EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea Houska Predicts New Style Trend

HGTV "Down Home Fab" star Chelsea Houska predicts a new trend for 2023.

Former “Teen Mom” star Chelsea Houska is the lead designer on her new HGTV show, “Down Home Fab,” where her husband, Cole DeBoer, serves as the project manager.

In her earlier years on “Teen Mom,” Houska developed a reputation for her love of leopard print, but Houska’s taste has evolved since her teen years.

Houska still loves a good print. She chose an antelope rug for her client’s house in the first episode of “Down Home DeBoer,” and it could be the new trend.

“Is antelope the new leopard print?” Heavy asked Houska in a phone interview.

“I think antelope print is the new leopard print!” Houska told Heavy. “We’re calling it now.”

In the trailer for “Down Home Fab,” Houska added that she loves cowhides and “to paint things black.” She wants to inspire clients to “take risks and go bold with their design.”

Houska isn’t focused on the “biggest trends” anymore. She simply does what feels right.

“I maybe was trying to do whatever trends were in at the time. Like when the farmhouse trend was huge I was trying to do that at my house,” she said to Heavy.

“Now I feel more settled and confident in my personal style that it just feels more me,” she continued. “I just really encourage people to do whatever they love and not do whatever necessarily is the biggest trend at the moment.”

DeBoer added that there is a touch of sensibility to their designs. “We have four kids so we have to find things that are practical as well,” he told Heavy.

Houska’s eldest child, 13-year-old Aubree, is from her relationship with her high school boyfriend, Adam Lind. Houska and DeBoer met in 2014 and have been together ever since. They welcomed three children together: 5-year-old Watson, 4-year-old Layne and 1-year-old Walker June.

Houska and DeBoer quit “Teen Mom” in November 2020, months after the construction of their “dream home” started. They documented the process on the Down Home DeBoers Instagram page, where they discovered fans loved to watch their home-build process. The page currently has more than 750,000 followers.

How Houska and DeBoer Handle Different Opinions on Design

Houska and DeBoer collaborate on their designs, but if there’s a disagreement, they default to Houska’s preference.

“If that happens, I win,” Houska said with a giggle.

“If that ever does happen she just wins and that just settled,” DeBoer agreed.

But they have a balance. When it comes to the construction plans, DeBoer has the final say on those decisions.

“He has the final say in that area, and I have the final say in my area. Obviously, we do collab, but we really didn’t run into any big disagreements,” Houska said.

“There’s always suggestions but there’s never a disagreement,” DeBoer added.

Houska and DeBoer are social media influencers, who have a combined following of 9 million people on Instagram.

When it comes to finding their own inspiration, Houska and DeBoer go inward.

“I tend to just listen to my gut feeling,” Houska told Heavy. “I don’t necessarily draw inspo from outward sources. I like to look within and trust my own gut and really go off of that.”

“I think for me it just kinda comes,” DeBoer said. “When you’re in a space or you’re dealing with a certain project it just kinda comes to you. You just adapt.”

The Client’s Personal Style Matters the Most to Houska and DeBoer

When working with clients, Houska and DeBoer said the most important thing is making sure they’re happy.

“It is interesting, especially when someone may have a completely different style than I do or we do,” Houska told Heavy. “I feel like I do hone in on what I think someone else would like and really focus on that.”

Houska wants to inspire people to be bold, but still give them something that makes them feel at home.

The HGTV star said she likes to “push them outside of their comfort zone a little bit and add maybe a little bit of my own twist on it” but still keep the client’s “base style” intact.

“Most importantly, I want them to love it and feel comfortable and their home they’re walking into and not my home,” Houska said.

“I think what was important was understanding the client and understanding what their likes and wants were,” DeBoer added, saying Houska “just sprinkles” her touch.

Don’t miss “Down Home Fab” when it premieres Monday, January 16, at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV. It streams the same day via Discovery+.