Trading Spaces in Mountlake Terrace

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — A highly covert operation was taking place in Mountlake Terrace last week.

But it wasn’t a pressing police investigation or classified military procedure. Instead, it was the popular Trading Spaces television show crew filming a new episode of the show.

The Mountlake Terrace show, one of the first to be shown in its fifth season beginning in mid October on the TLC Network, has many new twists and surprises.

Some of the changes that can be revealed for the fifth season, said Don Halcombe, a spokesperson for the show, are the designers don’t know what room they’re doing until the day of production and the home owners get to go shopping with the designers. In the past the show has had two houses (one room in each house), two designers, one carpenter and $1,000.

Another new turnabout is that it’s possible that more money will be allowed to be spent now on a room, or not — folks have to tune in to find out.

This episode filmed in Mountlake Terrace is all about the twins.

Identical Norwegian twin sisters Louise Varne-Hansen and Eldrid Varne-Moore that is, and their husbands Edgar Hansen and Andrew Moore. The two couples live just houses away from each other in a newer Mountlake Terrace development. They got on the show after Moore, an emergency room nurse at Northwest Hospital, filled out an application online. What happened next is they heard they would be on the show and then it got canceled and then after awhile of not hearing any news, they thought it was ancient history. Then, they were called again to go to a casting call at a Seattle Home Depot. They wore shirts that read “We’re the right faces for Trading Spaces” and hoped by putting the attractive twins out in front a lot would help — it did.

The casting call is also part of the show’s new fifth season format.

The show was being filmed on Sept. 9, 10 and 11 — the first day was essentially set up while the other two days were filled with a lot of hard work.

It always looks like they’re doing a lot of hard work on the TV and by what was witnessed on the Mountlake Terrace set, it is true. People everywhere were movin’ and groovin’ trying to get a lot of work done in a very short amount of time — while in the meantime being sure the other party doesn’t know anything about what is going on in their own house. It was really quite a juggle and fun to watch.

It’s not a coincidence the twins live in the same neighborhood.

“Being a twin we’re very attached — we can’t live together so we have to be neighbors,” said Louise.

Talking to the Hansens on their quick lunch break at the Moore’s house, Edgar Hansen said he was very nervous.

“I have no idea what they’re doing over there,” he said, referring to his house. “Ideas here are popping up out of nowhere and we’re changing things all the time.” He added, “I just don’t want any pastels.”

Edgar also said he’d be working, having a good time and then when the camera came on “I’d clam up.”

Louise Hansen, an orthodontist assistant in Edmonds, said she thinks it all is “very exciting,” but her husband is still kind of protesting the whole thing.

“But we’re not too worried we both have good designers,” she said as she painted new bar stools as part of the Moore’s kitchen redesign.

Along with the show’s host Paige Davis, the two designers for the Mountlake Terrace houses were Barry Wood (decorating the Hansen’s house) and Christi Proctor (decorating the Moore’s house). This particular show’s carpenter was Carter Oosterhouse who was featured in People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue.

While both sides weren’t sure what room in their houses were being designed (another new twist to the fifth season) the Hansen’s didn’t know at the time, on the other side of the neighborhood, the Moore’s were working hard at staining some shelves that would be placed in the Hansen’s redesigned family room.

Andrew Moore said just about all he can think about is what could possibly be happening at his house.

“I was trying to get Eldrid to use her twin ESP thing to figure out what they’re doing over there,” he said.

As for how he thinks his in-laws will like their new family room, “they will dig it — they’ll love it,” he said. Eldrid Hansen added, “well it’s not their style, it’s our style — but they’ll come around.”

Proctor said as a designer she likes the new changes for the new season.

“Change is good — it’s more off the cuff — more unscripted,” said Proctor, a Texan, who has been a designer for 16 years and who is starting her second season on Trading Spaces.

Both couples said they were unsure how they were going to get all the work done overnight.

“I think we bit off more than we can chew,” Edgar Hansen said.

How did they like their rooms, what did they look like and was more money spent on their designed rooms? Tune in to find out. According to Halcombe, this episode is scheduled to air 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 on TLC.