People in Reno, Nevada, and Sacramento, California, have many reasons why they like to watch TV shows for home remodeling. They offer a way to indulge voyeuristic tendencies in a way that is legal and healthy. Home remodeling shows are appropriate to watch around kids, and they offer useful information and inspiration for bath remodeling and other projects. Not only that but, because of their formulaic nature, they consistently deliver on the predictable results that they promise. The end result may not be exactly what you expect, but it is always amazing.
Whatever your reasons for watching TV shows for home remodeling, whether you watch intently or just leave it on in the background as you go about your day, here is a guide to some of the best ones.
Fix It & Finish It
Every home has a loose end, a troublesome unfinished project, or somehow never even got started. On “Fix It & Finish It,” the host and his crew travel around the country, finishing these jobs for people.
Desert Flippers
Palm Springs is a California city located near Joshua Tree National Park. It is the setting for “Desert Flippers” and where it gets its title. The show hosts are a married couple who renovate homes in the area to bring them up to code and occasionally encounter dangerous desert critters in the process. It is popular enough to have drawn over 1 million viewers.
Maine Cabin Masters
Most people go to Maine for vacations. The hosts of “Maine Cabin Masters,” a set of siblings along with their best friend, go to work revamping old cabins so that they feel new. In addition to the usual appeal of TV shows for remodeling, this one also offers some exquisite natural scenery. With approximately 3.5 million viewers, “Maine Cabin Masters is the top program on the DIY network.
Trading Spaces
“Trading Spaces” was one of the first TV shows for remodeling to ride the wave of reality television programs back in the early 2000s. Initially running for eight years, it underwent a revival in 2018 based on the same premise that two neighbors would each get to design one room in the other’s home. Viewership is consistently over 2 million people.
Good Bones
The hosts of “Good Bones” are a mother-daughter team who work to revitalize houses around their hometown of Indianapolis. Originally, they started flipping homes as a hobby as each had her own career. The two do most of the renovation work themselves, and their signature style involves creating a personal touch by incorporating the work of local artisans and artists as well as creating green space whenever possible. The show draws a respectable audience of 1.606 million people.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Many people forget that “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” was a spin-off of another reality show that had nothing to do with bath remodeling or any home projects. With its positive outlook and feel-good premise of improving homes for needy families, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” proved to be much more popular and have more staying power than its predecessor. It ran on network television for nine years. A reboot series started airing on HGTV following an eight-year hiatus.
This Old House
“This Old House” was one of the vanguard TV shows for home remodeling. It started in 1979, before the phrase “reality television” even meant anything. It has run consistently for over 40 years, winning 17 Emmys to date, and still draws 2.3 million viewers per week. Inevitably, over the decades, the show has undergone some changes. Bob Vila hosted the show for the first ten years and was succeeded by Steve Thomas and later Kevin O’Connor, who continues to host after first starting in 2003.
Flipping Out
“Flipping Out” was a series that ran for 11 seasons on Bravo, from 2007 to 2018. Despite the name, the focus shifted more on home decorating aspects than flipping when the housing bubble broke in the late 2000s. Behind-the-scenes drama in the form of tension among castmates was at least as absorbing as the program itself. Over a million people have tuned in to watch them bickering.
Property Brothers
Identical twin brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott dreamed of the entertainment business when they were young. They eventually became a contractor and a real estate agent, respectively, but their latent charisma has turned “Property Brothers” into a thriving franchise. The original series sees the two brothers cooperate to bring new life to old houses, with Drew identifying and negotiating for the purchase of neglected houses and Jonathan revitalizing them through remodeling.
Flip or Flop
Real estate agents Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack started flipping houses in response to the housing bubble burst. They filmed the entire process for an audition tape that they made with the help of a friend and sent to HGTV in 2011. “Flip or Flop” started in 2013. At the time, El Moussa and Haack were married. They split in 2016 but continue to host the show together.
Fixer Upper
In terms of viewership, “Fixer Upper” is one of the most popular TV shows for home remodeling with over 4 million viewers. The show ran for five seasons from 2012 to 2017, and even though there are no new episodes, it remains so popular that the influential hosts, a married couple named Chris and Joanna Gaines, are now getting their own network. “Fixer Upper” focused on the couple’s Texas-based redecoration and renovation business and helped popularize the “farmhouse-chic” style of interior design. The couple’s charm and warm relationship with one another also helped to attract and connect with audiences. They have children who rarely, if ever, are featured on the show, but it sounds as though that could be changing with the new network, reported to focus more generally on lifestyle content rather than strictly home renovation.
Be the Star of Your Own Home Remodel, with USA Bath
The chances of your California or Nevada home being chosen as a featured project on a home renovation show are pretty slim. Nevertheless, you can still get the bathroom of your dreams with the help of USA Bath. Contact us for a free consultation.
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