HGTV's Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge's Tiffany Brooks Can't Get Enough Barbie - Exclusive Interview
Interior designer turned HGTV star Tiffany Brooks is known for her chic style and love of color — much like another familiar face. Barbie, known for her iconic use of pink and fun, trendy style, is similar to Brooks in a lot of ways, which is why it's not surprising that she considers herself a Barbie expert and fanatic. Brooks' Barbie expertise and award winning eye for style is precisely what makes her the perfect candidate for her newest gig as a judge on HGTV's "Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge."
Barbie culture has taken the world by storm recently with the release of the new "Barbie" movie, sparking a resurgence of interest in the timeless icon. While her ultra trendy wardrobe and her position as a do-it-all career woman have inspired fans for decades, Barbie's Dreamhouse has inspired a whole new era of interior design.
In an exclusive interview with House Digest, Tiffany Brooks talks HGTV's boldest design show yet and reveals why she and the rest of the world are obsessed with all things Barbie.
A real life Barbie Dreamhouse
"Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge" is unlike any other design show on HGTV. Can you explain a little bit of the premise and what viewers can expect to see?
"Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge" is comprised of eight different all-star design teams all across the network. They have been tasked to turn this typical southern California home into a Barbie dream home. Each week, you're going to see two competing teams. You're going to see the living area versus the kitchen and den, the backyard versus the front yard, the closet versus the office, and the bedroom versus the Ken's den.
It's a great show, and the teams are being led and inspired by their fans. Each team has been assigned an ultimate Barbie fan to help take them through this process. Another layer of this is that the whole house is spread into decades. Each team was inspired by a different decade of Barbie, starting all the way back from Barbie's original roots in the '60s.
Without giving too much away, is there anything in particular that you are looking forward to seeing or having viewers see?
I love how all of our talent was able to ingeniously put their imaginations to work by bringing so many toy factors into the house. It was really being in a Barbie dream house with all the buttons, and the different sites, and the different sounds, and the different things that the houses do throughout the years. All of that is infused in each room in all of these spaces. That was a really cool thing to see.
As one of the judges of the competition, what types of things did you take into consideration when declaring a room of the Dreamhouse as a winning design?
We took a couple things into consideration. We first saw how they were able to make use of their given decade, like how some of the spaces made use of the decade of the '90s. Another one came back from the '70s, so we were judging by that. I just mentioned the toy feature. We called those "toyatics" when we were judging — the toyatics of the space, and how they nailed a Barbie style.
I love me some Barbie houses, everything about Barbie and its architecture. I am all about it. I was looking for the nods, not only from the decades, but for the houses that were popular in those given timeframes themselves. You may see a trellis or a window box that was perfectly placed. I was like, "Oh yeah, I know what house you took that from." I was looking for those little design chunks, too.
Why Brooks is so inspired by Barbie
You are a self proclaimed Barbie fanatic. What is it about Barbie that resonates with you, particularly as a designer?
Barbie resonates with me personally. It's something that my dad would, every other Friday when he would get his paycheck, he would buy me a Barbie doll. That is something that has always stuck with me. When my father passed away, that's when I picked up collecting Barbie dolls again as an adult, and I'm a 40-something-year-old adult. I picked up collecting them again, to reminisce. Then, it turned into this phenomenon of architecture. I look back and see Barbie as a piece of nostalgia, so I definitely resonate with it. It's something about Barbie, the glamor, the modern woman. We can literally, as women, do anything, and Barbie embodies all of that.
How would you describe your personal design aesthetic and how does it compare to that of Barbie?
One of the things I am known for is my use of color. Barbie and all of her play sets, they always had a very strong, playful use of color, but it still remained stylish even though it was part of a play set. That's one of the things I truly resonate with. I can definitely spotlight an orange and a teal, and add a blast of pink, but I'll do so in a tasteful way. I'll do so with a warm white wall with tons of trim work and molding on it, but we're going to go crazy with the teal sofa and pink ribbon pillows. That's how I'll bring in that punch, and I do that with my clients, as well as with my Barbie play sets.
What design features would most definitely be included in "Tiffany's dreamhouse?"
Oh my gosh. The good thing is that I am in the process of designing my own dreamhouse. I have a lot of connections to technology in the home. I am the host of HGTV's "Smart Home" as well, so the tech would definitely be infused in such a pretty way, just as Barbie does in her dream houses. You press a button and you have a mirror that's also a television. Something like that, I would definitely have in my own dream home, or you have a dog wash station outside, or that also is maybe a cute little shower after you come from the beach. Dual purpose things like that are what I would infuse in my home, [and] you would also see in Barbie's Dreamhouse.
Catch new episodes of "Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge" every Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET on HGTV.
This interview has been edited for clarity.