MPDP appears in a t-shirt, denim jacket, and jeans, and announces that they're in beautiful Downers Grove, Illinois. We see a shot of the homeowners, perched on a child's slide/playset, holding their four young children. Julie and Jill turn out to be sisters, as well as next-door neighbours, and will be redoing each other's homes along with their partners. Gen, Vern, and Ty are shown by some water, feeding some geese. Ty says something about a goose needing to "shave his tongue." Gen's wearing an I Heart NY t-shirt; Vern's looking mighty fine in a mocha ribbed turtleneck. Ty's wearing the slacker outfit of a short-sleeved t-shirt over a long-sleeved t-shirt. Gen will be redesigning Jill and Dave's basement; Vern will be renovating Chris and Julie's kitchen.

MPDP goes on to describe Jill and Dave as the "quiet, outdoorsy type." They're shown outside rolling some brightly coloured balls in a game I don't recognize. It's a nice, quiet, outdoorsy game, though. Jill says that the fireplace in their basement gets used a lot, but that they don't like the look of it. It's plain flat brick, painted white (with some smoke staining), featuring a shallow stone mantel. Dave's been mulling over what to do with the basement for five years. We see a shot of it: greyish white walls; white tiles on the low ceiling, many missing; three saggy, old, lamentable couches (one grey, one gold, one cream) arranged in a U-shape around the fireplace; some kind of low-pile greige carpet. He says he'd been planning to put in pressed aluminum ceiling tile and pine panelling on the walls. He also wanted to paint the fireplace and put in a new mantel. They're interested to see what will be done to the room.

There's a shot of Julie's kitchen as Jill says that Julie and Christopher hate their kitchen. They don't have enough storage or counter space, and they now have three kids. The kitchen is pretty small, with a sort of dining area just off it. The kitchen has lots of Rubbermaid-type storage bins in it; the countertops are cluttered, and there's a general mishmash of storage items and furniture in an attempt to provide enough working area and cupboard space. The cupboards are a fairly dark brown with very little detail. Dave thinks they'll see just about anything as an improvement, and will not be disappointed. Jill: "Have you seen their room? It needs work."

Cut to Julie and Chris, who are sitting on their deck playing with some action figures. Julie says their biggest problem is that their dining area no longer accommodates their family; she just had twins in May, making, I guess, five people in their family. There's a shot of their dining area: it's a plain white box off the kitchen, with grey vertical blinds in front of what's probably a sliding door to the deck; a small round pine table with four chairs, and a pretty godawful light fixture centred above that. The floor is white 12" tiles. She adds that they have peel 'n' stick vinyl flooring as their backsplash; there's a quick shot of it behind the stovetop. Julie says that's a big problem for her. It's about to be a bigger problem for Vern and Jill and Dave. They reiterate the lack of storage and workspace problem, and that it's just not working for their family. Julie says that her sister's basement is a dark, dingy-looking room, adding that they should just give her a sledge hammer and tell her where to go. Dave adds that anything would be an improvement over the current basement.