Area woman turns trash into treasure on HGTV

Interior designer wins ‘White Room Challenge’

BY NICOLE ANTONUCCI Staff Writer

 West Long Branch resident Monica Reese won the HGTV show “White Room Challenge” by turning trash into treasure to create a mommy’s retreat.  PHOTO COURTESY OF HGTV West Long Branch resident Monica Reese won the HGTV show “White Room Challenge” by turning trash into treasure to create a mommy’s retreat. PHOTO COURTESY OF HGTV West Long Branch resident Monica Reese has been an interior decorator for 12 years, but it wasn’t until she appeared on the HGTV show “White Room Challenge” that she was given the ultimate design challenge to turn trash into treasure.

Alongside three other competitors, Reese had to design a 10-by-10-foot white space that reflected her personal style by using materials from a salvage yard.

“I panicked when they first told us the challenge,” Reese recalled in an interview on May 17. “One of my first thoughts was, how am I going to make trash look sophisticated? How do I make it look refined and finished?”

Reese realized she needed to focus on her strengths, which was to create a space that evokes feeling and tells a story.

“For years, my strength has been to try to tell a story and when I focused on that, I felt better,” she said. “It is not about one object or one color in the space, it’s about how everything works together, it’s about the whole environment.”

Reese asked herself what her story was and realized she wanted a mommy’s retreat. “This was the first time in a very long time where somebody asked what I wanted. So for me, it was a room that I could create,” she said. “I think because my life is hectic, I wanted a little retreat. I wanted to create a serene, relaxing space where a mom could go and get away.”

The main feature in the room was a swing that Reese created by using large, round metal objects that appeared to have been used in the industrial field.

“The sensation of swinging is all about relaxing, whether it’s a swing on the front porch or you’re a little kid and just chillin,’ ” she said with an accent that exposed her North Carolina roots.

Reese then placed a tree in the opposite corner and built shelving on either side to create a bar.

Chairs were created using tree stumps and chair backs, which were placed in the other corner of the room. Using more tree stumps and a plexiglass top, Reese created side tables to go alongside the chairs.

With only one second on the clock, Reese placed a light bulb in a lamp that would cast shadows on the wall to create dimension.

The biggest challenge was the time limit, which included meal breaks and bathroom breaks.

“That was the biggest difference with a show and reality,” Reese said. “I always plan a project before I do anything, but we had 15 hours to do everything. Anything that we did took away from those 15 hours.”

Although she had the option to use the accessories room, Reese used only materials from the salvage yard.

“Anytime you can use nature or natural things, it makes it look more refined and elegant,” she said.

Then Reese was put into a room with her competitors until the judges deliberated and announced the winner.

“We were standing there, and I’m thinking I really should win this, I really think I should win this, I deserve to win this, and then they announced my name. I was overwhelmed and so excited. I kept thinking how excited my kids were going to be,” she said.

“It felt like such validation after doing this for 12 years. To be on national television and on HGTV, winning the approval of David Bromstadt was very exciting.”

Ever since Reese was a little girl, growing up in the small rural town of Lincolnton, N.C., she wanted to be a designer.

Reese often tagged along with her mother, who was a seamstress, practically growing up in the fabric stores.

“Some of my earliest memories are when I was 2 or 3 years old walking around the fabric store with my mom,” she recalled. “I always liked fabric and I always liked texture.”

However, Reese did not know if designing could be a career.

Lincolnton had fewer than 10,000 people then, she said, and the biggest thing going on was the apple festival.

“Honestly, I was so underexposed that I didn’t know this could be a career. There were no designers in Lincolnton, North Carolina,” Reese said.

After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Reese began to work for a .com company, which demanded long hours and hard work.

Upon realizing that she hated the job, Reese went to Pratt Institute, a design school in New York, where she earned a master’s degree.

While at Pratt, Reese studied abroad in Milan and worked with several designers, including award-winner Courtney Sloane.

Then Reese went into business for herself for nine years.

“From the time that I said I was a designer, I started getting work,” she said. “I did residential, commercial and event design. I have designed products that I put into peoples homes, such as lighting. If it was design-related, I would do it.”

When the market crashed, business became slow and projects began to dry up. So Reese began to do showroom design for Drexel Heritage Furniture and Thomasville Furniture, until two years ago. Reese quit her job and moved with her husband, Brian, who had accepted a position as an assistant basketball coach at Monmouth University.

With more time on her hands, Reese decided to audition for HGTV.

“For years I heard people say that I should try to get on HGTV and audition for one of their ‘Design Star’ shows,” she said. “So I said OK. I have more time than I normally do. I looked it up, and they were doing interviews all around the country.”

Reese took the first train out to North Carolina to audition for HGTV’s “Design Star.”

“I figured that it would be easier for me to get on there, because it is less competition, so I hopped on a train with my two kids,” Reese said. “We go to the audition in North Carolina, and nothing. I don’t get a call back.”

When another audition opened in New York City, Reese drove into the city first thing in the morning to be the first person in line.

“There were hundreds and hundreds of people auditioning that day. I was the first person they saw, and I got a call,” she said, adding that that was when she learned about “White Room Challenge.”

“We all thought we were auditioning for ‘Design Star.’ When we got the call back, we found out that it was for a new show that is a spinoff, which was ‘White Room Challenge.’ ”

Three weeks later, Reese was flown to Los Angeles, was booked a hotel room in Beverly Hills, and then was taken to the studio in Culver City, Calif., to film the show.

“Everything was a mystery. It was veiled in mystery,” she said. “They are covering up the guest list and judges’ names on the doors so you can’t see who it is. We walk into the studio, and they catch it on the camera. David Bromstadt walks out and says, ‘Hello. Welcome to “White Room Challenge.’ ”

It was on camera that the contestants were told to turn trash into treasure. It was a challenge, which Reese took to heart and earned the $10,000 prize.

Reese used the money to take her children to Washington, D.C., and to launch her website, monicareese.com.

As the thrill of being a winner on HGTV slowly fades, Reese hopes to one day host her own HGTV show, which will focus on how to design a rental.

“There is a huge opportunity for people like me. Because I move around a lot, I am supersensitive to renting. I think that market gets overlooked a lot of the time,” she explained, “so I would really like to do a show, whether it is a TV show, Web show, or HGTV show, that focuses on people who are nomads like me.”

Although Reese is not sure how she will do it, she is determined to help her fellow nomad.

“I am from Lincolnton, North Carolina, and I ended up on HGTV winning $10,000,” she said. “That is huge in itself, but I want to keep pushing the envelope.”