Mayim Bialik Surprises Her Longtime BFF With a Dreamy Backyard Makeover
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Multi-hyphenate Mayim Bialik recently took on a new role as home renovator for her friend Nancy, who has been in her life for nearly 18 years and counting. With the desire to commemorate such a long-lasting friendship, The Big Bang Theory star turned to famous siblings and design duo Drew and Jonathan Scott. Together, they transformed Nancy’s overgrown backyard into a dream sanctuary with an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit, and a multifunctional shed. Naturally, the resulting oasis is packed with design ideas anyone with an outdoor area of their own will be eager to recreate.
The Jeopardy! host met her longtime BFF while taking a prenatal yoga class as they were pregnant with their first kids. "We raised out kids so similarly," the actress explained during the latest episode of HGTV's Celebrity IOU. "I felt as at home at her house as she did at mine."
Over the years, their families have spent countless days at Nancy’s Sun Valley, California, home. But the outdoor area was in desperate need of an upgrade due to overgrown bushes and weeds, countless gopher holes (you read that right), and a stubborn tree stump. Bialik wanted to give it a complete overhaul for alfresco dining and family hangouts. She also wanted to make sure it included a dedicated space for Nancy to write and practice yoga.
Within three weeks, Bialik and the Property Brothers stars created three distinct zones. An outdoor kitchen with a new pellet grill and storage is well suited for big barbecues. A lounge area with a fire pit sits under a low-maintenance, powder coated steel pergola for shade and relaxation. The team brought in a prefabricated, 120-square-foot structure by the company Wellmade to serve as Nancy's personal writing retreat and yoga room. They also removed unnecessary plantings and replaced them with drought-tolerant ones, leveled the backyard, installed an efficient irrigation system, added new fencing, and laid out organically shaped pathways.
Throughout the project, the team repurposed existing features where they could—including cleaning and acid staining existing pavers. "One of the things that I’m most excited about about this entire project is the ability to reuse and repurpose things that were there," Bialik said. "This is a family that really values that.”
When Bialik showed her friend the surprise, she was shocked and overjoyed. Bialik, Nancy, and the Scott brothers celebrated the makeover with a little group yoga sesh, with everyone sporting athleisure and all.
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