Military makeovers: Turning a temporary house into a home

Photos by Julie Nabours and Chandee Ulch

Maria Mendez Reed is on a mission. The Army spouse, mother of two, filmmaker, producer, technology teacher and creator of a new internet home improvement show called Moving with the Military TV was named the 2017 Armed Forces Insurance Fort Hood Military Spouse of the Year.

Her mission is simple: To celebrate military families one makeover at a time, whether they have just had a Permanent Change of Station or have been at their post for awhile. She wants families to feel welcome by introducing them to their new community and helping them transform their living space into a home.

She didn’t have to look far for her inspiration. When her husband, Staff Sgt. Patrick Reed, re-enlisted in the Army after having been honorably discharged five years earlier, the family was assigned to Fort Stewart, Georgia. Their daughter, Parker, was 8 at the time. When they moved into their new home, Parker wanted a pink bedroom. But Maria felt she had to stay with the standard military white walls. “‘It’s just paint mom,’ she said to me. ‘We can paint it back.’”

Reed looked for ways to help PCS parents and their kids navigate military life and turn their spaces into homes, even if it is just for a two-year assignment.

“I understand the military spouse community because I am one,” she said. “When they tell me about their permanent change of station, I get it. It’s not always easy but just having an ear, someone to listen, helps.”

Reed thought about her 20-year career in filmmaking and the hours of planning, coordinating and executing that went into a production. She used that background to help make the living spaces of military personnel feel more personal. She looked for solutions like removable flooring and tile, removable wallpaper, and ways to hang things that wouldn’t leave holes in the walls. “I found just about everything removable,” she said.

She started to see the potential and came up with the idea to help military families from all branches of the armed forces, using her own money, and she announced to her husband, “Let’s make a TV show.”

“He thought I was nuts,” she said. “‘Don’t second mortgage the house,’ he told me.”

“I wanted to give back thinking what is it about being in the military makes us so unique?” Reed said. The answer: “We move all the time — every two or three years. Some people even more than that.”

The first show

Reed stayed up for 72 hours building her website and planning the show. In spring 2016 she launched the first episode of Moving with the Military TV (www.movingwiththemilitary.tv) with the renovation of a family’s living room.

Reed and her crew have since made over a bathroom, a bedroom and an outdoor space, filming in Texas and Georgia. Reed also blogs and presents how-to videos on organizing, decorating on a budget and making a gift basket filled with goodies for under $20.

There is a lot of planning that goes into producing a television show. Reed said it costs $10,000 to $30,000 to produce one episode, depending on its length, not including the budget for furniture, supplies and decorations.

Production includes photography, cinematography, sound, catering for the crew, shopping, her 3D CAD designs, photo shoots, day trips and post production (which she does herself). Her hope is that her show will be picked up by a national network that airs home makeover shows.

“So many people come forward to donate their time,” she said. Volunteers include military spouses, active-duty service members, retirees, veterans and civilians. Families selected for a free makeover keep their décor and furniture and take everything with them to their next location. “We try to make everything movable,” Reed said.

In the latest episode that premiered in February, Reed made over the room of a girl whose dad is deployed. She was chosen from hundreds of emails. “I want to help everybody,” Reed said. “It’s not just about having a sad story, but to celebrate victories, small and large. Her daddy being deployed played a lot into it.”

Reed met with the girl to get an idea of what she liked. Through conversation, asking questions and observing what she had in her room, it was determined that a French theme was the way to go.

Reed relies on her own resources and vendors to complete each makeover. Beginning with her first episode in 2016, she has partnered with local and national purveyors who donate or discount the materials she needs.

As a military wife, inspiration came naturally. She recalled a poem by Linda Ellis that one of her teachers described. It’s called “The Dash,” and it moved her to review her life’s contributions.

“We all have a dash, the day from the year we were born to the day we die, we have a dash. What are you going to do with that dash,” she said. “I’m tired of watching the news and seeing all the bad. I want to be the good I want to see in the world. I don’t want to leave this place not having made an impact. My family, my kids watch what I am doing and help me. They are part of this journey. We do it as a family or we don’t do it.”