House + Love = Home

October 1, 2023

Designer Marrs and her general contractor/furniture builder husband, Dave, together cohost HGTV's Fixer to Fabulous. They believe that each home they renovate should reflect the people who live in them. In this book, Jenny, with help from Dave, gives readers renovation and decorating ideas and tips for designing beautiful, useful porches, dining areas, kitchens, outdoor spaces, play spaces, home offices, and rooms for laundry, family, bath, and beds. Dave explains the steps for a few projects, such as adding moldings to rooms or building a drop zone. The book is filled with lovely color photos (some are out of focus) from previous jobs. Explanations about the renovation and design choices accompany them. Each chapter also includes Marrs's personal observations about her family and their lives together; her stories span from her childhood to how they currently spend Christmas mornings and the births and adoptions of their children. Their values, woven throughout the book, are rooted in family, hard work, Christian faith, and community. VERDICT Fixer to Fabulous fans will relish this book, heavily illustrated with examples of the Marrs family's design and renovation ideas.--Sue O'Brien

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 18, 2023
Marrs—who stars in the HGTV series Fixer to Fabulous—debuts with a pleasant blend of personal reflection and design advice. “We believe a home should reflect the personalities of the ones who live there,” Marrs writes, discussing how she has approached decorating clients’ houses. For instance, Marrs shows the 1,000-gallon aquarium she installed in the entryway of a couple who loved the beach and encourages readers to decorate their own entry areas in ways that “introduce the story of who you are,” which might include “a gallery wall of family photos” or “a treasured object from a memorable trip.” Marrs’s style mixes mid-century modern and contemporary farmhouse aesthetics while utilizing unexpected applications of color, such as a kitchen anchored by a fuchsia and gold oven range. The stories about Marrs’s family that introduce each chapter feel extraneous (a chapter focused on the living room begins with an account of her family’s Christmas morning ritual and includes no design commentary), but her guidance on sprucing up each room of the house is sensible and specific. For instance, she suggests that placing a runner in front of the kitchen sink adds “warmth and functional comfort” and that mounting curtains “as high as possible” gives “the illusion of more height in the room.” Marrs’s fans will find much to love.