The Vanilla Ice Project: Rockin' Renovation

Today, three hours of the first ever episodes of the DIY network's The Vanilla Ice Project are re-airing starting with Season 1 Episode 1, "Nice Nice Landscaping," at 1 PM on HGTV. More re-airings of shows from Season 2 will air on Monday, November 19 on the DIY network. Season 3 is set to launch in January of 2013.

The TV show begins by renovating and restoring a 7,000 sq ft house in Palm Beach, FL that rapper star and rock vocalist Vanilla Ice bought as a short sale after it had been abandoned and stripped by it's former owner.

Vanilla Ice, also known by his real name of Robert Van Winkle, or "Rob," to his work crew, said he had been doing home repair for 10 years before launching the show. Hands-on home renovation is a hobby he enjoys. 

Ice's first venture into real estate investment began in the early 1990s by accident, when he purchased three homes with the 20 million dollars he earned from the 1990 hit song, "Ice Ice Baby," the first hip hop song to hit the Billboard top 40. He toured the world for three years, returned to his homes in LA, Greenwich Village, NYC, and Snowbird, Utah, only to decide he didn't really want to live in any of them. "Sell 'em," he said. 

After making a tidy profit of hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said, "It can't be this easy," in an interview with DIY network ( article dated October 7, 2010 DIY network ).  It was. The real estate market was experiencing a boom.

In the early 1990s, Ice eventually settled on Star Island in Miami Beach, purchasing a 14-room home where he discovered that life after fame can be quite lonely. At first, he paid others to redecorate, but the party-themed atmosphere soon grew old. He got married to girlfriend Laura Giaritta in 1997, settled down, and started a family. He had two daughters, Dusti and Keelee. Customizing and redecorating his own home to suit his growing family's needs grew into a passion that led to purchasing other homes in need of some TLC. The hobby grew into a business, and Ice found himself doing something he truly loves: home renovation. 

Rather than build new homes that just sit vacant, and resell only after they appreciate, Ice decided instead, to turn someone else's discarded houses into dream homes. In today's buyers' market, he can buy distressed houses at a lower price as well as afford quality workers to assist him. After working his magic to create beautiful homes from tear-downs, he can then re-sell the house at a decent profit. 

In the real estate market, that's known as "flipping." However, there are good flippers who truly renovate a home, and bad flippers who only do cosmetic repairs while hiding the true problems. Rob "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle is a good flipper.

The Vanilla Ice Project TV schedule

Listings courtesy TV Guide. Synopsis courtesy DIY network.

Friday, October 5
HGTV 61, HGTVD 1250 Orlando

1 PM Nice, Nice Landscaping S1 E1

Rapper Vanilla Ice renovates a home in Palm Beach, Fla., in this series. First up: improving the landscape with palm trees and LED lighting suitable for a concert venue.
Original Air Date: Oct 14, 2010

1:30 Party Pool S1 E2

Vanilla Ice replaces an old pool and lays a new patio, enhancing the space with tiki torches and a fire bowl. Original Air Date: Oct 14, 2010

2 PM The Master Sweet S1 E3

Vanilla Ice installs a spa in the master bathroom. Original Air Date: Oct 21, 2010

2:30 A Tasty New Kitchen S1 E4

Customized cabinets are made for Vanilla Ice's kitchen while he searches for countertops. Original Air Date: Oct 28, 2010

3 PM Living Room Rescue S1 E6

A faux coral fireplace and a new bar are added to the living room in the mansion. Original Air Date: Nov 11, 2010

3:30 Rapping It Up S1 E11

Vanilla Ice and his crew put the finishing touches on the mansion and hire a staging expert to prepare it for sale. Original Air Date: Jan 1, 2011

Monday, November 19, 2012

DIY Network

1:00 pm Upstairs Reality Check S2 E6

Rob's daughters, Dusti and Keelee, help make over the upstairs bedrooms (under his supervision). Original Air Date: Feb 18, 2012

1:30 pm The Master Hideaway S2 E7

Vanilla Ice and his team design and build a master suite that features ceiling frescoes and a spa-like bathroom. Original Air Date: Feb 25, 2012

2:00 pm The Ice House Retreat Suite S2 E8

Vanilla Ice and his crew build a guest suite that features sleek white marble, a Murphy bed and a spa bathroom. Original Air Date: Mar 3, 2012

2:30 pm Baby Got Back Yard S2 E9

A backyard makeover, complete with a zip line and a fire pole, as well as high-end landscaping and a state-of-the-art sprinkler system. Original Air Date: Mar 10, 2012

3:00 pm The Ultimate Garage Getaway S2 E10

Vanilla Ice and his crew transform an old garage into a refuge for auto aficionados. They install a car lift and hurricane-proof doors, and add some rock-star bling to complete the look. Original Air Date: Mar 17, 2012

3:30 pm Elevator up to the Mega Den S2 E11

The project: renovate an unused second-floor loft and turn it into a gaming room. Included: a glass elevator that opens directly into the gaming room. Original Air Date: Mar 24, 2012

4:00 pm Boom-Boom Screening Room S2 E12

Vanilla Ice and his team turn a dated, oversized room into a high-tech theater room with an elaborate sound system. Original Air Date: Mar 31, 2012

4:30 pm Punch List Olympics S2 E13

In the Season 2 finale, Vanilla Ice and his crew hurry to finish their work on the mansion as the open house approaches. Original Air Date: Apr 7, 2012

The Adam Carolla Project – Don’t try this at home!

One of my guilty pleasures is watching home shows – you know the ones, everything from home improvement and renovation to home buying and selling.

If you have ever attempted to renovate a home and run into all sorts of pitfalls and disasters, you will truly enjoy watching the catastrophes that befall poor Adam Carolla, on The Adam Carolla Project, which airs each Saturday night at 10 p.m. on the DIY network (Channel 166 or 1254HD on Brighthouse Cable here in Orlando). A replay of the last week’s episode precedes it at 9:30 p.m. You can also find the show "On Demand" on Brighthouse cable channel 306. The show originally aired in 2005 on TLC.

Carolla is a hilarious comedian – someone who has the gift of seeing humor in everyday real life situations. I’ve listened to him every now and then on his online podcasts, The Adam Carolla Show, where topics range from cars to celebrities. Not coincidentally, he also frequently discusses his own adventures in investing in real estate, obtaining loans, and dealing with the bureaucratic red tape of taxes and permitting. It’s hard to feel sorry for the guy – he’s a millionaire – so, instead, we listeners can feel guiltless laughing at his unconventional creative solutions to his problems.

Carolla is also an ordinary everyday type of guy, not pretentious, not a know-it-all jerk. He’s someone we can all relate to.

In the TV show, Carolla has decided to take on the self-prescribed challenge of buying a run down home in prosperous Orange County, California, renovating it using only his own money, and reselling it for a million dollars. The year is 2005 and the housing market is still peaking. After scouring the Los Angeles area, Carolla purchases his own childhood home where he grew up for about $740K from his father. His goal is to gut it, renovate it, and add on to it, increasing the value enough to resell the house for $1M.

That may sound like a ridiculous amount to get for a home, until you put the price in perspective. Here in central Florida, this could be compared to buying a traditional neighborhood home for about $220K and reselling it for $300K after fixing it up.

Carolla’s hired a bunch of misfits, his “band of unemployable idiots,” consisting of friends from high school, buddies he’s worked with in the construction business, even his nephew. His old friend Ray Oldhafer is the most comical – anal about using a level, while refusing to wear proper shoes, and instead wearing flip flops on the job.

Every episode, there’s some sort of calamity where someone screws up royally, and we get to hear one of Carolla’s seemingly hair-brained, yet somehow practical solutions to his dilemma. It’s very entertaining. I recommend watching with your buddies after a long Saturday tackling a honey-do list, while enjoying a nice refreshing beverage. Hearing Carolla’s problems will make your own seem less monumental, and you’ll rest easy that night, feeling a bit more intelligent and competent.