Room for Improvement

Stacey Ballis tackles home improvement and reality TV--and reminds us that sometimes life and love are better left unscripted...

What do you get when you give two hopeful singles fashion consultants and interior designers, allow them four days to perk up each other's homes and get a total style overhaul, then let their single friends celebrate the results at a fabulous party? You get Swap/Meet, the newest reality show on the network block, where major changes are either embraced or embarrassing--and Lily Allen's dream job turned nightmare.

At first, Lily was thrilled to appear on Swap/Meet. What better way for a Chicago interior designer to promote her business and enjoy some pseudo-celebrity? She just didn't think she'd be doing take after take with the ditzy host, dodging sabotage attempts, and getting caught in the middle of the fashion czars' lovers' spat. Plus, the cute, curmudgeonly carpenter on her team knows just how to push her buttons. Episode by episode, through do-it-yourself disasters and matchmaking miracles, Lily discovers that a little bit of controlled chaos is the spice of life--and love...