Room for Improvement: Thanksgiving Dining Room

WSVN -- Martin Amado: "Thanksgiving is all about giving, and today we're giving back to a special mom with a big heart."

Meet Miss Lula Mae Walker.

At 73 years old, she has nine children of her own, nine more she's adopted and countless of foster kids she's raised.

Lula Mae Walker: "I think God sent me here for a purpose."

And now she's adopting twin girls.

Lula Mae Walker: "I wanted to adopt the kids because I wanted to give them a better life."

Lula Mae Walker: "When I see these kids with nowhere to go or nobody to take care of them, I just want to take care of all of them."

Martin Amado: "So tell me about your dining room space right now because I know it's not working for you."

Lula Mae Walker: "Well, we sit everywhere because it's just so many of us. I even had patio chairs out in the patio."

Martin Amado: "All right, so I'm going to go shopping to Ikea, and of course we're going to surprise you and your family in the end."

Martin Amado: "The goal with Lula Mae's makeover is to switch out her living and dining room space."

Martin Amado: "We're switching Lula's table for this one, and even though it appears smaller, it is deceiving. Watch this."

Martin Amado: "Well, I'm back from Ikea, and while I was doing all the shopping, the two rooms were being cleared out. We painted rock walls, and now we're beginning the furniture assembly."

Martin Amado: "By making this the new dining room space, we create a cozier feel, and I'm lucky enough to say I have extra hands helping me today because I stole Jenny from Ikea to assist me, a designer in her own right."

TOOL TIP:

This is how the dining table would normally look, but since I know that Lula Mae needs a lot of seating for her large family I added these two smaller tables to act as a console in the living room space. The great thing about these tables is that they are multi-functional."

Martin Amado: "So we can place one table on this side and the other one right over here."

CHEAP FIX:

The dining room is missing a light fixture, so I'm using a chandelier. It's just not the right finish because it's silver, but a good tip is just to hit it with spray paint.

Martin Amado: "So tell us what you're doing here as a center piece."

Jenny: "Well, if you're on a tight budget, something inexpensive and beautiful is just to get some natural pumpkin, three or four silk flowers, some candles and you're all set."

Martin Amado: "So all these goodies and baskets are a special surprise for Lula Mae courtesy of BJ's Wholesale Club. Shhh!"

Martin Amado: "Thank you so much for all your help, Jenny, and I hope they like it."

Martin Amado: "This morning, Lula Mae's home had too much furniture everywhere. By switching the functions of the two rooms, we were able to give her a beautiful dining room setting to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family."

Martin Amado: "Go ahead and open your eyes. All the furniture is courtesy of Ikea, as you know, and all the food that you see here are courtesy of BJ's Wholesale Club, but they have an additional surprise for you, so let me bring in Jose Castro from BJ's."

Jose Castro: "On behalf of BJ's Wholesale Club, I want to award you with a $1000 shopping spree."

Martin Amado: "Lots of blessings to you. To all the viewers, of course, Happy Thanksgiving, and we'll see you next time on another Room for Improvement."