Growing up, all Marlene knew was apartment living with lots of congestion and zero green space. As an adult, she ditched that cramped lifestyle and opted for a single family home to share with her husband Mark, son Ryan and the huge groups of friends and family she always entertains. Marlene beautifully decorated the interior of her home but the barren backyard, which can't be accessed from the home's main area, is both an eyesore and a constant reminder of her childhood dream, still unrealized. Her husband Mark has a few tricks up his sleeves and teams up with the Cousins to give her the surprise of her life. She is totally caught off guard when Anthony and John barrel their tractor into her yard unannounced and completely rip out her patio. The guys create a two story deck complete with a top of the line outdoor kitchen upstairs and a luxurious outdoor living room downstairs. The icing on the cake is a fire cauldron that makes the space a year-round outdoor oasis. The result is more than a deck; it's a complete home extension giving Marlene an outdoor experience beyond what she has always dreamed about.
Newlyweds Sarah and Joe can't catch a break. From the thunderstorm that soaked Joe's proposal, to the foghorn that blew during their wedding ceremony, Sarah and Joe joke that they couldn't have imagined a rockier start to their marriage. That is until they took on a DIY project that is way over their heads. After successfully gutting their newly purchased home, Sarah and Joe are left shell-shocked and need help. They call in the Cousins to rescue what remains of their house and their honeymoon period. Anthony and John offer a design solution for every room in the house! The Cousins pay special attention to a few of Sarah and Joe's heirlooms and put an updated and rustic spin on hanging wedding photos in stuffy frames. But when the guys realize a major design element won't fit, their design plan starts to unravel.
James's parents are immigrants from Korea who have achieved the American dream. They've worked long hours at their flower shop in Jersey City for the past 20 years and are proud to own their home and to have put their son through college. Now, just a few years away from retirement, James wants to give his parents the surprise of their lives, a trip to Korea to visit family they haven't seen in 15 years. What they don't know is that while they are away, the Cousins are sneaking in to renovate their home. Anthony and John are giving them an open kitchen, and a new backyard with a koi pond and greenhouse. But with inclement weather and some unforeseen plumbing problems, will the guys make the deadline and deliver an emotional surprise? Or will James's parents be left wishing he had just given them grandkids instead?
Anthony's father, Alfonso, gets a call from Mexico where his old friend Fernando is surprising his wife for her birthday. Fernando has had a new beachfront penthouse apartment under construction for over a year but still needs some amazing design elements and final touches to really blow her away. For Alfonso, this is a no-brainer...it's the perfect mission for the Cousins on Call! Anthony and John fly down to Puerto Vallarta excited about what lies in store but without any sense of the project's scope. When they arrive there, they are impressed with the penthouse's potential but Fernando springs on them that the place has to be completely ready by his wife's birthday...in just five days! In addition to the tight time frame, they don't speak the language, can't access their usual construction crews and could be all too easily distracted by the oceanside paradise. On top of all that, the Cousins' ambitious design ideas create unforeseen curveballs that could derail Fernando's plan. For John and Anthony, this becomes an adventure of grande proportions.
When Cheryl and Mike discovered a rotted foundation they called in Cousins, Anthony and John, to rescue them from their dire situation. Since the couple also wants to renovate their kitchen and living space, the Cousins answer with a design plan for a major extension that will not only fix their foundation but will give this family of five double the living space. A new mudroom with custom storage will lead into a bright and spacious kitchen centered around a unique island that can fit the whole family. The focal point of the living room will be a striking stone fireplace. And to top it all off, the cousins will build Mike and Cheryl a new deck off the the master bedroom. Mike and Cheryl's foundation inspired an extension to fit the whole family.
10 year old Nicholas is more than a cancer survior, he's also the president and CEO of the foundation Cancer Stinks. With his parents and Vice President little brother by his side he makes and hand delivers care packages to children staying overnight at hospitals for treatment in New Jersey. More than anything, Nicholas wants a place from which to operate his foundation and to hang out with his family. So he is overjoyed when he comes home and sees Anthony and John standing in his basement, promising to convert the unfinished dark space into the bright new headquarters of Cancer Stinks and new family hang out center. Anthony and John know it's important to mix work and play so they build a space with modular furniture that is multi functional. Cancer Stinks HQ by day and the ultimate boy cave by night, or at least until Nicholas' parents tell him it's time to go to bed.
Anthony and John spring into action when they learn that the shore house they spent their summers in was damaged during Super Storm Sandy. Anthony and John vow to surprise Anthony's parents even after if proves difficult and revive the home to a better version of its former glory.
Khloe Kardashian Odom and Lamar Odom love their LA home. But they do have one room that they've never liked and rarely use. Plus it's purple, the color of Lamar's old team! So while Lamar is away on an NBA road trip, Khloe brings in the Cousins to transform the unused space into a state-of-the-art theater. The couple wants a comfortable place to watch games or movies with their friends and family. So John and Anthony will design custom redwood accents to give the high-tech theater a warm and homey feel. Lamar is known to have a bit of a sweet tooth and currently keeps his sugar-fix stowed away in a candy closet. John and Anthony will open up this small room to the theater and build him a real concession area filled with all of his favorite treats.
Growing up, Laura and her brother Joe moved constantly and now that Laura and her husband Raj have a house of their own, they want to renovate the basement for Joe who's been couch-surfing since he returned home from years of overseas military assignments. They call in the Cousins to help them surprise Joe with a living space well suited for his lifestyle. For years before the bought the home, the basement was closed off from the rest of the house and and fell into ruin, which makes for an unusual demolition. Laura wants to open it up to the rest of the house so Joe feels welcome but can still his privacy. Designing in a small space can be tough, but Anthony and John have creative ideas to maximize every inch. They tuck a custom shelving unit neatly under the stairs and build convertible furniture which is perfect for a flex space. When Joe walks through the door, he's bowled over to find that he finally has a place to call home.
Tara and Darren need a place to relax and escape from the stresses of the day. Darren commutes to Manhattan daily and Tara works from home. Their bedroom is the only sanctuary in the house except that it is outdated, has no closet space, a tiny bathroom with one sink and is attached to a room that the family never uses. So when Darren is at work, Tara calls in the Cousins to transform the space. The Cousins are just finishing their booming demo when Darren gets home to find his space turned into a construction site. Anthony and John promise to create the oasis that Tara and Darren need, complete with a massive closet and beautiful bathroom with a steam shower for Darren's bad back. Drawing inspiration from old style French luxury, the Cousins deliver on a dreamy master suite that goes above and beyond what Darren and Tara could imagine.
When Hurricane Sandy hit, Anthony and John immediately jumped to action and gave back to their Jersey community by pumping water out of their neighbors' flooded homes. In the process, they met expecting parents Steve and Michelle, who had moved into their home only 45 days before the storm and are weeks away from having their first child. The entire lower level of their home was completely flooded. Learning the couples' story deeply moved them and the knew they had to help. The Cousins decide to completely revive the ravaged space and transform it into an amazing living area for this young couple, allowing them to get back in their home where they can begin again...all just before their due date!
Ellen DeGeneres and the Cousins have a big surprise for a New Jersey couple who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Megan and Jonathan are volunteer first responders and while they were out risking their lives for others, their home was completely destroyed. During a taping of her Show, Ellen surprises the couple by bringing out the Cousins who reveal that they've already started working on the devastated home. They are renovating the entire house and decorating it in a beach-bungalow style. As New Jersey natives, this project hits close to home for John and Anthony. And the pressure is on! They only have five days to get the job done before they reveal the new home to the couple on The Ellen Show.
Aaron, a 30 year old cancer survivor, contacted the Cousins for help in surprising his parents, who endured his long, challenging road to recovery. The time and expense associated with battling the disease put an enormous strain on his family, preventing them from making much needed improvements to their home. The parents are overcome with joy! Then Aaron, Anthony and John decide to double the surprise, redoing the yard of the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge in Buffalo, where Aaron recovered during his cancer treatments. The facility desperately needs an outdoor area for patients and families to have a special place to relax, revive and enjoy fresh air. So the Cousins create an outdoor oasis with gorgeous landscaping, a zen garden and more. Between the parents' home and the Hope Lodge, John and Anthony work overtime, pouring their hearts into two meaningful surprise renovations in just one week. But when they discover major structural issues with the house, the biggest surprise just might be on the Cousins!