Jasmine Roth Reveals the Most Kid-Friendly Backyard Upgrade

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HGTV star Jasmine Roth knows that DIY home projects can be overwhelming for regular homeowners. And on the latest episode of her new show, “Help! I Wrecked My House,” we see a house that sorely needs Roth’s help.

In the episode “Hand It Over to the Pros,” Roth meets Ozzie and Lauren, who have been struggling to renovate their Glendora, CA, home. So they allow Roth to take the reins, armed with just $65,000 to redo their kitchen, living room, and massive backyard.

Read on to see how Roth transforms this home on a budget, and learn some easy upgrades that make a big difference—both inside the house and out.

A light ceiling makes a room feel more spacious

This ceiling made the space feel dark.

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One of the biggest problems Roth notices is that their living room is dark, drab, and unwelcoming. She explains that one reason it looks this way is due to the wood ceiling. This traditional ceiling gives off cozy cabin vibes, but Roth wants the space to feel more bright, open, and beachy.

With a lighter-color ceiling, this living room brightens up.

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Changing the color of the wood will help. “If we paint it white, it’ll brighten the whole room,” Roth says.

As it turns out, lightening the ceiling isn’t as easy as adding a coat of paint. The ceiling has to be sanded, bleached, and stained to get it to the right shade. Still, all that hard work pays off because the new white ceiling makes the entire living room look brighter and bigger.

Give a fireplace a face-lift by adding plaster

This old brick fireplace made the room look dark and dingy.

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Another reason this living room looks so dark is the outdated brick fireplace. To further brighten the room, Roth decides to lighten the fireplace facade by covering the brick with plaster.

For the original brick base, Roth decides against covering these bricks or ripping them out. She simply updates the color. By rubbing concrete and grout on the brick, she effectively stains the red brick to look dark gray.

This fireplace design is bright and modern.

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With the light stucco and the accent of gray brick, this fireplace ends up being a great combination of the farmhouse style Lauren wants and the industrial look Ozzie likes.

A herringbone backsplash is interesting yet subtle

This outdated kitchen needed a lot of work.

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In addition to the living room, Roth also renovates the kitchen. In fact, she transforms it from top to bottom so that the space is nearly unrecognizable.

While Roth may go back and forth on some material choices, trying to find the right fit for both Lauren and Ozzie’s styles, there’s one kitchen addition that’s a no-brainer: a herringbone-patterned backsplash.

This herringbone-pattern backsplash adds just the right amount of detail to this kitchen.

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“This is the perfect kitchen to do a herringbone backsplash,” Roth says. She explains that it’s a busy pattern, which would work perfectly in a neutral kitchen like this because it wouldn’t have to compete with anything.

The herringbone pattern looks great in this modern but understated kitchen, bringing just the right amount of “wow” factor.

Add charm and function with reclaimed wood planters

This garden is a great addition to the yard.

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When Roth first tours the backyard, Ozzie and Lauren admit that they haven’t done much in the way of landscaping. They say that they bought a few trees but haven’t even finished planting them!

So Roth plants tons of foliage to make the yard look lush and green. She also decides to take Ozzie and Lauren’s interest in plants to the next level by installing a garden in one corner of the yard, building planters out of reclaimed wood.

“I want every corner of this backyard to be about family and to be about being together,” Roth says, “and the purpose of this corner is they can grow their own food, and they can teach their kids about where their food comes from.”

Ozzie and Lauren love planters, noting that they’re very kid-friendly.

“I know the girls will love it,” Lauren says.

Use a white wall as a movie screen

With just a bit of stucco, Roth creates a convenient movie screen.

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Roth is determined to transform this unsightly yard into a fun space that Lauren, Ozzie, and their two kids will love. She installs a custom swing, a homemade chalk board, and, last but not least, a movie screen made from plaster.

“You actually project onto a hard stuccoed surface,” Roth explains, “which is genius because it’s not going to weather, it’s not going to blow around in the wind or anything like that.”

When the homeowners finally get to see the finished backyard, they love the movie screen. Lauren even points out that the family can watch “drive-in movies” from the pool. Popcorn, anyone?

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