Chip and Joanna Gaines have taken the country by storm — the HGTV series “Fixer Upper,” their ever-growing company, Magnolia, and each of the couple’s products have made them household names across America. Now, they’re taking over the home and garden scene once more. Their new curated network will cover practically every area of lifestyle programming, from decorating to gardening.
The Beginning of “Fixer Upper”
The first season of “Fixer Upper” starring Chip and Joanna Gaines premiered in 2014 and quickly took off. Within a few short months, the show rapidly became popular as America fell in love with Chip’s humor and Joanna’s eye for design.
The show features Chip and Joanna buying old houses and renovating them for residents of Waco, Texas. Each episode typically features three houses, and Chip and Jo offer a different vision for how their company, Magnolia Homes, could turn each run-down house into their clients’ ultimate dream home. The clients decide on a house, the process of renovation begins and each episode ends with a final look at the completed home.
Chip and Joanna’s bantering and teasing, as well as Chip’s wacky stunts, keep “Fixer Upper” entertaining for the whole family. Furthermore, the snags throughout the construction and renovation process always keep viewers on the edge of their seats, hoping all the issues will be resolved and the project successfully finished.
The Expansion of Magnolia
After a year of “Fixer Upper,” Chip and Joanna decided to expand Magnolia. The couple first opened a small shop in 2003, but the birth of the current Magnolia Market at the Silos, or Magnolia Market for short, occurred in 2014. Just three years later, according to HGTV’s “A Fixer Upper Timeline,” the Silos receives more annual visitors than the Alamo.
The Gaines’ ambitious dream included a large Magnolia retail store, a bakery, an expansive garden and an area for events and food trucks. Now, the Silos boasts all that and more, including a restaurant called Magnolia Table and a coffee shop named Magnolia Press Coffee Co.
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Two years after they began work on the Silos, Joanna branched out to open her own line of furniture called Magnolia Home Furnishings. The line was a huge hit and is still sold at large retail stores like Target and Pier 1 Imports.
As the couple continued to roll out additional seasons of “Fixer Upper,” it became clear that the Magnolia brand was not finished expanding. Fans of the reality TV show flooded Waco from all over the country to visit the Silos and the home of the beloved Gaines family.
This influx led to the Magnolia House bed and breakfast, which opened in 2015. But good luck reserving a spot — it books up fast. If you can’t snag the Magnolia House, you might look into one of the other Magnolia homes, like the Carriage House or the Hillcrest Estate.
October 2016 was a big month for the Gaines family with the release of their first book, “The Magnolia Story,” and their quarterly magazine, “The Magnolia Journal.” Soon after in 2017, Chip’s book, “Capital Gaines,” was released. Many more books followed these initial publications, including a sequel to Chip’s book, a design book by Joanna, two children’s books and two Magnolia cookbooks with recipes collected and created by Joanna.
Their TV Return
The couple announced the last season of “Fixer Upper” in 2017. They had stepped back from the show to focus on their growing family, but at the end of 2020, Chip and Joanna released a trailer for an upcoming TV series, “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home.” However, their new show was not the only thing the Gaines had up their sleeve. They also announced a partnership with the Discovery+ channel to produce the Magnolia Network, which will take the place of the DIY Network on TV.
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It was initially set to launch in 2020 but experienced delays due to COVID-19. Nevertheless, House Beautiful writes that audiences can watch the network’s programming on the Magnolia app starting in July 2021, followed by a cable release in January of 2022.
What the Magnolia Network Offers
Parade.com says, “Magnolia Network currently has 14 original programs in production and an additional 22 original programs in development.” Besides “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home,” the shows will focus on a variety of topics, including home, cooking, gardening and more. Joanna will host her own cooking show called “Magnolia Table,” and other cooking shows will include Andrew Zimmern’s “Family Dinner” and Erin French’s “The Lost Kitchen.”
Two other shows, “Growing Floret” and “Homegrown,” are all about farming; one is devoted to a flower farm in Washington state and the other emphasizes sustainable farming and gardening methods.
The crafting of handmade furniture in the shows “For the Love of Kitchens,” “Mind for Design” and “First Time Fixers” will provide a basis for creativity within home improvement and interior decorating. Some shows on the Magnolia Network will focus on health and fitness, such as Justin Bane’s “The Fieldhouse,” whereas others will give viewers a humorous lens into everyday life, like comedian Taylor Calmus’ show “Super Dad.”
Magnolia Network will also highlight video specials like “Breaking New Ground: Expanding the Silos.” Descriptions and trailers for all the shows on the app are available on the Magnolia Network website. With the motto “We are — risk takers, course changers, path makers, creators, dreamers, storytellers,” every show is bound to be inspiring and filled to the brim with creative ingenuity.
Whether you’re a reality TV show junkie or not, there is little question that Magnolia Network will take off when it launches. Find a show that interests you and mark your calendars for Magnolia Network’s release this summer. You can subscribe to Discovery+ for $4.99 per month or download the Magnolia app when the network launches.
