"I knew our home had potential," said Michelle Schneider, sitting in her new living room with sweeping views of the ocean. "I've been dreaming and thinking about this for 10 years."

The Schneiders' renovation will be featured next year on the home makeover show "Designers' Challenge," one of Home & Garden Television's top prime-time shows. Producers are looking for one or two more Hawai'i home renovations by Jan. 7 to feature in episodes next year. (See box.)

"Designers' Challenge" puts three professional designers to the task of a room renovation project. The client is presented with the three design proposals, picks a favorite and pays the remodeling expenses, while the winning design team receives national publicity. Viewers see the whole thing, including the dramatic transformation of the finished room.

The Hawai'i shoot was a first for the "Designers' Challenge" crew. They came in April to film the Schneider project, as well as the home renovation of Kahala couple John Cox and Lori McCarney. The crew returned in October and November to tape the results for each project.

Before, the dining room had sliding doors, and wrought-iron railings as room dividers. Photos courtesy of Cindi White

The old living room

After presentations by three local designers, the Schneiders chose to work with Cindi White, Interior Design Department head at Long & Associates, an architecture and design firm in Honolulu.

"Part of the goal was to open up the spaces, integrate them and make everything flow," White said. "So that's pretty much what we did." White also addressed lighting and ventilation issues.

In eight months and with a budget of more than $60,000, the Schneiders worked with White, project architect Jennifer Harada Okino and the rest of the renovation team to create "a very balanced, clean, crisp look," Michelle Schneider said.

The Schneiders' entry way is much more welcoming: African mahogany doors with etched glass panels open up to a faux-finished wall and niche that's great for flower arrangements. It's a far cry from the huge, plain white wall that once overwhelmed the space.

The three rooms are unified with what Michelle Schneider describes as a "relaxing and soothing" color palette — sage green with accents of persimmons and a fairly neutral background — all found in the Schneiders' custom furniture pieces, area rugs and artwork by Island artists Phil Uhl and Roger Whitlock.

"The 'after' is phenomenal," White said. "... I knew it would turn out wonderfully, but when it was all put together, we all got a big 'wow' out of it."

In addition to working with a local designer, the Schneiders insisted that they work with local vendors and artisans, such as Showplace South Hawai'i, Lighting Elegance, Great Wall Construction and Marmol Hawai'i.

"We really wanted to emphasize Hawai'i talent," Michelle Schneider said.

The project was quite the team effort, White said.

"It's like being part of a symphony or an orchestra," White said. "Everybody plays their part and it just turns out."

"Designers' Challenge" changed the home of Michelle and Jack Schneider from '70s-style to contemporary with art deco touches. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

"Cindi was accommodating in many ways," Michelle Schneider said. "I really did have a lot to do with it, so in the end, I feel this is really our home and not just a designer's creation for us."

Though a success, the renovation didn't come without its hitches. The biggest setback came after the team found a structural crack in the slab that ran diagonally from the kitchen to the living room. They also discovered the floor wasn't level, with a sloping difference of four inches.

"That's huge," White said. " So we had to end up consulting with a structural engineer, pouring a new slab and then tapering it."

The problem set the project back a couple weeks, but everyone remained optimistic.

"It's all part of the process," White said. "The end goal is always to have a happy client, no matter what, and if they're delighted with their new living environment, then we've done our job."