With influencers all over our feeds showing easy (or not-so-easy) DIYs to express ourselves through our personal space, the fervor for creating the perfect home environment is experiencing a reawakening. It can be as simple as an interior design makeover or as complex as a major renovation. Whether you want to revamp a room, declutter, or are inspired by recent federal interest rate cuts, which could make creating the home of your dreams more cost-effective, there’s no wrong reason to spruce things up.
It can be challenging, however, to know where to begin. It’s easy to get overwhelmed simply when considering tools, techniques, costs, and deciding on a color palette. This is when experts come in handy. Home improvement shows are perfect for giving access to the pros — not to mention providing a visual aid to help guide you through each stage and envision your finished project. So grab your storage containers and your paint swatches, because the following TV series about home renovations and makeovers are sure to inspire.
Imagine going over to your neighbor’s seemingly normal home and discovering there’s a steampunk church instead of a kitchen. That’s the whole idea of Amazing Interiors, a series that takes you inside the eccentric homes of people who refuse to let an ordinary exterior stop them from creating some unbelievable spaces. This is the kind of show where you can expect earnest explanations about why an indoor waterfall was installed or how an origami-themed apartment got its movable walls. If you’re looking to go big with your own home renovation, or if you just like marveling at how people make their wild ideas a reality, this is the ideal series to watch next.
Consider Dream Home Makeover a Pinterest board in TV show form. Husband and wife interior design duo Shea and Syd McGee work with families to give their homes makeovers that showcase their personal style, while also staying within the budget. One episode finds them turning the bathroom of a family with six kids into an oasis; in another, they bring back the old-school charm of a pioneer home that had previously been modernized. No space is too big or too small, and even after four seasons, watching Shea and Syd take on new challenges hasn’t gotten any less exciting. You’ll be jotting down decor ideas as you watch.
The two-person team behind The Home Edit, Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, blew up on social media by showing clean, simple and aesthetically pleasing organization techniques. If you’ve ever seen a kitchen filled with containers for everything from utensils to cereal, you can chalk it up to The Home Edit’s influence. Their series presents that idea in a longer form, as they go into people’s homes to work their magic by sorting through cluttered spaces. In some episodes, they meet with everyday people; in another, they help Reese Witherspoon organize her messy closets. (Stars are just like us!) It’s a series with a little bit of everything — and a lot of inspiration.
For most of us, buying a new home or adding on to an existing one is just not in the budget. We have to work with what we’ve got and no one does this exact thing better than the design and engineering team of Hack My Home. Here, an architect, an engineer, a construction contractor, and an interior designer visit the homes of families who are either outgrowing their space or need to otherwise make over their home to accommodate their changing lives. With heartfelt consideration for the personal needs of their clients, the team transforms spaces to be creatively functional and often very fun — think hidden storage and secret bedrooms. The creativity of the show’s experts is infectious — and will have you looking at your nooks and crannies with fresh eyes.
There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned home renovation show. This one, hosted by Orange Is the New Black’s Danielle Brooks, is based around the unique challenge of making over an entire house in just one day. It’s fascinating to watch the team knock down walls, construct entirely new floors and figure out the interior design in such a small amount of time. Another high point of this series is how every episode warms your heart by letting you into the lives of its subjects, who are often community leaders and families in need of help.
For the exact opposite of a series about maximalist interior design, check out The Minimalists: Less Is Now. Matt D’Avella’s documentary shows how Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus built a movement through helping people get rid of nonessential items. Minimalism is based around the idea that many homes are overcrowded with things and that we would all be more content with less. If downsizing is your ultimate goal but you’re not sure where to start, this one’s worth checking out.
Motel Makeover isn’t quite like anything else on this list, but it’s certainly one of the most entertaining renovation shows to watch. It features best friends and business partners Sarah Sklash and April Brown as they work through a slew of challenges — including the pandemic — while attempting to transform a dilapidated roadside motel into a chic slice of paradise. It’s an honest and very funny look (thanks to the dynamic between Sklash, Brown and their no-nonsense contractor, Rick) at the realities of taking on such a complicated project, and what goes into turning a space into a hot ticket vacation destination.
We all know someone who’s used the KonMari Method, a practical and efficient technique created by Marie Kondo, to organize their home. In her series Tidying Up, Kondo goes into the abodes of overwhelmed people who are too busy to declutter their living spaces. She sorts through items by category and guides people to decide which possessions spark joy and discard those that don’t. Kondo helps new parents tidy up with toddlers running around, works with a grieving widow to let go of some of her husband’s belongings, and more. The best part of this series is that Kondo never passes judgment on people’s homes, steadfast in her belief that tidying up is always possible, no matter what. (For even more, be sure to check out her other series, Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo.)
The tiny house trend is real as more people become tempted by the possibilities of living smaller, simpler and less financially constrained lifestyles. Hosted by renovation experts John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin, Tiny House Nation examines how people across the US have successfully managed to downsize their lives by moving into smaller spaces. Weisbarth and Giffin also help them construct and design their tiny homes, turning the series into an interesting look at how people make the most out of a little. You don’t even have to live in a tiny home to get inspired by the creative ways people find to turn every corner of their square footage into something practical.
Queer Eye isn’t strictly a home improvement show, but that is a major element of the Fab Five’s mission. Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, and Jeremiah Brent (who succeeded Bobby Berk starting in Season 9), help people remake themselves inside and out. It’s a heartwarming series about helping people feel comfortable in their bodies, minds, and living spaces. Sometimes the “heroes” get extensive home renovations, and sometimes they get a little help with living more organized lives. In either scenario, the reveal at the end of each episode is always satisfying. Think of Queer Eye as the kind of show that will inspire your home improvement project as well as your own personal reimagining.
