Kingston resident Maria Loeffel is such a big fan of the home makeover show "Trading Spaces," she sets her digital recording device when she won't be home to catch a broadcast.

So she wasted no time in applying when she heard the cable show was coming to the city. Neighbors April and Michael DeStefano, who own a 1940s cape-style house like the Loeffels', would be their "partners in crime."

To the friends' delight, they were selected. Arm chair-interior designers can live vicariously through their television adventures when the episode airs Dec. 17 on The Learning Channel.

Don Halcombe, spokesman for TLC, said the show receives between 50 and 100 applications a week. Those who are selected are "people who are willing to take a risk, first and foremost, and people who have a lot of personality."

"It was a blast," said April DeStefano, a real estate agent, in a recent phone interview about the shoot earlier this month. "We felt like celebrities for a few days."

Both she and the Loeffels singled out the crew, including designers Laurie Hickson-Smith and Hildi Santo-Tomas, for making the experience so memorable.

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