What To Know
- Kim Wolfe reacted to her Rock the Block competitors’ mixed reactions to her and Chelsea Meissner’s multi-gen suite design.
- Wolfe also opened up about whether she’s interested in returning to HGTV as the host of her own show.
- Wolfe recently partnered with Wayfair to share her “Modern Americana” design picks.
On Season 7 of HGTV‘s Rock the Block, one design has sparked several mixed reactions from fans and the show’s contestants alike.
Rather than transform their home’s multi-gen suite into a spare living and dining space, Kim Wolfe and Chelsea Meissner chose to turn theirs into a cozy, at-home theater. “We festooned a room that most people did as an en suite, kind of ADU [accessory dwelling unit]. We turned ours into a movie room, and we draped it like a circus tent,” Wolfe exclusively told TV Insider. “And it was, as you said, mixed reviews. I’d go 90 negative, 10 positive, but we had the absolutely best time doing it.”
The team’s unique design choices earned positive comments from Taniya Nayak, Drew Lachey, Mina Starsiak Hawk, and Vernon Davis. Brooke Hogan, meanwhile, was not a fan. “I feel like it’s one of those moments where if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it,” she told her partner, Scott McGillivray, while touring the room. “It’s really ugly. There, I said it. I know we’re on a budget, but, my god!”
According to Wolfe, she and Meissner always knew their multi-gen suite would illicit strong reactions from their competitors, who also served as judges for the May 4 episode. “It will always be my favorite day of filming in Las Vegas, when Chelsea and I were in the minivan waiting for the other teams to go in and judge our movie theater room,” she shared. “We were like, we were crying. We were laughing so hard thinking about them having all just walked through each other’s apartments, and then seeing the movie theater. So, it was a blast. We don’t regret it. It was really fun and funny.
While the multi-gen suite came with its own challenges, the RV garage from the show’s Monday, May 11, episode proved to be more difficult for the competitors. “This space has, like, 20-foot ceilings. It’s huge. I mean, it feels like a bowling alley attached to your house, so this was a curveball,” Wolfe recalled. “I had never done a space like this before, and it’s very different the way that each team treated this square footage.”
Wolfe and Meissner impressed guest judge Luann de Lesseps by turning their space into a relaxing at-home gym and wellness spa. However, the win ultimately went to Starsiak Hawk and Davis.
Rock the Block marks one of Wolfe’s first major TV projects since ending her HGTV series, Why the Heck Did I Buy This House?, to prioritize her family life with her husband, Bryan, and their three kids.
“They’ve supported me beautifully,” she said of her return to TV on Rock the Block. “We spent a lot of time making sure that we were ready for me to go back and film another show, and everybody was on board and supportive. And it feels good to have a family that does support me going and having these adventures, and they’re the best. So, I couldn’t do it without them.”
While Wolfe enjoyed getting back into the world of home renovation TV, she has no plans to relaunch her former series any time soon. “I cannot ever again see myself doing a major home renovation show where I’m kind of bearing the brunt of the responsibility of pulling a show off,” she revealed. “There’s just so many parts that go into it that you don’t even see or think about. But shows like Rock The Block are a blast, and they are finite, and it was one house. And so, I’m always game for an adventure, if it fits into my life as a mom.”
With filming for Rock the Block complete, Wolfe is focusing on her latest team-up with Wayfair. With the Fourth of July fast approaching, Wolfe shared her favorite “Modern Americana” design picks to host the perfect holiday get-together.
Kim Wolfe, “Modern Americana” for Wayfair (Wayfair)
“[I] love partnering with Wayfair. It’s been a lot of partnerships in the past, and it’s such an easy go-to for me because I’m so familiar with how to source things there, and they have absolutely anything,” she told TV Insider. “So, sourcing Americana was fun and easy, and it’s a style I love. Coming from Texas, I feel like I grew up around a lot of vintage Americana vibes. And so, it was fun to get to go looking for some of those things that feel that way to me on Wayfair.”
Describing her design picks, she continued, “[It’s] a lot of faded — and I say faded because I love a good time-worn red, white, and blue, and then, mixing it with some organic materials like leather and wood and bamboo and sisal, so that it feels kind of layered and collected and not just like fresh out of the box.”
Rock the Block, Mondays, 9/8c, HGTV