Wanda Sykes Adds a Simple Decor ‘Wow Factor’ on ‘Celebrity IOU’

On “ Celebrity IOU,” Drew and Jonathan Scott are helping comedian Wanda Sykes with an extra-special project that might bring tears to your eyes.

In the latest episode, “Wanda Sykes Razes the Roof,” the Scott brothers meet with Sykes to surprise her “chosen” niece, Amber, with a renovation she and her family desperately need. Amber, her wife, and their two kids have been trying to make their  Encino, CA, home function, but it’s been difficult.

The roof is leaky, which is causing water damage (the brothers find plenty of mold in the walls during the demo), and the awkward layout separates the primary suite from the kids’ rooms. This means that when the kids wake up at night, the parents have to trek a ways to reach them.

Drew, Jonathan, and Sykes fixed the roof, remediated the mold, improved the floor plan, and upgraded the main suite, giving it a luxe hotel feel. In the end, they made this home not only safe and functional but also more beautiful.

Read on to get tips for getting the luxury hotel look, with plenty of advice for improving a main suite along the way.

Add a pony wall to create a separation

One of Drew and Jonathan’s biggest changes to this main suite is the layout. They shift the bathroom, borrowing space from the laundry room, and create a doorway that leads to the kids’ rooms. With all of these changes, the brothers add a pony wall between the bed and bathroom, creating more definition between the two spaces.

The wall adds a touch of the hotel look Amber loves, and it creates a nice spot to sit.

“This bench is pretty cool,” Drew says. “I think this is something they’re going to love because it just adds function: Sit down here, quick, put your shoes on, whatever you want.”

New room? New flooring pattern

With all of those layout changes, the team needs to redo the floor, so the brothers made the best of the situation, finding the same flooring and putting it back in the bedroom. This time, it’s in a herringbone pattern.

“It’s not a huge space, but to have a floor like this just brings a lot of ‘wow factor’ to a small space,” Drew says.

When they add a finish coat over the engineered hardwood, the floors will look like they were all installed simultaneously, Jonathan adds. “But this room has a special punch with the herringbone.”

While changing a layout can be expensive, it can also have fun perks, like the opportunity to make the floors a statement piece.

Simple paneling can give a room a luxe look

Sykes also wants to update Amber’s cramped closet. The team redesigned the space, creating three separate closets: two with pull-out drawers and one for hanging clothes.

While this new closet is more functional, Drew and Jonathan want it to look great, too, so they added paneling to the doors, giving it a high-end look.

“Just adding a few strips of wood on the front of the closet door … just changed everything, you know. It gives it texture,” Sykes says of the feature.

Jonathan also points out that adding the wood doesn’t require a professional.

“You could go to the store and just get, like, slab-front cabinets for fairly inexpensive and then add this detail yourself,” he says. “Anybody could do this. And all of a sudden, it makes it look 10 times the price.”

Large mirrors look luxurious

Drew and Jonathan want to bring the hotel vibe into the bathroom, so they pick chic and high-end finishes, like a floating vanity and black hardware. But when it comes time to choose a mirror for above the vanity, Sykes isn’t impressed with either of the round options the brothers show her.

“There’s no ‘wow factor’ with those mirrors,” she says.

Instead, she suggests installing one big mirror across the wall, with backlighting to give it something extra.

In the end, it’s clear this massive mirror was the right choice. It gives the bathroom a grand feel and is reminiscent of a luxury hotel.

Slab walls have a luxe look

Also, in the bathroom, Sykes says she wants to build a wet room, like something one would find in a luxury hotel.

The brothers get to work, creating a shower and tub in one space with porcelain slabs on the walls.

“I love doing slab in a shower because it’s continuous floor to ceiling, helps with waterproofing, but also, it just looks timeless,” Jonathan says.

In the end, the slabs elevate this already beautiful wet room.

“This is what you get in a high-end hotel,” Drew says.