The Laiche family reacts to the reveal of a new, hidden staircase in their Georgia home in an episode of the Netflix original series Hack My Home.
By Lindsay Steele
Now Streaming
Now Streaming: Hack My Home (Netflix)
Genre: Reality TV, home renovation series
Streaming service: Netflix
Rating: TV-G
Summary: A team of four design wizards dreams up space-maximizing solutions and ingenious engineering ideas to transform families’ homes in inventive ways.
Synopsis: Home renovation shows have been popular for decades but Hack My Home’s space-maximizing theme is timely. The COVID-19 pandemic required many individuals and families to create home workspaces, even if they didn’t have the space for it. The rising cost of real estate and living expenses in general means many families have to do more with less. Whether a household needs additional space for an office, a baby or to welcome aging parents, it isn’t always possible to add on, build new or to move.
Each episode of Hack My Home features a family with a relatable challenge. The families strive to make their space comfortable and functional for everyone in the home but aren’t sure how to do that.
In one episode, a couple with four young children struggles to balance the children’s need for play space and the husband’s need for a quiet home office. The wife, a homemaker, feels pressure to keep the kids quiet during the day — a stressful and challenging task. The design team renovates the family’s partially finished basement by installing movable walls that can form an office when needed and retract when the kids need more playroom. Because the walls are soundproof, the kids can play downstairs even if their dad is working.
In another episode, a homeschooling family hopes to adopt another child but their home is bursting at the seams. “Children are in need of a home but, more than that, they are in need of a family,” the wife says. The design team renovates the home’s crawlspace into a classroom by lowering the floor and adding inside access through a hidden spiral staircase. A custom-made kitchen table functions as a trapdoor that must be seen to be believed! Renovations to the youngest daughter’s bedroom are a bit less complicated, with the addition of a bunk bed and pulley-system storage to clear floor space.
It’s worth noting that Netflix and its partners paid for these renovations (realitytitbit.com), removing the financial barrier for the featured families. Viewers might not have the resources, industry connections or skills to achieve similar results in their own home. Regardless, the show is relevant to all viewers with space and function issues in their homes. It could help them to appreciate the space they have and get creative in making small changes that make the space more accessible, functional and welcoming.
Hack My Home shows examples of families who are open to life and to sharing their space, even when that space is not ideal. They understand that the heart’s capacity to love is not bound by four walls. Space is nice but it’s not a requirement for being welcoming. Instead of judging the families for their full houses or making them feel irresponsible for their choices, the designers embrace the challenges and circumstances the families face and work with them to find solutions.
Considering our diocese’s current focus on welcoming and belonging, this show should provide reassurance that you don’t need a spacious home to live out these values — just love and creativity.
Viewers who are uncomfortable with LGBTQ+ representation should be aware that the second episode features a same-sex couple.
Discussion questions:
How did the families in this series live out the Catholic values of welcoming and belonging?
When have you felt limited by your living space and why?
What can you do to make your living space more inviting and welcoming?
(Editor’s note: Lindsay Steele is a reporter for The Catholic Messenger. Contact her at steele@davenportdiocese.org)
