30 behind-the-scenes secrets about Chip and Joanna Gaines' 'Fixer Upper' (2024)

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Thehouse-hunting scenes arestaged.

Chip and Joanna kick off each episode of "Fixer Upper" by showing their clients three potential properties for theirhouse flip.

However,it turns out clients typically purchase a home before the show even starts filming, according toLindyErmoian, whose home was featured onseason 3of "Fixer Upper."

It's worth mentioning that David Ridley, another "Fixer Upper" alum, shared this secret withCountry Livinglast year.

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You can save a ton on construction costs.

Lindy wasn't in love with the rust-colored roof of herhouse, but Joanna graciously offered to replace it for half price,Teodororevealed.

See incredible before-and-after photos from "Fixer Upper" here.

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The casting process has quite a few steps.

Jaime Fergusonapplied to HGTV after moving to Waco, Texas, from Austin. The very next day, she heard from the casting agency. However, Jamie had to go through a Skype interview, a written questionnaire,a few phone calls, and some meetings before ending up on the show.

She and her husband Kyle were also featured on season 3 of "Fixer Upper."

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You might have to take time off work to film the show.

In an interview withApartment Therapy, Jeff Jones, who appeared onseason 3of "Fixer Upper," along with his wife, Sara, shed some light on the show's tight filming schedule.

"We did have to take time off to film," Jeff revealed. "We did all our shots in one day. It was exhausting."

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But renovations are done extremely quickly.

Chip, Joanna, and their team transformed Lindy's home in about three months, Teodoro revealed.

You don't get to keep all the furniture.

According to the Fergusons,you have to buy the staging furniture featured on "Fixer Upper." Jaime and Kyle bought a coffee table, two stripedchairs, and a dining table.

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Joanna stages clients' homes with items from her own house.

Jeff told Apartment Therapythat the designer staged his and Sara's home with some of their own furniture, in addition to using "her own personal stuff...from her home," which "isn't for sale."

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But you get special handcrafted pieces for free.

According to the Fergusons, Joanna gifted Kyle several custom-made items that she had made for the couple's music room.

The Gaines also gifted theErmoians a rolling bar made by Clint Harp, Lindy told Teodoro.

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You can also buy some of the Gaines' handmade items at affordable prices.

On Lindy's episode, Joanna handcrafted three shiplap-framed coral art pieces for the couple's living room. Lindy and her husband bought them for a "reasonable" $75.

Food trucks serve the cast and crew on the last day of filming.

Jaime was pleasantly surprised on the last day of filming when "delicious" food trucks served everyone lunch.

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You get to keep the giant poster of your old house.

In every episode of "Fixer Upper," Chip and Joanna place a massive poster of theirclients' old home in front of their property. Then, on the last day of filming, the Gaineseswheel the poster away to reveal what their clients' renovated home looks like.

Speaking to Glamour in 2015, Chip said this idea came to them last-minute while filming the show's pilot."We were sitting there trying to figure out how to get the client to their space without revealing the house itself," he said. Luckily, "at the 11th hour," two of Chip's friends built the poster that "Fixer Upper" fans know and love today.

Even better, clients get to keep the huge poster."We fold that thing up and we give it to the family," Chip told Glamour. "We try to make an event of the canvas itself."

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Reactions and conversations aren't scripted, but you sometimes have to reshoot certain scenes.

In an interview with Country Living, Waco-based photographer Rachel Whyte said that the show's producers made her and her husband, Luke, "repeat things a few times."

According to Rachel, who appeared on the third season of "Fixer Upper," producers film certain scenes "multiple times from different angles," but the "reactions and conversations" you see are completely authentic. "The hard thing is remembering what you said before when asked to repeat it," the photographer added.

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Filming the show can feel a bit awkward at first.

Rachel told Country Living that the weirdest thing about filming "Fixer Upper" was being around cameras all the time. "It was uncomfortable at times because we, like most people, aren't used to having cameras around us," the photographer said.

You work with the Magnolia team to create a budget.

According to Jaime, Chip and Joanna's team, Magnolia, helps each couple create a realistic budget andrenovation plan.

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The average total budget a client has on the show is $279,903.

According to a recent analysis of every "Fixer Upper" episode by Homes.com, clients have an average budget of $111,631 for renovations alone.

You have to be ready to spend a minimum of $30,000 on renovations.

A former "Fixer Upper" cast member told Teodoro in 2017 that the show "requires at least $30,000 in renovations to be done." According to this unnamed cast member, some applicants to the show have been turned away for "not having enough wrong" with their house

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Chip and Joanna add an average of $26,036 in instant equity to their clients' investments.

According to Homes.com's analysis, the Gaineses also always stay within their clients' budgets.

Your property tax will likely increase.

Jeff told Apartment Therapy that his and Sara's property tax went up after their house was featured on "Fixer Upper" — but that's bound to happen after most home renovations.

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Tour groups might visit your home.

Speaking to Apartment Therapy, Jeff said that he and Sara get the "occasional drive-by from fans" of "Fixer Upper."

"Also a local tourism company called Waco Tours drives by our house four to six times a dayto show people," Jeff added. "I guess that's the price you pay to have your house on TV."

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You're not allowed to visit the home while it's being renovated.

According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, "Fixer Upper" clients are "under strict orders not to visit the work scene" until reveal day.

"They wanted it to be a complete surprise, and it took discipline not to sneak a look," Doug McNamee, who appeared on the show'spilot episode along with his wife, Lucy, told the Tribune-Herald in 2013.

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Your home isn't always finished when filming ends.

Each "Fixer Upper" episode ends with a big reveal of the renovated home. However, as Teodoro wrote, when the cameras stop rolling, the Magnolia team still has to take care oflast-minute details,inspections, and more.

Lindy and her family, for example, didn't move in until weeks after filming.

Joanna confirmed this secret herself in a sneak peek of her spinoff show, "Behind the Design." It turns out the rooms you don't see on the show are filled with plastic storage bins, trash bags, carpeting samples, plants, and more.

You don't work directly with Chip and Joanna off-screen.

Unless they were filming scenes with the Gaines, Lindy and her husband apparently never communicated directly with Chip and Joanna. Instead, theErmoiansworked closely with an assigned designer and a team of assistants during the renovation process, Lindy told Teodoro.

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Youget a lot of say during the design process.

Despite what you may think, "Fixer Upper" clients have a lot of control over renovation decisions. Lindy's nephew, who is an architect, helped her design her master bathroom, and the Ermoians' assigned designerfrequently asked the couple for feedback.

"It really did seem like they wanted to please us," Lindy told Teodoro.

Joanna asks you to make a Pinterest board before she starts renovations.

According to the Whytes, Joanna likes to get a sense of her clients' style before she makes any decorating decisions. "I put a white house with grey shutters on my Pinterest board and they really [went with] that concept," Rachel previously told Country Living.

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Chip and Joanna always add unique finishing touches to your home.

According to Jaime, Chip and Joanna "leave nothing undone." The Gaines installed beautiful details in every room of the Fergusons' home including extra shelving in the bathroom, hidden spice racks in the kitchen, and thick wood trim around every door.

Chip spends a ton of time cracking jokes.

Chip is "100% a goofball," Jaime told Teodoro. Apparently, he spends so much time making everyone laugh that most of his scenes are edited out.

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And he doesn't do as much heavy lifting as you'd think.

Although you often see Chip kicking down walls on "Fixer Upper," he apparently doesn't do that much physical laborwhen the cameras stop rolling — at least not on the home's exterior, Lindy told Teodoro.

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Joanna is more reserved, even in front of the cameras.

Jaime described Joanna as a quiet but "thoughtful" speaker who is "immensely gifted" at her job.

You can learn more secrets about Chip and Joanna's relationship dynamic here.

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Some touching scenes never make it onto the show.

According to Teodoro, Lindy and Chris Ermoian were surprisedthat certain scenes were edited out of their episode. For example, in one "tender" scene they filmed, Chris played an original song for his wife that was later made into an art piece for the couple's music room. The scene itself, however, never aired.

Head over to Rachel Teodoro's blog to read her full interviews with "Fixer Upper" alumsLindy ErmoianandJaime Ferguson.

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