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  • What makes a home for me is there's an emotional connection

  • Some memories, warmth, and the people that are in it

  • I'm Kyrie Irving and this is My Houzz

  • I will always be from New Jersey

  • that's where my father's house is that's where I grew up

  • It's where I get my attitude from

  • it's where I get some of my personality from

  • My dad's name is Drederick

  • Man, he sacrificed a lot

  • ultimately gave up his dream to play basketball professionally

  • He chose to, you know work nine hours a day

  • a nine to five

  • And he would divide the time up of working all day

  • and then teaching me how to play basketball

  • or dropping my sister off at a dance class

  • He was really a super dad

  • I want to do this renovation for my dad

  • because, you know, he worked his tail off to get the house

  • and provide for myself and my sister

  • He deserves it

  • It's his first house

  • I think he wanted it to be his only house

  • That's where I grew up

  • and I respect him even more for wanting to keep it

  • But I know that there's always things

  • that he wants to improve on in the house

  • My dad's house is great

  • but I think it's time to see some new looks

  • and make the house more functional

  • and I think it should be a little bit more spacious

  • The dining room is to the right of the living room

  • the walls are so closed off

  • and it's definitely something that we just need to open up

  • From there, you walk through a small door

  • and enter the kitchen

  • Definitely fix up the island area as well as the sink

  • There are a lot of memories of me

  • being in that kitchen washing dishes all night

  • and me and my dad having really long talks

  • My dad has an idea that we're doing something special for him

  • but he doesn't necessarily know exactly what

  • He trusts me enough

  • that I'll get the right team to really fix up the house

  • I live in Cleveland and my Dad's house is in West Orange, New Jersey

  • So I turned to Houzz for this renovation

  • Houzz is the perfect app that has everything you need to get inspired

  • find a professional, go shopping and get advice all in one place

  • I went to houzz.com

  • looked up for local designers in West Orange, New Jersey

  • and along came Jules

  • Found her profile looked at some of her designs

  • I thought that she can find that balance

  • between modern and traditional

  • Jules and I scheduled a meeting here in Cleveland

  • to go over the design ideas for my Dad's house

  • Before we jump in, I want to ask you

  • about the "hungry and humble" sign on your wall, tell me about it

  • It's a mantra that my dad gave me

  • to really live by through basketball and life

  • just always having a hunger for more and always striving for perfection

  • And then humility, it's one of the most important things

  • that makes me who I am and I developed it from my family

  • Walking into this kitchen and seeing this wonderful mantra

  • that means so much to Kyrie

  • just speaks to how much family means to him

  • So is there anything you think your dad might really like?

  • So he loves really old finishes with a modern sense

  • Okay

  • You know, as blue is his favourite colour, I think...

  • Okay

  • Something to play on with navy

  • but a little flare of some colours here and there

  • - That sounds perfect - Yeah

  • Jules set up an ideabook on Houzz to collaborate from

  • She can show me different ideas she has

  • and I can add to what she has already done

  • Where I think we should start is in the living room

  • I'll go to the...

  • - To this one? - Yeah

  • I picked this picture because of the fireplace

  • Do you guys use the fireplace quite often?

  • Yeah, we use it

  • - Yes, we use it - Which is so nice

  • A lot of times, yeah

  • And to have seating around a fireplace

  • again, it just ties back to this

  • you know, wonderful tight-knit family that you guys are

  • and I'd like to highlight that in the space

  • You know, make it a fresh happy room

  • I'd like to incorporate a nice rug...

  • I think he'd like to see that

  • Okay, well, wonderful

  • Do you guys entertain?

  • My dad throws these incredible parties

  • but people are just going in different spaces in the house

  • and that's where everybody kind of lounges around

  • Some of the rooms feel a little closed in

  • I would love to see more of that light shine into the kitchen

  • So I'm sort of thinking

  • what if we could create a larger entrance into the dining room

  • maybe try to open up that space a little more

  • Speaking with Kyrie

  • I feel it's really important to break through some of these walls

  • It's going to dramatically improve how they function in the house

  • I really want to embrace that

  • and warm the dining room up as much as possible

  • When we have our family gatherings that's where we go all the time

  • In the dining room

  • I still want to keep our big table

  • I think that he would want to maintain

  • the feeling within that room

  • Right

  • And I want to, I want to keep that

  • One of the things I wanted to talk to you about

  • for the dining room is a storage piece

  • I love the idea behind it

  • I think it will be great for our big party gatherings...

  • Okay

  • And things that we're having over at our house

  • Great

  • We'll just click Add to Cart and then you just purchase it

  • and you can either check out or keep shopping

  • Seems pretty easy

  • And so one of the things that really struck me with your kitchen

  • is you have this really small island that has storage in it

  • That was all my dad's idea

  • Well, I get the idea...

  • Nope, that had nothing to do with me

  • - Nothing to do with me - What did you think of it

  • I don't sit in the kitchen

  • I stand in the kitchen

  • Okay, okay

  • Just because I know my knees can't get up to the island

  • Your knees...

  • Well, you can't get any knees because the countertop ends...

  • - All his idea - Right, okay

  • So I'd like to come up with a better solution for him

  • Me too

  • And then I would like to incorporate one fixture

  • that comes down from the ceiling a pendant fixture, in the kitchen

  • I liked this one for maybe over the island

  • Always make a statement no matter what

  • Okay, click on the piece add it to cart, purchase, and voila

  • So I've got some ideas going on about the kitchen

  • but one thing that I really wanted to run by you was the tile

  • Bold navy blue with a hint of orange

  • I like the design

  • Artistically, I think people will come in and be like

  • "Hey, where did you get this tile from?"

  • which is always a conversation starter

  • It has a wow factor about it, I like it

  • So let's get it

  • When you retire from basketball

  • you might have a new career ahead of you

  • I appreciate that, I appreciate that

  • But that's not gonna be for a super long time

  • - Yeah, no, no - Okay

  • Not for a long time

  • Not for a long time, but thank you

  • My sister Asia will be taking over the reins with you from here

  • while I go through my season

  • So I know she's excited

  • I can't wait to get Asia's input as well

  • And it is very, very important

  • very important that we kinda get this right

  • Excited

  • - So nice meeting you - Yes, ma'am

  • - Thank you - Thank you so much

  • Really appreciate it

  • I'm using Asia, my sister

  • as my other set of eyes and she's in Jersey already

  • so it works out that she can be close to the project

  • - Welcome - Thank you

  • - I'm Jules - Asia

  • It's a pleasure to meet you

  • It's a pleasure to meet you as well

  • Well then, I know you have some great things planned for us

  • Yeah, yeah

  • You know what let's start in the kitchen

  • - Yes, this way - Okay, you lead the way

  • Okay

  • We want to make this a really inviting space

  • because, you know, everyone congregates in the kitchen

  • which makes it really fun

  • It does

  • But I'd love to maybe try to open it up a little more

  • so you have more of a flow going on

  • Great idea, I'm excited

  • Let's take a look at the dining room

  • and see how we can work that out

  • Okay

  • You know, the first thing I noticed

  • in the dining room coming in is this step

  • I would love to see that go away

  • That would be great because a couple of people have tripped over there

  • Especially during his parties

  • - Yes - Yeah, yeah

  • We need to resolve that issue, absolutely

  • Yes, we do

  • So, Asia, when we were in the kitchen

  • we talked about sort of pushing out

  • This is the wall that we're talking about

  • I would love to see this wall

  • just completely open up as much as possible

  • It's hard to get your head around it

  • - Yes, it is - It's a major change

  • But what would happen here is

  • then you'll have a completely transformed

  • flow of traffic in this space

  • And it'll be better

  • You want to show me the living room?

  • - Yes - Okay, great, let's take a look

  • This way

  • Okay

  • So we don't really use this room a lot

  • All right, well we need to change that

  • Okay

  • You guys do a lot of socialising at the parties

  • We do

  • So we need to accommodate people

  • for comfortable seating and conversation areas

  • maybe some new paint colors, opening up the windows

  • Before you know it

  • it'll be a room that you guys want to spend so much time in

  • - I'm excited for that - Okay, good

  • So I think that this is gonna be a wonderful project

  • But wait, there's one more room

  • that I think we should take a look at

  • This will be a great surprise for the project

  • - Oh, I love surprises - Yes

  • - Let's take a look - Oh, excellent

  • Wow

  • So this is our trophy room

  • Tell me why your dad has so much of Kyrie's trophies in here

  • So he likes to give him his accomplishments

  • just as a gift to him like, as a thank you

  • - That's so meaningful - Yes

  • - That is so meaningful - It is

  • It's very special

  • So this is gonna be an awesome transformation

  • and a really special wonderful surprise

  • - Yes - So we need to get started

  • Today is demo day at my Dad's house

  • Oh, here he is

  • - Hey, Anthony - Hey, Jules, how are you?

  • - Great to see you - Good to see you again

  • I'd like you to meet Asia

  • - Hi, Anthony, nice to meet you - Hi, Asia

  • So this is the other side of the wall facing the dining room

  • We're gonna take the finishes off of here too today

  • So we'll be able to see right through from one room to the other

  • and even at that point we'll get a feel of the open space

  • So, Asia, throw on a pair of designer work goggles and...

  • The hammer is ready to go

  • Grab a nice big hammer

  • Let's do it

  • - Yeah, I know it's a lot of fun - Right here

  • On your mark, get set, go

  • Anthony, are you here?

  • Oh, my gosh

  • This is amazing

  • Look at this

  • And I see right through the kitchen

  • Worked out really well

  • What we saw earlier before we started the demo

  • was there was a step-up into the kitchen

  • - Yep - We got down to the subfloor

  • And how many layers do you think there were?

  • Six or seven six or seven layers of floor

  • Unbelievable

  • We were looking to lower the floor and raise the ceiling

  • Look at the ceiling

  • The ceiling's a much more dramatic change

  • than even the floor

  • - Oh, my God - Yeah

  • I'm jazzed about that we're gonna put...

  • - Jazzed? - Yeah

  • - I'm jazzed about it - Jazzed

  • Be careful here 'cause here's the other issue

  • Oh, wow, okay

  • Something that happened years ago...

  • Okay

  • And they just kept piling floor on top of floor

  • no one ever knew there was an issue

  • Oh, my gosh

  • And then we're gonna just change out the whole section

  • Okay

  • It's been four weeks since construction started

  • Asia's going to be meeting me at the house

  • to see how the progress is going

  • - Wow - Hey

  • Hi, Jules

  • - How are you? - How are you?

  • It looks so different in here

  • Oh, what do you think?

  • This doesn't even look like my house anymore

  • Oh, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

  • Yes, yes, yes

  • It was a big deal knocking down all the walls in her dad's house

  • so I am so relieved by Asia's reaction

  • At first, I was a little hesitant

  • but now that I see it come to life, it's amazing

  • So are you ready to see the trophy room?

  • I know you can see it already

  • Yes

  • - Blue - I love this blue

  • - What do you think? - I love this colour

  • Have you told your brother about this room?

  • Are you keeping it secret or telling him?

  • - Keeping it a secret - Oh, you are?

  • So you cannot let him know about this

  • Okay, okay

  • Asia is so excited about this trophy room

  • and I love that she's keeping it a secret

  • This is so different for you

  • - It's very different - I mean...

  • I think we should call Kyrie

  • - He has to see it - I love that idea

  • - Yeah - He has to

  • Okay, okay, good

  • I was in the car and I got a call from Asia and Jules

  • Hello

  • Hey, bro

  • - How are you guys? - We're great

  • How are you doing?

  • I'm good just getting out of practice

  • Well, we have a surprise for you

  • A big surprise

  • - The house looks so different - A big surprise?

  • Let me see

  • We're gonna give you a little tour

  • We're standing in the dining room facing towards the living room

  • Can you see a lack of something?

  • Yeah, the wall

  • Yeah

  • The walls are down, they're gone

  • So pretend you're at the front door now

  • So it's really open

  • Right?

  • It looks so much brighter in here now

  • It does

  • That snazzy backsplash you selected on Houzz Shop

  • is really gonna make quite a statement in the kitchen

  • - Really? - Yeah

  • - It's gonna be great - It better

  • - It better - It will

  • What was this backsplash that you chose?

  • Asia doesn't know

  • Yeah, Asia, it's really just between me and thecor

  • You and Jules?

  • Okay, well, I have something

  • that I'm keeping between me and Jules too

  • that you have nothing about

  • That's completely on you

  • and I respect your artistic expression

  • Okay, okay

  • It's really a silent competition

  • between us on whose idea would be better, so it's...

  • It's just sibling rivalry at its finest, that's all

  • It is good to see the progress that's going on, I'm excited

  • - Okay - All right

  • I love you, Shorty

  • I love you too

  • - I'll talk to you later - Okay

  • All right, signing off, take it easy

  • Bye

  • I love the fact that he is enjoying this process

  • I think he likes it

  • I'm so anxious to meet Dred the man behind the house

  • I picked up my dad

  • and we're headed to meet Jules and Asia at the house

  • My dad is extremely anxious

  • but, you know he's definitely excited

  • to finally get back to his house after two months

  • Okay, so we've got a lot to do before your dad and Kyrie arrive

  • Feeling that anticipation is a little nerve-racking

  • but I'm gonna keep my calm cross my fingers

  • and hope for the best

  • I think it's in the right place

  • I'm excited to see exactly what it looks like

  • Okay

  • But I know as much as I'm excited I know my dad's even more excited

  • And then the lamp goes on the table

  • My sister has been a great extension of me throughout this whole process

  • so I'm definitely excited to see what her and Jules have come up with

  • - All right, so I think we're good - Yes, I think so

  • We're ready for your dad and Kyrie to come

  • I'm so excited for them to see it

  • I can't wait

  • I just couldn't wait for the project to be completed

  • This is where I've been for

  • you know a substantial amount of years

  • and there's so many memories in this house

  • but just not knowing and not having control

  • I'm just really anxious to get back and to actually see the house

  • - Hello - Hey, Jules

  • Great to see you - You, too

  • I'm so excited about today

  • What's up, Shorty?

  • - Hi - How are you?

  • - Hi - I'm Dred

  • - I'm Jules

  • - Nice to meet you, Jules - Pleasure to meet you

  • Pleasure is all mine

  • - Hey, sweetheart, how are you? - Hey

  • - Good, how are you? - I'm good

  • - Are you ready? - Yes, I am, very excited

  • Have we got a surprise for you guys

  • - We're so excited - All right, let's make it happen

  • Okay, all right

  • When me and my dad walk in

  • I'm hoping that he's just as open to the newness

  • of what we created as much as I am

  • You know, we just have to go on with an open mind

  • and really trust what Jules and Asia did

  • Incredible

  • I'm like speechless

  • It looks so much bigger

  • Doesn't it feel like this is the way the house was supposed to be

  • Yes, it does

  • So the living room you'll notice we painted the brick

  • the mantle on the fireplace to give it a lighter feeling

  • Incorporated the shelving

  • now you have lots of places for family photos

  • Navy blue is one of your favourite colours

  • Yes

  • So I wanted to give you a nice large navy blue sofa

  • selected some accent colours

  • Looks great, wow

  • So it has a very warm feeling and yet remains masculine

  • In the dining room

  • your beautiful table really shines now

  • I love it

  • Wood finish gives you that Thanksgiving vibe all the time

  • It does

  • You know, family intimate environment is still here, so...

  • Yes, I love the chairs

  • These really cool tangerine chairs

  • Oh, yeah, those are nice

  • And we replaced your old storage piece

  • with a new console adding additional storage

  • The cabinet is really nice

  • You're standing where a wall used to be

  • - Really? - Yes

  • So the wall was here and we had another wall here

  • Now you can see right up to the stairs

  • Awesome

  • And then we also opened up the wall leading

  • from the dining room into the kitchen

  • We're walking through the imaginary wall that used to be

  • Yes, this is...

  • And I want to point out to you look, it's all even

  • I want you guys to know

  • that there were seven layers of flooring in your kitchen

  • that we peeled back

  • And then the ceiling went up about 7 inches

  • It seems so much larger, doesn't it?

  • This seems a lot larger

  • I want you to notice the backsplash

  • Remember, Kyrie this is what you selected on Houzz

  • I walk in and I'm speechless at first

  • and then I look around

  • and I realise the ideas that were shared on ideabook

  • were now brought to life

  • This is an exciting moment and I really just try to live in it

  • This kitchen is unbelievable it feels like home

  • but it just feels like it's more

  • like Kyrie said, like this is how it should be

  • We know how much this house means to you

  • but it's still so warm, Dad

  • and we know how much you enjoy having people here

  • and we enjoy being here as much as possible

  • Now it just gives this house more options

  • it gives it just more of an identity now, man

  • It's just now we create from this point on

  • And I think, Asia you have one more surprise

  • - I do have one surprise - A big surprise

  • So, Asia, take the lead

  • I don't really have an idea of what Asia's surprise is

  • but I know it's definitely gonna come from the heart

  • Dad, this is the new trophy room

  • Wow

  • - How do you like it? - I love it

  • It has actually all of our accomplishments

  • we have your stuff from Boston University

  • []

  • Dad, I didn't know you were keeping all this, everything in here

  • I mean, I didn't even know we still had some of your old trophies

  • I mean it, I didn't know you were keeping all this stuff

  • It's overwhelming to see all of your accomplishments in one place

  • It's not so much that

  • it's more or less the relationship I have with my dad

  • My Dad gave up his dream for my sister's dreams and my dreams

  • he knew that from the beginning

  • It's incredible to see that he has every single trophy

  • I'm sorry, this actually really means a lot

  • Just a lot of memories shared with not only my sister

  • but with my dad and for Asia to design this room

  • and bring this to life is awesome

  • You did a wonderful job

  • - You did - Thank you

  • When I got to the trophy room it was an emotional moment for me

  • It's a special moment it really is, for all of us

  • We're a close-knit family

  • and to see those guys get emotional was really special

  • This is just...

  • I'm speechless

  • I can't even conjure the words

  • but it's been a long time waiting

  • this has always been my dream to knock that wall down

  • but I never envisioned that it would be like this

  • The house was definitely a success

  • a lot warmer now, a lot more spacious

  • it opens up a lot more opportunities for my dad now in this house

  • Thank you

  • - You're so welcome - Thank you, guys

  • You're so welcome

  • Let's have a little party

  • - All right, let's go - First one

  • Start it off right

  • Hey, welcome, welcome

  • Hey, wow

  • There's more possibilities that now we can work with

  • and I think he's ready to do that

  • I love the open

  • Oh, yes

  • This is my tile that I chose

  • You picked it out?

  • - This is me - That's pretty

  • I'm just so grateful to Asia and Kyrie

  • It's just a good feeling as a parent to know your kids have your back

  • and they think about you

  • and it's just a nice gesture on their part

  • We're all gathered here today for an amazing person

  • You know, Dad

  • this is just a little bit of thank you

  • for everything that you've done not only for the family

  • but everyone else around here

  • - Thank you - Toast

  • - Thank you - Toast

  • - Toast to new memories - Cheers

  • This is a big thank you to my dad

  • for what he's done for not only me but for my sister

  • Through the technology of Houzz

  • I was able to bring the vision to life

  • I'm not claiming any team I am a player fan

  • I'm a Pittsburgh fan

  • I like seeing great athletes do amazing things

  • Me and Broad, Pittsburgh Uncle Ty, San

  • Without my dad's teachings I wouldn't be here

  • so it goes without even being said

  • how much thanks you try to give a man like that

What makes a home for me is there's an emotional connection

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