By Kayla DeKraker
Classic HGTV show DECORATING CENTS just went viral on social media, and host Joan Steffend can’t quite believe it.
“They were saying ‘It’s an honor to go viral’ and ‘You should take advantage of it,’ but it’s all just kind of baffling to me,” Steffend told Entertainment Now.
The show ran from 1997 to 2007 and followed Steffend as she helped designers transform rooms with a very limited $500 budget and short timeframe.
Due to the interesting choices she made on the show, such as painting a “rug” onto a hardwood floor or putting a blank picture frame in front of a scenic view, some TikTok users, including comedian Rob Anderson, have posted clips of the show to poke fun.
@heartthrobert Replying to @amawebs 🇨🇦 The worst thing I’ve ever seen on this show. #decoratingcents #homedecor #decor #decorating #homeimprovement #design #hgtv Decorating Cents fails, Decorating cents reactions, decorating cents painted on rug
Steffend laughed along, saying she “gets it.”
“I mean, it’s from the late ’90s, early 2000s, and the designer’s job was to be as wildly creative as they could be,” she defended. “There were hits and there were misses. And it didn’t matter to HGTV. If it didn’t look quite like we all thought it was going to, it didn’t matter — I still needed to, you know, be encouraging. It was still gonna air.”
Steffend also emphasized that kindness towards others, even if you don’t like their style, will always win.
Related: HGTV Pushes Aside Popular Shows for… Movies?
“I loved it because it was about not listening to the playground talk. In design, sometimes it feels like at certain points in time, everybody changes to this color and this style and this way of doing your home,” she said.
She added, “There’s an invitation of shame with a lot of it. We’ve gotta stop pointing and laughing at what people think is pretty, what people love at that moment in their life.”
Steffend noted that teasing others “diminishes the person’s sense of self or value,” so we need to remember to be kind to others even if we don’t agree with their perspectives.
Anderson responded, saying, “I think Joan’s right that it’s easier to be a critic than it is to be a creator. We’re living in a stale creative climate where we recreate things or pay homage – in fashion, design, film – rather than start something fresh.”
“From my perspective, there’s a difference between discouraging something new and playfully poking fun at a home decor show from almost 30 years ago,” he added. “It’s sparked excitement around the show!”
While we might not want to take all the advice from DECORATING CENTS, we can still enjoy the designers’ creativity. Five seasons of the show are currently available on Discovery Plus.
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