LIer gets home makeover on 'The Drew Barrymore Show'

"The Drew Barrymore Show" paid a visit to Islip recently, doing a living-room and kitchen fix-up on the syndicated talk show's "Designed by Drew" segment.

"I just was looking at furniture online because I was buying a new house," says Kate Karan, 41, whose rooms were refurbished for the Feb. 26 episode. Discovering that a piece she liked came from Barrymore's Flower by Drew collection, "I was like, 'Oh, I didn't realize she had furniture.' And then I saw she has a talk show in New York, so I sent an email and said, 'I'm a first-time homebuyer and I love Drew's designs. If you ever are looking for anyone to do a design makeover for, would you please consider me?' "

The single-mom nurse, born in Bay Shore and raised in Islip, noted: "I'm not one to reach out like that — it was totally out of my realm of comfort — but I felt like, 'What do I have to lose?' I never even expected an email back. So a week or two later, when I got an email, I was shocked!"

Her old living room had plaster-patched walls and a dilapidated air conditioner, and in the kitchen, bare light bulbs and a weathered refrigerator. A team led by Steve Alexander of the home-improvement franchise Mr. Handyman of Nassau County, in Plainview, painted, replaced light fixtures and the AC unit, hung art and curtain rods, mounted the TV, assembled furniture and installed both a new refrigerator and a new stove.

Karan, who closed on the house Nov. 30 and moved in with her college-student son Kyle, 21, in January, said the company (hired by the show), "were there one day, did a little prepping, and then the following day I had to be out of the house. I wasn't allowed back until the reveal."

As seen on air, that reveal of the redone rooms "was amazing," she recalls. "I couldn't even believe that it was my house." She was even more delighted when Emmy Award-nominated actress-producer Barrymore, 46, popped out from behind a chair. "I was shocked that she was at my house because they told me due to COVID if I was to speak to her, it would just be through a Zoom call. So I was like, 'Wait a minute. This is crazy!' "

Barrymore herself, says Karan, was "exactly what you see on TV — friendly, sweet, very genuine and sincere." Moreover, "Everyone that worked for her couldn't have been nicer. I mean, one person was nicer than the next. I felt like they were my friends, like I had known them forever."

Barrymore even gave her "a green throw blanket for my couch that she told me was her personal throw from her own home, but it matches the pillows on the couch so nicely that she wanted to give it to me." The star also gave Karan "a really cute pair of pajamas. She said everyone needs a cozy pair of pajamas after a hard day of work to put on and relax in on the couch."

"The Drew Barrymore Show" airs weekdays at 9 a.m. on WCBS/2 and at 8 p.m. on WLNY/10/55.