Chelsea & Cole DeBoer Say to 'Steer Away' from These 2 Common Design Trends That Actually Decrease Home Values

Chelsea & Cole DeBoer

Chelsea and Cole DeBoer are a couple who know their way around the interior design and home renovation front. With the second season of their HGTV show Down Home Fab premiering on March 21 at 9 p.m. ET, they shared a bit about their new season and gave some genius home remodeling tips with Parade.

The idea of doing home renovations or modifying your interior decor can be very exciting. We all want a little refresh, and we deserve it too. But it can also be a bit intimidating—especially when thinking of how to start, what to change up and if you’re making the right reno choices for your home’s future value. That’s where the DeBoers come in.

Ahead of the premiere of Season 2 of Down Home Fab, the couple share their thoughts on common design trends that decrease the value of your home. Not only that, they're also sharing tips on their favorite ways to upgrade and renovate a home (even if you’re renting). 

Related: How to Win a Bidding War on a House, According To Mega Real Estate Broker Lisa Simonsen

Chelsea and Cole DeBoer Say These 2 Common Design Trends Actually Decrease the Value of a Home

You might have big dreams for your home renovation and what you want to add or change about your current house. But it's also helpful to think ahead about what that might do to your home’s value in the future if you were to move out. After all, some seemingly simple choices might actually lower the value of your home.

“If you're renovating something that's gonna make your house immediately dated, don't put in gray wood tone flooring,” Chelsea tells Parade. And she’s not the first to tell us that. 

Outdated flooring is a big design trend that can impact your home’s value, as Christina Hall told Parade in February. She mentioned travertine flooring as a big no-no because of how it looks and how hard it is to get rid of.

Related: These Are the 4 Home Trends Everyone Will Be Doing in 2024

Chelsea Houska DeBoer—who starred on MTV’s Teen Mom 2 from 2011 to 2020 before Down Home Fab started in 2023—also shared another popular design trend (that’s one of her favorites!) that can, unfortunately, lower home values as well. 

“And even I hate to say this—like we have white cabinets like [in the] kitchen. But I feel like people should try to steer away from that when they're renovating,” she admits. “Even though it looks really nice and crisp, I feel like right now, try to steer away from the white kitchens.”

Cole suggests going “neutral” when it comes to cabinets, something more wood tones.

Continue reading for tips on how to increase your home’s value, the DeBoers' favorite renovations to recommend and what to expect from Season 2 of Down Home Fab.

What are some things that you like to add in a renovation that you think would increase the value of a home?

Cole DeBoer: For starters, in the kitchen when it comes to cabinetry, that's a great start because cabinets can always be updated. I would also say adding an island and dealing with countertops. 

Chelsea DeBoer: My first thing is… a lot of older homes have those chunky corner bathtubs in the primary bath and I would say that would be one of the first things I would do is to take that out and do a freestanding tub or increase the size of your walk-in shower if you didn't want to tub at all. Just get rid of that chunky corner fricken bathtub.

Cole: Yeah, I would say in the bathroom doing a spa-like shower would definitely increase [value] but also, you can redo grout in your tile, and that would always look a lot nicer and it's like a refresh. Obviously, adding a vanity with storage and redoing your hardware and light fixtures. 

Related: How To Increase Home Value by $50-100k, According to Experts

I love that. Hardware is really easy and I rent, so that’s something nice to change out.

Chelsea: Yeah, I love hardware changes because even I could do that by myself.

What are some other quick renovation ideas you'd recommend for people who might just be starting out or aren’t super handy?

Chelsea: I think anytime you can paint something, that is very beginner-friendly. But like we said, changing out the hardware [and also] wallpaper’s so great. I mean, Cole's definitely the handyman—I am definitely not super crafty—so I'm trying to channel what I could do myself and those are all things that I would feel very confident [doing]. Throw some paint on something, spray paint. It goes a long way.

Cole: I would even say if you're renting too, light fixtures are easy to change as long as you do it safely and you’re confident you can do it.

Chelsea: Get on YouTube. [Both laugh]

Cole: But again, some flooring these days, you can just overlay flooring and it's like a snap-together [type]. So a lot of people are afraid to do some projects, but don't be! For real, I've been watching YouTube—you got it.

Chelsea: It's so funny because his version of easy, beginner-friendly is so different, but there are levels.

What would you like viewers to know about your show with this upcoming second season?

Chelsea: Honestly, I loved our first season so much. But Season 2, it just feels so fun to watch. We've watched a couple of episodes or clips and it really is like that good energy that I want people to feel when they're watching our show. I want people to watch it, I want them to smile, I want them to get ideas from it and inspiration, but also really just enjoy the story being told about the homeowners, about Cole and I juggling our businesses and family life. I just want people to be able to watch it and relate and feel good.

Cole: For sure, and I feel like we are a little more confident this year and in this season, so I feel like our true selves really came out and how compatible we are working together and we just had a lot of fun.

Related: How Much Does It Cost To Build a House?

You guys are opening a storefront this year [their first brick-and-mortar store, Down Home by DeBoers, in Tea, SD]. Did you already open it? I saw your posts on Instagram.

Chelsea: We literally are opening to the public on Friday [March 22]. We had a friends and family event this past Friday and it was really, really fun and awesome. But we open our doors officially on Friday.

What can people expect if they were to come to the store?

Chelsea: Yeah, Cole and I are gonna be there as much as humanly possible. But I just hope the same thing with our show—I want people to come and enjoy the energy [of] being there. I want them to get inspo. I hope that we help them create a space that feels very personalized to that person.

Cole: I do feel like we have some items too that not everyone in our area carries. So we're trying to be a little different as well.

If you had to describe this second season in two words, what would they be?

Cole: I was gonna say badass? [Both laugh]
Chelsea: I would say good vibes and good design.

Next up, Christina Hall reveals to Parade the 'toughest' clients she's worked with!