HGTV star Karen Laine is laying down the hammer off-screen and looking to step back from the company she built from the ground up with her daughter, Mina Starsiak almost a decade ago that kickstarted their home renovation series, Good Bones. Laine revealed the news in a blog entry shared to the Indianapolis-based company’s official website on Sept. 30, candidly admitting that while it’s not easy to leave, she has faith in how far the team will go without her.
“Although it is hard to leave this wonderful group of people, it is exactly how wonderful and capable they are that makes me comfortable leaving,” Laine wrote. “I have complete confidence that the company Mina and I founded, based on the novel idea of improving neighborhoods by rehabilitating the worst houses in a neighborhood, one house at a time, has a bright future! I won’t be far, and will likely just be puttering in the yard!”
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The announcement was also shared to the company’s official Instagram, which initially broke the news to fans with a heartfelt message, reiterating that while she would be retired, Laine will still be working on the HGTV series, lending her creative charms to the filmed renovations.
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“After a long career of practicing law and revitalizing homes and neighborhoods, Karen is retiring from Two Chicks and a Hammer,” the company wrote on Instagram. “She will still be part of the HGTV show Good Bones! Karen is excited to spend her time doing all the things she loves like spending more time with Roger, sailing, hanging with her chickens, and working on DIY’s for Good Bones!”
Starsiak also took to Instagram to share a message dedicated to her mother, asserting to fans that she would still very much be a part of the HGTV show.
“More than 10 years later and here we are! I can’t say thanks to mom enough for her help in creating Two Chicks and a Hammer. I can say, without a doubt, it wouldn’t have been possible without her and not nearly as fun,” Starsiak wrote alongside a snapshot of the two relaxing on lawn chairs. “Although she is taking a step back from the day to day operations, a piece of her will always live on with this company as we carry on with our mission of “revitalizing Indianapolis one property at a time” [mamma chick] (She will still be part of Good Bones).”
With the mother-daughter duo buying crumbling properties in the quirky Fountain Square and Broad Ripple neighborhood, and then gutting them down to the studs for beautiful, functional homes, the pair have had their fair share of challenges along the way. But as Starsiak recently shared with PopCulture.com exclusively ahead of the Season 5 premiere, things have taken a wild turn and are creating drama for the team.
“So, something has happened already — only a few months in — we thought we would never be surprised by anything, because all the terrible things have happened [but] a new terrible thing happened,” Starsiak told PopCulture.com. “And I can’t tell because it’ll ruin it, but it’s just completely shocking and ridiculous, and has put us in quite a pickle as far as budget and timing for one of our houses.”
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The show, which features the real estate agent, Starsiak and her former lawyer mother, Laine, premiered in 2016 and has since gone on to great success for the network. The two most recently appeared in A Very Brady Renovation, helping renovate the famed Brady Bunch home with their fellow network co-stars, while daughter Starsiak will next be seen in Rock the Block, premiering Oct. 21.
Ahead of the series premiere, Starsiak shared with PopCulture.com exclusively about what fans can expect from the new show as she renovates alongside, Jasmine Roth of Hidden Potential; Leanne Ford of Restored by the Fords; and, Alison Victoria of Windy City Rehab.
“All of us had the most fun, but it was some of the hardest work we’ve done,” Starsiak told PopCulture.com, adding how the days were incredibly long and lasted 16 hours at a time in 105-degree heat. “We were in the desert in Northern California, so, it was intense, but it was incredibly fun, super rewarding.”
HGTV recently ordered another 13 episodes of its hit home-reno series, Good Bones for a fifth season, set to premiere next summer.
Good Bones airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV.
Photo credit: Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images
