Even if you're not a fan of interior design, you've probably at least heard of Fixer Upper.
What you might not know is that despite all the southern charm and shiplap, the show isn't
always all that it's cracked up to be. Here’s the truth about Fixer Upper.
Part of the fun of watching Fixer Upper is seeing the clients of Chip and Joanna Gaines
choose which home they want the dynamic due to flip into their dream home. But as it turns
out, those house hunting scenes might not be as realistic as it seems.
"What did you guys decide?"
"Well, we went back and forth, and I think at the end of the day there was just one clear
winner."
In an interview with Fox News, homeowner David Ridley explained that before he ever appeared
on Fixer Upper, he'd already picked out his future home, and was in the buying process
before cameras started to roll. He revealed,
"You have to be under contract to be on the show. They show you other homes but you already
have one. After they select you, they send your house to Chip and Joanna and their design
team."
So while Fixer Upper shows contestants shopping around for their new home, in reality, they've
already chosen it. And, not only that, but the Gaines have already started a design scheme
for it as well.
"We just wanted to show you a smaller option because it's your first house… you may want
a smaller house!"
"That's true!"
"We don't know!"
If you've ever seen an episode of Fixer Upper, then you know how fun it looks when Chip and
Joanna Gaines reveal the final product to their clients. Standing in front of the home,
the Gaines each hold one side of a giant poster featuring the home's old exterior, which they
then move to reveal the new design. And as it turns out, that poster has a pretty cool
story.
In an interview with Glamour, Chip Gaines explained that the idea for the giant poster
came kind of out of nowhere. He revealed,
"Our first episode, we were sitting there trying to figure out how to get the client
to their space without revealing the house itself. At the eleventh hour, we had a friend
of mine weld a 12 foot tall by [24 foot wide structure] — and I've got another friend
in town who's got a small billboard company. When he put this thing together, I said, 'That
is awesome.'"
And what's even cooler is that the Gaines leave the poster to the families as a gigantic
reminder of their time on the show. Talk about a one of a kind keepsake.
When you watch an episode of Fixer Upper, it probably seems pretty glamorous. After
all, isn't it a dream come true to have a brand new home that was designed precisely
to your liking for a relatively low cost? Yes, but there's a catch. No matter how magical
Fixer Upper looks, it's not easy to be on the show. And perhaps most importantly, it's
pretty expensive.
As it turns out, HGTV and the Gaines don't actually cover the costs of the renovation.
On the contrary, the clients are expected to pay for the entire renovation, and there
is a minimum that has to be met.
A Magnolia Market employee actually told Hooked on Houses that anyone who goes on the show
must be willing to spend at least $30,000 on the renovation process. That's not chump
change, especially when you consider the fact that the clients must also have already purchased
a home.
Perhaps one of the biggest draws for people to appear on Fixer Upper is that their home
renovation will get done a lot quicker than normal. After all, filming the entire process
in time to air it means that the house gets flipped pretty fast; but because of that,
and because of budget restraints, not every room gets fixed up. Well, at least not on
the show.
As Joanna Gaines wrote on the Magnolia blog, not every room gets a complete makeover on
Fixer Upper. She explained,
"At times, we only work on rooms that are of priority to our clients and that work within
their budget. Some homeowners want to finish off their other rooms on their own since it
is mainly cosmetic (paint and carpet). Other times, we finish the spaces for them after
the reveal and this is separate from the budget shown for TV."
So, when you watch Fixer Upper and notice that the extra bedrooms and bathrooms don't
get any screen time, that's why.
The clients on Fixer Upper have to deal with having cameras everywhere, making tough budgetary
decisions, and spending a lot of money in a short period of time. But in order to make
the show viable and able to air on television in a reasonable amount of time, the crew on
Fixer Upper basically works around the clock.
Season 3 clients Sara and Jeff Jones told Apartment Therapy that getting their house
revamped was a serious undertaking, but worth it to have their home fixed up in just six
short weeks. Jeff explained,
"We did have to take time off to film. We did all our shots in one day. It was exhausting."
In order to take a run-down house from drab to fab, it obviously takes a lot of work,
and that means a lot of time. And while the final product of the home almost always turns
out great, the work that goes into it is super intense, and that's something the viewers
will never see.
When you see the final reveal of the clients' home on Fixer Upper, it obviously looks styled
to perfection. But what you don't see is that after the cameras stop rolling, most clients
have to send back the furniture that was used to decorate their new home.
One former Fixer Upper homeowner explained that the furniture couldn't stay unless you
paid for it, and it was expensive.
Season 3 client Jaime Ferguson said in an interview with Rachel Teodoro in 2016,
"When it came time to pack up all their beautiful staging furniture, Kyle and I had to decide
what we really loved because our budget at that point was pretty spent."
Obviously, if you had plenty of money, you could buy all the staging furniture, but it
would cost you quite a bit. Many of the pieces are from Joanna Gaines' Magnolia storefront,
and therefore pretty expensive. So how the renovated houses look on Fixer Upper probably
isn't how they'll look in real life after the show.
According to one former Fixer Upper client, the process for getting cast in the series
was actually pretty fast. Jaime Ferguson explained to Rachel Teodoro,
"I applied to HGTV and heard from the casting agency the next day. After that it was a quick,
big, exciting blur consisting of a Skype interview, written questionnaire, and some phone calls
and meetings."
So, what you see on the show probably seems fast because it is fast. From start to finish,
appearing on Fixer Upper doesn't seem to take all that long.
Obviously, fans of Fixer Upper know that the city of Waco, Texas is the focal point of
the series. It's where both Chip and Joanna Gaines live, work, and raise their children,
and it's also where they went to college, at Baylor University.
"I dare you to say ‘our alma mater’ three times."
"Our alma mater. Our alma materer. Our allaluhluh."
The Gaines reportedly intend to keep Fixer Upper and their huge company, Magnolia, centered
around the city.
In an interview with the Waco-Tribune Herald, Chip explained part of the reasoning for keeping
Fixer Upper focused on Waco was because of their love for it. He said, quote, "We're
passionate about making Waco a better town for all of us to live in."
For the Gaines, Fixer Upper wasn't just a way to earn an income, or achieve fame and
fortune; it was a way to put Waco, Texas on the map. And that's exactly what they did.
Going to Waco to see the Magnolia storefront along with Chip and Joanna's many other business
ventures, including restaurants and a coffee shop, is a huge tourist attraction. You can
call that the Fixer Upper effect.
Chip also told Glamour that there were some logistical reasons for staying in Waco. He
said that it would be difficult to stage projects too far outside of the city, mainly because
their actual construction company is based out of Waco.
The Gaines also felt a strong sense of loyalty towards their Waco employees, who Chip said
had worked with them since the beginning of Fixer Upper.
Even though just about everyone who goes on Fixer Upper has to pay for their home and
its renovation themselves, they do get one valuable thing for free: the design skills
of Joanna Gaines.
Though Joanna is known for her modern farmhouse aesthetic, she can tackle just about any interior
design style, and a large part of that might just be because she's always prepared.
"We gotta get all this furniture loaded up so Jo can do her thing."
Joanna always has plenty of decor on hand for staging a home on Fixer Upper. Until Gaines
can see the finished product in person, she doesn't always know what kind of decorative
items she'll need, so she likes to come over prepared.
In an interview with People, Joanna gave some insight into how she typically prepares to
stage a home. She said,
"There's a lot of planning that goes into a day like today. But it's inevitable. I'll
need more books, I'll need a certain vase. I always like to bring too much so that in
the end I have what I need."
So, the clients who appear on Fixer Upper don't get to keep everything Joanna Gaines
uses to stage their home for the final reveal, but just what exactly does that include?
Well, according to one former Fixer Upper homeowner, some of the items they did purchase
from the show, as well as items that were donated such as appliances, weren't great
quality.
Namely, Jeff and Sara Jones from season 3 of Fixer Upper told Apartment Therapy that
it seemed like the things they got for free were free for a reason. Sara explained,
"Our counter stools broke with little wear and tear, our dishes cracked easily upon regular
use, and the appliances were the worst of all. The fridge leaked constantly, so much
so that it ruined our new floor and we had to ultimately replace it within four years,
and the wine fridge they provided broke down after a year."
Yikes.
So, while their renovated home might have looked good on camera, it wasn't all that
great to be on the receiving end of the donated items.
"I think we'd do this all over again. I mean, it's incredible. Y'all really did flawless
work."
While viewers of Fixer Upper get to watch the design and renovation process with Chip
and Joanna Gaines, it turns out that the clients can't see anything until the reveal.
Rachel Whyte, who appeared on season 3 of Fixer Upper explained in an interview with
Country Living that the entire process was exciting, but also pretty nerve-wracking.
She said,
"You've heard about the ideas, but [design day is] when you see a visual representation
of what they have in store for your home."
However, Rachel was then asked not to even drive by her house while the renovations were
taking place, which proved to be especially testing for Rachel; she almost did it anyway,
until her husband talked her out of it.
Still, on reveal day, Rachel admitted to looking behind the poster before she was supposed
to. She said,
"I snuck a peek to see if the house was white and I was able to see that it was, so I could
rest easy and the rest would be smooth sailing."
While most of the filming process for Fixer Upper seems like a dream come true, there
are downsides to appearing on the show. Though Sara and Jeff Jones from season 3 of the show
told Apartment Therapy that they "would do it again in a heartbeat." In their words,
"When else in your life do you get your whole house renovated in six weeks?"
But there were still some negatives they pointed out that might not occur to many viewers and
prospective clients.
In addition to having their taxes go up after their episode of Fixer Upper aired, Jeff explained
that because of the huge popularity of the series, there's a lot more tourism than ever
before. Even though the Jones converted the garage of their own living space to rent out
on Airbnb, there were a lot of fans swinging by the property to have a look as well. Jeff
added,
"A local tourism company called Waco Tours drives by our house 4 to 6 times [a day] to
show people. I guess that's the price you pay to have your house on TV."
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