Meet the Thornhill family

About the Thornhills

Jeff and Beth Ann Thornhill have been married for almost 12 years. They met in Las Vegas, where Beth Ann was teaching, and fell in love. Nine years ago, they made the move to Palm Springs, California and love it!

The Thornhills have boy/girl twins, Cope and Tierney, who will be 10 in June. The twins, who Beth Ann calls "a blessing from God," are completing fourth grade and doing well. Last year, they each got their own room, but they still prefer to sleep together and talk each night in their bunk beds.

The family has one big, lovable dog named Dakota. He is their honeymoon baby, as they were married in a small town called St. Onge, South Dakota.

Jeff is in the construction business -- dirt to be exact. He was a foreman for a great company and they did all the excavation/foundation work. Unfortunately with the downfall of our economy, he lost his job a year and a half ago and is still looking. "It has been quite a struggle for us to adjust," says Beth Ann, "but it has made us stronger as a family."

About HomeStretch

"I thought it would be fun to do a makeover in our house, since we needed a change," says a smiling Beth Ann. "Right before Jeff lost his job, we had plans to remodel our whole house. I'm so thankful it didn't work out as Jeff lost his job soon after.

"I thought that if we could makeover at least one room, it would lift our spirits. I asked my best friend Nikki (Nicole Kinkle) if she would come and help us do the makeover. She said yes and I was so excited! Then I thought, 'Hey Nikki -- you should apply too, and see what happens! If you win, then we will come over and help your family!' So Nikki applied, they interviewed us both and we both were picked! We were so excited!"

Expectations

"I was expecting to meet about five people and spend two days planning and redesigning our living room. What really happened was that 15 or more people came bouncing in, mass chaos, a lot of talking with the designers; what did we envision in this space, what colors did we like, what furniture can go, and more chaos!

"The show surprised us by switching Nikki's family and ours -- we would be doing a makeover in her house, and she would be doing a makeover in ours! This experience was truly a once-in-a-lifetime for us and so wonderful were all the people we worked with. We felt so perfectly matched with Tracee and Joshua. They were fabulous from the get-go and really captured what I envisioned, even though it didn't come out in my words."

What they love the most

"We absolutely love the media room/dining room! Tracee and Joshua worked the two days with the twins helping, which meant a lot to Jeff and I," says Beth Ann.

"There are three very special pieces of artwork that make the whole room spectacular:

• A beautiful stained glass mosaic of our San Jacinto mountains created by my friend Nedra, a famous local mosaic artist
• A picture of a special place in Yosemite that Tracee hand painted
• A triptych of a tree, mountains and two birds, representing the twins, painted by Tracee, Cope and Tierney (the twins) and Amber, Nikki's daughter

The whole experience was just magical and I'd do it all over again if I could!"