No Demo Reno's Jenn Todryk On The 'Dated' Trends She Loves - Exclusive Interview

You may be content to live in a less-than-glamorous home if necessary, but there may come a day when you look around and say, "Enough is enough!" At that point, a total home renovation can be a rewarding but expensive process. Luckily, there are ways to cut back on expenses without skimping on your big reveal, according to home renovation expert, interior designer, and social media creator Jenn Todryk. For instance, demolishing parts of a home generally makes a renovation more pricey — and as Todryk proves, it's not always necessary.

Todryk's hit HGTV series, "No Demo Reno," provides great inspiration on how to totally redesign a home without changing the floor plan or knocking out any load-bearing walls. All it takes is a little ingenuity, imagination, humor, and courage. In an exclusive interview with House Digest, Todryk, the brilliant mind behind "No Demo Reno" and The Rambling Redhead blog, gave us some insight into her favorite current design trends, her process for re-envisioning a home, and what to expect in the new season of "No Demo Reno."

Jenn, like many of your viewers, you must have been thrilled to learn that "No Demo Reno" will be back for another season. Can you give us any hints about what to expect from Season 3?

Season 3 has a lot of homeowners who love their homes. It's amazing that they love it, but they've been there a hot minute, and now that they have multiple kids, their house is not feeling as big as it once did. So it's, "How do I make these homes feel and look bigger without touching the floor plan and without actually adding any square footage?" [There's] a little designer math on that one.

Did you ever expect that you would be approached by HGTV and asked to do a show, let alone three seasons? What drew you to the concept of "No Demo Reno"?

No. I don't know if anyone is like, "Yeah, I'm going to have an unscripted home renovation show." It's very surprising but a fun journey and adventure. It's been really fun.

The concept goes well with who I am as a person and what I do in my own life and my own home renovation and my own home — which is working with the house that I have and not trying to be different from what the home already is. I love older homes, trying to hone in on the charm and what makes them unique and special, versus doing the big open floor plans that don't have a lot of character. It's always [about] adding character and charm into the homes of my clients.

As filming comes to a close and the big premiere day draws closer, would you say that you feel more nervous, excited, or relieved about the launch of Season 3?

Excited and relieved — I like those two words that you said. [I'm] excited to share these projects with the world. We're all really proud of it — the production crew, me, even the clients. It's a hard journey to go through a home renovation. I'm proud of it and relieved that it's all done and the clients are happy, and I'm at peace with that.

Since Season 1 was released, how has the show evolved, and what are some of the biggest lessons you've learned about taking on these projects? How do you apply that knowledge in the new season?

It's evolved a ton. It's evolved from every aspect. The design has evolved so much. Season 1 was right off the coattails of the farmhouse [trend], and it was modern farmhouse. Everything was gray and white. Everyone wanted a white kitchen; no one wanted any color. I was fine doing it because that was what was popular back then. 

Fast-forward to Season 3 — it's such a moody season in design. We've got dark stained wood, we've got emerald green tiles, we've got dark blue offices, we've got ceilings painted the same color as the walls, a ton of color drenching. This is a very rich, moody, organic, modern vibe, and I love it so much ... Designs [have] evolved as they always will evolve; otherwise, you're not a very good designer. It's not changing constantly.

But even the tone of the show has evolved. I stepped on as an executive producer in Season 2, and the same for Season 3. I've worked hard to influence the tone to be more of who I am and how I talk and how I speak, the humor and a little bit of quirkiness in it. Because I did want the show to be different, and I wanted it to be the most authentic version of who I am versus something that's made for television.

What are some of your favorite interior design trends right now, and how do you separate your preferences from what will best suit your clients?

That's a great question. That's part of the battle — not designing just for me. People live here and they have personalities, and I have to read into what they like and put that into my design.

I love dark-stained woods right now. It's something that's coming back. It reminds me of the kitchen I had in 2010, all dark stained wood, and I could not wait to get a white kitchen. Now, these little accent pieces with dark stained wood is beautiful.

I love terracotta tiles; I like even slate tiles, bringing the more raw, organic nature in — I love that. Then, I love tan cabinets. Tan cabinets are the new white kitchen right now. A large chunk of this season's kitchens [don't have] stark white cabinets. They're a warm cabinet, and it's beautiful — beautiful, warm design.

In a recent post on your blog, you shared a list of back-to-school essentials. As we forge onward into another busy school year, what are some of your favorite design solutions to help busy families stay organized and spend time together?

Family gathering spots are a big one that people like to redo. Even different things like game rooms or media rooms are becoming super popular. Having organization in those areas, even playrooms, is key to the home falling into place a little more organized. When the communal areas or the spaces with kids [are] a mess, I'm a mess in my brain.

There's different things that I put in place — even with laying out the kids' clothes on Sunday nights on little hooks that have their days with "library day" or "music" or "art" or "PE" so we know how to dress accordingly. I have quite a few systems in place to where we all function and know how to do that, and that way, it keeps our life on track.

Speaking of kids' rooms and kids' messes, it seems like kids' bathrooms are always chaotic, especially when you have a big family. What is the biggest design flaw you see in kids' bathrooms, and what is the best way to create more functionality without losing personality?

Yes, you're right. I don't get to design kids' bathrooms a ton. It's one of the spaces where homeowners ... It doesn't compete with a kitchen or a main bathroom or a living room or a dining room; it's the kids' bathroom. It's funny — I actually do one in the first episode of the season, and it was fun because it was a kids' bathroom. I wanted it to have a usefulness to it, but it was also the bathroom that all the guests use when someone's visiting their home, so I had to create an upscale or an elevated kids' bathroom. It turned out beautiful.

[It's] function over everything when it comes to kids' bathrooms — storage is key, lots of drawers. Drawers seem to be better with kids, versus doors and cabinets where everything topples over and it's a huge mess on your floor, and then everything gets shoved back in and it's a disaster. Everything being the right height, having enough sinks per kids — little things like that go a long way in the bathroom.

How do you re-envision some elements of a home without tearing them out completely, and what are the most difficult or expensive to renovate?

The most expensive hands-down is the kitchen because you have so many cabinets. Cabinets and countertops get really expensive, but mainly it's the cabinets right now that are very expensive. That would be the most.

The second most expensive to renovate after that would be a main bathroom. Typically, they have larger square footage. People want to put nicer things in that as far as textiles, tiles, countertops, plumbing; all that stuff adds up. What I look for to keep is anything with character and charm, anything that's unique to the home itself. If the fireplace is massive, maybe we revamp it because it's not cute and it's not up-to-date, but we keep the actual fireplace. 

Cabinets ... If they're pretty recent boxes and the homeowner has no issue with the height and the depths of them, then maybe we talk about just changing hardware and paint, or maybe we could change the doors on the front. I'm constantly looking to see what I can save. Countertops typically don't get saved. I don't know why. When I walk into spaces, typically, if they need me to come, the countertops aren't good. They're not cute by any means, so those don't get saved very often.

When do you think homeowners should revamp items versus replace them?

It's like the cabinets — if they're not that old and if what I'm going to give them isn't drastically different. If the cabinets have been done within five to 10 years and the dimension hasn't changed on upper cabinets, versus if I get into homes built in the '50s and '60s [when] they didn't make cabinets as deep ... Most of the time, our dinner plates — our typical standard dinner plates — won't even fit in those cabinets. Those [cabinets] need to be replaced because they're not functional for the way dishes are made nowadays, versus something that's five years old — well, it's fine. Maybe the front door is a little outdated and it has a design in it that we don't like; we replace the doors. But that's a tricky question because it depends on the home and what I see.

Are there any design challenges you have yet to face or any architectural issues that you'd be excited to work around?

Every house is different. There's always a column or a pole that I have to work around that we have to make look pretty, or low ceilings that we have to trick our brains into thinking is higher than it actually is. There's always something in every home that I have to work around, but that's what keeps it fun.

Season 3 of "No Demo Reno" will premiere Thursday, September 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV and will be available to stream the same day on Max. 

This interview has been edited for clarity.