HGTV has been a favorite among viewers for years, but one of the shows that have struck a chord with viewers is its mother-daughter renovation series, Good Bones! With the Indianapolis-based series delivering its highest-rated season yet this past year, Good Bones has become a solid and steady favorite among fans of the lifestyle and home network. Starring Karen Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk as they renovate homes in central Indiana, the home renovation series has gone on to great success for the pair with more coming soon!
Following its fifth season ranking as a Top 5 cable program among the 25 to 54 group, the show has so much to love with its humble and personable stars at the forefront of gorgeous home renovations. With the pair about to end their fifth season and now shooting for Season 6, the network shares that the ladies rehabbed their first home in 2007, forming home renovation business Two Chicks & a Hammer, which has since opened its own store in Indy called, District Co.
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By the time the two had started filming the pilot for their show in 2016, they had renovated around 20 homes in Fountain Square, a suburb of downtown Indianapolis. Their experience is clearly visible on the show, with the pair’s design skills and their family connection combining to create a new hit for the network. Read on for eight things you may not have known about the dynamic duo!
They come from a BIG family
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The women explained their complicated family tree in this behind-the-scenes video, but the basic breakdown is as follows: Starsiak Hawk’s dad, Casey, and Laine had three children together before divorcing. Laine then married Randy, and the two had daughter Kelsy. Meanwhile, Casey married a woman named Cheryl and the couple welcomed two children, Jess and Tad.
Cheryl passed away and Tad had a falling-out with Casey, and Tad now works on Starsiak and Laine’s job sites. Before Casey, Cheryl was married to a man named Lenny, and the two divorced before she married Casey. Casey and Cheryl divorced, and Cheryl remarried Lenny before her death. After she passed away, Lenny married a woman named Ginger and he now works as Good Bones’ general contractor.
The pair are next-door neighbors
Along with being mother and daughter, the pair also live next to each other, Starsiak Hawk told the Indy Star. “We live next door to each other,” she said. “We’re mom and daughter and friends, as well.”
The pair live in a neighborhood that they do a lot of renovations in. “It’s where we currently live, and the neighborhood is our home. I really can’t imagine living anywhere else,” Starsiak Hawk said.
They have the best bond!
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Their tight bond also enables them to withstand any conflicts that come with filming the show. “That’s the value of being mother and daughter — she’s not going to lose me,” Laine said. “I’m always going to love her and think she’s awesome and have her back. I know that’s our default position. It’s not like two business partners who can just go their separate ways.”
In an interview with Laine this past summer, the Good Bones matriarch goes on to claim amid fan criticism that her designer daughter is anything but “rude” as many fans believe she gives her “attitude” during renovations. As Laine addresses the criticism in an exclusive with PopCulture.com, she laughs off the alleged “sass” some viewers assume exists.
“First of all, I think it’s sweet that people want to be protective of me. I think it comes from a place of kindness. That’s how I’m going to look at it, whether it’s true or not, that’s my position,” Laine told PopCulture. “[But] they should know from seeing me on the show that I can handle it, and when my kids sassed me, I never, ever got mad at that — that’s a sign of their intelligence. They’re using their brain to figure out, ‘Oh, what should I be saying here?’ Not hitting me or throwing something, they’re using their minds and their voices.”
They thought their HGTV call was a joke
While Laine had always thought the duo would make for great television — Starsiak Hawk told PopSugar her mom had written a letter to the network years before — the ladies initially thought the network’s interest was a joke. “She kept calling my cellphone, and I thought it was someone messing with me first and trying to get our business information,” Starsiak Hawk said. “But then I heard it was [a casting agent] . . . and we started a conversation about whether it was something we’d be interested in. We were like, ‘Sound’s like a party. Let’s do it!’ “
Once they got the green light for a test episode, the women filmed it with a flip-cam and the rest was history. “They edited it beautifully and put it to music and sent it to HGTV,” Starsiak Hawk explained.
They’re lifting the community
The ladies are focused on improving their neighborhood and helping it reach its full potential. By renovating abandoned homes that others may not have given a second chance, Laine and Starsiak Hawk are helping to breathe new life into their community. The duo also makes sure to respect the homes architectural history, preserving the properties’ integrity and retaining their character.
“We don’t flip houses — that’s not what we do,” Laine told the Indy Star. “We truly are rehabbing neighborhoods. If we were flipping, we wouldn’t strip down to studs, install new electrical, new HVAC, new plumbing or whatever else needs to be done. This is rehab. These houses need a good 12-step program.”
They’re self taught
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Starsiak Hawk and Laine learned everything they know about renovation on their own, reading, watching YouTube videos and reading directions. “That’s key — it’s amazing what you can learn when you read the directions,” Laine told the Indy Star. “It’s the 21st century, all of the information is out there, the question is do you have the skill sets and are you willing to take the time to put the effort in? We prove ourselves by passing city inspections, having our houses up to code. Those are our bona fides if you will.”
Prior to starting Two Chicks & a Hammer, Laine was an attorney, PEOPLE shares, but closed her practice to focus on the renovation business. Since last September, Laine has now retired from the business — not to be confused with the show, telling PopCulture.com it’s all “really simple.”
“I retired from the company, Two Chicks & a Hammer because there comes a certain time where you need to let the next generation run things,” Laine told PopCulture, confirming she is still on the HGTV show with her daughter. “A crucial thing for a founder to know is when is it time to step back and let the kids do what the kids are going to do. It’s part of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. You get to a point, and one of the things you’re supposed to be doing is generativity, which is, you’ve created something, and now you can move on.”
Their style is vintage contemporary
The two work hard to maintain a home’s original charm while updating it for modern times. Many looks include the pair opening up spaces for practical, pragmatic touches with Laine saying it’s all about utilizing a functional approach. “When you go inside, we have very clean lines, we use all modern materials,” Laine said, according to Pop Sugar, further sharing how the look is most times cozy and intimate. “Feeling homey to me feels vintage. No laced doilies on the arms of the couches, though — none of that.”
They have their own store, District Co.
With the show now in its fifth season at the network, Starsiak Hawk worked to expand outside the series with her younger sister, Kelsy Gray and their Two Chicks & a Hammer team for their very own retail space, combining a store with a quaint bistro in the Bates-Hendricks neighborhood called Two Chicks District Co.
Gray, who is also the company’s Chief Business Officer and lead on the project, helped spotlight the city in a positively vibrant way with its 1,224-square-foot retail shop, dominating nearly half the space with home décor items featured on the current season of Good Bones and a snazzy 600-square-foot upfront bistro.
In an exclusive with PopCulture.com about the store, Starsiak-Hawk and Gray got candid about their stellar new endeavor, which offers a wide selection of items like kitchenware, pillows, bedding and frames. Items will also notably change twice a year to stay current with the beloved television series.
“We are so excited because we’ve been wanting to do this for about four years,” Starsiak Hawk said. “We want it to be where you can come in, and anyone can leave with something. We’ve got furniture, side tables, occasional chairs, rugs, toiletries, and bedding, but also really cool, candlesticks and vases, jewelry, and funny socks.”
The 35-year-old further adds how perfect it is that everything came together and admits she is incredibly proud of the “growth of the company” blossoming since the show’s inception more than four years ago. “It’s just been really cool to see what the company has turned into,” she said.
Karen’s own store, ‘Karen’s Corner’
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Laine is keeping her Instagram followers up to date on her latest project: “Karen’s Corner.” The acclaimed designer purchased a new space in Indianapolis as a “combination storage, workshop and retail” location for her home improvement projects. Fans are still marveling at Laine’s work capacity, even through retirement.
On Oct. 1, Laine announced that she and her husband, Roger had purchased a building in the South Village section of Indianapolis known as “Monuments by Wearly.” The old business had been open since 1899, so it is a perfect fit for Laine’s rustic, reclaimed aesthetic.
