Instant Dream Home Season 1: Details We Know So Far
While Danielle Brooks was a fixture on Netflix as part of the cast of "Orange is the New Black," she now has a whole new job for the streaming service as the host of "Instant Dream Home." The actress announced her new gig on social media in June. "So excited to finally announce I got this cool opportunity last summer (well before the pandemic) to be the host of ;Instant Dream Home' airing on @netflix on August 10," she tweeted. "It's a really special heartwarming show changing people's lives one home at a time. Grab tissues."
The home renovation show will feature a group of families who have their homes transformed and improved by a team of professionals in 24 hours. In addition to Brooks, "Styling Hollywood" star Adair Curtis (interior design), Erik Curtis (carpenter), Nick Cutsumpas (exterior design) and former "Project Runway" contestant Paige Mobley (special projects) round out the cast, per Netflix.
So what can viewers expect from the show's upcoming first season?
Homeowners have no idea their houses will be renovated
The first season of "Instant Dream Home" will consist of eight episodes, each one featuring a family who have made a difference in their community and have homes that are in desperate need of some TLC, per Architectural Digest. These deserving homeowners were nominated by someone in their lives, and that same person is in charge of getting the unsuspecting person and the rest of their family out of the house so host and team leader Danielle Brooks — along with the show's team — can work their magic.
One of the homeowners featured is firefighter EMT Anaré Holmes, who was nominated by his boyfriend Andre. "Andre and [Danielle] devised a plan to lure me away from my 1930s three-bedroom, three-bathroom bungalow with the help of a team of rapid-fire renovators who transformed my home from top to bottom," Holmes wrote in an article for The Reckoning. "I am honored to be among eight families featured in the series. The show transformed my house into a home."
Other people who will have their homes transformed for the show include a long-time activist with vision loss, a couple with nine children, a single mom, and a couple who were scammed by their contractor, per Netflix.
The team only has 12 hours to complete the work
Once the homeowner is out of the house, the "Instant Dream Home" team only has 12 hours to complete the renovation. "There is nothing usual about what we do on this show," interior designer Adair Curtis told Architectural Digest. "The whole concept of completing a renovation project in the span of 12 hours isn't the normal experience for 99.99% of people. I've never done anything like this before, no."
Luckily, the pros do have a bit of a head start in the process. The person nominating the homeowner has already sent photos and videos of the space that will be renovated months beforehand, per The Tab, so that the team can carefully plot out the project before they even step onto the property. But once they're on location, the clock starts ticking — and the show's team had to quickly learn to work together in an efficient way. "It's rare you have all the trades on a project working in the same space all at once," Curtis explained. "Because we only had 12 hours to make a ton happen, everything was timed to the millisecond and we had to move as a complete unit in order to get things done."
Fans are loving the touching stories behind Instant Dream House
Even before the premiere of "Instant Dream Home," carpenter Erik Curtis warned viewers on Instagram to "get your tissues ready!" He wasn't kidding. Once the show started streaming on Netflix on August 10, viewers soon revealed just how emotional they were while watching the feel-good show. "I never thought that watching 'Instant Dream Home' on Netflix would make me cry," one person tweeted. Another fan wrote, "Nothing like a home makeover show to make me cry ugly tears."
Critics have also fallen in love with the reality home makeover series, which Netflix described as "part home renovation show and part heist movie." And host Danielle Brooks — who is best known for her dramatic roles — "is just as infectious as a reality show host as she is in any of her acting roles, and she's the perfect person to drop in and keep things moving," Joel Keller of Decider wrote.
Since the show was just released, there's no word on if "Instant Dream Home" will be coming back for a second season, but as Decider points out, a good indication will be how long the show stays in the streaming service's Top 10 list.
For now, fans can enjoy binge watching the first season of "Instant Dream Home" — and keeping their fingers crossed for a new season soon!