On this week’s episode of HGTV Obsessed, Mike and Kat talk with Brian Patrick Flynn - interior designer behind both the HGTV dream homes and urban oasis and very high quality follow on Instagram. Brian talks about the features of the 2021 HGTV Dream Home in Newport, RI, explains to Kat what Americana means, and the challenges of designing during a pandemic. Then everyone gets real about creativity, criticism, and how to rise above online hate when your work is on social media. Brian defends the trend when it comes to open concept design and on HGTV to the Rescue, Tiffany Brooks shares her advice on designing with style when your taste outshines your budget.
On this week’s episode of HGTV Obsessed, Mike and Kat talk with Brian Patrick Flynn - interior designer behind both the HGTV dream homes and urban oasis and very high quality follow on Instagram. Brian talks about the features of the 2021 HGTV Dream Home in Newport, RI, explains to Kat what Americana means, and the challenges of designing during a pandemic. Then everyone gets real about creativity, criticism, and how to rise above online hate when your work is on social media. Brian defends the trend when it comes to open concept design and on HGTV to the Rescue, Tiffany Brooks shares her advice on designing with style when your taste outshines your budget.
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Find episode transcript here: https://hgtv-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/brian-patrick-flynn-talks-designing-hgtv-dream-homes-and-online-haters-when-to-splurge-or-save-with-tiffany-brooks
KAT STICKLER: Hold on I have a burp. It's like really in my throat.
MIKE STICKER: It is recording so that was all caught.
KAT STICKLER: Oh. OK. I literally inhaled a pound of spaghetti just now. That's why. OK. Maybe we can keep that in there. That's pretty funny. Hi, guys and welcome. I'm Kat.
MIKE STICKER: And I'm Mike.
KAT STICKLER: This is HGTV Obsessed. OK. So today we have a really awesome guest. Michael actually said that he was kind of like a-- what did you say?
MIKE STICKER: He's kind of like a Renaissance man. He does it all. He does a lot of things.
KAT STICKLER: I've never heard you say that word ever.
MIKE STICKER: A Renaissance?
KAT STICKLER: Yeah.
MIKE STICKER: Are you calling me dumb?
KAT STICKLER: No. No. I'm calling myself dumb. I don't even know what that means. All I do is I think about those people like riding the horses.
MIKE STICKER: That's exactly right. That's from the period of time that this reference is--
KAT STICKLER: Oh, wow. You're trying to sound smart there. OK. So today, we are going to be talking to Brian Patrick Flynn. First off, his name just rolls off the tongue.
MIKE STICKER: I mean, yeah.
KAT STICKLER: BPF. Brian Patrick Flynn. A beautiful man. Designer of the 2021 HGTV Dream Home and he's a Renaissance man, everyone.
MIKE STICKER: Renaissance?
KAT STICKLER: He's a Renaissance-- My mother's Venezuelan. She had an accent when she raised me. I didn't know.
MIKE STICKER: Listen, I'm just saying, the guy is busy. You know what I mean? Like, he does a lot. That's a Renaissance man.
KAT STICKLER: OK. Yes. Seriously, but Brian Patrick Flynn, he's a designer, he's a producer, he's an influencer. But more importantly, he's our new best friend.
MIKE STICKER: Actually though, after this interview we decided we're going on vacation.
KAT STICKLER: Iceland 2022 baby. Yeah. So excited. I've never been there. Actually, I watched a show one time, and this woman was in Iceland, and she gave birth to her child in the backseat of her car because she was trying to get to the hospital and the roads were too icy.
MIKE STICKER: It's got nothing on you.
KAT STICKLER: Oh, yeah.
MIKE STICKER: Nothing on you.
KAT STICKLER: Man, I popped that baby out quick. OK. Focus. OK.
MIKE STICKER: Anyways. So yeah, what better way to wrap up the year with this excellent interview.
KAT STICKLER: I think I really liked that this interview we had lots of raw conversations about things that 2020 has kind of brought to the light that--
MIKE STICKER: We connected with him over a Zoom call, which is cool.
KAT STICKLER: Some would say we fell in love. Also you guys, this is a new year coming up. It's time to get those resolutions and hopefully, stick to them past February. I think like February 7 or 27 is when most people drop.
MIKE STICKER: You made that up.
KAT STICKLER: No I didn't. It's a statistic. Statistic. All right. Reporting to you live. Anyways. I mean, I think like when new year hits I like to declutter the closet, give away a ton of things, figure out what I'm going to do with the space I'm in. And Brian Patrick Flynn has a lot of wisdom. He really set it in kind of like layman's terms how we can kind of design a space and it was cool to hear his perspective on everything.
MIKE STICKER: I love it. Let's get to it.
KAT STICKLER: Cut the tape.
MIKE STICKER: Cheese.
KAT STICKLER: Cheese.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
KAT STICKLER: Brian, it is so nice to meet you. Thank you for joining us on HGTV Obsessed
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Hello.
KAT STICKLER: Hello.
MIKE STICKER: Greetings.
KAT STICKLER: So you are extremely busy. Like, you're one of the busiest people and especially on HGTV you're doing a ton of stuff. You got married in Antarctica.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: My actual anniversary was yesterday, so thank you for bringing that up.
MIKE STICKER: Congrats.
KAT STICKLER: Oh, my Gosh. Congrats. I heard it was a big like-- you were in Iceland or something?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Well, we actually have a summer house in Iceland that we bought on HGTV on House Hunters International. And because Iceland is associated with being cold, people are always like, I loved your beautiful wedding in Iceland, and I feel kind of stuck up because I'm like, actually it was in Antarctica, which is way harder to get to than Iceland. So I never want to do Antarctica like an injustice by saying it's just a five hour flight from New York. No, Antarctica is remarkably complex to get to.
MIKE STICKER: I want to know how you got there.
KAT STICKLER: We have a baby. We can't go to Antarctica. So how many of-- so you do these give away homes. How many do you design every year? Just out of--
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: So each year I design two of our giveaway homes. HGTV Dream Home and HGTV Urban Oasis. And they're both very different in that HGTV Urban Oasis is much smaller. It's in a pedestrian area. It's usually close to some type of University or an art college. There are like small businesses nearby and usually you're within like 15 to 20 minutes of an airport. Now, HGTV Dream Home is a little bit different in that it's much more of like a dream destination or like bucket list item where it's on a beautiful plot of land. It's just absolutely incredible. And it's not necessarily super close to anything because that's kind of the point of a dream home, but we're usually within an hour of an airport, and it's usually on a piece of property that's just incredible.
KAT STICKLER: That's awesome.
MIKE STICKER: I love that. So speaking of specifically the 2021 dream home what can you tell us about it?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: This is my sixth consecutive HGTV Dream Home and this one sits really close to Newport, Rhode Island in a nearby town called Portsmith. It sits up on a bluff looking over this beautiful river and all day long there are sailboats just going back and forth.
MIKE STICKER: Oh, my God.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: It's totally-- it's very magical. It's totally different than any other landscape I've ever dealt with before. And also, one of the things I always wanted to do is I always wanted to be able to dream to design one of the houses that was covered in the Cedar shape. You know, like the very coastal shingles. From far away, the house just kind of looks beige, but as you get closer you'll notice we didn't stain them, we just sealed the shakes, and they're just kind of graying out with the sun. And it's going to be-- five years from now the house is going to be even more gorgeous.
MIKE STICKER: I love that.
KAT STICKLER: Do you have like a creative-- like where you when you were young, did you always want to do this? Were you always very like, I don't know, like design-savvy with this kind of thing?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: I think so. It's really strange. A lot of people go to college, they end up doing something totally different. I've always been very specific in what I wanted to do. When I was in my early 20s-- this was back like in the late 90s-- people would ask me what I wanted to do, and usually you ask somebody what they want to do. Like, I want to be a firefighter, I want to be a doctor. My answer was I would love to be the senior art director on MTV's The Real World, which is like a very specific job. But I knew that I loved dealing with interiors, and colors, and pattern, and furniture, and space plans so much that I loved the idea of being able to design for the lens.
And here we are and I actually started my career as a production assistant and a news journalist behind the scenes, and eventually started working as a production assistant on home renovation shows back in the early 2000s, and eventually made my way in front of the camera. And then that's when I started my whole design career. So I've always known that I'd be good at it, but I didn't know that it was an actual viable industry to make money off of. But I love doing it, and I would do it for free because it's just something that I enjoy so much.
KAT STICKLER: When you look at a space, is it kind of-- do you have a creative flow that you get into? Do you look at a space and you visualize couch here, painting here, we can really channel this window and accentuate that light there. I mean, I'm just-- because I feel like I have no designer bone in my body.
MIKE STICKER: The genes are not here. Neither of us.
KAT STICKLER: I'm like, that looks nice. Just put it over there.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: It's kind of a cliche answer and I think most designers you speak are going to tell you this, but I would say ever since I was little I would just walk into a room and know what was wrong with it and how it should be.
KAT STICKLER: Wow.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: A lot of it is-- I mean, by no means is that a huge superpower. I mean, I'm not saving lives or anything but--
KAT STICKLER: No. But it's really cool.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: You start to appreciate it as you-- as I do more and more houses because I walk into a room. And luckily, so I do this for a living, I'll be like, the sofa is disproportionate. The pitch of the back of that sofa is going to lead somebody to getting scoliosis. Or like, that color is so unbelievably reflective that it's going to make everybody's skin tone look not good. Like, I just know when I walk into a room, based on understanding scale proportion and relationships, et cetera. So it is a cliche. I walk into a room and within seconds of looking at it I know what's supposed to go where, how, what shape should be there, what shape should complement it, what should happen on the ceiling if the windows are too small. What's the natural light source.
It's just been there since I was a kid and I never realized it was actually something that people would pay you to use, but it turns out it is.
MIKE STICKER: Were you been by some strange bug and you're just not telling us because that's incredible.
KAT STICKLER: You know what? I feel a connection with that because even like making funny TikTok videos, I would literally dream of funny videos in my mind, or a sensitive video, or like something that would evoke emotion. I'm like, if that music, if the beat drops right when we switch the template right there. That would be just so weird how when you're doing something you love, it really brings out the best in you and helps other people be happy.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: It's the same exact thing. It's an entire game of balance and it's an entire game of relationships. And it also has to do with-- I think that both creating videos and being funny and humorous, but also having takeaways and also coming down to your timing. There is this whole thing of contradictions and compliments, and that is how I think successful videos, especially quick ones that are 15 seconds work. Who's going to be placed where, on what side of the camera, who's going to talk at what point. How are you going to counterbalance that shadow with something light. Its interior design and entertainment are almost like identical.
MIKE STICKER: I love it. You got to have an eye for it.
KAT STICKLER: We're just using different parts of our occipital lobe. I actually don't know what part of the brain.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: That was rea-- I don't even know what that is. When you said that I'm like, she's smarter than I am because I know what that is.
KAT STICKLER: No, me neither. I just know the word.
MIKE STICKER: So speaking of-- so you were touching on a lot of nitty gritty details there. Obviously, you're very detail-oriented person when it comes to design. You have to be. Can you tell us about some of the fun features from this year's house.
KAT STICKLER: The one in Newport.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: So the thing that's really different about HGTV Dream Home 2021 in Portsmith is the fact that it's the first house that I've dealt with that really called for Americana as its overarching vibe throughout the house. And when I design the houses I'm doing it along with our partners. Some people say partner, some people say sponsor, but in our case without these partners we can't build a house. Like, we need the paint, we need the flooring, we need the furniture sponsor. We're a partner because without them we don't have a house filled with beautiful stuff.
So the color collection of the year for 2021 was determined by our paint partner and then they present to me between 10 and 12 or 10 to 14 colors. And then what I do as the person at the creative helm of making the house. I figure out where to work those colors in and how to make them make sense to the vernacular and also to create a flow where those colors work harmoniously from room to room. So what's different about this house is it's the first time I've ever gone with an Americana palette, and the reason I did that is I chose the blues, and the reds, and the whites, and the greens from the color collection of the year. And I figured out how to put like a New England spin with those colors. So I think that's what makes this really unique is, it's kind of like a summer in New England vibe 12 months of the year.
MIKE STICKER: I love that. That's awesome.
KAT STICKLER: So I, just for the people that don't know, because I had to look up Americana because I thought it meant--
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Music?
KAT STICKLER: Like, it was just flags around the house. That's kind of weird, so just on Wikipedia, it's-- is this right? Any collection of materials and things concerning the US or of the American people. Like, stereotypical American culture as a whole, kind of?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: You just nailed it. I mean, even you could have lied to me and said you didn't look on Wikipedia and I'd be like, she nailed it. Americana overall, you're taking cues from just-- it's weird to say it, but you're kind of taking cues from the flag. You're playing with reds, and whites, and blues, and kind of pulling from very classic farmhouse style, but also ship style and coastal style. So a lot of times when you hear Americana you'll either think straight up like heartland, or you'll think of New England where you see a lot of these summery cottages. And that makes its way into the house with the color palettes on the walls, the slip covered sofa, the nautical striped rugs. A lot of the light fixtures in the house are like made of wood beads, so there's all different types of Americana throughout the house.
KAT STICKLER: I know you're in designing. During a pandemic, what have you had to change in your approach to this design because of this 2020 year?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: This entire year I feel like if somebody was to ask me what my title is I would say intern. Because every single thing that I knew and was used to was thrown out the window and a lot of that has to do with supply chain disruption. For example, a lot of people may be in the loop, but the price of an average two by four for building has gone up about 300%. And on top of that, you may not find them. You may go to the local home improvement store and find out they're out of them. Th biggest takeaways that I've learned from working through a pandemic-- a, safety is always number one. If that means that you and your team have to spend two weeks together with just the five, six, seven, you doing nothing, to make sure that when you're working together in a pod and there's no outside people, it's worth all those extra days so you can work safely.
The other thing that I've learned is flexibility is key with design. Whether you're a decorator, whether you're a blogger, or if you're an influencer who is doing some sponsored posts. I've just got to keep my design really flexible. And if it turns out that something shows up and all of a sudden it's a better fit for the living room rather than the office, then I put it in the living room. I adapted this year. That's what I did with HGTV Urban Oasis, which was in Portland in Maine. And I think my team and I being super flexible and also working really long days together, very protected. And then I hate to say it, but the lack of socializing has made it easier for us to get our jobs done.
Because you finish the job, you get in your car, you go back by yourself, and you eat alone in your Airbnb or your hotel room. And then the next day you see that same group of six people and what it does is you know you're not seeing anybody else. It's so isolating it's sad, but by sticking with that, we were able to finish the houses on time and they look great. So it worked. It was just a lot. As social people, it was hard to do, but the being extra safe made it so we all got our jobs done safely and the end product was good. How are you two doing with delivery dates and keeping things on schedule with a baby at home where when you can't even leave the house?
KAT STICKLER: I think after I gave birth when I was ready to like-- because I had PPD, so I'm not used to being sad and all of a sudden I was so sad. And when I was ready to get out in the world and COVID hit and then I couldn't socialize with--
MIKE STICKER: Lockdown.
KAT STICKLER: --I love doing, so I think I don't know. I think with us, with me anyways, something that's really helped me through COVID was working on-- sounds so cliche-- but working on myself and writing my affirmations. But when you're literally with just these few people in your own head, you got to like who you're spending time with.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Hasn't it really taught you who your favorite people truly are? Sometimes you realize some of your best friends who you love so much are not necessarily people you can see every day in and out. You're just, you're so pent up because you haven't gone out and experienced the world like you usually do that the personality dynamics really help you edit down like who truly is my best friend. I think the biggest takeaway for me from being a designer and doing houses on this big of a scale during a pandemic, it has-- how important my team is. I need it to be my core team who I've been working with for almost 15 years, and then also the idea of us all knowing what our role is.
I don't like dealing with money. I don't like dealing with placing orders. I don't like dealing with shipment dates. There's several members of my team who actually enjoy that and they're really good at it, but they may not be good at painting, or they may not be good at taking lunch orders. So this year has really taught us all we all have a lane and let's stay in it because we're good at what we do.
MIKE STICKER: I love that.
KAT STICKLER: I didn't even think about that because I am so bad with emails and the details. If I'm doing a video for a company I'm just like, hey, I really like this product and this. And then they're like, no, you got to say this and that. And then Michael like writes a script for me, so I focus and just focus on presenting it in a way that I connect with, so that's actually a good point.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: This is something you both have in common with me. We are designing and creating content on the internet. In addition to that, a lot of times you're working with partners who have a particular product or a service or something that needs to be implemented into the house I'm doing or into the video you're making. You have to realize at a certain point there's no world where a designer just wakes up and does whatever they want. They're like, hey, I did this the way that I wanted, I win. Or a content creator wakes up and just creates content. There are partners who want to be part of it, so don't you agree that the fact that there are still partners out there who've been working with us and influencers all year, and keeping us steadily working, and trusting us use their stuff in a beautiful light. I mean, it really has been a saving grace to a lot of people that work specifically in social media.
MIKE STICKER: It's blown our mind for sure.
KAT STICKLER: I feel kind of naive, what you just said. I honestly never even considered that as an aspect of a designer. I honestly-- and I'm a creator. I make videos and I know that we have to meet certain criteria, but I never thought you would have to, so that's actually really cool to know that you even make it work with that. That's part of the job.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Oh, yeah. Depending on who we're working with, there's flooring that I can choose from, colors I can choose from, furniture I can choose from, windows I can choose from, and I have to blend them all together and make them work and it's a whole balance game. And it's similar to just creating anything that has to do with entertainment. And from the outside looking in people might think, oh, they're so lucky, they get to do whatever they want. No. At the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're giving your audience something, either they want to see you do that's funny. The audience wants to see something for me that feels like them.
KAT STICKLER: Because I mean, everyone has their opinion and no matter what you do if you do it perfectly right they're going to be like, oh, that's too fake. That was too right. You're not real. So what kind of criticism, positive or negative, have you gotten in regards to the homes you're designing, the work you're doing?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: I went-- my background, I didn't go to school for interior design. I went to school for television and film, so I have a degree-- my background is in production, and directing, and writing, and set design, and I think one of the reasons I have a little bit of a leg up in this situation is-- when I was in film school, we were taught through a course called the business of production how to handle criticism and how, when you do something and you create something and you put it out there for the masses, every single person is going to have an opinion. And you can't let you-- that is just facts. Not everybody's going to like it, not everybody is going to hate it. There's going to be a lot of people in the middle, but you have to learn that once you, especially with the internet, once you put it out there the gloves are off. It's time to just let people do their thing.
So when I'm designing the house, first and foremost, I have to check my ego and my signature design aesthetic, which is usually all black and white and a lot of neutrals. That's actually my own home. That is not for everybody. However, a super bold orange and purple room is not for everybody and also a room that's super architectural and sparse is not for everybody. So when I design one of these houses I have to think. I have this checklist in my brain. Will a maximalist love this? Will a minimalist love this? Will somebody who likes traditional like this room? Will somebody who likes coastal like this kitchen? And then what I do is I try to make sure that each one of those adjectives fits somewhere in the house.
So there might be a very traditional laundry room. There might be a very modern kids room. There might be very nautical garage. That way, when somebody experiences the house, regardless of what their particular taste is there's a little bit of something in the house that fits their taste. And at the end of the day, I'm trying to create a house that appeals to people of all different senses of style. It also captures the essence of the location and at the same time, it's making sure that it represents all of our partners. So when somebody doesn't like that I painted the exterior of a house black or somebody doesn't like a particular light fixture, or they think the pattern on the drapery is too busy-- what I'm saying is like, you go to a room and 99 people tell you they love you, but the one person in the room who doesn't love you, that's the only person you think about.
To me, that is like the worst way to live your life. So what I try to do is filter out all the negative comments, but then I'm good with actual constructive criticism. So let's say, that the two of you hired me to do your nursery and you gave me a budget and you said, we don't want to have a lot of input, Bryan, but we want it to be very understated. We want it to grow. We want it to maybe be a place where multiple kids can hang out and then you let me do it. And then I finish it, you come back and you see it, and you say three weeks later, hey, it turns out that rug that you chose for us is not really wearing well. That's good criticism. You're my clients. But for somebody to just blame me, say to me, I don't like that window treatment. I don't know what to tell you. At that point I just have to realize pick your battles.
MIKE STICKER: Yeah. That's so good. That's so good because when we first went quote, unquote, viral on the internet and we started getting the hateful comments-- basically Kat had told me those people are hurting. At the end of the day she just chose empathy, which I thought was a really cool way to look at it for us.
KAT STICKLER: First mean comment I got I was so devastated. Someone told me my forehead was too big, they didn't like my nose. Just things about my body. I'm like, oh, my God. And I was so sad. I mean, negative comments, not to get too deep, in life-- I mean, I did not have the courage to be not liked by other people. I wanted to be liked by every single person I met. I would change my personality. The tone in my voice, if someone was a little more calm, I'm like, oh, I don't want to freak them out. Let me just try to adapt here. And I think with-- even I got pregnant with his-- not yours-- our child after--
MIKE STICKLER: Just my child.
KAT STICKLER: Just his. I was just a bystander. After three months and I decided to follow through, get married, have the baby. I mean, something that really helped me was just own your life. People are going to say, you shouldn't do this or that. I knew that, but I had to live with my decisions and I just had to own my life. And right when I had that mindset, it was just kind of background noise and it was so empowering.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: I like that you just said background noise. That is the best way to explain it because what matters is the two of you, your families, your baby, your place, and your careers. All this other what you call background noise, at the end of the day, it could just be a bot. You don't know that person, you've never seen them face to face. And I love what you said about empathy. If somebody is that mad about the fact that I did a red living room, it's definitely not about the red living room. There's something else like, where they saw like the joy that house brought me or other people, and wanted to knock me down or other people down a level for something going on in their world.
And I think empathy is the right word because instead of me like getting upset and huffing and puffing about it, I'm like, well, whatever led them to be that mad about a red room-- I hope they resolve it, but I want no part of this dialogue anymore because that's got nothing to do with me. So it's good that you guys recognize that too. It's never you. The narrative is the person who wrote the mean comment has nothing to do with who they were writing it to. The internet is lawless and nobody takes responsibility for it, so everybody just jumps in and keeps making dumpster fires. But instead, I'd rather go to Rhode Island and build a house and stay away from it.
KAT STICKLER: Talking about building a house.
MIKE STICKLER: There we go.
KAT STICKLER: Great segue. OK. So design trends 2020, what do you think are the big trends that are going to come out of this whole year?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: The trend is this. I feel like a lot of people in their 20s and 30s only want things brought into the house that they truly need for a purpose, or they have some type of attachment to. So to answer your question, I think we will start to see more stuff. Right now, I think that trending is minimalism, like way less stuff. I think we're going to go from minimalist to maximalist. Meaning, I think a lot of young people will start to have more things in the house they're truly going to enjoy. And I think you will start seeing more and more stuff or things. But to be more specific about trends. I think that there has been this very neutral or lack of color in houses for the past five or six years, like an all white backdrop with just natural beige tones, which is super California and also really timeless.
I think that 2021 will bring an onslaught of people really embracing color because it brings you so much joy. If a lot of us are going to be working from home from now on, it's kind of cool. I know this sounds really out there, but if you're working online and your job is in social media, it's kind of awesome to have colorful backdrops. So that could be painting a room a bold shade of purple or putting wallpaper up in a hallway where you do all of your actually confessionals. So I think a return of more color and more stuff. I would say those would be the trends that I can get behind that won't date. 10 years from now you won't have to throw it away. I think it's just a new way of living that keeps up with the times.
KAT STICKLER: And also I think you made a good point with-- you're going to be home. Also people want what they need in their house. They don't want too much clutter because you're there. You're in this little space and also, we have a smaller space, smaller apartment, so--
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Where are you?
MIKE STICKLER: We're in Tampa.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: I'm from Florida, so I asked because people from Florida have a much different life because we don't get seasons. It's just summer year round.
MIKE STICKLER: Yeah.
KAT STICKLER: Oh, yeah. It's true.
MIKE STICKLER: We just sweat all day.
KAT STICKLER: Like right now I am sweating so much and this is what happened in the last interview too, but if you put your hand on my chest-- that's weird thing to say. If you--
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: That's a different podcast.
KAT STICKLER: Wait, this isn't HGTV. OK. I am just seeking-- like, it's just I'm just sweating and then we're-- yeah. OK. Off topic. Back on script. OK. So on that note, we love this part. This is like where you can really just bust out your most creative. Drumroll, please. Yeah. It's called defend the trend.
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KAT STICKLER: This week on defend the trend.
MIKE STICKLER: You've already touched on this a little bit, but we're asking, is open concept design on its way out or will people tear down walls forever?
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Open concept design is not on its way out. However, I think that we will see a kind of hybrid. I think a lot of people will start renovating houses to make the kitchen and the adjacent living room open to one another, but I don't think 80% of the house has to be one gigantic room. I think it's still nice to have a separate dining room, a separate sitting room, separate bedrooms. So I think defending the trend is open concept will be changed to be about 50% of what it is now. And I'm the perfect example because I live in a 1965 mid-century modern day Atlanta and I did open up some walls, but it's still a formal floor plan. So I think what I did is what a lot of people are going to start to do.
KAT STICKLER: OK. Brian it was so awesome talking to you. It was great. You are very wise. Everyone listening, you can head over to hgtv.com/dream to enter for a chance to win. You can literally enter every single day up until February 17.
MIKE STICKLER: And if you want even more Brian Patrick Flynn in your life, who wouldn't? He is an amazing Instagram follow-- @bpatrickflynn. And keep an eye out for his new show on the Magnolia Network coming out later in 2021.
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KAT STICKLER: That was a great interview.
MIKE STICKLER: That was so good.
KAT STICKLER: I really like Brian Patrick Flynn.
MIKE STICKLER: I think we would be friends. We could again, we could do Iceland 2020, 2022. Yeah?
KAT STICKLER: Well, sign me up. He was beautiful.
MIKE STICKLER: Oh, my gosh.
KAT STICKLER: Right?
MIKE STICKLER: Wow.
KAT STICKLER: I looked at you and I was like, ugh. I'm sorry, that was so mean.
MIKE STICKLER: You'll be sleeping on the couch tonight. I'll be streaming for 12 hours enjoying my life.
KAT STICKLER: Wait, if we had our HGTV Dream Home would you want-- well, yeah. You'd obviously want a game room.
MIKE STICKLER: Yeah. Let's get back to the part where you called me ugly.
KAT STICKLER: I did and you're beautiful too.
MIKE STICKLER: I love it. It was good.
KAT STICKLER: It really had me thinking what I would want in my dream home.
MIKE STICKLER: Go. Tell me.
KAT STICKLER: Personal trainer, pool boy, personal chef.
MIKE STICKLER: These don't sound like rooms or items. They sound like personnel on a payroll.
KAT STICKLER: Do they come with the house? Just wondering. No, I think I would like my own little space. I can imagine having a space where it's my office. Or a space where I can just sit and record or a nice space just for me.
MIKE STICKLER: I think-- so like when I thought about my dream house growing up, I always thought like super techie, like crazy out of this world.
KAT STICKLER: Like Minecraft?
MIKE STICKLER: No, you weirdo. Like Elon Musk, like literally like I'm in my stream room and I press a button on my desk and up through the floor comes a pre-made meal ready to go.
KAT STICKLER: That'd be great. I would never-- I mean, I never cook, but then I'd be like--
MIKE STICKLER: Well, I don't have to cook once a year.
KAT STICKLER: My cooking's definitely--
MIKE STICKLER: Would you want to garden in the center of the--
KAT STICKLER: The worst.
MIKE STICKLER: --like a garden in the center of the house? Like, it's like an open area?
KAT STICKLER: Does it come with a gardener? Yeah. That's a great idea actually. Our house is just going to be full of people.
MIKE STICKLER: We're going to have a spare house where--
KAT STICKLER: No. They'll just live with us.
MIKE STICKLER: Oh, OK. Cool. In our bedroom?
KAT STICKLER: Yeah. I also-- I've always liked the idea of-- I mean, I don't want to get too deep here-- music playing in the background. Hit it. I just walk into my master bedroom, birds are chirping, I open the window. What do I see? A balcony. I walk out, I'm sipping on my coffee. A little bird flies up to the railing, sings a cute song to me and I sing back. Cut scene.
MIKE STICKLER: Hey, you know what's the saddest part about all of this?
KAT STICKLER: What?
MIKE STICKLER: We can't win the dream home. Kind of sucks.
KAT STICKLER: We'll make our dream home.
MIKE STICKLER: We'll make one, yeah.
KAT STICKLER: Oh, Brian. You come over here.
MIKE STICKLER: Oh my goodness. All right, so--
KAT STICKLER: Oh, do you know what time it is?
MIKE STICKLER: Hit me.
KAT STICKLER: It's time for HGTV to the rescue.
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KAT STICKLER: HGTV to the rescue, guys. It is coming to the rescue to save your day.
MIKE STICKLER: I'm so sorry. Sometimes I can't keep up with you. OK.
KAT STICKLER: You snooze, you lose, man. Legit HGTV stars answer your burning questions, ladies and gentlemen, about design, DIY, even renovations.
MIKE STICKLER: OK. This week we're continuing on the HGTV Dream Home tip with Tiffany Brooks answering a listener question.
KAT STICKLER: Tiffany.
MIKE STICKLER: Yes.
KAT STICKLER: And keep a look out for her new HGTV show, 50k Three Ways, and that comes out this spring.
MIKE STICKLER: So our question today is from Jill. Jill says, hey, Tiffany. I love your style. My problem is I have champagne tastes and not even a beer budget, more like sparkling water. Do you have any tips for bringing style into your space without breaking the bank? And when do you recommend making a splurge? Thank you.
TIFFANY BROOKS: So I will answer it backwards. The splurges you should make are definitely on quality build products, like in your Kitchens and bathrooms and things like that, in your fixtures. I would even say appliances. Now, how can you make a splash without breaking the bank? It really, really depends on where you are in your house. If you are doing your cabinetry and you have great cabinetry structure and the bones are great, I would suggest painting them in order to bring in a different look. That's an instant savings right there. Or if we're talking about in the family room, you'll probably see the show and realize that David and I love wallpaper and paint. That's a huge change that you can do for pennies, or in a case of wallpaper, dollars. They're even peel and stick wallpapers if you live in an apartment complex right now that you can buy, and just have that temporary pattern on your wall. And you'll love it and be engulfed in all of that personality. I always say to change out those big drama moments that hit you first, but don't cost that much. Lighting is another huge thing to invest in, and make sure you have proper lighting. So sometimes just getting down to the basics of design may answer those questions for our how to actually always save in design as well.
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KAT STICKLER: That was a really great answer, Tiffany. You are so full of great ideas. Also, you guys, if you want to watch Tiffany you can on the 2021 HGTV Dream Home special with our new BFF, Brian Patrick Flynn. And that's January 1 at 8:00 PM. And her new HGTV show, 50k Three Ways, and that comes out this spring.
MIKE STICKLER: We're two episodes in. How are we doing?
KAT STICKLER: You've subscribed, right, to HGTV Obsessed? I'm just checking. We're watching you.
MIKE STICKLER: Yeah. We really love your review. So please, please, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. It really helps our HGTV Obsessed fan find us.
KAT STICKLER: And it also helps us learn what you guys want to hear, what you don't want to hear, the fact that you probably like me more than Mike.
MIKE STICKLER: Oh God.
KAT STICKLER: I mean, you can always find me-- I mean, I guess and Mike too, on TikTok. We're Mike and Kat. And--
MIKE STICKLER: You're just full of it today, aren't you?
KAT STICKLER: Really. And we're also on Instagram too. We can chat.
MIKE STICKLER: Don't forget to listen in next Thursday where we have some amazing guests lined up and might be learning some serious HGTV gossip.
KAT STICKLER: Oh my God, I love gossip.
MIKE STICKLER: Oh baby. It's time.
KAT STICKLER: It's so weird with COVID. We don't have the gossip that much.
MIKE STICKLER: We do now.
KAT STICKLER: Oh, now we do. Yeah, in our back pocket.
KAT STICKLER: Right in this mic. OK. So we'll see you guys next week. So excited. Thank you for tuning in. Let's get it. Seize the day, you guys. Go get em Tiger.
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BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: Formal floor-- formal floor plan.
KAT STICKLER: Formal floor plan.
MIKE STICKLER: I like that.
BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: It's a very hard combination of words. Formal form-- Oh, gosh.