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HGTV stars Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas have plunged head first into a new market in the Big Easy on their spinoff show “Bargain Block: New Orleans”. In an October 14 interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles, Bynum and Thomas shared some of the differences and difficulties they found while spending their winter working on renovation projects in the Southern city, and how they’ve adapted the kinds of homes they worked on to best fit the new market and the needs of their New Orleans buyers.
“I think, in Detroit, we’ve learned a lot about how to be really careful with our budgets, and that translated really nicely to New Orleans. The budgets are different for what people consider ‘affordable’ there, it was about twice [the going rate in Detroit],” Bynum shared.
“The market there is a lot more expensive,” Thomas added of New Orleans. “So in order to achieve that affordability we kept with the double [occupancy homes], which is basically like a duplex, where we have an owner’s side and then we have a rental side, and hopefully that rental side can help offset the owner’s mortgage. Because you’re looking at around $400,000 or $350,000 for these starter homes, whereas in Detroit it’s like half that, so we had to figure out a way to still keep it affordable.”
Keith Bynum Showed Off the First House He & Evan Thomas Completed in New Orleans
“Bargain Block: New Orleans” is currently airing on HGTV, and in an October 12 Instagram post, Bynum took a moment to celebrate his and Thomas’ hard work by showing off photos from their first completed renovation in the Big Easy.
“Evan and I are very proud of the very first house we completed in New Orleans. It turned out elegant and bright, and I love the layout so much more. These long narrow houses are tricky to reconfigure but we really enjoy that challenge. Some of y’all called me out for going more neutral. To that I say, for our first time in a new market, it seemed wise to try to appeal to a broader crowd. And second, just wait til next week to see the apartment 😜 #istilllovecolor #neworleans,” Bynum captioned the post.
Evan Thomas Supports Keith Bynum’s Change in Tone For 1st New Orleans Renovation
Fans of the couple and their designs were quick to point out Bynum’s more subdued color palate in this renovation compared to past work, as he did in his caption.
One user commented on Bynum’s post, “Beautiful and such a grown up style. Keith did you decorate this or did you let Evan? LOL,” with Thomas coming into the replies to confirm, “Keith decorates everything.”
“The neutral was a nice change of pace for you…see! You CAN do it!” another fan wrote, with Thomas pointing to some more of their past work in another response, “We enjoy doing neutral designs! Our house we redid in season 3 in Detroit is fairly neutral after all. As was the latest rock the block house, the Hamptons house from season 2, the scandi house from season 3, etc. We like a variety 😃.”
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