Former ‘Teen Mom’ star brings HGTV to Sioux Falls for 6-episode renovation series

Chelsea DeBoer’s “South Dakota chic” style is about to get a national audience.

The Vermillion native and former star of MTV’s “Teen Mom 2” series debuts a new series on HGTV next week with her husband, Cole.

“Down Home Fab” features the DeBoers designing and managing renovations for Sioux Falls-area homeowners.

“I like to describe my style as ‘South Dakota chic.’ It’s a little bit rustic mixed with a little bit modern,” Chelsea said. “People have this thought of South Dakota like we’re way behind the times or whatever, and it just isn’t true. I like to show South Dakota is more with the times and what a great area it is.”

Chelsea , then Chelsea Houska, first was featured in reality TV on “16 & Pregnant” when pregnant with her daughter, Aubree, who is now 13. She then appeared on MTV’s “Teen Mom 2” for multiple seasons before leaving the show in 2020.

At the time, “it was a little scary leaving ‘Teen Mom,'” she said. “We didn’t have this set up, like we’re leaving this show to start this show. That was not the case at all. But we were trusting our gut we wanted to be done with that chapter of our life.”

The DeBoers met at a gas station in Sioux Falls in 2014. Cole, who is from Sioux Falls, then also became part of the series. They married in 2016 and have three children together.

At the same time they left the show in 2020, they were building their own home in the Sioux Falls area and shared the journey on social media.

“From there, it just kind of grew, and we really loved the whole journey and the process of building and were like, ‘We should continue doing this,'” Chelsea said. “It was a whirlwind time. I was pregnant, I left ‘Teen Mom,’ we were building our house and it was COVID at the same time.”

Each episode of “Down Home Fab” also includes scenes from the DeBoers’ home and the Sioux Falls area.

“I’m always ready for a new challenge, and we definitely dove in with both feet,” said Cole, who has a background in road construction and grew up doing home projects with his father and grandfather. “It happened extremely fast, just one thing after the other, and now here we are.”

The two brought in Pride Built Homes, a Harrisburg builder who built their house, to assist with the renovations.

Their own home was their first foray into design and remodeling.

“We were both studying and learning as much as we could about everything,” Chelsea said. “HGTV is a huge platform, and if we’re going to do this, we obviously want to do a good job, so anything we could read or learn we were on top of it.”

HGTV producers were surprised by the number of people in the Sioux Falls area who responded to a call to participate in the series, she said.

“For the show, they are very specific about what they are looking for,” she said. “But it’s hard to pick because it’s so cool and we want to document so many different stories. We want different walks of life and different families.”

The first episode, called “Ranch Glam,” airs at 8 p.m. Jan. 16 and features the DeBoers redoing the Canistota home of their former wedding planner.

Other episodes will include homes in the city of Sioux Falls and as far as Dell Rapids, they said.

The second episode, “Cozy Sophisticated,” involves the home of a local real estate agent and will air Jan. 23. Episodes also will stream on Discovery Plus.

While the DeBoers won’t see the show until it’s ready to air, “it’s not as scary as with ‘Teen Mom,'” Chelsea said. “That was unpredictable. This time, it’s like ‘I trust you guys, and it’s great.'”

Outside of the show, the DeBoers are focused on working with investment properties and hope to see the series expand. When they’re not working, you can find the family exploring things to do in Sioux Falls, they said.

“We’re always doing stuff in Sioux Falls,” Chelsea said. “We’re looking for any events on weekends. We’ll take the kids. We want to take them laser tubing at Great Bear soon.”

Sioux Falls is meant to be a character itself in “Down Home Fab,” they added.

“It’s something new for Sioux Falls, for the area, and I’m very excited it’s something we get to do here,” Cole said.