01x01 - Secret Office Space Reveal

[bunniefuu]

[upbeat rock music playing]

[Jessica] The world is changing.

Families are spending more time at home,
and they're running out of space.

It's nonfunctioning
multifunction right now,

but it needs to be
functional multifunctional. Yeah.

There is no pantry, no storage space.

[Brooks] A living room
is no longer just a living room.

It's an office, or a bedroom,
or a classroom,

and families are struggling
to make it work.

So all four of you all live together
like Little House on the Prairie?

-Yes.
-You need some help.

[Ati] That's where we come in.

[Mikel] We are reinventing spaces
in ways that people would never imagine.

You hacked this for real!

[laughs]

[upbeat pop music playing]

[Ati] I take scribbled-down ideas
and turn them into a concrete plan.

[Jessica] I use physics and robotics
to create functional magic.

[Brooks] I love to think outside the box.

Creativity is my superpower.

[Mikel]
You can dream it and then build it,

but I make it look good.

[Ati]
Together, we reinvent the way you live.

[Brooks] This is Hack My Home.

[techno music playing]

Hello!

[Jessica] Hi, I'm down here!

What are you doing under the table?

[Jessica] I'm hacking the hub table.

[Ati] Why? It already spins.

I know. I wanted to add
another really cool feature.

-You wanna see?
-[Ati] Yeah.

Guys, come over.
I wanna show you something.

-So, I wanted to hide...
-What's up?

...very important supplies for all of us.

I installed a lift system with storage.

Yes, I want to see.

We just hit this button.

[funky music playing]

[Brooks] Whoa!

Oh, you mean those important supplies.

[Mikel]
Oh, I like that type of important supply.

Oh! Yeah!

-Ooh!
-[Mikel] Yeah!

[Brooks] Cheers.

-[all] Yeah!
-Yeah. Whoo! Delicious.

[Jessica] Ah!

All right, let's talk about
the next house we're gonna hack.

[rock music playing]

Chuck and I have been married
for 13 years,

and we have
four very energetic little boys.

[rambunctious yelling]

Oldest is Simon, he's nine years old.

Simon is curious and he loves to learn.

Then there's Ian, he's seven years old.

He tends to lean
more towards science and engineering.

Arthur is four.

With all my might.

[Melissa] He's very adventurous and brave.

And Heath is our two-year-old.

Oh no!

If Heath sees
his brothers doing something,

he's right in the middle of it too.

[boy yelling]

We've lived in the house for 13 years,

and the living room
is just completely overrun

because that's where the kids
do everything.

We do have an unfinished basement,
and we've made a play space down there.

The boys are able
to play down there a few times a week.

I have a sword!

[Chuck] I'm gonna do some work.
Time to go upstairs.

But I'm a therapist,

and I work from home down in the basement,
and I need total privacy for my work.

A lot of times,
they can't be down there at all.

[boy] Let's make a play...

We love our house. It's the only place
our family has ever called home.

But we're just maxed out on space.

I'm open to any kind of help
that we can get.

Our house feels barely functional.

[upbeat industrial music playing]

[Jessica] Oh, so cute!

It is. This is such a cute neighborhood.

[Jessica] I love this part. Cute.

-Hello! Hi.
-[Brooks] Hey!

-[Melissa] Come on in.
-Hi.

-Thanks for coming. Nice to meet you.
-Thank you for having us.

[boys shouting]

Okay. Oh, wow. Hello. How are you?

-[Chuck] So, this is our situation.
-[all laugh]

That's a nice way to put it.

[Ati]
Wow, we got sword fights and everything.

-[Brooks] This is incredible.
-[laughs]

How do you even fit in here?
This room is so tiny.

This is kind of our normal chaos.

It's kind of hard
to have a conversation, so...

Why don't you go play
in your room for a while?

-All right, go play in your room. Bye.
-Goodbye.

-[Brooks laughs]
-Okay.

Whew! Okay. Now we can actually talk.

So, I believe
we're standing in the living room?

[Melissa]
Yeah, this is our TV-watching room,

our storage area, the playroom.

Pretty much everything we do as a family
is right in this space.

[Ati] How many bedrooms and bathrooms?

-And about how many square feet?
-Eleven hundred square feet.

We have three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

[Ati] Okay. Got it.

Actually, we've got
an unfinished basement downstairs.

But they can't come
anywhere near the space when I'm using it.

We've made it work, but it's not great.

Well, we gotta go check this out.
I gotta see this place.

-All right, let's go.
-Let's take a look.

Okay, watch your head.

-Duck.
[Jessica] All right, let's see the office.

[Chuck] We're going this way.

[Brooks] Oh-h*! Whoo!

Oh, wow.

[funky mysterious music playing]

-[Melissa] Our unfinished basement.
-[Ati] Wow.

[Melissa] And this is where the boys
run wild when they're allowed to.

[Ati] There's a lot of issues here.
The stairs are a little narrow.

Electrical looks like
it needs to get redone.

A lot of the framing seems like
they just kind of pieced it together.

[Melissa] Right. Yeah, we've got walls,
but then I'll walk down here

and see Arthur literally swinging
from the rafters.

[all laughing]

Why haven't you guys finished
any more of the work?

We got about this far with the contractor

and realized
that things weren't being done

how they ought to be done,
and we had to part ways.

Yeah.

We had really used all the resources
that we had on that project.

-I see. Okay, I noticed that...
-Contractors, huh?

[laughs]

So, this is the office space?

[Jessica] I think you took
the rustic thing a little bit too far.

[Mikel] And the pink insulation.

That's definitely giving you
a pop of color, so...

It's not pleasant to be down here.
And while I'm down here,

nobody else is allowed down at all.

-I'm only using this tiny piece.
-[Mikel] Right.

So, you lose a third of the house
just when you're working?

Okay.

There are exposed beams.
There's insulation hanging.

There's ducts coming out of the wall.

He has done his best with trying
to make a makeshift office.

But the basement's totally underutilized.
I don't like wasted space.

This is my instant therapy office.

-Get ready to feel therapeutic.
-I'm ready.

Oh no.

-What is this?
-Chuck.

Chuck, this is not even a drape.

-This is blue fabric.
-Normally, it stays pinned.

Right. Yeah.

As much as you would like
to think you're David Copperfield,

I'm gonna put this back up
because it's making me claustrophobic.

So, you're green screening yourself
into your therapy sessions.

And you're sitting in this chair.

All day. It's not the best.

So, this is the kids' play area
to let loose and run wild?

[Melissa]
Yep. And it's great when they can,

but it's not an option with the sound.

I don't know if you met my children.
They're real loud.

-[Brooks and Ati laugh]
-They're really loud.

And Chuck needs
complete silence and privacy.

Well, we like to use
every square foot of your house.

And we turn problem spaces
into multifunctional solutions.

And it looks like you got
a lot of opportunity down here to do that.

I love the idea
of everybody being down here.

I'm an artist, and I love painting.

So, if Chuck could be down here working,
while the kids could be playing happily,

and I could be kinda doing my own thing,
that sounds like a dream.

Oh, that's perfect.

Right now, our basement situation
puts extra stress on my wife

to keep the kids
out of here and out of there.

And she does it really well,
but it'd be nice to know

she wasn't having
to juggle all that while I'm here.

Right. Well, you've given us
a big challenge,

but there's a lot of opportunity for us
to hack this entire basement.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

[upbeat rock music playing]

Mom and Dad need a space
for those boys to play.

And Dad needs a quiet place to work.

Now that we've seen everything,
we'll go back to headquarters,

and we're gonna brainstorm,
and come up with a bunch of ideas.

Brainstorming is the best.

It's when all the ideas are flying,
flying left and right.

There's no bad ideas.
Everything is on the table.

"What's this? What's this?
Let's try this." It's a go.

It's like, we basically
introduce each other to our brains.

[both laugh]

Somehow, we have to
split the basement into two rooms.

Wall it off somewhere? Do we add walls?

[Ati] Yeah, here's what I'm thinking.

What if we shift Dad's office from here
and move it down here,

and we make this area the play space
and entertainment room for the boys?

And then we make this space
a private office for Dad,

and then build a wall to separate the two.

-What do you guys think?
-[Jessica] I love that.

[Ati] And the wall or door
to both spaces can be a hack.

That's so cool.
I've always wanted to do a round door.

No. Brooks, that's going to take up
way too much square footage.

They have those other doors
that fold up. It's kind of like origami.

And you twist it. And it folds.

You guys are full of
all sorts of really complicated ideas,

and this doesn't have to be complicated.

Could it be like some type
of speakeasy type of door?

Like something that's sleek?

Oh! What if the door was the wall?
What if the wall was the door?

Like a hidden door?

You can't really differentiate,
is it the wall? Is it the door?

[Jessica]
So, it's like one humongous something...

-[Brooks] And you don't see anything.
-Shelves.

-Or a huge creative wall.
-Yeah.

I like it.

So, those kids are so loud,
and Dad's on these professional calls.

If he's gonna have a space down there,
this needs to be soundproofed.

We can use products that are created
to basically reduce the sound.

One sheet of soundproofing drywall

is like the equivalent of layering
eight different sheets of drywall.

That's how much
sound dampening it will do.

I like that.

[Jessica]
Then maybe we can also hack a quiet area

in the office just for Mom and Dad.

That's gonna take up a lot of real estate.
We're gonna lose space really fast.

I mean, walls can move, right?

You could have spaces
that come down and up.

You could have a wall
that shifts over and back.

Let's talk about this office situation.

To maximize the space,
imagine a transformable office system.

Basically, "office in a box."
Where the walls can move and shift.

-Opens up, there's his office.
-[Brooks] Okay.

[Jessica] Maybe it closes, and now
he could have, like, a seating area,

or whatever you need it to be.

I love that.

How does it do that?

[Jessica] I have friends from MIT

that have developed
these kind of transforming systems.

I can make a call, see if it's possible.

-[Mikel] I think you should.
-[Brooks] Yeah.

-[Mikel] Why would we not?
-That is pretty cool.

Since this is a place for the kids,
I want an area in the space

where the boys can focus all their energy
on tinkering and creativity.

I'm thinking some kind
of engineering wall or table,

where we can integrate
all these kind of components in there.

And so they can start to play with
how things are reacting and interacting.

I love the idea when it's interactive
and they have a learning component.

I like the idea of everything
being contained to one wall.

But with parameters.

Like, there's no Ping-Pong table.
There's no swimming pool.

-What? Pool? Yes, let's have a pool.
-No.

All on one wall.

Or an object, I don't know yet.
Let's think about it.

I there's a lot of space down here
we can play with.

-Yeah, one wall.
-Don't tie me to one wall, Mikel.

But look, seriously, for the design,

let's make it kid-friendly
with soft furniture,

maybe some pops of blue,
some pops of green in small doses.

So it still feels clean and sophisticated.

Small punches of colors
because I know you.

In small doses.

Me in small doses? Or the color...?

-Both.
-Both.

[all laugh]

We haven't really talked
about this area right here

that's under the stairs.

[Ati] We do have some space there.

The only problem is
that the stairs are actually not to code.

So, we need to rebuild that
if we were to use that space

underneath there.

[Mikel]
So, if we were to rebuild the stairs

and make it so that they're up to code,

what if we hacked the area
under the stairs for the kids?

They can have their little fort,
their little nook, their little cave.

It's all up under the stairs.
It's contained.

-[Jessica] It's like a quiet space.
-[Brooks] Like some kind

-of hiding space underneath?
-Yes.

-Like, go in there, try it.
-[Jessica] Yeah, go.

[Mikel] And then we should get
some soundproofing and then block 'em in,

just like that, so they can never get out.

[Ati laughing]

This space is janky.

Once we bring the basement up to code,
then we have a clean slate

and we can get started working
on all the hack ideas we have.

Janky.

[horn music playing]

[Mikel] Girl, what are you doing?

Check this out. I was actually
trying to put together the prototype.

Remember, we talked about
separating Dad's office

from the rest of the game room.

So, here's what I've come up with.
Instead of making it just a wall,

we can make it into
what looks like bookcases.

-Okay.
-But we would add in a hidden door.

[Mikel] Whoa!

[Ati]
To fully utilize every inch of wall space,

we'll build floor-to-ceiling bookcases
that will span the entire wall,

but we'll hack one bookcase
to be a secret door with hidden hinges.

-I love this. Know what it reminds me of?
-[Ati] What?

Remember when we were kids,
and you're watching cartoons,

and somebody would zoom
through a door quickly,

-and the other person's looking for 'em.
-Like, where are they?

Exactly. This reminds me of
one of those "speakeasy" type of doors.

-[Ati] Yeah, that's the whole idea.
-[Mikel] It's looking good.

[funky music playing]

What do we have here?

-[Brooks] Hey, Jess.
-Hi.

Check it out. I'm trying to make
some kind of engineering,

interactive wall for the kids.

If you could imagine

that the pool noodles
were gears like this.

So, one gear is spinning
all the other gears.

So, is this a magnetic wall?

That's the easiest way
to get the gears, I think, to spin.

Because if all of these were
interchangeable gears,

and this was a magnetic wall,
then this would be super interactive.

[Jessica] I love it. I have an idea.

[Brooks] Whoa, what's that?

[Jessica] Let's imagine now,

we've got the gears and pulleys,
and then we add electronics.

[Brooks, laughing] Oh!

I mean, kids love light.
Everyone loves lights.

[Brooks] So, what if we go like this?

We could do the middle portion
as a magnetic board,

and then on the sides,
the illuminated lights.

And on the bottom,
we can hack a secret drawer

for storage for all their gears.

Oh my gosh.
It's art, and engineering, and physics.

I think we can source these light panels
and then make all the other stuff.

That's a great way
to get the boys involved.

I can call Melissa,
and they can come to headquarters

and help me paint all the gears, and cogs,
and wheels, and magnets, and everything.

Yes, great idea.
Okay, I'm gonna make more stuff.

-[Hacier] Hello.
-[Mikel] Hello.

-Hey, how are you? Good to see you.
-Welcome to Atlanta.

-Thank you.
-[Mikel] Mikel.

-This is Mikel. Hacier.
-It's so nice to meet you.

So, I brought a whole robotic chassis.
It's outside.

-Do you want to help me?
-[Jessica] Yeah.

I've known Hacier for about eight years.

We both went to MIT.

He has a company called Ori
that does transforming furniture systems.

We're going to see if we can integrate
some of them into the house.

I have friends in high places,
but when I say high places,

it's like higher bolts of fabric.
So, excuse me, MIT.

[laughs]

Here's the situation.

We are basically hacking the basement
for this family into two separate spaces.

A soundproof office for the dad

and then a play space for their four
very rambunctious young boys.

At the same time?

At the same time, in the same space.

[Mikel] You have to imagine,

we really need to maximize it
as much as possible.

[Hacier] With this chassis,

think about it as the muscle,
the skeleton, and the brain

that make this furniture system
effortlessly transform through the space.

So, picture here,
an entertainment wall on one side,

but at the press of a button,
the entertainment wall is gonna move

and then it's gonna create
a full home office.

At the end of the day,
you can leave all your work,

press a button,
and then make all of that disappear.

I love it, because then
it's this mental transition too, right?

Where, you know, here you are,
you're "work, work, work."

-Right.
-[Jessica] And then finally...

Chill.

-Work and chill.
-And chill.

-Work and chill.
-Work and chill.

If this were to come back,

we could almost make
a home theater system.

Exactly. Mom and Dad
can have their own cozy space.

[Mikel] Yes! Hello, date night.

Is there something similar

that we could possibly use
for a game room or playroom?

So, there is a pocket closet.

Think about it
like a walk-in closet on demand.

Oh, I like that.
Now you're talking my language.

This hat is fancy.

It hyper-utilizes space, right?

We get to have two things in one.

Office and entertainment system,
different times of the day.

We're hacking space and time.

-You really get excited about this stuff.
-I do.

-I am impressed.
-Right?

Who knew I needed a chassis?

[all laugh]

[upbeat synthetic music playing]

So, Ati, where did we land
on the staircase here?

[Ati] Well, we demoed the old framing
and rebuilt brand-new stairs.

-Okay.
-And now they are safe and to code.

-Okay, well, that's music to my ears.
-Yeah.

So, I'm thinking this is gonna be
a huge reading nook.

I would love to see this long bench
that goes all the way across here.

But you got to move this first,

but I could see it
stretching all the way across here.

We had a metal beam

that is supporting the house,
that we had to frame around.

So, we cannot take this portion out.

If we take this portion out,
the house basically falls apart.

Well, this area can't be left
with just empty space.

Like, it needs to be hacked
into something functional. So...

[Ati] Okay. So, what can we do?

I mean, the only thing that I can think of
is to embrace the structural beam, right?

And just hack two entrances into the nook.

We can even add
long bench seating and pillows.

Install a sconce inside,

and clad this whole wall
with light wood paneling

just so we can add
a little bit of texture.

Those kids like to jump around,
so they probably will like the fact

that they have two entrances
that they can crawl into the space.

Yeah, we can make that work, for sure.

Okay, fine.

[upbeat folk music playing]

♪ Hey, hey ♪

[Melissa] Hello!

-Hi!
-[boy] Hello.

Hey!

Hello, you guys.
Come on in. Look at this place.

Stop right there.
You're in headquarters. Look around you.

[Brooks imitates air whooshing]

Have you ever seen anything like this?

No!

-Wait, where is Heath?
-He's with the babysitter.

[Brooks] Okay, all right. I got it.
I have a special project for you guys.

I'm creating an amazing space

for you guys to build anything
your imaginations can come up with.

I have so many pieces that I'll need
to assemble to put it together.

-Can you help me paint the pieces?
-[boys] Yeah!

Okay, let's sit down.
Who's the best painter in the house?

-Mom.
-Mom is?

Grab a brush and then pick
one of the gizmos and gadgets,

and start painting it however you want.

Is it okay if we paint on this?

[Brooks] Absolutely. Of course.
You can paint the table.

-Melissa, you're an artist.
-[Melissa] I am.

What kind of things do you paint?

I mostly work
with watercolors and abstract.

Oh, I love that.

[Brooks laughs]

-Isn't this fun? What do you guys like...?
-I created a new painting technique.

[Simon] I'm painting many things at once.

We love getting dirty
and we love to paint.

[Simon] I had paint in my hair.

I used some paint on Brooks.

I painted Brooks too.

Oh boy, this is going haywire.

This is nothing new.

[funky R&B music playing]

Let me grab the other piece,
and we'll get it set up.

Sounds good.
So, this is gonna be the bookcase door,

and we just need
to build two static bookcases

that we'll have on each side.

The back of it
will be facing Dad's office.

The front of it will be facing
the entertainment room.

Okay, cool.
Were these the hinges you wanted to use?

[Ati] Yeah, we can put these in.

They're seamless, and so that way,
it will all look nice and clean.

-I'm excited. This is gonna be awesome.
-Yeah, it is.

We just gotta build two more of those.

-Yeah, I know. Back to work.
-[Ati laughs]

[upbeat music playing]

-Freddie, do you like metal?
-[metallic wobble]

You like how it sounds?

I do, I do.

Let's make some sparks.

I got my special
safety goggles for sparks.

I thought those were your driving glasses.

-Nice.
-[Brooks] So that's the center section.

I was thinking of a smaller hack

where the middle panel can fold down
into a small workstation or small desk,

so the kids can draw, paint.

-I love that.
-Anyways, let's get to cutting.

[horn music playing]

[Ati] This thing's a beast.

Oh!

-Okay.
-All right, let's line this up.

[Brooks] Ooh!

-Yeah.
-[Ati] You got it?

-All right, let's test it out.
-[Brooks] Okay.

-Uh-oh.
-[Brooks] Oh yeah, uh-oh.

It still looks like a door
because it has this overlap here.

Yeah. We need to make sure

that this side is as flush
as it is on this other side.

Okay, should we cut the door?

[Ati] No. If we cut the door,

then this portion might end up
being a lot larger than this other side.

And we want to try and make sure
that it's symmetrical.

We have about half an inch
that we need to shave off,

so that we can get the door to be flush.

So we can shave off that section
on this side instead.

So we gotta remove this whole bookcase?

Yeah, once we get that taken off
and then shuffle the bookcase over,

then we can be able
to make the adjustments,

and get the door to fit flush.

All right, take off the bookcase.
Go. You do that.

[upbeat music playing]

[Brooks] Hey, hey.

-[Mikel] Hello.
-[Brooks] What's happening?

I'm about to install
the wood finish on the reading nook,

and I could really
use your help right now.

Great. Well, I'm glad you got
two handsome men here.

So, it's just gonna go
on this wall right here?

No. Every place you see this honey color,

I want that wood technique.

-Should I peel and you stick?
-He's trying to get out of work.

But we can make an assembly line,
and we can try it.

I think it'll go pretty quick.
This stuff is super awesome.

It's like a sticker made of pine.

Right. And it's bringing the outdoors in.
I think this is gonna look really good.

Yeah.

I'm gonna put one on the side here
to give us a nice square

-to follow across there.
-Okay, perfect. I like that.

[Brooks] How do you get this one?

Can you get this?

Are you really using your teeth?
Are you really using your teeth?

Oh, I got it. Yep. There you go.

Oh God. You ask for a carpenter,
you get a beaver instead.

[upbeat rock music playing]

-How's it going, Paddy?
-[man] Hey, guys.

[Ati] Okay. So shall we screw this in now?

-[man] Yeah, while I'm holding it.
-Okay.

All right, that's pretty secure.
Let's get the header in.

-Yeah, we got it.
-[Brooks] And look, it's even flush.

Yeah, this looks really good.

[upbeat funky music playing]

[Brooks]
Feels like Christmas. Opening up presents.

I am so excited
to install these light panels.

-[Jessica] It's on.
-I think it turned on.

-You on your clip?
-[Brooks] Yeah. You?

Oh my God, that's so good.

Whoa!

Why do you think kids love light so much?

I think kids and adults
love light so much.

Like, we're hardwired to love light.

Okay, now we just have
this magnetic activity panel to put up.

-Okay, yeah.
-Sweet.

[Brooks] So let's bring it out this way.

Okay, and then that comes up.

[gasps]

-[Jessica] Nice work.
-All right, okay.

-Cool.
-It's so great.

Oh my God, they're gonna go bonkers.

This looks much more complex

than it did
when we were back at headquarters.

So, what we saw at headquarters
was basically this chassis

that is underneath here.

This is gonna be the entertainment system.
We're just setting this whole thing up.

Okay.

And behind this already has
the desk installed and all the storage.

It's super cool.

And so now, basically we're gonna use
all these pieces.

-You still have pieces?
-What?

You left out all these little parts.
You gonna finish this today?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We should be done

installing this whole office
by the end of the day.

Then we're going to start on installing
the transformable storage system

for all the games and toys
out in the entertainment area.

Okay. Aggressive. I like it.

-Why don't you go first?
-[Brooks] Okay, let me put the big one in.

All right, and I will put this here.

[Brooks] Oh, this is great.

You know what I think?

-This could be another bedroom.
-Yes!

We have just upped
the resale value of this home.

We did it.

All right, well, let's keep going.

Let's get this side table in over here.

[upbeat dance music playing]

[Brooks]
These are the gears the boys painted.

[Mikel] Let's put the books in backwards
to give it a sleek look.

[Brooks] This is a great hack,
the five-in-one game table.

[whirring]

[acoustic Western music playing]

-[Brooks] Oh!
-[Ati] There they are!

-Hello!
-Hi!

[Ati] Hey, guys. Hey!

Hi! Hey!

-[Melissa] Oh my God.
-[Jessica] Welcome home. Good to see you.

[Brooks]
You excited to go in and check it out?

I'm so excited to see.

We were able to work some magic

and hack your home to make it work
for the whole family. Everyone.

That sounds like something I need to see.

-[all laugh]
-Well,

are you ready to go inside?

[all] Yeah!

You guys go ahead.
And we're gonna be right behind you.

-[Brooks] Here we go.
-[Jessica] Yay!

[Brooks] Go!

Wow!

It's so beautiful.

[uplifting music playing]

What? [gasps]

-This is so cool.
-I cannot believe this is our house.

[Ian] Mom, we painted these!

[Melissa]
Look how great and fresh it looks!

Mom, a gumball machine!

I cannot believe this is our house.

[Chuck] We can play so many games here.

[Melissa] This is so beautiful.

Before, the basement was this rough,
unpleasant place

that we tried to make work.

[Melissa] But now it's so beautiful.

Immediately, I'm just so reassured
and excited to see what's coming.

I really love it.

-I love that you love it.
-I really love it.

It's so beautiful.

[Chuck coos]

I can't believe this is our house.

[Simon] I love our new play space.

I love it.

It's cool.

[Mikel] Well, hello, guys.

[Chuck] Oh my goodness.

-[Mikel] Are you shocked?
-I cannot believe it.

Do you remember how this space
was configured before?

There were pink fluffy stuff everywhere
with glass in it.

[Ati] That was insulation.

We put it behind the walls,
where it belongs.

Hidden.

[Ati] We changed this unfinished space

into a full, livable space for you guys.

It's so special.

I really love it.
I really, really love it.

I'm so excited.
I can't believe I get to live here.

It puts such a burden on Melissa
for the kids not to be able

to play in the basement.

[Melissa] But now, the kids have
a lovely, safe place to play,

and it just frees up so much room for me
to be able to pursue my art.

So, you're probably wondering
where we put all the toys and games.

-I have no idea!
-[Jessica] Really?

Why don't you go ahead
and press that button in front of you?

All right, here I go.

-What?
-What?

[laughs]

[screaming excitedly]

-What is happening?
-No!

[laughing]

-Whoa!
-[Heath] It's great!

[Melissa] We have a robot closet.

This is incredible.

We knew how important it was
to maximize your storage space down here.

So, a touch of a button

opens up full walk-in closet
for all of your stuff.

And then, touch it again.
Whoop! Slides back.

It's safe. It's quiet. And you have
an entertainment room on the other side.

Are we fancied out?

We're so fancy. We're so fancy.

[Mikel] All right, boys,
we hacked under the stairs

into your own personal reading nook.

And what do you think about it?

I love it!

You love it? Is it comfortable?

It's a reading lamp!

[Mikel] Before, you had this unused space
up under the staircase.

Now you have a cute little reading nook
where the guys can crawl in.

Even if they want some quiet time...

I doubt you'll have a lot of that,
but you have that option.

-I love it!
-[laughs]

One of my favorite parts
is the Westbrook's book nook.

I really like to read.

We know that you guys love tinkering,
and building, and engineering.

So we built this light-up activity wall,
so you can let your imaginations run wild.

[upbeat dance music playing]

You guys can take off all these pegs
and make anything you want.

I'm making a smiley face.

And do you guys remember
when you came to headquarters,

and you were behaving so professionally?

-[Simon] Yes.
-[Brooks] No.

[all laugh]

You were painting these gears, remember?

[Simon] Yeah, we painted them.

[Brooks] They're magnetized,
so you can just stick 'em on the panel.

-There's a hinge up there.
-[Brooks] Want to see what it does?

-Really?
-We all do.

Of course, we had to add another cool hack
to the light-up activity wall.

-Are you ready?
-[boys] Yeah!

Okay, okay. Mikel, help me do the honors.

This comes out.

-Another transformation.
-[Brooks] This sits down.

And now you have a place for painting,
arts, some crafts.

I wouldn't have guessed that was there.

It doubles as a fort.

[Brooks] As a fort, look at that!

[Ian] The new space downstairs...

We have all this time
to go crazy, like this.

Yeah. I got you first.

-I got you first.
-Noogie!

How do you guys like your wall of books?

-I love it. I love books. Yeah.
-Beautiful.

[uplifting music playing]

You have space to be able to read here.
Got lots of shelving for books.

I was really hoping
bookcases would show up somewhere

because we have so many books.
We love books.

But you know
we wouldn't just do a bookcase, right?

-I didn't know that.
-[Ati laughs]

We hacked a hidden door

-in this bookcase.
-What?

Hidden door.

Here's the handle.

It's a little book.

-Whoa!
-What?

I did not see this coming.

[uplifting music playing]

[Melissa] This is beautiful.

This is so great.
This is not a kid's space.

This is like a grown-up spot.

[Melissa] Yes, it feels like a place
where grown-ups are allowed.

So, uh, what do you think?

I think the children may never know
that this is here.

-Totally! It's like a little speakeasy.
-You don't have to tell them.

[Mikel]
So, this will be great for the two of you

to sit down, just relax
and get a little away time.

We made custom tables here with snacks.

As a matter of fact,

let's get the snacks out,
so you guys can enjoy.

And look on the side there.
We've even hacked out another side table

where you can grab
all the drinks that you want.

-[Chuck] It's incredible.
-[Melissa] It's amazing.

We love our boys, but it's so cool
to have a place where we can sit,

and have a quiet evening,
and watch a movie together.

I'm going to give you
the secret phrase that only you know.

[whispering] Open office.

Okay. Open office.

[gasps]

[laughs]

-Whoa!
-[Chuck] What?

It's an office!

Look at this!

A secret office.

[uplifting music playing]

Baby, you got an office.

[Chuck] I do.

[Jessica]
During the day, you can work comfortably.

And then, later at night,
you could retire to the other side.

I could not have imagined this.

This is gonna be a perfect place
to do my work.

[Jessica] You have this pullout desk,

tons of storage.

The chair actually moves back
under the desk.

[Chuck] Wow!

For so long, I've been providing therapy
from this little three-foot window

that was barely functional.

And now I've got all this space.

We installed soundproof drywall
and a sound-dampening panel from the door.

That way, you can have
some peace and quiet

while you're doing your work.

Wow. Even when the kids are playing
on the other side of the wall?

-Exactly.
-Exactly.

Now, because of what the team did,
I get to work in privacy,

and the kids get to play
in the same space.

I feel overwhelmed.
This is a life-changing experience for us.

I mean, I can tell you guys really
thought about what our family needed

and came up with solutions

to this whole list of problems
that we had.

And we're so appreciative.

I'm just so grateful.
It's been a fantastic experience.

[Melissa]
I'm so thrilled that we have the space

that our boys can grow up in,

and that Chuck has a place to be,
and that we have a place to be together.

And it just feels like
it gives our family a lot of new options.

Thank you, guys.

High five. High five.

You know the hugs means it's goodbye.

-Thank you, guys.
-[Brooks] Yay!

[Simon] I want a high five.

[upbeat dance music playing]