Local HGTV Vets Look Back at Home Makeover

When the house is a mess, the yard is wrecked and there is no moolah in sight to fix the problem, everyone probably wishes a home makeover show could step in and takeover.

Lindridge/Martin Manor residents Michael and Angela Means had that wish last year, but the dream actually became their reality when a popular television show chose to turn their rundown bungalow into the spiffed-up house on the block.

On HGTV’s Curb Appeal: The Block a house on a block is chosen for a focused makeover, while other houses in the neighborhood receive mini-makeovers to increase the curb appeal and market value of the area.

“The whole point is to take an eyesore and make you want to stop,” said homeowner Michael Means.

In January 2010, Means was still living with his fiancée and a roommate in a house he purchased during the “flipping” craze. Investors would buy rundown properties, quickly remodel them and sell them at a profit.

This quick-cash fad came to a halt after the housing market collapsed, leaving the newly engaged couple to inhabit a house that could use more than a couple of facelifts.

So Means applied to the show along with more than 1,000 other applicants. The group was narrowed to 16, and after a screen test, their northeast Atlanta home was ready for its close-up.

“Once they get in there it just happens,” Angela said.

The crew worked for seven days straight in May from about 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“They just brought us in and showed us the blueprints and said this is what we’re going to do,” Michael said.

The Means home received the most dramatic changes with a new paint job, landscaping, a renovated porch and textured brick. In line with other episodes of the show, the two houses next door to the Means received new landscaping and updated railings.

“It feels good every time we pull up to the house we’re like, man, that’s a good looking house,” Michael said.

Although it’s been some time since the show originally aired last August — the couple recently celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary — the Means say reruns of the show have brought them some fame.

“We’ve gotten a lot of people who we haven’t seen in years who are seeing us on the show,” Angela said. “It was definitely a way to get introduced to the neighborhood.”

Curb Appeal Veterans Michael and Angela Means shared some tips with Patch about how to get on a makeover show.

1.     Attitude is everything. Angela said energy and enthusiasm paved the way to the small screen. During the show’s initial screening, the couple answered the door with Angela riding on her fiancé’s back.

2.     Try and have a story to share. Don’t make anything up, but having a personal story to share with the producers may impact your chances. Michael and Angela were newlyweds stuck in an eyesore. Make your life work for the camera.

3.     Be flexible. It takes a certain amount of flexibility to have strangers in your home for 10+ hours a day, especially when they come in with your home’s blueprints and their own plan of attack.