Matthew Silva, 12, rides his bike in front of his new home, on Yukatan Drive in Warwick, last Thursday afternoon.

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The Providence Journal / BILL MURPHY

WARWICK –– When Doreen Silva walked into her oldest son’s room the other day, it wasn’t the 62-inch rear projection television screen that caught her eye. Or the wooden bed carved to look like the Mach 5 car in the soon-to-be-released movie Speed Racer.

She didn’t even glance at a vertical glass case with shelves that held autographed costumes and other memorabilia from the movie that is sure to be a big hit on the teenage boy circuit.

What Doreen Silva saw was the small stack of neatly folded laundry that she had placed on 14-year-old Kenny’s bed hours before. “Come on now,” she says, “Let’s put that away, please.”

The gleaming new Warwick house that viewers got to ooh and ah over during last night’s broadcast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition may be filled with state-of-the-art domestic technology and eye-popping decorators’ touches, but for Ken and Doreen Silva, it is first and foremost their home.

The couple, who have five children plus a changing lineup of babies and youngsters in foster care, were chosen earlier this year as the worthy recipients of the show’s bounty. The state was captivated by the Silvas’ story in February as the media covered the horde of camera crews and throngs of volunteers who descended on Yucatan Drive for the razing of the Silvas’ old home and the construction of a new house –– all in about four days.

The tiny, shoebox-shaped house of no discernible architectural style was not only woefully small for the Silvas and all the children they want to help through foster care, it was also contaminated with lead paint.

It was little more than 1,000 square feet, had one bathroom, and the space under the eaves where Doreen and Ken had set up their bedroom was too tight to stand upright in.

In its place now stands a spacious 3,000-square-foot shingled home with a gracefully curving roof line, small front porch and attached garage.

The interior of the house was kept top secret until last night, with precautions including opaque covering on some of the windows to keep the overly curious from getting a sneak preview.

Once the front door swung open for millions of TV viewers last night, the need for such secrecy dissipated and the Silvas can talk freely about the professionally decorated, airy new house with its five bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms.

Designed by Blount Bennett Architects Ltd., of East Providence, the house was built by Oldport Homes, of Portsmouth. It was furnished by Cardi’s and linked to the latest in digital entertainment by Cox Communications. Every room is made unique by special touches from the Extreme Makeover show’s team of designers, and it could take hours to tour the house if every thoughtful detail were examined.

No one –– not even the Silvas –– knows the house better yet than Eric Johnson, owner of Oldport Homes. One day last week he took visitors sworn to secrecy through the house starting with the bright and open living room/dining room area with its yellow walls and white wainscoting. It was designed with the idea that an open, comfy space was needed because Doreen home-schools all the children, he said. It has a recessed cloakroom with cubbies and shelves for the children’s coats, boots and book bags.

The living area flows into the kitchen with its vivid dark blue tile accents and granite-topped island where the children can enjoy their snacks, and there is a special shallow produce sink for washing fruits and vegetables. And the dishwasher is so quiet that it has a blue pulsing light to indicate when it’s running.

Each of the four children’s bedrooms is thematic. Kenny’s room reflects his passion for all things NASCAR. Matthew, 12, can practice magic to his heart’s content in a room with a closet hidden behind a swing-away bookcase and a wardrobe that is connected by a secret passage to the “disappearing box” next to his bed.

The Wiggles, a popular Australian children’s television program and singing group, perform a special song for Sammy, 3, on a DVD made just for him that he can listen to in his colorful room with a reading corner and place for arts and crafts.

Younger brothers Jayedin, 6, and Isaiah, 7, sleep in custom-built bunk beds that combine the architecture of Yankee and Gillette stadiums. And if the bright green floor looks a little familiar, that’s because it’s a piece of the decking from the old Boston Garden. Ken, who drives a recycling truck for the City of Warwick, can relive his younger glory days by looking at the gleaming rows of bowling, baseball and darts trophies that line built-in shelves in the upstairs hall. It’s not far from there to the couple’s sanctuary –– a tangerine-colored bedroom suite complete with an oversize bathroom that has a soaking tub and separate shower.

Though it’s been a little more than two months since they got to turn the key in the door, the Silvas still seem slightly stunned when they talk about the house, the flood of other donations they received and the fact that strangers wanted to help them so much. They laugh about still learning all of the house’s features –– including the computerized keypad for the shower can produce either a serenade or a blast of hot water.The Silvas laugh now when they recall the one working bathroom of their old house — with seven people lining up, just getting ready for church on Sunday was a colossal feat.

“Sunday morning was a circus. We were all bumping into each other,” Ken Silva said.

Even little things like doing laundry are easier now. Doreen used to gingerly weave her way around the dangerous heating pipes that cluttered their old basement to reach their tiny laundry machines. It seems Byzantine in retrospect, as she now does laundry in half the time with the large new machines they received from the show.

“I only have to do two loads of laundry now, instead of the five I had to do,” Doreen said.

When asked what they love best about their new home, Ken and Doreen said it’s the personal touches that outshine the fancy appliances and decorative touches.

Ken said he loves the fact that someone found all his trophies and put them on display along with those the children have won. Doreen loves the bedroom, and they were both taken with the fact that show host and lead designer Ty Pennington decorated that room with black-and-white photographs of the children –– and left frames for more.

“Sometimes we still can’t believe this,” Ken said. “Like today, when I pulled in the driveway, I asked myself, ‘Do I really live here?’  ”

bpoliche@projo.com