NEWSTy Pennington Gives Makeover Tips
Sept. 28 2008, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
Ty Pennington kicks off the new season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition tonight. But that’s not all the 43-year-old dynamo has going for him. He also has a new book in stores called Good Design Can Change Your Life: Beautiful Rooms, Inspiring Stories, recently hosted the annual ADHD Experts on Call program and has gone international with a new TV show in Britain.
“I think the biggest challenge for me is to be able to stay focused and stay healthy because my schedule is crazy,” he tells me at the Double Tree hotel located in NYC’s Times Square. “I’ve gotta make sure I’m at the right place at the right time, and do the best that I can do.”
According to Ty, switching up a design can help a person get through life’s transitions a little easier.
“Sometimes people go through something traumatic in their life, and they need a change to be able to put it behind them and move on. Changing the color of a room or changing a pattern or making something new in your life is really important because it lets you know that you’ve moved on.”
He continues, “Your home is where you wake up and face the world. It’s also where you come home when you get away from it. Not only should it be a place that gives you energy when you wake up, but it should also be a place that relaxes you when you come home.”
Ty is pleased to make a change by spreading the word about his battle with ADHD.
“I like to hear that I’ve inspired change in some way for some people. They become better themselves and they gain confidence. That’s one of those things that people don’t realize about ADHD. When you haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD and you don’t seek treatment, you’re so used to being the one person that everyone’s sure to fail or not going to be there on time, or you don’t rely on to get an A or be the best they can be. That’s the worst part. You constantly live under that shadow of ‘let’s be careful with this one – he might cut a toe off when he’s mowing the lawn or he might need to wear a helmet if he’s doing this or this.’ It becomes a humorous thing, but the truth is your confidence is the thing that’s affected.”
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He continues, “If I can give someone back their confidence to seek treatment, then that’s what I want to do. For me, it really did change my life, and I mean that in the biggest way. It gave me the confidence to go out and put myself through art school, win some awards at that and realize I am creative and I have a talent I can use. The fact that now I can use that talent to change people’s lives just shows you that the possibilities are endless.”
Catch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at 7/6c on ABC.
