Plano West grad makes mark on reality TV

Plano native Hannah Flora is a true go-getter. A life-long dream carried the Plano West Senior High School graduate to her current home in New York City where the then-jobless 24-year-old worked her way up through an advertising agency to become an art buyer. Now Flora is chasing another future: to possibly use her recent experience as a featured interior designer on Home and Garden Television (HGTV) to become a professional in the field.

Flora, who holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Auburn University in Alabama, has always been interested in interior design.

"My mom has always had an impeccably styled and lived-in home," she said.

Her stint on the show was the unexpected result of her search for an HGTV show that would redecorate the lobby of her building.

"I love HGTV; I've always watched it," Flora said. "I thought HGTV would have a show that could come redo the lobby. I found a show called 'Armchair Designer' for amateur designers, so I applied and heard back about a month later that they wanted me to come to LA."

The show for which the network wanted Flora's talent was "First Time Design." Her episode, only the fourth of the new series, will air at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. According to HGTV.com, the show gives viewers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get off the couch and dive into the world of home makeovers. With a little guidance from HGTV design mentors Vern Yip, David Bromstad and Lisa LaPorta, each untrained amateur is in charge of creating a room makeover for real homeowners. From color choices to fabric, furniture and budget, a fan gets to make all the decisions.

"I was so thrilled. It was kind of out-of-this-world a little bit," Flora said. "In October, they flew me out to LA, and the homeowners I worked with lived in Valencia. They had a game room they wanted to make into a more functional kids' room that the parents could also be comfortable in."

Once Flora met with producers, she was given a $7,500 design budget and the help of a carpenter and mentor.

"I quickly became accustomed to having a camera crew with me all the time," she said. "Everyone I met there was so great. I had a real HGTV designer to mentor me through the whole process, and I had Lisa LaPorta; that made the experience. It was such an opportunity to work with her."

LaPorta is the regular designer on "Designed to Sell."

As a thrifty shopper, Flora said her $7,500 budget almost gave her too much breathing room. But the financial flexibility made the process easy for her.

Before her arrival, Flora was sent a video of the homeowners she would be working with to allow her some familiarity with their personalities and tastes.

"I basically meshed their needs and their lifestyle with my design style. I like things livable and functional – but lovely," she said. "It was a great match."

Keeping the children in mind, Flora set out to create a room that had something for everyone. She tried to remember what she would have wanted when she was 7 and 14, the ages of the children in the family.

Flora said she feels the week went very smoothly; however, the morning of the reveal was the most hectic time.

"I felt like a chicken with my head cut off," she said. "Thankfully it all came together. It got to a place where I was really happy with it and I thought the family would be happy with it. It made for a fun, eventful morning."

Flora said the homeowners as well as the children seemed to be very pleased with the result of their new family room.

"They came in and seemed to really like it, which I was thrilled about. [The kids] were so cute about it," she said. "I know when I first met them, they probably thought 'who is this 24-year-old girl coming to do our room?' But I think it came out really great in the end."

Now that Flora has gotten her interior designer's feet wet, she hopes to keep the ball rolling on her new career option. And her family, who still live in North Texas, are behind her 100 percent.

"They are incredibly proud. They are just tickled that this has happened," she said. "We all kind of can't get enough of HGTV now."

Flora said the only downside to her small-screen experience was that it had to end after one short week.

"It was a whirlwind week," she said. "I tried to savor it as much as I could."

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