Celebrity couple help roommates 'Mix It Up'

LOS ANGELES -- Courteney Cox likes her living space lean and clean. David Arquette revels in collecting everything from miniature pigs to large shoes to nesting dolls, which makes for a lot of clutter.

No wonder Arquette felt more comfortable at Cox's house when they began dating. She had food in the refrigerator. He had old pizza boxes and people hanging out watching TV.

"It was unbelievable," Cox said, describing Arquette's bachelor pad. "There were people on the couch that I don't even know if he knew. It was just stickers and posters and things."

Moving in together provided Cox with a challenge: how to blend her refined sensibilities with Arquette's outrageous taste and vast collection of tchotchkes.

"You've got to get creative when you're married to David," Cox said. "I incorporated some things that my mother couldn't believe, like a woman in bondage with a glass table on her back. It made my house a lot more fun and happy and colorful."

And their real-life decorating dilemma inspired the home design series "Mix It Up," airing Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on WE: Women's Entertainment cable channel.

Design and decorating are longtime passions for Cox, who's in her 10th and final season on NBC's "Friends."

Cox, 39, and Arquette, 32, met when they co-starred in the "Scream" movies. They've been married four years.

The couple are executive producers of the 30-minute show that follows two roommates -- couples, friends or siblings -- who are at odds stylistically. In each episode, an interior designer is given $2,500 and three days to transform one room into a living space that is compatible for both individuals.

Along for the upheaval are hosts Milos Milicevic and Thea Mann, movers, a painter and a carpenter. Friends and family of the roommates help decide which items get thrown in the "Gotta Go" bucket.

Cox and Arquette work behind the scenes. She is the design consultant and he oversees music.