Designing Besties

HGTV's Home Town: Contractor Chaos, Cast-Iron Comebacks, and Color Drenched Dreams

HGTV’s Home Town - Season 9, Episode 16 - “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” Erin and Ben Napier close out the season with a rescue reno for Rose Meyer, a retired English teacher who moved cross-country—only to be ghosted by her contractor and left with a gutted shell of a house. With a tight budget, a clawfoot tub crisis, and no open floor plan in sight, the Napiers bring vintage flair and 1950s charm to life in Laurel, Mississippi. Shari and Rhonda are recapping every design choice—from the cast-iron sink revival to the harlequin porch paint to a custom built-in that had them swooning and side-eyeing the TV placement. Plus, we talk pink tile, retro stoves, and the return of chintz (?!). 💬 Bonus: This week’s special post asks which vintage feature you'd keep in your dream home. Sink, stove, wallpaper? Come tell us! 👉 Subscribe, stream, and snark with us at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [https://www.designingbesties.com] and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! Love and Kisses, Rhonda and Shari Find us at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [https://www.designingbitches.com], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572795164219], Instagram [https://instagram.com/designingbitches], and X [https://x.com/designingbpod] (formerly Twitter).

HGTV’s Renovation Aloha: Timelines, Traditions and Tropical Touches

HGTV’s Renovation Aloha – Season 2, Episode 7 – “Toughest Clients Ever” takes a heartfelt turn as Tristyn and Kamohai tackle their most personal project yet: renovating the Oahu home where Kamohai grew up… for his own parents. With three decades of memories packed into a tiny galley kitchen, a timeline tangled up in holiday deadlines, and the unique challenges of designing in Hawaii (hello, shipping costs that cost more than the item itself), this episode delivers big on family feels. We dish on the design choices, debate the second-floor primary suite for surfing grandparents, and admit to more than a few pangs of tropical lifestyle jealousy. Plus—our take on why this is HGTV’s most heartwarming flipping show. 🎧 Listen now at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [http://designingbesties.com] and follow us everywhere you podcast. Love and Kisses, Rhonda and Shari Find us at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [https://www.designingbitches.com], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572795164219], Instagram [https://instagram.com/designingbitches], and X [https://x.com/designingbpod] (formerly Twitter).

HGTV’s My Lottery Dream Home: Million-Dollar Lakefront and the Gold Lady’s Grand Pick

HGTV's Lottery Dream Home – S16 E2 – Gold Lady of Lake Mendota takes us to Madison, Wisconsin, where Cathy—an accidental tech millionaire with an eight-figure biotech payday—teams up with her sister Peg and David Bromstad to hunt for a $3–4 million lakefront stunner… and then promptly blows past that budget like it was pocket change, scooping up a $5.2 million resort-style dream home. From sleek modern boxes with putting greens to a warm contemporary with a brass-and-burgundy range, a pickleball court, and enough kitchens to host a culinary Olympics, we’ve got plenty to gush about (and nit-pick). We talk sisterly banter, lakefront luxury, David’s hot pink checkerboard suit, and why Whistling Wake was the only right choice. 🎧 Catch all our snark, shout-outs, and design takes at: https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [http://www.designingbesties.com] Love and Kisses, Rhonda and Shari Find us at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [https://www.designingbitches.com], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572795164219], Instagram [https://instagram.com/designingbitches], and X [https://x.com/designingbpod] (formerly Twitter).

HGTV's Love It or List It: Page, Pools and Parenthood Panic

HGTV's Love It or List It, Season 20, Episode 1 - "A Place to Go or a Place to Grow" It’s the Season 20 premiere of Love It or List It and the Designing Besties are here to break it all down—shiny brass fireplace and all. Page Turner steps into Hillary Farr’s designer shoes (or tosses them aside entirely) and takes on a cluttered Canadian starter home with no main-floor bath and some serious basement energy. Rhonda and Shari recap all the design wins, parenting chaos, real estate drama, and questionable bathroom math in this fresh episode from HGTV’s long-running hit. Will Jen and Theo love it? List it? Or fake it for production? And is David still doing all the driving? From heated floors and emotional pantries to baby-shoe-strewn basements and slider-door standoffs—this one has everything. Love and Kisses, Rhonda and Shari Find us at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [https://www.designingbitches.com], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572795164219], Instagram [https://instagram.com/designingbitches], and X [https://x.com/designingbpod] (formerly Twitter).

HGTV's Renovation Resort Showdown: Crown Confusion, Headboard Havoc, and Wallpaper Wins

HGTV's Renovation Resort Showdown Season 2, Episode 1 - "1... 2... 3... Go!" The resort renovations have begun—and chaos has already checked in. In this episode, we recap the Renovation Resort Showdown premiere, where hosts Brian Baeumler and Scott McGillivray kick things off with a tool-grabbing relay, a surprise headboard twist, and their signature mix of side-eye and sarcasm. Four teams take on their first challenge: transforming blank bedrooms and baths into bold, vacation-worthy spaces. From upside-down crown molding to motion-lit masterpieces, we’re calling out the wins, the wobbles, and the wallpaper we now want in our own bathrooms. Plus: one tiny nitpick, one Designing Bestie Hall of Fame moment, and—of course—an apology.  Love and Kisses, Rhonda and Shari Find us at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com [https://www.designingbitches.com], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572795164219], Instagram [https://instagram.com/designingbitches], and X [https://x.com/designingbpod] (formerly Twitter).