What if you had $1,000 and a group of friends who were ready to help you get your home ready to sell? Could you add much more value and curb appeal to your house with an energetic combination of a modest investment and sweat equity?

This is the premise of Open Homes, a (65×30) home-renovation series in which every episode saw two houses that are about to go on sale prepared for market in a single frantic day. The story begins with a tour of the house with realty expert Bill Brooks and interior designer Jerilyn Wright. Bill sees the good things in the home, while Jerilyn sees only things that need fixing. Jeri sends Bill away and assembles her team of carpenters, design assistants, gardeners and painters with a list of to-dos to get the house ready for sale.

With such a short period of time and modest budget, the tasks focus on improving the home’s curb appeal and threshold first-impression. Tidying up the front yard and adding paths and plants make the home appear more cared-for to arriving buyers. First impressions are key, so the interior focus is often limited to the front room that the visitor sees immediately after stepping inside. Decluttering is key, and paint is the crew’s best friend.

At the end of the work day Bill returns and offers his verdict on the amount of value that has been added to the house’s sale price. each episode includes two houses with similar profiles or issues, and one of these houses is then found to have benefitted most from the day’s work. This house’s owners are then awarded the coveted Golden Hammer and everyone goes home happy.

The light reality TV series proved very popular on Global TV and was renewed twice, until reaching the typical ceiling of 65 episodes. Peter Hays came up with the title for the series that was based on an Australian home-reno show. Peter was producer, director, and writer for the entire production.