Designing Homes a Few Kids at a Time

If you love design and haven't heard of the Novogratz family, you need to listen up.

This week, the first season of this family fun series wraps on Bravo and it has been one wild ride. With a brood of kids in tow, seven and counting, the Novogratz are a couple who turn subpar, and often once commercial, spaces into stunning homes, working mostly in downtown New York City.

Image: Sixx Design

I love this show for a variety of reasons. For one thing, I love interior design and this show packs a lot of it into a 45-minute weekly dose. For another, the Novogratz have a bustling family life. With seven little ones bouncing around, they make time for things like basketball fundraisers, birthday parties, and playdates while also juggling the responsibilities of a growing design business. Notably, however, you don't see this couple hacking off their kids to their nanny 24/7, although they do have one. The children are a big part of the parents' lives and its evident in the way that the children are portrayed. When the husband and wife team go to London, for instance, they bring along their older children and take time out of their promotional touring to play tourist with their children. This show also features a happy marriage. Contrary to most family reality shows, the Novogratz aren't getting screentime for HD-quality fights. Instead, they seem to play off of one another's personalities in a mostly encouraging way, bringing out the best in each other and suggesting that they work better as a team than as two distinct parts. And yet, the Novogratz don't claim to have it all together, and readily admit that they make mistakes and have to roll with the punches. When you have lots of kids, that's pretty much a necessity, especially if you live in Manhattan.

Most of all, I love what the Novogratz' work proudly stands for: a sprinkling of design can bring hope and beauty to even the darkest places and serve as a catalyst for enriching homes and communities. The home is front and center in this show, and the Novogratz proudly display their knack for design by entertaining, helping friends decorate their homes and offices, and offering their home and their creative skills towards raising money for noteworthy causes.

To see more of the Novogratz' work, visit their website Sixx Design or check out their book Downtown Chic.