In 2016, when somebody said Joanna Gaines, it was like Elvis had just entered the house of interior design. The whirlwind rise (and recent fall) of the modern farmhouse trend has been bittersweet; nowadays, people would rather be caught dead than with the Fixer Upper star’s signature shiplap shelves and neutral gray hues. That said, Jo seemed to be feeling the same sense of egress as her fans: “I found myself in this place late last year (2021). Unbalanced by how much I was pouring out without being poured into in the ways I really needed,” she wrote in a blog post (right around the time trends like maximalism and Coastal Grandmother were taking off). “So I got curious… I considered what I’m already drawn to, what I already know wakes me up and brings me life—nature, the garden, being in my kitchen and the peace that meets me there—and I leaned in. For weeks, I pored over books, threw my hands into the soil, and filled every surface of the house with jars for canning just about anything. My family joked that I’d gone a little extreme, but for the first time in a long time I felt full, truly full. And at the end of those days, I was bursting with so much more to give.”
And as is turns out, Jo’s stint in soul searching has led to an overhaul of the modern farmhouse style that put her on the map. Not only are we seeing moodier, more nature-inspired tones (in lieu of boring neutrals), but the shiplap details are being put to rest for more character-infused moldings and textures that aren’t afraid to make a statement. Below, see a breakdown of new design choices (and must-have products) in her latest Waco, Texas flip.
