Tech sorority featured on HGTV

Tucked among the many Greek houses on campus is a modest white house trimmed in red: the home of 18 Alpha Delta Chi (AΔX) sisters, and the newest episode on Home and Garden Television's show Deserving Design.

The show, which is a new addition to HGTV's lineup, stars designer and Tech alum Vern Yip. He works with a team to redecorate two rooms of a deserving family's home. According to HGTV's website, Deserving Design aims to "make over two rooms, developing a design plan that will bring balance to home, family and life."

But, as does any home makeover show, Deserving Design has a catch: the homeowners only get to choose one of the two rooms that get made over. The sisters looked through their house and decided on a room, but also had to keep in mind that another room, out of a handful they supplied, would be redecorated as a surprise.

According to Christina Sanders, a fourth-year International Affairs major and president of AΔX, the producers of Deserving Design contacted the Collegiate Panhellenic Council last April in search of a Greek house at Tech that they could feature on their show. The CPC nominated AΔX, as they had just recently acquired their house and put forth many hours of hard work making it into the home it is today. In addition to that, AΔX had recently received the Panhellenic Service Award for clocking the most service hours per capita of its members.

"We just feel really blessed and undeserving, which is kind of ironic, I guess," Sanders said.

The house itself is a relatively new addition to AΔX; they bought it three years ago from another Greek organization and have been trying hard to keep it up ever since. The furniture that was in the house previous to the makeover from Deserving Design was generously donated to the sorority by local organizations.

So, on 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, the AΔX house was taken over by the crew and designers of the show. None of the girls could stay in the house during the three days and two nights that the crew was there working, so they all were responsible for finding another place to stay. Tarps were taped over the windows, and nobody was allowed to see the rooms before they were finished.

The girls waited and watched anxiously as their house underwent its transformation. The rooms were revealed on Thursday, Oct. 4th, to a crowd of excited girls who rushed through the doors into the newest rooms of their beloved house. Hours later, people were still stopping by to see the new rooms, each exclaiming how great of a job the design team did with the house.

The two front rooms of the house were the ones chosen to revamp. The "media room," is the room the girls chose for the crew to redesign. It has been repainted a fern green with green wooden circles hung in rows above the tan couches in the room. The sorority's signature pattern is the polka dot, so the circles on the wall are significant to the girls.

With a laugh, Sanders says that the crew interviewed the sisters, asking them what they would like to see in the renovated rooms. One of the sisters mentioned that they needed a clock in the media room. The media room was revealed to have a huge clock on the wall next to the television.

"We told them that our biggest request was that we could fit a lot of people in here. And look what a great job they've done with that," Sanders said.

The other room, which is on the right as one walks in, seemed to be the more formal of the two. The room is now decorated in deep reds and beige. The crew also tied the sorority's mascot, the dragonfly, into the design of the rooms. A few throw pillows in the green room were made from carefully-chosen dragonfly fabric. The red room is home to a particularly ornate glass dragonfly.

"They took us to a glass-blowing gallery and let us pick something out, so we picked out a dragonfly," Sanders said.

Yip, the designer on Deserving Design, graduated in 1995 with a Master's in Architecture. He has also been featured on TLC's Trading Spaces, as well as the celebrity promoter of Stainmaster carpet and Moen faucets. Additionally, Yip is a reappearing judge on HGTV's series Design Star.

Bringing the HGTV crew to Tech was quite a challenge itself. The sisters worked with the producers to jump through the necessary hoops to bring the show to AΔX. The parking office was involved, procuring temporary parking permits for the crew vehicles and equipment. The alumni association was involved in Yip's return to campus, allowing the camera crew to attend a few classes and shoot some footage of the academic side of Tech.

AΔX, which is an associate member of the Panhellenic Council at Tech, is a Christian sorority with 20 active members and seven pledges. The sorority has three purposes: the spiritual purpose, the scholastic purpose and the social purpose.

"To have this blessing and be able to share it with all of our sisters is just awesome," Sanders said.