It's Doug's World, the Rest of Us Just Decorate in It

Doug Wilson (Photo By John Anderson)

Murky midday. We slog through sporadic rain on I-35. The gray of the day morphs into the gray waves of identical rooftops that sprawl across Round Rock, Texas. This is where TLC's home-improvement show Trading Spaces is shooting an episode, bringing their evangelical tour of simple, economical interior decorating to the people. This is where two couples will "trade spaces," and redesign one room each with the help of some flamboyant decorator types. And this is the mountaintop where design guru Doug Wilson – known to some as "Dastardly Doug" and "Devilish Doug" for his willful petulance and "shocking" designs – will sit, if for one weekend, in Central Texas.

The setting is an anonymous street. A hive of work trucks line the curb. We meet hunky carpenter Carter Oosterhouse, hostess Paige Davis, a set of homeowners, and of course, the designers: native Texan Christi Proctor and our own personal Jesus, Doug. (Read the entire transcript online.) We focused mostly on perky Paige and the designers for our most essential question: In your opinion, what's the most heinous design trend in home interior design these days? Paige: Popcorn ceiling! Christi: Overuse of the retro-contemporary trend and lack of warmth and comfort! Which was all well and good. But we were becoming impatient to hear the gospel from our material master: Doug.

First impressions? Doug is friendly. Doug is handsome. Doug is God.

God included us in an awesome scoop right from the git-go:

Doug Wilson: We've got a bit of an edgy show going. I'm causing lots of trouble! [Chronicle note: This can be confirmed by TLC's teaser for the show: "Trading Spaces brings the fine arts to Texas, or at least that's what designer Doug Wilson is trying to convince his homeowners he's up to. Either way, he wants to paint nude figures all over the walls, and it requires the service of live nude models."]

Austin Chronicle: At this point are you operating out of sheer perversity?

DW: Sheer perversity?!

AC: Do you say to yourself, "How can I mess with people the most?"

DW: No, we're just pushing the envelope of design. ... We're entertainment. We're television. We're not Martha Stewart. We're Martha Stewart on acid!

AC: Anticipating that your answer to this will be "everything," what's the most heinous design trend in home interior design these days?

DW: Fake vines and foliage on random places – everywhere – twisted around curtain rods. ... I'm sure this is going to offend millions.

AC: Why do you think you have such a reputation with fans?

DW: When I go in to do these rooms, I don't want the homeowners 100% onboard. I want conflict!

AC: You need to grow a moustache!

DW: [stroking his upper lip] Snidely Whiplash!