Host, Real Estate Road Test, America's Ugliest and Moving Up
Designer, Trading Spaces
Doug Wilson is a modern day Renaissance man - a designer, author, television showman and philanthropist. While he is perhaps best known as the "colorful" designer for his daring, high-impact rooms on TLC's hit series "Trading Spaces," this small-town boy turned design-phenom extends well beyond his television persona. Raised five miles outside the town limits of Broadlands, Ill. (population: 350), Wilson uses the purity and serenity of his childhood home as inspiration for melding organic elements with a fresh, sophisticated and inherently American sense of style.
His designs are unconventionally stylish and urbane, and Wilson has packaged his expertise into a uniquely comprehensive portfolio. He has hosted four television shows on TLC - "Trading Spaces," "America's Ugliest" and "Moving Up." His latest show, TLC's "Real Estate Road Test," hit the airwaves in January 2009. Clarkson Potter/Random House published his debut design book, Doug's Rooms, and Doug pens regular design columns for In Touch Weekly and Signature Kitchens & Baths.
Wilson's unique design sensibility has caught the attention of Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan, New York's elite including Barbara Walters and Mayor Michael Bloomberg; renowned designers Jamie Drake, Albert Hadley and Alexa Hampton; and national media. His designs have been featured on the "TODAY Show," "The Rachael Ray Show," "In the Loop With iVillage," "E! News," "Access Hollywood," "The View," CNN and FOX News Channel as well as in House Beautiful, House & Garden, InStyle Home, Elle Décor, Cosmopolitan, At Home With Century 21 and the New York Times.
A master of intricate wall treatments and decorative painting techniques, Wilson often showcases his bold and powerful 21st-century design sense. From a table suspended in midair in an elegant yellow and black dining room to a space created as an exact replica of a Pullman car, Wilson is not afraid to tackle big challenges in a remarkable way. His fearless approach to design has resulted in furniture literally tossed out of a three-story window, tears in an infamous
Trading Spaces episode, and even an unexpected kiss from a grateful homeowner.
While Wilson is bringing unconventional design into the homes of viewers across the nation, he is also working to make "doable" design accessible to everyone - not just those lucky few who are chosen to appear on an interior design television show or who can afford a high-end decorator. In his highly anticipated debut book Doug's Rooms, Wilson provides room design ideas, pictorial how-tos, and decorating advice encouraging readers to focus on a specific touchstone for each room - a swatch of fabric, a favorite knick-knack or a thrift-shop treasure - to create their space.
Wilson also is a man with a big imagination and huge heart. Motivated by his nephew's personal experience with Rhabdoid cancer of the kidney, one of the most aggressive and lethal malignancies in pediatric oncology, Wilson is actively involved in the fight against this rare form of juvenile cancer. He became involved with the Ronald McDonald House through his nephew's stay during treatments and has taped a public service announcement for the organization based on his family's experiences.
Given Doug Wilson's comprehensive portfolio, this celebrity designer is well on his way to transforming America's homes... one room at a time.
