Joanna Gaines Just Revealed the Cutest (and Fastest) Home Makeover on ‘Mini Reni’

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“I’m ready for the next one!”

Home projects, no matter how big or small, tend to languish, whether you’re looking to refresh your kitchen cabinets or even deal with that heap of laundry that’s turned your bedroom chair into an ad hoc coat rack (hey, at least it’s useful for something!). Design star Joanna Gaines is here to inspire you to rip off the Band-Aid with her brand new show, Mini Reni.

The series, which kicked off tonight on Magnolia Network (you can also stream it on Max and Discovery+), builds off a prior framework that Gaines and her team have experimented with: transform a few select rooms in a home, with a tight budget, in one week. The catch? The transformation needs to be construction-free (no dramatic sledgehammer scenes here!) and utilize materials that can readily be sourced locally.

“For me, as someone who loves that before and after, Mini Reni is a way to stay grounded, get my wiggles out in these smaller ways,” Gaines says, “like if I’m really craving color or certain concepts, I can do that on these homes.”

First up: a charming 1930s home that belonged to one of Gaines’s employees in Waco, Texas. The home came equipped with plenty of character (think sweet carved built-ins and an original fireplace), which would allow the team ample time to conduct a transformation.

Gaines could select only three rooms to tackle, given their $15,000 budget, and opted for adjoining rooms. “We knew the homeowner wanted more color and pattern infused into what were mostly white-walled spaces, so we prioritized the three rooms that all flowed together—the living, dining, and breakfast nook. This allowed us to create a cohesive design story with one color palette and define details that would complement each other,” Gaines tells ELLE DECOR. “Once we had a plan for the dining room and it checked all the homeowner’s boxes—a little bit of whimsy, period details, and an artful twist—that space became center stage for me and led how we approached the two rooms it connected.”

For this mini makeover, bold wallpaper; cool, complementary color; and detail-enhancing trim were the way forward. “I hope you see with this mini reni that you can just do one or two simple things to really transform a space,” says Gaines. “I’m ready for the next one!”

Click below for an exclusive look at the big—err, mini—reveal!

Anna Fixsen, Deputy Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, focuses on how to share the best of the design world through in-depth reportage and online storytelling. Prior to joining the staff, she has held positions at Architectural Digest, Metropolis, and Architectural Record magazines. elledecor.com

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