A team of Herman Miller employees helped furnish a Cleveland-area home for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, being broadcast at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC.ZEELAND – When Ty Pennington reveals a new house Sunday for a Cleveland-area couple who are blind, most of the furniture on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will come from classic modern designs by Herman Miller Inc.
That's just two days after the high-end office furniture company is featured on "The Ellen Degeneres show." On Friday, one Herman Miller chair (model still a secret) will be given away as part of Degeneres' 12 Days of Giveaways, on NBC.
Herman Miller had agreed this fall to donate furniture for the "Extreme Makeover" show, hosted by Pennington, but it didn't get final confirmation until Oct. 19: the show would broadcast on Sunday, Dec. 5, producers said. On that same October day, the Degeneres show called to let the company know its show time – Dec. 3.
Although well-known furniture designers at Herman Miller had not targeted their revered “classic modern” styles for people with physical impairment, the furniture works surprisingly well in such an environment, said Derrell Jackson. He manages the company's sponsorships and trade shows. And the last few weeks have been crazy busy.
“We had about a month” to prepare for the Extreme Makeover broadcast, Jackson said. “We actually had to truncate that time down to two and a half to three weeks, to get it all manufactured and shipped on time. There was a lot of hair-pulling and stressful days, but we have a good team.”
The family chosen to receive a vast reworking of their home got a say in the style and design of furnishings for the revamped space.
“This family chose modern classics,” Jackson said of the Sunday show's featured family. They sought the smooth, cushioned designs that will wind up bearing famous names in the industry – Eames, Nelson, Goetz, Behar. Here's a sample of the classics in the family's new living room and home office:
• Eames chair and ottoman
• Eames two-seater sofa
• Eames walnut stool
• Nelson swag leg desk and chair
• Nelson platform bench
• Goetz sofa
• Yves Behar Leaf personal light
“Working with people with disabilities, I think it was an eye-opener for us,” Jackson said. “We had never looked at our furniture that way. But it makes sense. The clean, smooth, classic lines look good, but they're very much conducive to that environment.”
A tractor-trailer emblazoned with the red Herman Miller logo delivered the goods near the end of the show.
“It was all a big logistical timing challenge,” Jackson said. “They build these homes in six days.”
An estimated 2,000 volunteers joined to pull off the five-day construction phase. During the intense building phase, 15 to 20 people worked on each floor, with contractors, subcontractors and helpers racing to meet the deadline.
“People are just so excited to participate, but they also were doing a great thing for a family that deserves it,” Jackson said. Even off-camera, no one raised a voice in the rush.
On the air
Herman Miller is showing up twice soon on two popular TV shows:
– 4 p.m. Friday, Ellen Degeneres show, 12 Days of Giveaways (including Herman Miller chair) on NBC
– 8 p.m. Sunday, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," with classic modern Herman Miller furniture in living room and office, on ABC.
New furniture was staged inside the big tractor-trailer parked on the street, when cameramen noticed a problem. The big “reveal,” with workers carting off sofas, chairs, and desks, would be tough, because the 52-foot truck was aimed in the wrong direction for a camera-ready unloading.
“The furniture was in position to look good (as it was unloaded), not to be stable,” Jackson said with a laugh. “We had five or six people holding the furniture down as the truck went around the corner.”
Eventually, the truck was repositioned and camera-ready. A team of volunteers, including some from Herman Miller, quickly carried the family's new furnishings inside the brand new home.
The timing works out well for Herman Miller. Its foray into popular TV shows comes just two months after it launched an e-commerce store on its web site.
Team members from the Zeeland company aren't planning a watch party for either show, Jackson said.
“We're all going to watch it at home,” he said. “Sanity-wise, this was really hitting everybody.”
E-mail Julia Bauer: jbauer@grpress.com and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/jbauer5800