Celebrity IOU: The One With Courteney Cox

Courteney Cox, who played high-strung chef Monica Geller on Friends decided to use her Celebrity IOU opportunity to renovate the kitchen, living room and playroom for her friend Marisa and Marisa's wife, Annie. Courteney first met Marisa in 2020, when Marisa began walking Courteney's dogs, Bear and Lily. The two became fast friends. "She cares about everybody," Courteney explained.

Marisa and Annie have one daughter, June, and Annie is pregnant with their second child. With a growing family, renovating the space to be efficient and functional was vital before the new baby arrived.

The lack of counter space and cabinets in the kitchen, combined with awkwardly placed appliances and a sink that was practically under a cabinet, left Marisa and Annie frustrated as they struggled to make the space work for them, their daughter and their dogs.

While a rolling island had given Marisa and Annie a bit more counter space, it didn't do anything to fix the fact that the fridge was so far from the stove and there simply wasn't enough storage for a growing family.

Courteney, who had seen Lisa Kudrow's episode of Celebrity IOU, recalled her Friends co-star hesitating to use the reciprocating saw during demolition and thought she would fare better when it came time to demo with Drew and Jonathan. "In watching Lisa's episode, I remember going, 'Aw Lisa, I can do that,'" Courteney explained after realizing how grueling demo can be. "I'm really proud of her, and I'm gonna call her on the way home."

Storage space will never be a problem for Marisa after Courteney's kitchen makeover. The design was inspired by Courteney's own kitchen, which is a space Marisa loves. "Courteney doing this for me … I don’t know what I did to deserve it," Marisa said when her friend revealed her plan to renovate Marisa's home. "I don’t know what I did for her to be like, ‘I wanna give this to you,’ and I don’t know if she realizes what this is gonna do for us, but it’s seriously life-changing.”

Courteney, Jonathan and Drew opened the wall between Marisa's kitchen and living room, which allowed them to install a built-in dining nook and a larger island to maximize the space and ensure Marisa and Annie can see their children while they're cooking. "This is like a real house," Marisa marveled.

With a toddler daughter and another baby on the way, toys are a fact of life for Marisa and Annie, but the small living room offered no viable storage solutions for toys.

Opening up a closed-off area behind the fireplace solved some storage issues and new furniture grouped on a rug made the living room into a cohesive entertaining space for visiting with friends or watching television.

One of Marisa's complaints about her home prior to the renovation was how choppy and closed off she felt because of baby gates in the doorways to corral dogs and her daughter. Courteney, Drew and Jonathan solved that problem by installing a classic iron gate that folds up into the wall when not in use.

At some point in the home's history, a door was built next to the fireplace to wall off a finished bonus room behind it. "I think that if we could open up to the back room, it's gonna change everything," Courteney said. "Then, there can be storage and then that can be the playroom."

Some celebrities are more hands-off in the design process on Celebrity IOU, but Courteney, who once dreamed of being an architect, dove right in.

"Design is something that I get so creatively fulfilled by, and I'm constantly changing my surroundings," she explained.

Marisa and Annie adored what Courteney, Drew and Jonathan did to make the bonus room into the perfect playroom with tons of storage and kid-height furniture. "I can't believe it," Marisa said during the reveal. "This is just so special."

The underutilized room gained new life with a bright ceiling fan, a new coat of paint and updates to the built-in shelving.

With the main living spaces transformed to open them up, rearrange the kitchen and create a playroom for their daughter and new baby, the growing family's home finally meets their needs.

Marisa (center) with her wife, Annie, and daughter, June, was overwhelmed with the transformation. "My wildest dreams couldn't have come up with what [Courteney] did," Marisa said.