How Ashton Kutcher Made His Mother Cry

Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher |

No, popular American actor Ashton Kutcher is not a monster. Sure, he made his mother cry, but he did so for the sweetest reason imaginable - days before the world celebrates Mother's Day, he already surprised his mother by redecorating the basement of their childhood Iowa home.

Kutcher and his stepfather Mark Portwood teamed up to surprise Diane Portwood with the redecoration project. The actor invited his mother to stay in his and fiancée Mila Kunis' SoCal home to spend time with her granddaughter Wyatt, and they all tricked her into staying longer than what was agreed upon, the L.A. Times revealed, saying they needed her help to care for the baby.

And it worked. Diane could not resist abandoning Wyatt in her time of need, and while she was there, Kutcher, his stepfather, and the whole construction team rolled up their sleeves and got busy with the redecoration project.

"Go away for a vacation and you come back and your house is totally different," said Diane, moments after the big reveal of her new basement. "For Ashton and Mark to pull this off and to not include me, I don't know how they did it."

The old basement can definitely be described as a guy's basement, replete with seven cozy recliners and a deer head mounted on the wall. This time, they toned down the manly appeal of the basement by turning it into a contemporary rustic space with big windows and built-in bunk beds, which would be perfect for Diane's grandkids. It now also boasts of a fireplace and a special area where her antiques and homemade canned salsa are stored.

"My mom isn't a girly-girl by any means, but I think we can pull back on some of the dude overtones," Kutcher had earlier said. He considers the Iowa house as  "the place that I call home, and that I'll always call home," and that is why they took careful care and consideration in remodelling it.

Kutcher's stepfather was not forgotten during the whole remodelling stage, since most of his John Wayne memorabilia collection were kept and still displayed, and they even kept two recliners for the Portwood couple to enjoy.

It took Kutcher, Portwood, and the online home-design company Houzz.com 27 days to complete the basement remodelling project. Kutcher is an investor for the online company, and they documented the whole process, which helped boost Kutcher's publicity.