Two rooms. Two sets of neighbors. 48 hours.

That's what Doug Wilson works with as an interior designer on TLC's TV program Trading Spaces. But when Wilson visited the University's industrial design department Friday, the requirements turned into three rooms, 30 students and five hours.

Wilson aided students in designing three rooms in the Art and Design Building as part of "Designatorium," a series of design exploration workshops for industrial design students. While the department is undergoing facility remodeling, students are applying their academic knowledge through designing their studio spaces.

"We thought, 'We're redoing the studios anyways, let's get the students involved in something they wouldn't normally be involved in and make it fun for them,'" said Mark Arends, chair of the industrial design program.

Wilson attended the workshop to inspire the students as they embarked upon transforming what used to be a computer room, a plaster modeling room and a tool storage room — now stripped bare of almost everything but concrete floors, torn walls and tables — into a lounge, a conference room and a work room.

"I'm mostly here to create excitement around the project and encourage them to take risks and have fun with it, to just support them as students," he said.

Wilson attended the University and studied voice and theater before moving to New York. He grew up on a farm in the nearby central Illinois town and said he was happy to come back and support his hometown community.

After presenting and explaining the functionality of the rooms he has designed for Trading Spaces, Wilson gave students tips for designing their spaces.

"Get to the basic purpose," he said. "What's the function of this room? Figure that out and go from there."

Wilson encouraged them to create a space that can be altered and changed to fit the needs of different groups of students in the future.

The students have many ideas about what the space needs because they are the ones that use it the most, said Jill Laz, junior in FAA. Laz said she sketches in her bedroom because the studio space has poor ventilation and is very cluttered.

"We really need to make it a more comfortable space for students to be more motivated to go to," Laz said.

Students' plans include creating bookshelves, storage units, display panels, windows and larger working desks. They are especially excited to create a lounge space, said Greg McNamara, junior in FAA.

"We spend long nights working down here in a very dismal, sterile environment that's badly organized," McNamara said. "We eat, sleep and work here and we need a place to drink coffee and talk with others."

The workshops give students a chance to explore aspects that are abstractly related to their future profession. Arends said the industrial design field focuses more on physical, perceptual understanding of a space rather than interior design, and this project allows them to do both.

"It's good because we usually focus on product design and now we are focusing on designing a space," said Kate Serling, junior in FAA.

Arends said the industrial design program doesn't yet have funding to put the designs into place, but it is looking for corporate sponsors. He said he hopes they will receive funding by the end of the school year so students in the workshop will be able to work on the remodeling.

Wilson's presence at the event was not only an added bonus for the students, but it also gave Wilson a chance to gain a new perspective on the industry.

"It's good to keep in touch with the students and know what's going on," Wilson said. "I'm out there in the TV arena, it's nice to get a different perspective on what people are looking at and how students are thinking."