Lauren Makk: HGTV Host and DIY Guru Spills Her Secrets for Keeping a Television-Worthy Home

Known for appearing on TLC’s Emmy Award-winning Trading Spaces and A&E’s Drill Team as well as co-host on ABC’s FABLife, Lauren Makk’s love for living luxe started when she was just a little kid. From a young age, she often found herself moving things around in other people’s homes. As she says, it was just something she was born to do. “Whitney Houston was born to sing, Michael Jordan was born to jump, and I was born to design.” She also credits this natural knack to coming from a long line of women who made other people’s homes nice and beautiful. “I come from the South, so based on Southern history of Black people, everyone in my family was a housekeeper. My mother used to make all our clothes and decorations and had a big garden where she would grow all our food and pickle things.”

Growing up, Lauren never realized her family didn’t have a lot of money because her mother always made everything look so lovely and was a pro at creating something out of nothing. This DIY goddess remembers her mother going from making Easter decorations to making extensions to their countertops. After her parents divorced when she was 14 years old, Lauren’s mother found a way to make money by buying houses at auction and turning them into rental properties. She didn’t know it back then, but helping to drywall or rip out floors at these income residences would eventually help shape her career.

Lauren’s original plan for her future was to travel the world with her group of international friends and paint graffiti murals. After all, there were no examples of interior design shows on television back then. The first time she realized that you could actually be a designer and make money was when Designing Women came on television. Up until then, she had just thought of herself as an awkward Black girl in Oklahoma.

Lauren’s mother made it very clear that she “was going to take her butt to college.” She might have been anxious at first, but on the first day of the design class she had enrolled in, Lauren knew she had picked the right thing.

Now, the tv star and businesswoman who owns her own interior design firm in Nashville, where she lives, refers to herself as the design whisperer. “I love vintage and mixing old with new, or resale with retail. My favorite thing is challenging myself to save money. I came from a woman who did not pay full price for anything, ever, so I like approaching design from that way to make the most out of the least. Even my clients who have all the money in the world still want to save money, so I want to bring affordable luxury to everyone because I design for the regular man.”

She also believes that a really good home is curated and tells a story about someone’s experiences rather than just being bought off a retail floor. “I love places that feel good or that feel like home. It’s about finding pieces that mean something to someone. Finding those pieces and using them in a unique way, that’s the juice of the project.”

Another tip from the DIY guru? Keeping a tidy home. “Even if you have a maximalist approach, organizing things by color or size can make things look presentable. My mom gave me a box when I was about six years old and said, ‘You can have whatever you want, but put it in this box and put it away.’ Now, I have a lot of junk in the most beautiful things, and all my kids’ toys go into a big pot at the end of the day.”

Her first job out of school involved designing models for homes at the height of the housing market, but once she recognized that the bubble was about to burst, she typed in “interior design” on Craigslist on her swivel-screen phone, and the first thing that popped up was an audition to come on for a Trading Spaces type show. She showed up for the audition with her award-winning design portfolio and her larger-than-life personality and landed a spot on the show, which turned out to be Trading Spaces. She knew she had found the right opportunity when her first challenge was to complete a makeover with a $1,000 budget, something that allowed her to show off her skills early on.

Now 18 years into her career, Lauren is still just as passionate about elevating the art of DIY.  “Crafting has always been a part of my lifestyle, so my next project is a top-secret, luxury DIY project. I’m also working on some exciting new programming for HGTV and Giveaway Homes Smart Home 2023, which just debuted on Discovery Plus and HGTV.

With small children and a busy career, Lauren finds joy by making memories with her family as well as ripping out plants and gardening and, of course, finding therapeutic ways to channel some energy through thrifting. Now two years sober, she is mostly excited to learn to love her life in a different way, while helping others live better as well.