8 Waco Homes That "Fixer Upper" Should Totally Take On

Already renovated? Yes. But this home still needs Joanna's signature touches.

Nearly a decade ago, my husband lived and worked in Waco, Texas, for four months. He uses one word to describe the tiny town: flat. And he means it in every sense of the word: flat landscape, dull nightlife, and unimpressive homes. But Chip and Joanna Gaines, the hosts of HGTV's Fixer Upper, have breathed new life into the place previously put on the map by tragedy, transforming drab (and often dangerously decrepit) homes into total showplaces. 

I have a habit of perusing real estate listings in cities we have a 2% chance of living, and since my husband's company has a Waco division, the Texas town has been added to my Zillow browsing routine. My favorite game: If Frank and I were moving there, and I could wrangle the Gaines' design services, which house would I take a chance on? Here, eight potential Fixer Upper properties currently for sale in Waco:

1024 Greenwood Lane | Waco, TX

$239,000

3,295 square feet

5 bedrooms | 3 baths

Built in 1986

What caught my eye: This property is a little pricier than many of the homes on Fixer Upper—but it's actually a two-for-one deal. The main home has three bedrooms, and in the backyard, there's a second (and arguably more adorable) two-bedroom cottage. The options for the second space are endless: a guest house, a game room and pool house, or even an artists' studio and office. And the back patio on the main house? That kind of outdoor space is a huge selling point, especially in a warm-weather state like Texas.

The potential here is huge: Paint the exposed brick white or gray, smooth the ceilings, refurbish (or replace) the built-ins, and install funky light fixtures, and this large living room could be an incredible gathering space.

With plentiful cabinet space, a window behind the sink, beautiful wood floors, and an arched entryway, this room has the potential to be a killer kitchen. It's practically asking for one of Joanna's signature marble-topped islands.

This patio gives me serious yard envy! It's the perfect place for kids to play, to hold backyard parties, or just to relax outside and read a book.

Is this backyard cottage not adorable? With this property's oversized lawn (see below), Chip and Joanna could easily add a pool and turn this little building into the perfect pool house.

3708 N. 22nd St. | Waco, TX

$79,900

1,230 square feet

3 bedrooms | 1 bath

Built in 1947

What caught my eye: This Hansel-and-Gretel cottage is tiny, but packed with character: an arched entryway, oversized windows, and gorgeous wood floors. It has already been updated, but would really shine with Chip and Joanna's decorative touch.

I love the gently arched doorway leading into the living room and the fireplace flanked by large windows, which make the small space seem much bigger.

It's quirky details like these corner windows that could really showcase Joanna's abilities. (I'm clueless as to what she'd do here, but I know it'd be amazing!)

9078 W. Lake Creek Road | Waco, TX

$192,500

2,500 square feet

3 bedrooms | 2 baths

Built in 1984

What caught my eye: The mature trees are an obvious selling point, as is the mother-in-law suite, complete with a second kitchen. The rooms are large, and with a few minor tear-downs, the layout could be open and airy, making it a perfect candidate for a Joanna Gaines' facelift. 

Yes, this kitchen is a total gut job. But with its pass-through window (see below), the potential for an open concept layout is obvious.

Look past the popcorn ceiling and wall mirrors, and you've got a living space with high ceilings, a beam just begging to be upgraded, and lots of light.

Imagine: white-washed walls, swooshing ceiling fans, and reclaimed wood floors. This could easily become my favorite place in the house.

With just under 18 acres, this place is a horse farm waiting to happen.

319 Crescent Road | Waco, TX

$229,000

2,552 square feet

4 bedrooms | 2 baths

Built in 1982

What caught my eye: Although this house was built in the '80s, it has all the appeal of a Craftsman bungalow, with quaint architectural detail, a huge tree out front, and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace.

Painted white, and with a statement mantel, this fireplace could become a gorgeous focal point for the room. The updates are entirely cosmetic: install new light fixtures, rip out the dated tile flooring, and do away with the popcorn ceilings.

Galley-style kitchens tend to feel tight, and this one is no exception. But wood flooring would make the room feel larger, while ceiling-height cabinets would capitalize on the wasted space above the current cabinets. The final touch? An attention-grabbing light fixture, turning the boring breakfast nook into a cozy spot for a cup of coffee.

This giant bathroom feels out of place, but you wouldn't catch me complaining! This place deserves the spa treatment: a freestanding clawfoot tub, a stall shower, and cool colors. 

This solarium-like space is well-suited to an herb garden, one of Joanna's go-to solutions for sunrooms.

3104 Mitchell Ave. | Waco, TX

$149,000

2,315 square feet

3 bedrooms | 3 baths

Built in 1950

What caught my eye: The outdoor space is what sold me: huge trees, brick sidewalk, and a secret garden-style backyard. But even the inside has its appeal, if you can look past the 1950s-era wallpaper. The kitchen has tons of cabinet space, the fireplace has a beautiful, traditional-style mantle, and there are windows everywhere.

It looks like someone has been smoking in here for the last half-century, but the bones of the room are solid, with a surplus of windows, crown molding, and lots of square footage. The fireplace just needs a fresh coat of paint and a new tile surround, and the carpet could easily be replaced with wood flooring.

I'm not sure if this is a sunroom or a dining room, but I love the bay window. Even the beadboard walls could stay put if you applied a fresh coat of paint.

Welcome to the Mad Men-era 'burbs! The kitschy wallpaper dates the space, but this maze of a kitchen has no shortage of storage, a rarity in a 1950s home. 

Seriously, does this kitchen ever end??

This bathroom could easily accommodate a double sink...you'd just need to knock out the urinal.

The yard looks straight out of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Bust up some of that concrete, and you'd have an incredible outdoor room.

1016 N. 30th St. | Waco, TX

$69,900

914 square feet

2 bedrooms | 1 bath

Built in 1940

What caught my eye: Talk about tiny house living! At just under 1,000 square feet, there's denying this place is small, but with its 1940s details—gleaming wood floors, arched doorways, and solid wood doors—there's no shortage of character. I would love to see the exterior painted gray, with white trim and bright yellow door. Oh, and some grass would be nice.

I love the dark-stained floors, which pair nicely with the cool color palette Joanna often uses.

I'm not a fan of black cabinetry or tile countertops. And...this kitchen is tiny. But if you sacrificed some space in the dining room, you could easily open up the wall, install a small island, and make these cramped quarters feel more open.

2518 Colcord Ave. | Waco, TX

$189,900

3,856 square feet

4 bedrooms | 3 baths

Built in 1914

What caught my eye: What's not to love about this early-20th century stunner? A massive porch, a Craftsman-style front door with a window surround, a gorgeous staircase with carved newel posts, French doors—this house has everything I adore in an old home. It appears to have already been renovated, but it's missing the signature Gaines style: an immaculate kitchen (and attention-grabbing backsplash), a grand chandelier, and wood floors throughout.

The spot between the windows would be perfect for a faux fireplace focal point. 

I love the weathered French doors! With one of Joanna's oversized farm tables, instead of this tiny pedestal table, this could be an amazing space for entertaining.

My one complaint: I hate when homes don't have a foyer. (It feels awkward walking straight into the living room.) I'd be inclined to reconfigure the living space to allow room for a foyer, perhaps stealing a little square footage from the adjacent dining room.

This room already has many Fixer Upper-style elements: white cabinets, half-moon drawer pulls, a farmhouse sink, and interesting pendant lights. But with its cheap wooden countertops, small upper cabinets, lack of a backsplash, and an island that's too tiny for the space (not to mention bright red), it unfortunately misses the mark. 

The staircase is stunning, but the juxtaposition of the ceiling fan and pendant light is odd.

And last, but not least, a house that requires a total Chip-and-Joanna overhaul...

518 N. 11th St. | Waco, TX

Foreclosure estimate: $170,593

4,096 square feet

4 bedrooms, 3 baths

Built in 1915

What caught my eye: My favorite episodes of Fixer Upper are the ones where Chip and Joanna take a house that's ready for the wrecking ball and bring it back to its former glory. This is one of those houses. Based on my high-tech Google street view investigation, the whole neighborhood, which is part of Waco's historic district, seems to be in distress. But perhaps Fixer Upper could start the gentrification process!

I could totally see myself sipping lemonade on this elevated front porch. The combination of the brick foundation and stately columns is gorgeous!

The inside is admittedly terrifying. But has that ever stopped Joanna Gaines? Nope!

This house is worth saving for the fireplace alone!

So what is the staircase is missing a few spindles and the light fixture is straight out of the 1990s...this place has potential with a capital "P"!

Do HGTV Shows Renovate the Rooms You Don't See?

Are there unfinished rooms hiding behind these walls? (Photo: HGTV)

After watching an episode HGTV’s Fixer Upper or Property Brothers, I’m often left wondering about a bedroom—or even an entire floor—that clearly needed work, yet wasn’t shown in the final reveal. Did the homeowners just shell out 100 grand for a half-completed house?

HGTV is notoriously hush-hush about the behind-the-scenes scoop on its shows, but the Scott brothers, hosts of Property Brothers and Buying & Selling, do offer some answers on their website: “The homeowners decide which areas of the house they would like to focus on. We want to capture their complete experience of finding and creating their dream home and in an hour episode we can only show so much. That being said, Jonathan and his team usually finished the entire home.” 

So in the case of the twin-brother team, at least, the show is only documenting a fraction of the renovation—and the budget being discussed is only covering that part of the project. “After the viewing parts are fully renovated, the team goes back to the rest of the house to ensure buyers have their dream home,” according to a profile of the Scott brothers on Newsvine. The segment you see on screen usually takes four to six weeks to complete, though, in the real world, an undertaking of that size would require closer to 10 to 12 weeks of work, the brothers say. 

What about unseen rooms on the smash-hit Fixer Upper? In an interview with Hooked on Houses, Joanna Gaines revealed that she and husband Chip sometimes only focus on priority rooms, due to clients’ budget restraints, leaving the homeowners to make cosmetic updates—think painting and installing carpet—after the show has wrapped. “Other times, we finish the spaces for them after the reveal and this is separate from the budget shown for TV,” she said. “We help them finish their renovation even when the cameras aren’t rolling. It all depends on budget and our clients’ priorities for their home renovation.”  

The Story Behind Vintage "Shiny Brite" Christmas Ornaments

My first Shiny Brite ornaments.

If you frequent antique or vintage shops, you’ve undoubtedly seen Shiny Brite ornaments, even if you have no idea of their name. They’re the colorful, often intricately painted glass ornaments, ranging from classic red to hot pink to candy-striped. They’re usually a bit expensive for someone (ahem, me) who’s used to thrift-store prices—maybe $20 to $30 a box—but I recently found a set of 12 in their original cardboard box for $4.50 at a charity shop. 

I’ve always admired them, but now my curiosity is officially piqued: What’s the history behind these adorable little ornaments?

The Shiny Brite story begins after World War I with Max Eckardt, a German born in 1890.

Though Eckardt was from Oberlind, Germany—just 20 miles away from Lauscha, a hub for glass ornament makers—he first trained in the toy industry. In 1926, though, he officially entered the ornament business with his brother, Ersnt, opening a factory in Oberlind, where his relatives and employees hand-decorated the glass balls. His company also had an office in New York City at 1107 Broadway, which later became part of the International Toy Center. Max emigrated to NYC in the late 1920s. 

With another war on the horizon, Eckardt feared the United States’ supply of German glass ornaments would be compromised, compelling him to found, in 1937, the Shiny Brite Company. The inspiration for the name is obvious: The insides of the ornaments were coated with silver nitrate so they would stay shiny, season after season.

To keep his company afloat, Eckardt sought the help of New York’s Corning Glass Company in 1937—with the promise that Woolworth’s would place a large order if Corning could modify its glass ribbon machine, which made light bulbs, to produce ornaments. The machine switchover was a success—molten glass was shaped into balls with the help of compressed air—and Woolworth’s ordered more than 235,000 ornaments; in December 1939, the first machine-made batch was shipped to Woolworth’s Five-and-Ten-Cent Stores, where they sold for two to ten cents apiece.

My favorite Shiny Brite style.

Eckardt’s fear proved prescient: Hitler’s rise to power, along with the British blockade, stopped the import of European ornaments to the U.S. in 1939.

By 1940, Corning was producing about 300,000 unadorned ornaments per day, sending the clear glass balls to outside artists, including those at Max Eckardt’s factory in New Jersey, for decoration. The ornaments were lined with silver nitrate, then run through a lacquer bath, decorated by Eckardt’s employees, and finally, packaged in brown cardboard boxes. At first, they were strictly silver, but eventually, Eckardt produced red, green, gold, pink, and blue ornaments. Corning also began offering a variety of shapes, including tops, bells, icicles, teardrops, trees, lanterns, and pinecones. 

The showroom address, 45 East 17th Street, NYC, is now a Sephora.

During World War II, however, the lacquer paint and silver lining became scarce, forcing Eckardt to make clear ornaments with thin, pastel stripes, which didn’t require as much pigment. The metal caps and hooks were replaced with cardboard and yarn. Some ornaments came with a tiny sprig of tinsel inside, but eventually, even this small amount of metal was prohibited during the war. 

A Sears catalog ad from the 1950s for Shiny Brite ornaments.

After the war, the crimped metal caps returned, with the addition of the words “Shiny Brite Made in U.S.A.” on the top. As part of the rebuilding effort, the U.S. government shipped Eckardt and his son, Harold, off to West Germany, hoping to breathe new life into the German glass ornament industry. There, they set up a factory in Wallenfells, which they named Lanissa, after Max’s three granddaughters (“L” for Lynne, “an” for Anne, and “issa” for Allison, whose nickname was Lissa). 

Stateside, Corning continued to crank out Shiny Brite ornaments—by the 1950s, production reached a rate of 1,000 per minute. (Machines also now painted the ornaments.) The 1950s was the Shiny Brite heyday, with Eckardt operating four New Jersey factories to keep pace with the demand. In 1955, Thor, a Chicago washing machine manufacturer, purchased the company, which eventually produced about 75 percent of the ornaments sold worldwide. 

Source: Christmas Nostalgia

Eckardt died in late 1961, and shortly thereafter, Shiny Brite's light began to fade, possibly due to the popularization of plastic. In the late 1990s, designer Christopher Radko revived the Shiny Brite name, and in 2001, began selling reproductions of the originals. 

How to Buy the Right Curtains the First Time

The other day, as often happens at HomeGoods, I came across a clearance item I wasn’t looking for—but had to have: four gorgeous pairs of velvet curtains for $30 each. I didn't have a specific purpose in mind for them, but thought they might look nice in my dining room. Or my bedroom. Or my office. I was a bit directionless, clearly, but figured I’d find a place for curtains as stunning as these. 

I purchased one pair and asked the cashier to hold the other three pairs, just in case the panels looked best in my bedroom, which has four windows. 

“Curtains are one of our number one returned items,” she volunteered. “People are always getting the color or size wrong.”

I thought I’d be different. But, alas, the curtains looked terrible in my dining room, since they had to drape awkwardly around a radiator. They only looked slightly better in every other room of my house. 

One day later, I was a HomeGoods cliche: I reluctantly took back the panels—and encountered the same cashier, who repeated her spiel about curtains being an oft-returned item. My conclusion: It was time to do some curtain-buying research—and avoid making the same mistake twice. 

Step 1: Measure!

Before you even consider curtains, determine the dimensions of your windows. Your rule of thumb: Curtains should be about twice the width of your window. (If your curtains are strictly decorative—that is, you don’t intend to close them—you can scale back to 1.5 times the width of the window.) 

Length is a little trickier—where your curtains should fall depends entirely on the mood you want to create. Going for a formal feel? Consider puddling your curtains, tacking on one to three extra inches (any more just looks messy). Cute and casual? Select a a sill-length pair. Classic and tailored? Choose curtains that just touch the floor (or hover, at most, half an inch above the floor).  

To measure, start from the floor (or sill, if that’s what you prefer) and stop just above the window casing, suggest the pros at Better Homes & Gardens.

Step 2: Start at the top.

The top of your panels isn’t just an aesthetic consideration—the way you hang your curtains will affect how they fall from the rod, according to West Elm’s curtain buying guide. Pole pocket curtains—those where you simply slip the rod through a fabric sleeve—create a laid-back, non-uniform look (warning: these don’t easily slide if you plan to open and close them), while those with metal grommets or fabric tabs provide clean lines and smooth pleats (bonus: grommets are the easiest to slide).

The most elegant option? Hidden tabs, which give curtains a tailored, custom appearance. Note: Although curtains rarely have hooks anymore, you may encounter this style if you buy vintage. Hanging with hooks provides a traditional, streamlined look. 

Step 3: Decide on your purpose.

Are you seeking privacy—or just a pretty splash of pattern on your windows? Do you want to block as much light as possible, or dull the glare of the sun only slightly? The purpose of your panels will affect what type of fabric you choose. Cotton curtains let the sun’s rays stream through, linen (and linen blends) offer a little more protection, and wool or velvet panels are one step behind blackout shades, in terms of light-blocking ability, according to West Elm.

Consider the mood your material creates, too: Heavy fabrics, like velvet, create drama and warmth, while cotton gives your space an airy, casual feel. 

Step 4: Pick your pattern or color.

I made the fatal mistake of curtain buying: assuming the color I see in the store—under a fluorescent glow—is the same one I'd see at home. To avoid this pitfall, bring a pillow, a swatch of fabric, or a paint sample with you while shopping; that way, you can be sure to match your curtain color to your palette as closely as possible. If you want your curtains to blend, rather than making a bold statement, select a hue that is a couple shades darker or lighter than your wall color.

A few pointers on pattern: As beautiful as those paisley panels are, ask yourself: Will I still love this pattern on repeat across an entire wall? As a general guideline, large patterns work in large rooms, and small patterns are best in small rooms. (Of course, I’m all about rule-breaking when it comes to decorating, so don’t be afraid to experiment!)