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Summary: For true Trading Spaces junkies!
Review: A fun, in depth look at the cult show that is so many people's addiction. The pictures of Ty alone are worth the price.
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Summary: More Than Meets The Eye
Review: Although it wasn't a complete disappointment, it was not what I was expecting. The book is basically a bio of all of the designers on Trading Spaces. There were some neat "behind the scenes" secrets. This book includes the cast's bios, personality quirks, and design dos and dont's. The number of days and the unseen supporting players needed to pull off one hour of on-air excitement and tension. As well as carpentry tips and decorating tricks that show off colorful styles-country kitsch, classic with a hint of modern, contemporary and sleek, rustic comfort, Euro chic, and even the outrageously weird .
Rating: 
Summary: Not great literature but FUN!
Review: All fans of Trading Spaces will undoubtedly find this book to be as much fun and enjoyable as I did. There are lots of personal tidbits about the host, Paige Davis, all the designers and carpenters. Lots of pictures too and great decorating tips. A fun book to pick up and browse through
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Summary: 'Tiger Beat' for Trading Spaces fans...
Review: I picked this up at the airport in Calgary after a long business trip. It turned out to be great airplane reading, but little more. Having said that, it's a fun, bright, glossy read for anyone who wants to know more about the on-camera talent. It doesn't so much go 'behind the scenes' as it tells you what your favourite stars are 'really like'. In that sense, it's really just a teen magazine for grown-ups; it even includes 'poster-size' pictures of the designers and carpenters (I suppose you could stick them on your freshly-made hay wall). Whatever you do, don't buy this book expecting a guide to interior design; this book is to decorating what 'Cosmopolitan' is to sex.
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Summary: Guilty Pleasure
Review: "Trading Spaces: Behind the Scenes" probably tells you more than you'd ever want to know about the designers and cast of TLC's "Trading Spaces": a guilty pleasure if there ever was one. But as such it is nonetheless good, strangely addictive reading much like the television show on which it is based.
Why are so many people quietly addicted to this show? I honestly think that it primarily has to do with the collective pleasure we all get from watching a group race to reach a goal against obvious odds of time, materials, egos and matters of taste.
By now, after three years we also have our favorite designers and look forward to what he or she will do with a particularly sad space.
Personally I've used several of the techniques I've learned from the show to great advantage in my living enviorment. What more could you ask of a TV show or a book?
Rating:
Summary: A great fan book, but someone's missing...
Review: If you love "Trading Spaces," this book is a must have. The behind-the-scenes info is really good (so THAT'S how they get all that sewing done...), and it's fun to read bios of the designers. There are a few tips and tricks, but probably nothing avid viewers haven't already picked up. Conspicuously missing was anything (and I mean ANYTHING) about the first season host Alex McLeod. Now, I'll admit that I think Paige Davis is a great host (and maybe even a better one), but the book treats Alex like some kind of disowned relative; the only photo of her is small, uncaptioned, and within a large collage. The episode guide for the first season does list "Alex" along with the designers and carpenters, but the word "McLeod" does not appear anywhere within the covers. If this was a "Third Season Guide" or a current magazine article it might make sense, but when I get a book about a TV show, I like it to be a more complete reference. This book would be rated a 4 or even a 5, except for the creepy (to me at least) omission.
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Summary: Would like more on decoration, less on celebrity designers
Review: There is some interesting information in this book for fans of the television series. The majority of the book is devoted to biographies of the show's designers. If you are expecting design tips or step by step instructions on some of the more clever design tricks they do on the show, save your money and wait for the sequel. Trading Spaces appears to be planning to release some books that focus on the designs. The episode guide was a disappointment, it does not contain any information that one can not get from watching the show. I would like to have seen some behind the scenes triva for each episode or a box highlighting one of the most interesting designs or creations in each episode. I would also like to have seen the before and after pictures of the rooms. It would have taken much more research, but I would be most interested in seeing some follow up-- which homeowners switched back, how did the experience impact their lives, how does the room fit in with their personalities and the rest of their homes? This is a colorful and fun companion to die hard Trading Spaces fans, and you will learn a bit more about the backgrounds of the designers and how the process of shooting an episode works, but I would have enjoyed something that focused a bit more on the designs, which I feel are the stars of the show, and something that was a little more ambitious in terms of research and new information.
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Summary: If you enjoy the show, you'll enjoy the book
Review: TLC's Trading Spaces is [addictive] to a new home owner - you watch the show once and you're hooked. At least that's how it happened to me. One Saturday afternoon, I was scanning the television and stumbled upon the show and instantly fell in love. For those that haven't seen the show, two sets of homeowners swamp houses and with the help of a designer do a two-day room re-design armed with only a $1000 budget. As you might imagine things can go wrong as the designers pull and tug the homeowners into doing sometimes outlandish things to their neighbors spaces. It's a great show that can give you a lot of inspiration and ideas for your own home. I was in Home Depot looking for a book on Tiling for a project I'm working on, when I stumbled upon "Trading Spaces Behind the Scenes" book. If you love the show, this book is for you. However, if you're looking for Tips and Tricks, then keep looking because this book is more about the "behind the scenes" than anything else. In it, you'll learn about how the show is put together from start to finish. There is a chapter dedicated to each member of the cast as well as a large glamour photo. Fans of Ty Pennington the hunky carpenter, won't be disappointed. Although I was a little disappointed in the fact that there weren't any real tips in the book, the "behind the scenes" stuff, which is what the book is really about, truly delivers. Ms. Books does a very thorough job of detailing each cast member as well as the show itself. I came away knowing more than I really cared to know, but in a good way. There's even a complete show index (seasons 1 - 3) in the back that can be really helpful when watching re-runs. If you enjoy the show, you're bound to enjoy this delightful, colorful book.
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Summary: Trading Spaces Fan Must Have!!!
Review: I am a big "Trading Spaces" fan, and watch it every weekday I can and for sure every Saturday. If you are like me, this book is for you! Like the other reviews have said, it gives great reviews of all the cast. I really understand why the designers are the way they are. For instance, Doug has never been one of my favorites, but after reading this book, I have a real respect for him and his ideas; Vern and Frank are two of my favorites, and after reading this I can see why. These are just a few insights, I still have my favorites, but I no longer have designers I have a pre-formed opinion about, I now understand alittle more about why they do the things they do and apreciate them more. "ALL" the cast and crew care so much about this show, unless you have the inside track (like this book) you'll never know really how hard they work!
Rating:
Summary: Coulda, woulda, shoulda
Review: This book would have rated higher on my scale but for some terrible copy editing that prevented me from being able to actually read through the article on Amy Wynn, for example. It seems to me that the publishers were so eager to get a book out that they really rushed the important details of the project, which is SO ironic when you think about the subject matter ("two rooms, two designers, one carpenter....") That stylistic disappointment aside, I appreciated the personal and professional insights into several of the designers for whom my affections were on the fence (can you say Hildi, everyone?) and the ones who could eat dinner at my house any day of the week (Frank, Vern and YES, Doug.) I also liked learning about Kia, since the grave blanket episode is only barely obscured by her brilliance with the hanging bed. If you like the show, you'll love the book, writing bloopers aside; and if you're just getting into the show, the book will serve as a guide for what you've missed. Worth owning; don't wait and think you'll get it from your local library. It'll never be off the "reserved" list.
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