Famed designer Amy Kartheiser is spilling all the details on exactly what gets left out of hit HGTV series.
From “Fixer Upper” and “Fixer to Fabulous” to “Battle on the Beach” and “Rock the Block,” the network has created a perfect equation of taking complicated projects and making the renovations work for television. In doing so, however, some aspects must be cut.
Who Is Amy Kartheiser?
Kartheiser is an interior designer from Chicago with a massive social media following. Her work has been featured in outlets such as Architectural Digest, Elle Decor and Wall Street Journal.
According to HGTV, “Kartheiser has an eye for detail, layering and combining traditional and modern in a serene palette.”
Kartheiser’s bio on the network’s website claims “she creates inviting, personal, and livable environments by collaborating with her clients on a shared vision, delivering a project that is on time, on budget, and beautifully functional.”
The design professional grew up to follow in her mother’s footsteps, often watching her interior design mother in meetings and working on projects for clients.
“Amy would spend hours scouring through design magazines at an early age and eventually began to design her own bedrooms,” her bio continues. “Amy has a background in business, which gives her a unique skill set to manager her clients projects with white glove customer service.”
What Gets Left Out?
“Hands down the budget,” Kartheiser said when asked during a recent interview about what HGTV viewers don’t get the full picture of. “The reveal budget is literally a fictional number that is given to them because they get donated materials. They get discounted labor. They’ve got brand placement. So what they’re revealing as a $30,000 kitchen, in reality, is well over $100,000.”
She added, “And then when you get into these older homes, one of the biggest budget killers is what’s actually going on inside the walls.”
Kartheiser went on to list examples like “bad wiring, water damage, [and] structural surprises.”
“This is all money in your budget that you’re not counting on spending up front when they do a walkthrough, that you get hit with during the renovation process.”
According to Kartheiser, it’s these surprises that can sneak up on homeowners to send their budgets out the window.
One other aspect that Kartheiser points out, claiming that HGTV shows skim over, is the “permitting process.”
“[It] not only costs a lot of money, but that you’ve got a three to six week delay on getting your projects started,” she said. “I have a lot of issues with you HGTV.”
Fans flooded the comments with concerns of their own, including that designers never seem to leave room in the living space for televisions.
“As someone who worked on HGTV design shows…. It is all made for TV people 😂 sometimes we would even make rooms uglier to start for a better reveal,” one follower laughed.
“So true, not to mention that you NEVER see the fees paid to the designers who are doing the behind-the- scenes work,” another mentioned.
