Stream It or Skip It: ‘Amazing Interiors’ on Netflix Brings Home Renovation to Streaming

Netflix continues their slow march towards conquering the reality TV genre with the release of Amazing Interiors, a show that seems like a perfect fit on an HGTV or a TLC or even a History Channel (because that network ain’t about History anymore). Amazing Interiors is a perfect title, because that’s exactly what the show is about: homes that look ordinary on the outside but are extraordinary on the inside. Each half-hour-ish episode includes three truly outrageous living situations, where super-fans and ambitious interior designers show off the dream home they made a reality.

AMAZING INTERIORS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The first episode (“Chicago Cubs Cave, Aquarium House, The Love Boat”) starts off with the opening titles, which begin with shots of totally mundane suburban homes. Given the show’s subject matter, obviously those shots give way to a montage of wild, you could say amazing, interiors (wall-to-wall neon signs, elaborate chandeliers, a Saddam Hussein shower?).

The Gist: Each episode covers three separate amazing interiors, with the pilot including a trip to Illinois to hang out in Stuart’s crazy Chicago Cubs clubhouse (a.k.a. his basement) and one to Israel to visit Eli, the owner of one of the three biggest home aquariums in the world (37,000 liters containing around 60 different species of fish and coral!). Between those two segments, we check in with London-based couple Joel and Rosie who are turning a rusty old ship into a super modern, open-concept, one-bedroom home. Amazing Interiors is a Netflix original that comes from Barcroft Productions, a production company that previously produced documentary series for Channel 4 and BBC in the UK. You can really see that in the show itself, as it looks waaay sleeker than any of the home renovation shows seen on HGTV. The shots of each home are done lovingly, treating everything from exotic fish, reclaimed wood floors, and a six-foot-tall baseball player bobblehead with reverence.

Our Take: I get the appeal of shows like these, for I am not immune to putting on HGTV on a Saturday morning and letting a few hours of Love It or List It wash over me. There’s a real set it and forget it mentality with these kinds of shows, and it’s actually a wonder that it’s taken Netflix this long to make headway in this genre. Netflix, where episodes autoplay one after the other, is the definition of set it and forget it TV! I feel that same HGTV pull with Amazing Interiors. Like, I see that episode three has “Sci-Fi Museum” in the title, and I’m itching to watch that right now.

There are three things Amazing Interiors has going for it that set it on par with, above, and beyond similar shows on basic cable. It’s on par when it comes to subject matter: I’m a sucker for shows about extravagant interiors (I will never forget that Nile-inspired water feature Xzibit shoved in the backseat of someone’s car that one time), and this episode delivered just with the Cubs man cave alone. It’s above others when it comes to production value; this doesn’t look like a show that was just churned out to fill a cable network’s marathon-heavy schedule. And it’s beyond others when it comes to length; these episodes are 21-28 minutes long, meaning you get exactly the right amount of time with each home.

The length is really a strength when you consider Amazing Interiors major weakness: it lacks a personality, literally. Netflix’s other big reality hits of 2018, Queer Eye and Nailed It!, soar above their already solid premises because of the hosts. Amazing Interiors substitutes personality for style and efficient editing. If these episodes were any longer, you’d really start to feel the lack of a unifying voice. But they’re not, so the amazing interiors are the real stars of the show. Still, I can’t help but wonder how great this show would be if it had a Jon Gabrus or a Lauren Lapkus taking in these homes for the first time.

Sex and Skin: Zilch.

Parting Shot: The episode ends with Rosie and Joel sitting in their renovated boat/house, satisfied with a job well done (and presumably relieved they now have all their free time back after a year of hard work).

Sleeper Star: As I mentioned, the show’s lack of a star, sleeper or otherwise, is it’s main drawback. But y’know, the real stars of every episode are the homes themselves–and that’s probably the way it should be on a show called Amazing Interiors.

Most Pilot-y Line: This isn’t really a “pilot-y” line, because all the clunky exposition is covered pretty succinctly in the opening credits (“ordinary on the outside, extraordinary on the inside”). But at one point Cubs superfan Stuart says, “I don’t know about you, but I’m a guy, and I definitely wanted a urinal.” I had to write that down.

Our Call: Netflix is really giving basic cable channels some competition, because Amazing Interiors is solid set it and forget it TV. Stream it.

Where to stream Amazing Interiors