Chip Wade - Expert Craftsman

The episode of HGTV Showdown that I starred in finally aired. Seeing it on TV took me back to just how intense the show actually was! The premise of the show is that two teams comprised of two HGTV personalities compete in both the design and execution of a makeover in just five hours. I was chosen as the team captain and my partner was Lauren Lake, from Spice Up My Kitchen. We were up against Gary Gragg, from Superscapes, and Frank Fontana, from Design on a Dime, in a front yard makeover. Let the battle of the landscapers begin! 

The most stressful part of participating on the show was the camera crews chasing us around the entire time. They would interrupt us in the middle of the project to do spontaneous interviews. The whole time I was thinking, “I don’t have time for this! I need to keep working!” Lauren and I butted heads when it came to the paint colors and it was a mad dash at the end, but everything came together beautifully. Although we didn’t get to finish everything I had envisioned, I was really proud of the final product. And, so was the homeowner—we won the competition!

You can check out clips or the entire episode at: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv-showdown/show/index.html

Last week my family and I headed up to the Mohawk ColorCenter National Convention in Washington, D.C. The event was hosted at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, set along the Potomac River. Interacting with the retailers is always my favorite part of the convention and I truly enjoyed meeting all of the ColorCenter retail partners.

On Friday night, Mohawk rented out the National Air & Space Museum. I felt like a kid again, touring the museum and imagining being in those old airplanes. My family and I took a night tour of the city on the way back to the hotel. It was a memorable experience, seeing all of the historic monuments, especially since this was my first time back to the nation’s capital since middle school.

We also had a blast attending the Gala on Saturday night. My wife loves 80’s music so we were both excited about the Kenny Loggins concert following dinner. He put on a rocking show and it was the perfect way to wrap up the weekend!

We just returned from the Mohawk FloorScapes Convention, hosted at the Gaylord hotel in Orlando, Florida. This was my first big event since I became the Mohawk Handyman. I didn’t know what to expect, but I had a blast. Over 400 retailers from across the country gathered together and I met close to every one of them! I am so excited about my partnership with Mohawk. Not only does the company produce top quality products, but they are also family-focused. I was able to bring my wife, Pauli, and our three month old son, Mac, along to the convention. It seemed as though people were just as excited to meet them as they were to meet me!

Since the event was close to Christmas, the hotel was decked out with beautiful holiday decorations. Even the big, jolly man in the red suit made an appearance! By the time we took Mac to meet Santa he had already gone back to the North Pole. So, guess who had to stand in for him? Yours truly! As you can tell in the picture, Mac wasn’t the least bit impressed with the beardless, bald substitute Santa. But, he did cry as if he was sitting on a stranger’s lap!

So I get a call from a wonderful lady named Kim Greenwood (the better half of Lee Greenwood…you know, “God Bless the USA” guy) asking if I would be interested in judging the Miss Teen Georgia pageant. After thinking about it for half a second, I of course said, “ABSOLUTELY!”

So, there I am asking all of these hopeful pageant contestants questions that I got to make up! Coming up with my list of questions was a fun exercise. What do I want to know about these girls that will help me decide if they are worthy of the crown?  I can tell you one thing, if one more of the girls told me they were going to be a doctor or a veterinarian or some type of special cause advocate I was going to get sick. I was like, seriously? These girls were so well trained that they just looked me back in the eyes, smiled and said “yes, sir.” It was hard to get real answers from these girls, but that was just part of the challenge!  I won’t spill all the beans on my questions but I will say that I made one girl cry! Booya. How many people can say that they were able to question a beauty pageant contestant to tears? Don’t worry—she was fine, just a little overemotional!

The experience was quite fun, though. They treated me and my fellow judges like royalty, caravanning us around with police escorts all over the little town of Cartersville, Georgia. And, best of all? My pick won and I proved myself worthy of returning to the judge’s table next July to judge the Miss Florida pageant!

Hey! Thanks for coming to visit.

You can see some of my recent work on HGTV’s Designed To Sell at 8:00 EST to get inspired about what you can do. It’s time to get your projects underway!

I will also be at the 2009 Mohawk ColorCenter convention on February 5th and 6th. I’ll be performing demonstrations and available to answer questions, etc. Stop by and see me!