Jeff Lewis reinvents the home makeover show!

Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis

TelevisionBytes with NineDaves

Jeff Lewis can be such an asshole.

If you’ve ever watched an episode of his hit Bravo series Flipping Out, you’ll know: the guy can sure throw a temper tantrum. With his O.C.D. in full effect, Lewis rarely holds back. Yelling at people left and right. Berating his employees for silly mistakes. I think he’s fired more people than Donald Trump has on The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice combined.

But Jeff Lewis is also a super talented interior designer and real estate speculator. There’s a reason he started flipping houses in the first place. Lewis knows how to go into a space and see beyond what’s in front of him. He can elevate a home through renovation, while still keeping the integrity of the home intact. He’s also damn good at motivating contractors to finish construction quickly – usually to spectacular results.

It’s these dueling parts of Jeff Lewis (the ego and the talent) that’s made him such an intriguing figure to watch over the past five seasons of Flipping Out. You want to hate him for being so mean, but you also know there’s a method to his madness. You want to see the results.

Lucky for us, we’ll be seeing more results from Jeff Lewis these days, as his new spinoff show, Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis, premieres tonight on Bravo at 9/8c.

In its very format, Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis has found a way to utilize the best parts of Jeff Lewis. Each week, Lewis (with trusty assistant Jenni Pulos in tow, and maid Zoila Chavez stopping by from time to time) tackles a different home renovation project. From demolition to construction to design, we’ll see every stage of the process – only on a super short schedule. But Lewis just isn’t making over these homes. He’s also moving in. Lewis and Pulos will stay the week, and tackle some of the biggest remodeling challenges of their careers: their client’s relationships.

That’s right. Remodeling, space planning, and design mixed with Jeff Lewis’ ability to pick people apart and diagnose exactly what’s wrong with them? Sounds too good to look away.

And talk about breathing life into a stale format! The home makeover show is in far need of a makeover itself. After breaking into mainstream popularity with TLC’s Trading Spaces, the format has been completely done to death. I mean, HGTV has essentially created a whole network around the same show. Most of the time, these home makeover shows come off a little … bland. “Attainable design” often translates into “boring, stale design.” And the shows that do provide massive luxury just seem so far out there, you can’t relate.

So bringing together design and therapy? That’s different. After all, you need just go to IKEA on a busy Saturday and see dozens of couples fighting over design to realize that people often have a hard time agreeing over style. To fix that problem, the show will involve these couples at every step of the renovation process. No big reveal and blindfolded homeowners here – it’s about tackling these challenges as they appear.

What’s more – Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis doesn’t promise there will always be happy endings. If you’ve seen Jeff Lewis’ work in the past, you’ll know that things don’t always go as planned. Don’t expect every episode to end with a finished project. Or perfectly happy couples, at that.

In the end, Jeff Lewis’ greatest renovation may just be how he’s raised the bar for interior design shows out there. Your move, kids …

Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis

About DAVE Q 90 Articles
NineDaves is a part-time blogger, full-time tweeter, and all-around television-addict who spends way too much time thinking about what his Real Housewives’ opening quote will be. He’s so obsessed with TV, he’s basically like that kid from Willy Wonka. Only gayer.