HGTV Former "Teen Mom" star Chelsea Houska reached out to HGTV when she wanted her own show on the network.
Former “Teen Mom” star Chelsea Houska made the first move when it came to getting her show, “Down Home Fab,” on HGTV.
She and her husband, Cole DeBoer, were in the middle of building their dream home from the ground up and documenting the process on social media via the Down Home DeBoers Instagram page. More than 750,000 people followed their journey, and Houska thought it would be “fun” if they filmed the project for HGTV.
“It’s kinda funny because I slid into their DMs. We were building our house and I just messaged them one day,” Houska told Heavy in a phone interview. “I deleted it right away because I was so embarrassed that I would do that. That’s not typical of me.”
“They just passed the message along and it went up the ladder,” she continued. “And it’s so crazy.”
“Down Home Fab” has Houska as the lead designer and DeBoer as the project manager for six home renovations in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
It might be the first time a renovation show has taken place in the Mount Rushmore state.
“I think it is. There are not people jumping to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but Sioux Falls is such a nice smaller city and I think it honestly is booming and getting the attention it deserves because it really, really is a great place to live and raise a family,” Houska said.
“South Dakota is popping out here,” DeBoer added. “We got stuff going on.”
Houska and DeBoer’s community in Sioux Falls has been supportive of “Down Home Fab” coming to their town. “So far it’s been so well received and it’s been good,” Houska said.
In the premiere of “Down Home Fab,” Houska and DeBoer renovate one of their friend’s homes, and it “definitely brought a lot more pressure,” DeBoer said.
“You want them to be happy and we don’t want things to be awkward,” Houska added.
Houska garnered fame as a single mother on “Teen Mom” in the early 2000s. Viewers watched as she raised her eldest daughter, 13-year-old Aubree, and struggled to co-parent with her high school boyfriend, Adam Lind.
Houska and DeBoer met in 2014 and were married two years later. They welcomed three children together: 5-year-old Watson, 4-year-old Layne and 1-year-old Walker June.
The kids have a few cameos on the debut episode of “Down Home Fab,” but HGTV mostly focuses on the home-building process.
Houska and DeBoer walked away from “Teen Mom” in 2020 after a decade with MTV.
Houska and DeBoer Struggled With the Budget
While they loved the process, Houska and DeBoer did come across some hiccups when doing the renovations. One thing they had to be mindful of was the budget they were given for each house.
“There’s always so much that you want to do and you want to make all the client’s dreams come true. Sometimes you do have to pick and choose,” Houska told Heavy. “You can’t go as hardcore as you want to because you have to stick within the budget, but you just do whatever you can to hit all their main goals.”
There are also “unforeseen changes that cost money” that can eat into the budget, DeBoer added.
“It happens more than you think,” he told Heavy. “You have to put that into the budget and it does affect the design and things you can get. Especially with COVID, there were some materials we couldn’t get, or sometimes it was limited on what we could choose from. That was difficult.”
Houska teased that they ran into some unforeseen obstacles. “Let’s just say: Nothing ever goes as planned in a renovation,” she explained. “There’s always some pivoting and some plan B actions going on.”
Ultimately, the couple was happy with the finished projects.
“Each house ended up being so different,” Houska said. “I just loved how each one turned out.”
Houska and DeBoer Love Being a Part of the HGTV Family
Houska said it’s been a “dream come true” to work with HGTV.
“It’s huge. The family is so supportive. I just feel so proud being a part of HGTV and it was so crazy to see our names on their website,” Houska said.
The mother-of-four said they were thrilled when they were featured in a commercial with other HGTV stars.
“There was a commercial and it was all the OG HGTV people and then we were in there. We were like jumping up and down. And we were like, ‘Oh my gosh. It’s us mixed in there with all the people who have been on there for years,'” Houska recalled.
DeBoer said he was “very proud” and “very grateful for the opportunity… it’s just been a lot of fun and it just feels rewarding.”
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+.