Looking for something to binge watch on TV while you’re stuck at home waiting out the coronavirus? Why not try some of HGTV’s top renovation shows, especially if you’re thinking about placing your home on the market soon and want to do some touchups beforehand. A few of HGTV’s best series are among those available on Hulu, which streams a majority of the network’s content. Here are seven shows to put on your must-see list.
1. Fixer Upper
This classic home design series featuring Chip and Joanna Gaines ran for five seasons…and there isn’t a boring episode among the bunch. The ideal renovation show, Fixer Upper has single-handedly popularized sliding barn doors and shiplap walls during the past five years. Even if you’ve seen this show before, a day spent with Chip and Jo is still quite satisfying. Coming up: Look for the pair to debut their own network in October.
2. Good Bones
This sweet and uplifting series follows a combo of a client-renovation and house-flipping projects by the Indianapolis mother-daughter duo of Karen Laine and Mina Starsiak. Sometimes they flip and sell, other times they redo homes for families in need of an upgrade. But their love of bright colors, adorable relationship, and keen budgeting know-how make the show a winner, especially when it comes to offering some great do-it-yourself tips.
3. Love It or List It
This is the ideal choice If you’re fond of a good-old rivalry. All about renovations and house hunting, the series really is more of a competition between interior designer Hilary Farr and real estate agent David Visentin. Each earnestly tries to convince the couples they work with to either stay in their remodeled home (a win for Farr) or sell it to upgrade to something turnkey (a win for Visentin).
4. House Hunters
While the architecture and prices of the international version of this show can be exciting, the domestic series is just a bit more satisfying—especially since many of the locales covered, from major cities to small towns, are more familiar to viewers. This is the HGTV series that best understands its viewers’ voyeuristic desires, almost inviting the audience to yell at the screen when the couple chooses the wrong house. Even if you’ve seen dozens of episodes, the show still manages to surprise.
5. House Hunters International
Speaking of the international version…sometimes it’s exciting to see the lavish, outrageous and unattainable homes featuring via this spinoff series. Although not all of them are such, the locations make them feel extravagant even if an episode is about a single woman looking for an inexpensive rental in Italy.
6. Property Brothers
HGTV shows make many of us wish we could purchase a fixer-upper and turn it into our dream home, but the best series are the ones that tend to educate the audience. Drew and Jonathan Scott are perhaps the most accessible HGTV personalities, not just renovating homes but actively convincing their clients that an inexpensive, imperfect fixer is better than something shiny and move-in ready. From choosing lamps to learning the correct way to pull up laminate countertops, it’s full of helpful hints and satisfying before-and-after shots.
7. Home Town
This show is among the sweetest on HGTV, with a married couple Ben and Erin Napier so eager to help new families move into their small hometown of Laurel, Miss., that you can’t help but warm to them. Their penchant for money-saving DIY hacks and Erin’s surprising design makes the show.