Erin Napier From 'Home Town' Set the Record Straight on Keeping Furniture
Updated March 7 2021, 3:35 p.m. ET
Home renovation shows are every domesticated creature's guilty pleasure. To see livable spaces in dire need of updating, some tender love and care, and re-imagining is truly a sight to behold. It also gets the gears turning in people's minds too: Maybe they can get their own fixer-upper house and put some elbow grease into it to transform it into the abode of their dreams. Many of these shows, like Home Town, feature gorgeous furniture in the renovations, but is furniture included in the "deal?"
Is the furniture included on 'Home Town' for homeowners?
Erin Napier gave the skinny on people's biggest questions when it comes to her program and other home renovation shows. Well that depends on the nature of the renovations. Erin says that in Home Town, the production team for the most part likes to utilize the pre-existing furniture that homeowners already have in their houses.
"The homeowners' budget usually does allow for lots of pieces they get to keep and the custom pieces @scotsman.co builds for each home," Erin posted on Instagram. So there is a set amount of money for renovations that production gives to prospective homeowners. For other pieces, Erin and her husband, Ben, usually go to shops in Laurel, Miss., along with a binder that lists the prices of the furniture pieces.
Because Ben and Erin know these shops personally, and their pieces are being featured on the TV show, participants are given a special price from these local shops if they decide to keep the furniture from said shops. "It's a kind of ‘welcome to the neighborhood!' from locals to these sweet new folks," Erin said.
Erin does receive some criticism for being a little too "busy" with her designs in the home, however, Erin says this most closely resembles real life: People tend to accumulate a certain amount of "clutter." But according to the TV personality, this is normal for her, "Some may say my style is maximalist or cluttered, but I say it's real life."
So while all of the furniture isn't included on 'Home Town' you can still get a few items included in your reno package.
As for how much is allotted for renovations, most home reno shows don't really fund the cost of the participants' renovations. Take Fixer Upper for instance: HGTV doesn't pay for them, but they will foot the bill for "one big ticket item," according to Yahoo. "This can include anything from an expensive dining room table to a sectional couch, but it’s restricted to one piece."
What's great about a show like Fixer Upper is that they aren't paying for the services of the reno experts too. That's actually covered by HGTV's talent fee — so while homeowners are paying for the materials, they are getting the services of design experts for free. There's also the added benefit of knowing that this home is going to ultimately be put on broadcast television.
That's not to say that contractors don't want their work to shine regardless. But we'd imagine that if they know that their work is going to be broadcast for all of America to see for basically the rest of time, then they're going to go that extra mile to make sure everything is done exceptionally well.
New episodes of Home Town air on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on HGTV.