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HGTV is Bringing Us a New Breakup-Inspired Design Show, and We Can’t Wait!

Written by Jaymi Naciri Posted On Tuesday, 12 February 2019 05:30

We wrote last year about the pervasive trend of older women buying homes. In fact, single women—and singles in general—represent a fast-growing portion of the homebuying public.

“The share of homebuyers in the U.S. who are single women has been steadily increasing over the last several decades and is now at an all-time high,” said WTOP. Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at Veritas Urbis Economics, told WTOP that, “In the early 1980s, it was about 9 percent. It’s about 19 percent now, so almost one-fifth of all homebuyers in the U.S. are single women, and that’s a significant jump.” The overall “share of homebuyers made up of single-person households, men and women, has increased from 15.3 percent in 1981 to 21.2 percent in 2017,” said WTOP.

But what if you’re already a homeowner who finds yourself single after having shared the home with the person who is now your ex. If you are willing and able to hold on to the home, you likely don’t want to it to look and feel the same. Keeping a home after a split may be necessary for financial reasons or to keep the kids in their schools, but that doesn't make it easy, especially if there are memories (literally) around every corner.

“That’s where HGTV’s new series Unspouse My House comes in,” said HGTV. “In this new renovation series, designer and self-proclaimed breakup artist Orlando Soria works with newly single clients to completely overhaul their homes and heal their lonely hearts along the way.”

File this under, “Why didn't we think of that?!”

While single folks are sprinkled into HGTV’s programming, its popular House Hunters series is typically dependent on the friction created by a couple whose wishes are diametrically opposed (Him: “I like mid-century modern and clean lines with no fluff.” Her: “I like Victorian architecture with lots of built-ins where I can display my hundreds of collectibles.”) This is the first time the channel has specifically targeted this kind of demographic.

“The concept of Unspouse My House is totally different than anything we’ve done before on HGTV,” said Loren Ruch, senior vice president, programming, projects and specials for HGTV in the announcement for the show. “Orlando Soria is an established designer whose online fans love his humorous, lighthearted take on home design. We believe the series will be a fun new addition to the HGTV lineup next year.”

No details yet on exactly when the show is going to premier in 2019 or exactly how it will be formatted, but we can tell you this:

• Per the release, six episodes of the show have been approved thus far.
• Participate will need to provide the budget.
• Unlike so many shows that shoot in Canada, this one is based in Los Angeles, so, listen up, L.A. recently-single folks!

Also, we checked out Soria’s Instagram and his work with Homepolish and we are feeling his casual, contemporary vibe. We also love the super-realness of his blog, like on this post from 2017 that he titled, “My Life Burnt to the Ground So I’m Building a New One!” in which he muses on having lost his job and being dumped at the same time. And now he has a design show about recovering from being dumped. Life, right?

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