What You Don't Know About Fixer Upper

What you don't know about Fixer Upper? Even if you're not a fan of interior design, or shows on HGTV in general, you probably have at least heard of the home renovation show. The series launched stars Chip and Joanna Gaines to a level of fame no other HGTV star has known. Seriously, they've landed deals at Target, more magazine covers than you could count, and have turned the small town of Waco, Texas into their own kingdom, essentially. 

But beyond the Gaines, Fixer Upper has also drastically changed the lives of every homeowner that's appeared on the series. The show tackles homes that aren't necessarily all that cute, and transforms them into total showstoppers, with plenty of shiplap. But what you don't know about Fixer Upper is that despite all the southern charm, the show isn't always all that it's cracked up to be. And in fact, it's a lot less perfect than you imagine.

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. "At the eleventh hour, we had a friend of mine weld a 12 foot tall by 12 foot wide — and there's two of them, so it's 24 feet wide by the time it's all said and done — and I've got another friend in town whose got a small billboard company. When he put this thing together, I said, 'That is awesome,'" he revealed. And what's even cooler is that the Gaines leave the poster to the families as a forever (and giant) reminder of their time on the show.

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 (via Apartment Therapy), not every room gets a complete makeover on Fixer Upper. "At times, we only work on rooms that are of priority to our clients and that work within their budget," she explained. "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.

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. "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," Jaime Ferguson told Rachel Teodoro in an exclusive interview. Obviously, if you had plenty of money you could buy all the staging furniture, but it would cost you quite a bit as most 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, as the furniture isn't included.

Obviously, fans of Fixer Upper know that the somewhat-small city of Waco, Texas is the focal point of the series. It's where both Chip and Joanna Gaines went to college, at Baylor University, and where they live, work, and raise their children. Most importantly, it's where the Gaines intend to keep all the Fixer Upper goodness and their huge company, Magnolia.

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. "We're passionate about making Waco a better town for all of us to live in," he said, adding that it was the only area they're invested 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.

Just one listen to Chip and Joanna Gaines accents on an episode of Fixer Upper and you probably know exactly where they're from. Well, you'll at least know they're from Texas — but not just anywhere in Texas, as the Gaines are from Waco. Additionally, they're probably staying here for the foreseeable future. Yes, they won't leave Texas, not even for the show.

Chip also told Glamour that there were some logistical reasons for staying in Waco. "It would be very difficult for us because we have an actual construction company in Waco, Texas," Chip revealed. 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. 

However, Chip also shared that out-of-state projects weren't out of the question. "I think one of these days I could see Jo being able to design and then have a local contractor implement the things," he continued. After all, Joanna was spotted helping Jennifer Lopez design her home, so who knows what the future holds for the Gaines?

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," because, "When else in your life do you get your whole house renovated in six weeks?!" there were still some negatives.

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 unrelenting fans swinging by. "Also a local tourism company called Waco Tours drives by our house 4 to 6 times days to show people. I guess that's the price you pay to have your house on TV," Jeff said. Hey, you can't win them all.