Tour Brian, Beverley and Jodie's Winning 'Totally ’90s House'

Feeling nostalgic for the ’90s? Join the club. The decade’s fashion, music and analog lifestyle are trending in a way that has many of us feeling sentimental. Interior design choices of the era, on the other hand, are more of a mixed bag. Enter HGTV's Totally '90s House competition. Six '90s stars are embarking on a massive renovation competition. In episode one, host Jaleel White (Family Matters’ Steve Urkel) broke the stars into two teams and tasked them with selecting two frozen-in-time specimens of ’90s architecture to renovate for two deserving families. With an overall budget of $200,000, the teams are going head-to-head, transforming the houses room by room. At the end of each week, guest judges will evaluate their work based on creativity, nods to the ’90s and overall design. Once the houses are complete, the winners will claim bragging rights and a $25,000 donation to a charity of their choice.

Jaleel’s first dream team of all-grown-up ’90s youngsters? Jodie Sweetin (Full House’s Stephanie Tanner), Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills, 90210’s David Silver) and Beverley Mitchell (7th Heaven’s Lucy Camden). HGTV’s own Sabrina Soto added her star power to theirs as the team’s design mentor.

They faced off against the combined might of Team Curtains — that is, Keshia Knight Pulliam (The Cosby Show’s Rudy Huxtable), Matthew Lawrence (Boy Meets World’s Jack Hunter) and Melissa Joan Hart (Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s title characters), with pro guidance from HGTV’s Carter Oosterhouse.

Since an all-out, ’90s-themed renovation challenge would hardly be authentic with lightning-fast, hand-held computers, Jaleel limited the contestants to communicating and chronicling their work with throwback media. Think pagers, VHS tapes and players, gigantic car phones and more. “From this point forward, your cellphones are off-limits,” he told the teams. “So, put away your smartphones, can’t use them. People, we’re not going to be smart here!”

Chunky old video cameras in hand, Team Mauve set off to explore and decide between two time-worn renovation candidates Jaleel selected for them. The first option — an unrenovated Los Angeles bachelor pad with purple carpet, a gleaming black bathroom that Jodie called “straight out of Scarface” and entire walls of glass blocks — had major transformation potential.

The second (above) — a New Jersey McMansion with a serious commitment to '90s pastels and dated abstract fabric — introduced them to empty nesters Anna and Nickolaos Yiantsos. Jodie, Brian and Bev fell hard for the couple and decided to go all in on creating the 21st-century-worthy family headquarters of their dreams.

This space’s wall-to-wall pickled oak cabinetry and trim were “aggressively of its era,” as the tactful contestants put it. Though homeowners Nick and Anna regularly had massive family gatherings — his side of the family alone has 38 members — the cooktop embedded in the island had just two burners (plus an unnecessary grill and major grout lines). The team envisioned a modern Mediterranean concept for the space, contemporary cabinetry and sleek slabs of stone. They planned to improve flow for the many guests who flow through this kitchen. The teams were tasked with spending no more than $70,000 of their respective budgets on updates.

There’s still oak in this updated iteration of the kitchen, but the treatment Team Mauve chose for the island and upper cabinets feels contemporary rather than outdated and overwhelming. Light oak LVP replaces the white tile and too-prominent grout underfoot, while squared-off stone slabs replace the clipped countertop corners and kitschy, diamond-punctuated backsplashes.

While Nick and Anna certainly needed a full complement of upper and lower cabinets, the original installations that had stopped just shy of their kitchen window and created an awkward ornamental shelf above it blocked natural light and made the space feel smaller. With Sabrina’s help, Team Mauve measured out and designed two floating shelves — which, at her direction, topped out at about 27 inches from the ceiling — for either side of the sink.

Topped with dark, gorgeously veined quartz that transitions smoothly to four burners, the new island is also a perch for conversation and casual dining, thanks to its quartet of gleaming barstools. Pendants with a more rustic finish provide a bit of contrast against the gleaming cabinet hardware and gooseneck faucet. And in place of the wall-mounted landline with a seemingly endless cord, there’s a — wait, can we zoom in on that artwork?

While leaving an outdated fixture in place for vibes felt like going overboard, Jodie, Brian and Beverley did want to salute the era of call waiting and having all of your favorite people on speed dial. They produced a portrait of the now-obsolete family line and left it as a very literal (and sweetly sentimental) nod to the ’90s.

HGTV icon and Trading Spaces designer Vern Yip met Sabrina in New Jersey to survey Team Mauve’s first week of work — and he was quite pleased with what he saw. “It’s not even the same space, I love it! [There’s] still light woods, but the tones of these light woods are much more timeless and classic. The old light wood had a ’90s vibe. This still nods to the ’90s but in a much more updated, classic way.” He appreciated the look and functionality of the quartz, and the team’s ode to their homeowners’ landline struck him as thoughtful and chic. “This [kitchen] really feels refreshed, and it feels refreshed in a way that I think is going to endure,” he said. Faced with a tough decision, he gave Jodie, Brian and Beverley’s opponents a slight edge for incorporating a layout that triangulated between the sink, refrigerator and range. A first win eluded Team Mauve, but it was clear that the competition was going to be a close one.

For the competition’s second challenge, Jaleel sent the teams upstairs to tackle their homes’ primary suites. They had $30,000 apiece to revamp those spaces. Plus, they had to salvage and upcycle one original item from each bedroom. Fortunately, Team Mauve knew just what to do on both of those counts: They’d swap the mauve carpet for plank flooring, replace the boxy valances with contemporary treatments and remove the matchy-matchy bedroom furniture set in favor of a more sophisticated mix of pieces. Their upcycled original would be the glider in the corner. Anna rocked each of her babies on that chair, and getting rid of it was unthinkable.

The LED-lit arch Team Mauve introduced to the bedroom’s feature wall is a fitting frame for the new headboard they upholstered as a team (in a bold blue-and-white pattern that references the homeowners’ Greek heritage). Bev, Brian and Jodie were first-time and slightly nervous limewashers, but the luxurious, dimensional treatment they applied to the walls makes the room feel serene and sophisticated. Matching globe pendants positioned over floating nightstands give the space a satisfying sense of symmetry.

Brian devoted himself to sanding down the rocker’s dated finish, and he and his teammates repainted and reupholstered it to suit the redesigned bedroom. Sheer curtains mounted just below the ceiling emphasize the room’s full height, and a wide, walnut-stained dresser contrasts with the limewashed walls and the suite’s blue-and-white textiles. Thank goodness the era of buying every piece of bedroom furniture as a package deal is over for good!

Once a cramped maze of haphazard, powder-coated steel shelves, Nick and Anna’s walk-in closet is now a paragon of contemporary organization. Space is planned so effectively that there’s ample room for an ottoman in addition to its seemingly endless array of illuminated racks and shelves. The space also boasts a labor of love from Bev and Jodie. They printed out and decoupaged photos of the extensive Yiantsos clan between the rear wall’s drawers and upper cabinets so the homeowners would see their beloved family first thing in the morning and just before they turned in for the night.

The primary bedrooms’ guest judges were none other than Mika and Brian Kleinschmidt, co-stars of 100 Day Dream Home and the winningest couple in HGTV history (with Rock the Block and Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge victories under their belts). “I loved the arch work detail over the bed, the depth, the dimension [and] the back lights,” Brian said. He wasn’t sure about the pendants: “They needed to be tucked against the wall just a little bit more because I felt like I’d be banging my head when I get up to go to the bathroom three times a night.”

Mika loved how the team evoked Greece with their fabric choices, and their passion projects stole her heart. “The chair in the seating area went a very long way, and 100% the decoupage! I felt like that threw me back, and I feel like we don’t do arts and crafts with our hands like that anymore. Everything’s so digital, so it was nice to see that kind of creativity.” Brian, Bev and Jodie were delighted to earn their first win, and the competition was one-all.

Armed with a $55,000 budget and steely determination to rescue their homeowners from a step-up corner tub “the size of a Chuck E. Cheese stage” (as Brian put it), Team Mauve was ready to tackle and transform the quintessential '90s bath suite. While the wraparound mirrors, patterned tile, dated wood and world-swallowing tub were daunting, Jodie, Brian and Bev knew that clearing them out would also be immensely satisfying. “This is a huge space and you have so much potential,” Bev said.

While the spa-like serenity you see here is notable for its neutrality and seamlessness, it’s also worth noting that Bev, Jodie, Brian and Sabrina all sweated the small stuff when it came to these tiles, vessels, furnishings and finishes. Committed to an updated layout that placed vanities opposite one another and a generous wet room at the far end of the suite, they stewed over patterns and placements with intensity that suggested serious drama — but resulted in modern Mediterranean magnificence.

Team Mauve demolished the bath suite’s side-by-side scalloped sinks and created space for wall-spanning single stations that luxuriate in space. Quartzite countertops with subtle veining pick up warmth from the vanities’ opulent brass faucets and cabinet hardware. The limewashed walls and floor planks, in turn, flow in from the bedroom and extend the suite’s aesthetic.

Hauling this new soaking tub upstairs (and settling it on the flat, pebbled flooring and vertical, soldier-stacked subway tile to frame it in the wet room) was heavy lifting, but Team Mauve knew their intensity produced results. “What I love about this is it's timeless; it’ll hold up,” Bev said. “You all make the best team!” Sabrina told them. “As much as I joke around, you all work so well together and the house is looking phenomenal.”

When this house was first constructed, statement soaks were considered the height of luxury. Team Mauve chose to pamper their homeowners by re-dedicating that square footage to a human-scale tub and a generous shower. In this updated space, abundance and balance work together to create intuitive indulgences that don’t feel overwhelming.

98 Degrees’ Drew Lachey — a '90s pop icon who brought a decade of serious DIY skills to Rock the Block — joined Sabrina in New Jersey to judge her renovators’ work. As it happened, Team Mauve’s updates shared some DNA with the opulent suite Drew created during his competition — and, unsurprisingly, he loved it. “This is a transformation, this is impressive! I try and pride myself on knowing a good bathroom, and this is a good bathroom,” he said.

“It was a big win for you guys to have that tree line right outside that window, where you could bring that nature inside,” he told Brian, Bev and Jodie. “I really liked the way that you guys spread out the vanities [and] you kept them separate. It looked like that was the way it was meant to be put together.” This thoughtful approach earned Team Mauve their second win. “It felt like a spa,” Drew said. “Well done!”

The $25,000 Jaleel instructed Team Mauve to spend renovating Niko and Anna’s foyer and office would have to cover a lot of ground — literally and figuratively — but they weren’t daunted. “I’m feeling really good about this week,” Brian said. “I mean, this is the foyer; it’s the first impression when you come in the house, and first impressions really, really matter.” First things first: This pickled-oak door was ripe for a reboot that would introduce the home’s updated, modern Mediterranean aesthetic.

Once again, Sabrina was delighted with the materials her mentees (eventually) selected. “This is going to completely change the curb appeal, but in such a modern way — and it’s such a statement piece,” she said. “The front door looks beautiful. It’s like a piece of jewelry on the house!” High-contrast details like the new front door and the staircase’s darkened banister and new spindles — more on those in a moment — add a minimalistic crispness to the home’s contemporary makeunder.

“It’s supposed to be a grand entrance,” Brian said, “but right now it feels too small.” The ill-advised urns in front of the staircase and in its faux-classical niche felt inauthentically Greek, and the very-well-worn mauve runner had earned its eternal rest long ago. Brian, Bev and Jodie planned to restain the banister and replace its spindles, upgrade the stairs themselves with a durable and contemporary runner and panel the foyer walls to create timeless texture.

With both large-scale judge’s paneling and concave fluting, the updated staircase is a contemporary classic — and its geometric runner is a graphic nod to the Yiantsos family’s heritage. The new white oak pedestal table at its foot features both an on-trend, statement-making pair of vessels and a portrait that introduces what this house is all about.

Nick’s cluttered home office was a cacophony of technology, tchotchkes and office supplies. Its cabinetry was somehow oppressive and too small for the room, and its convoluted window treatment was far too feminine. Team Mauve resolved to create built-ins that would establish a cohesive, masculine aesthetic that didn’t clash with the rest of the house. “Can we get this man a new chair, too?” Brian begged. “I just realized that he’s duct-taped this one.”

Brian planed wood a local carpenter planked from a fallen walnut tree to help create this stunning, truly one-of-a-kind built-in. Jodie and Bev hung warm grass cloth on the walls to add subtle texture. Complementary wainscoting and a lozenge-shaped walnut desk centered on a vintage-inspired rug complete the suite. What do you know? Nick’s mementos and photos now look right at home. Sabrina was ecstatic once again: “A custom cabinet in walnut! This isn’t builder-grade; this isn’t something they just went to the store and slapped up in there. This is classic sophistication. This is design taste.”

Mina Starsiak Hawk (of Good Bones and Rock the Block) met Sabrina at the now-black front door to guest-judge the contestants’ fourth week of work. She had a few quibbles with Jodie, Bev and Brian’s choices — she might have oriented the floor planks to flow back into the rear of the house instead of installing them perpendicular to the door, and she would have added curtains to the now-bare windows in Nick’s updated office — but her feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

“[Y]ou guys did an amazing job on your paneling. The simple chandelier was beautiful. The front door was clean, simple, black, also beautiful,” Mina said. “Your guys’ office: also no notes! I’m a sucker for arches; I love the arch on the cabinets. I love the walnut; I love that it mimicked the curves on the desk. I love that you have a wallpaper, but it wasn’t something big [and] in your face; it was just a nice soft texture.”

Team Mauve’s updated staircase wasn’t the most overt nod to the ‘90s, but their renovation was so successful by every other metric that Mina overlooked that shortcoming — and awarded them their third win in a row.

This room had gone almost untouched since the Yiantsos home’s construction. “This feels like one of those living rooms you don’t go in very often,” Jodie noted. “It feels too formal, and I feel like it could be a really warm, cozy space.” Nick and Anna hoped for updates to their window treatments and fireplace, as well as a not-so-fond farewell for their mauve carpeting — and Team Mauve planned to deliver that and more. For their last week of renovations, they had $20,000 left to spend.

Freed of their overpleated pastel treatments and refitted with elegant sheers that emphasize the ceiling’s height and puddle on new plank flooring, the windows now bathe the updated living room in natural light. A metal-and-glass coffee table suits the space’s Mediterranean aesthetic and adds a hint of tailoring to the room’s layered neutrals. Velvety pillows make the room’s seating feel cozily coordinated rather than regimented.

The living room’s original fireplace drew the eye because its dark stone rang a sour note beside all that mauve, and because it was crowned with a chaotic, artificial floral arrangement. The new fireplace, with a custom-molded surround, draws the eye because of its intuitive design. “It looks like it’s been here forever,” Sabrina said.

Though the pickled-oak dining room furniture suite had presence, it didn’t offer much in the way of functionality. Team Mauve planned to replace the underperforming display cabinet and drawers with a wall-spanning, counter-topped built-in that could accommodate both storage and a significant buffet service.

Bev, Brian and Jodie installed textural, paintable wallpaper to extend the impact of the floor-to-ceiling built-ins now framing the dining room’s stone-topped buffet. Bench seating between the table and the buffet provides clearance for guests moving through the room, and caramel-colored barrel chairs at the table’s head and foot provide a stylish alternative to the matchy-matchy dining suite they replace.

The dining room’s custom-built cabinets with arched glass panels are even larger than they appear. “Can we talk about how the doors are as big as I am?” Bev asked.

Brass sconces mounted on either side of the painting above the buffet match both the cabinets’ hardware and the dining room’s new architectural pendant. It took Team Mauve quite a bit of time to settle on the dark slate blue they chose as the room’s new accent color, but the result was worth the deliberation: Brian, Bev, Jodie and Sabrina agreed the shade was stunning.

Trading Spaces host and design maven Paige Davis joined potter-turned-interiors-icon Jonathan Adler to judge the competition’s final week of work. Jonathan loved the fireplace’s scale: “Having this big, bold gesture really grounds the space,” he said.

“And then the amazing focal point in the dining room!” Paige added. “We were both blown away by that blue.”

Jonathan conceded both teams created dining rooms he would love to occupy, but only one could earn a final nod — and the bench seating beside that fabulous blue built-in wasn’t quite as wonderful as the rest of the room’s contents. The final weekly win eluded Team Mauve. Could they still earn the overall win?

"I had so many shock and awe and almost fainting moments walking through the house," Paige confessed. "When I walked into that primary bedroom, I was like, 'I’m in a five-star hotel on a cliff in Greece.' I did not believe I was in New Jersey, that’s for sure!"

"What a transformation," Jonathan agreed. "All the woods in the old house had kind of pinky-mauvey undertones and it just made it feel dated. And just by … [doing] a slightly darker, more honeyed, less pink wood [you] brought it into today and tomorrow, so that was incredible."

Before Jonathan and Paige revealed the Totally ‘90s House champions, Team Curtains (Keshia, Melissa, Matthew and Matthew’s brother, Joey, who joined the renovation when Melissa was called away for another project) came over from Long Island to have a look at what they were up against. The custom cabinetry in the office was a hit with everyone: “The built-ins, they were hand-milled, I think,” Melissa said. “The office really blew me away!”

“There are certain spaces in here I know we won hands down," Keshia said. "[However] it goes, I’m very proud of the work we’ve done.”

When all was said and done, “You guys did a magnificent job of transforming that house and bringing it from then to now,” Jonathan told Team Mauve. With that (and the colorful eruption of some exceedingly '90s-worthy confetti cannons), Brian, Beverley and Jodie won it all.

“It just feels so good to have professional designers be like, ‘Wow, I was blown away!’ Jodie said. Of course, the most important feedback of all was still to come.