Do Homeowners on ‘Fixer Upper’ Get to Keep the Furniture?
The show may have ended months ago, but fans still can’t get enough Fixer Upper. HGTV continues playing reruns of their best-performing show of all time because people just can’t stop watching it. It’s all so mesmerizing – the renovations, the dynamic between Chip and Joanna, the thrill of a before and after. The shiplap.
But through it all, one question remains: once the camera crew wraps up and leaves, do the homeowners get to keep the furniture?
It all comes down to budget
That beautifully staged home you see during the big reveal portion of every Fixer Upper episode certainly looks like a dream. But perceptive viewers think about the practical aspect of it. They might wonder what people do with all of their own furniture that they’ve been using all along. Do they just abandon it because Joanna Gaines picked out a prettier coffee table?
The answer is that it all depends, and ultimately it comes down to budget. When Chip and Joanna work within budget constraints for each renovation, the numbers they discuss only include labor and construction materials, not decorative elements. If the homeowners love the way the house looks at the end and want to keep everything, they’ll have to pony up a whole lot of extra cash to do so.
Some of the furniture might be their own
Ever notice how you don’t see Joanna shopping for furniture much during episodes of Fixer Upper? That’s because she may not have to. In addition to custom pieces she commissions from her friend Clint Harp, Joanna Gaines often stages the finished home with pieces from her own collection or even items the homeowner already has.
“Our show features real clients with real budgets. The furniture budget is not part of the renovation budget, it’s something some clients add at the end,” Joanna Gaines wrote on her blog. “About half of our clients already have all their own furnishings, some of which I use for the reveal, and others buy the items I decorate the home with.”
The renovations are impressive even without new furniture
Taking down walls, redoing floors, painting, staining, and adding architectural details like crown molding or focal point fireplaces make a much bigger impact than simply switching out an old sofa for a new one.
Even though homeowners don’t automatically get to keep new furniture featured in the episode (at least not without paying for it), they’re still getting a lot of value for the money they do spend. Plus, anyone can go chair shopping at any time. Construction projects and space planning are much more complicated. The services Chip and Joanna Gaines provide are worth the price for most people on the show, even if they don’t get tomove right into the house with all the beautiful items after the reveal.
Do other HGTV shows let people keep the furniture?
Obviously, there is more than one renovation show on HGTV. Now that you know Fixer Upper homeowners don’t get to keep the furniture, you may be wondering about some of your other favorite shows on the network. Does anyone get to keep the furniture?
They do on Property Brothers. Drew and Jonathan Scott answered this common question in the FAQ section of their website, promising that homeowners on their shows keep everything television viewers see. They went on to say that oftentimes the renovations will be more extensive than what you see on television – there’s usually not enough time to see all the work the crew does behind the scenes.
If you’re ever lucky enough to get chosen for a home renovation show, it sounds like Property Brothers is a great option!
