idea whatshe wanted to do with it. after she mentioned herinterest in meditation, i knew right away i wanted to surprise her with a little meditation area. i wanted a little accent wall here. it's the same wallpaper weused for freddie's bedroom from chasing paper.

i wanted to paint overall the bike tire marks and scratches on the walls, so the room could be reset and renewed. at this point in the day, i realized that none ofthe lamps would be coming. i checked the tracking, the lamps aren't coming 'till tomorrow. if you know me, you know i love lamps. and there was no way i wasgonna reveal the living space

to the family without the proper lighting. i decided to find brandnew lamps from scratch. so i explained as quickly as i could what i wanted so they could work on it while i was gone. i don't usually panic, i'm not a panicker. i'm slightly panicking right now. i just want it to be perfect for them. somehow by a true miracle i found

all the lamps i wanted from t.j. maxx. i'm so happy, i feelbetter, i feel better, i got lamps, i got lamps. i also asked the handy.com pros to help put wallpaperabove the couch wall. i picked out a white wallpaper with a soft, leaf design from wayfair.com. i wanted to brighten up thespace while keeping it cute. they helped me cut the piecesto the right sizes to put up.

they called me and said that the wallpaper didn't have adhesive. which is different fromthe wallpaper that i used for freddie's bedroomand that was a lot easier just to like peel off. when i got back, we were down to the wire. while i was out getting lamps, i picked up a spray on adhesive for the living room wallpaper.

(intense music) while i was out, i found a giant, nine by 14 feet, gray fabric sheet for the long side of the sectional sofa. i wanna do a side table here to create a small gapbetween the sectional pieces. i found a cute, lightweight side table to break up the giant sectional feel. i wanna put a tall plantin the back corner,

one on the side table, andone on the coffee table. i found really awesome fake plants of all kinds at marshalls. i had no idea they evensold fake plants there. you can tell how happy i was. just a tree. i wanna put a giant rughere to help break up all the tan carpeting. it was kinda hard to findrugs at the size i wanted,

but eventually i found theperfect, light blue one. i wanna put a tall lamp hereand one on the side table which will sit next to a google home which i got from best buy. for the couch pillows, iwent with shades of blue. i got the piece of artworkhere from t.j. maxx, which, again, are differentshades of blue and green to emphasize the theme andto tie it all back together. so for the rest of the meditation area,

i wanna put a big piece of artwork here. i found one from t.j. maxx that reminded me so much of melina. i want the meditation areato have a bit of privacy, so i want a curtain here. i went with a white, sheer-ish curtain with teal accents. this way, the color wouldstill match the living room and the slightly more ornate design

would match the vibeof the mediation area. for the rest of the mediation area i wanted two, serene-looking lamps here, fake plants on either side, and a very soft rug. i went with a few eclectic pillows in burgundy, gold, and magenta. so for this corner of the room, i noticed that it waskind of the perfect place

to put a desk. i found one that i reallyliked from the container store. it was a darker tone andwould match the coffee table and tv console. on it would be a lamp and a plant, another plant on the floorto help fill up the space, a piece of artwork here, one with a message that, again, reminded me so much of melina.

maybe a mirror here, this way it would reflectthe big sliding glass door across the room to create an illusion that maybe it could be an actual window. - [man] what are youlooking forward to the most? (laughs) - we are looking forwardto the transformation. are you anxious, honey, aboutwhat they might change it to? - i'm just excited.- yeah.

- so moving on to collin's bedroom. melina really wanted tomake it feel more adult. since the baby blue wallswere so attention grabbing, i didn't want to addtoo many other colors. it would either clash ormake it feel more childlike. so i got this soft,light gray duvet cover, fluffy pillows, andmatching, gray pillow cases from bed, bath & beyond. i wanna center the bed,

put two wooden nightstands on either side, lamps on top of the night stands, plants on either side also. i want maybe a headboard here. i ended up getting a big sticker with wood graphic on itfor an illusion headboard. and it ended up matchingthe nightstands really well. some kind of artwork here. i got a thin, white mirror

'cause it just looked really peaceful. and it paired well withsome of the white pillows on the bed. of course, i wanna removethe blinds here also. swapping it out for neutral, gray curtains to match the gray bedding. i also layered the gray curtains over the row of sheer, white curtains. and a very soft gray rug here.

this drawer i'm moving againstthe wall with the window to open up the walkway a bit. i wanna put a lamp here, and a plant, leave up some of the trophies. in all the lamps, i put in color-changing philips hue light bulbs. this way they can either controlthe lights on their phone or they can control it through their voice by the google home i picked up.

this corner's a little dark, so i'm gonna put philips hue bloom like a fancy restaurant or something. last minute, trying toput everything together. gonna start going into place. lastly, before the reveal to the family, collin has a few piles of books and other knick knacks throughout his room and i wanted a place for him to put it.

so i picked up two, sea foam colored, storage ottomans for him to put books in. and this way it could alsodouble as seating for his room. it's coming together. it's looking good. these guys are from handy, good job, guys. it looks amazing. so after running around all day, right now i'm about toreveal the living space

for the very first time to melina and her two sons, collin and brendan. i really hope they like it. alright, come down.- okay, guys? - come on, check it out! - wow. - [melina] (laughs) oh my goodness! - [kane] this is your new living room. - wow kane, i'm really impressed.

kane!- like this desk right here? - look at that corner over there. it makes it seem like it'sin another room entirely. and even though you can usethem for different things, they belong in the same place. it's really nice the way the flow is. it's just really cool. can't wait to use the deskfor all kinds of things. - [kane] this is a surprise.

this is like a meditation area. - [brendan] yeah, feel these curtains. this is a really cozy spot. (melina laughing) - [kane] you can put your incenseand aromatherapy in there. - [brendan] that's cool. - buddy, wasn't this great?- yeah. - [melina] this is like a lair's den! - [brendan] you canjust close the curtains

and chill right here. - a lot of people want a space that is cozy and yet not very stimulating. - [kane] i know that you havetons of books in your rooms. this could be like alittle reading corner, more meditation. - [melina] brendan, you cancome just lay down and read. - see how it's pink now?- oh! - oh dang.- look at that!

what do you think collin? look at the pink lights behind you. isn't that neat?- yes. - [brendan] the pattern righthere on the wall, the leaves. that's pretty cool. can i lay down? - yeah. this is your new living room (laughs). - [melina] this is great, kane.

- what's your favorite spot? - the sofa.- yeah? - yes.- that's your favorite corner over there so i wanted to make sure i kept it the same. - [brendan] the deskis level with the sofa, i like that.- yeah. - [kane] a little more lightwith the bottom cleared. - you got the dimensions perfectly.

- [brendan] got the tv right here. i like the wall set up. - [melina] and the colorsare perfectly stimulating and very, very soothing. - [kane] you guys like blue a lot, so i wanted to go off that color tone. - [melina] and i love the artwork. you got it just right. - [kane] and then someof these artworks, too,

they reminded me a lot of what you said during the interview. i wanted to create a comfortable space for you to maybe play board games again-- - cards.- spend more family time together. - play in the yard andcome in and just relax. you really used everything that was here and you made it functional.

- let's go check out collin's room. - yeah.- we still have more to see. - [melina] oh my goodness. - oh wow. i'm jealous. - [melina] this is another transformation! the blue now really stands out, because you have the perfectcolors of white and brown. how do you like it col?

- [collin] it's good. - [melina] it's great, huh? - [collin] yeah. - this is a very small room and you made it look like a master almost. and i love the way you can walk all around and there's not that bigdresser that was in the way. - put it there in the corner, get a walk way right here.

- [kane] yeah, what do you feel? - i feel glad! - [melina] you know how toput this together, mister. - [kane] yeah, there's more storage space in the ottomans and the nightstands, too. - [melina] wonderful items here. - [brendan] yeah the plants, too. - and the lighting, it warms up the spot. - [kane] and this one is also controllable

so you can change it to different colors, whatever you're feeling. - [brendan] the transparent curtains. - [kane] he can cover itcompletely if he wanted to or just like have a little bit of light coming through. - different vibe. how do the curtains make you feel, honey? - good.

- [kane] the rug is very soft, too. - yeah wow, i think it looks comfortable. - [kane] feel these pillows, collin. they're so soft. - [brendan] that's soft. - [melina] almost like a cottage. - [kane] yeah, and the wood's like a little bit more mature. - [melina] i love this headboard, kane.

- [kane] and it's sticker. but you can't even tell. - the mirror up there, boy does it perfectly compliments the bed. really balances, this is just right. - yeah.- are you gonna spend more time in here?- yes. - alright, i'd like to see that. brendan graduating and collinwill be going to vocation,

and our whole lives are reallykinda going into adulthood. and yet, we wanna be together. so you've given us a great,developed, mature space so thank you for all your hard work. i so appreciate it. thank all of you. - thank you, collin.- good seeing you. - thank you so much. what do you hope for 20to 30 years from now?

- what i hope for for collin in his future is the same that i hopefor my neurotypical son. i want him to feel confidentin seeking out his own path. no one has a perfect life, but that's something that'svery meaningful to me. is that he gets to choose thesame way we all get to choose. i just wanna keepequipping him in that way. - i think we all put in a lot of sweat, and energy, and muscle.

honestly, just seeing collin excited and jumping on his rug, really made it all worth it. the family seemed soexcited, feeling renewed, and that's always the goal at home. you're trying to recharge. can't wait to see how they experience it throughout the week,and months, and years. - really have impacted our life here.

- until next time. rest well, you deserve it. (electronic music)

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