20 Most Useful Home Improvement Shows

Most Useful Home Improvement Shows

'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' makes grown men cry while 'Flipping Out' has reality junkies freaking out, but do any home design shows actually help when it comes to your own DIY makeover? We've drilled into the most addictive home improvement shows to nail down the 20 most useful programs.

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17. 'Take Home Handyman' (TLC)

Style: Makeover How-To Factor: 'While You Were Out' hottie carpenter Andrew Dan-Jumbo puts his skills to good use helping out homeowners who want to do it themselves. He demonstrates the basics of using power tools and walks through the aisles of hardware stores with wanna-bes, showing them (and us) exactly what crown molding is.

16. 'Dream House' (HGTV)

Style: Real Estate/Makeover How-To Factor: When it comes to building a house from the ground up, this show does it all. Real people find odd locations and set about coping with contractors and landscapers as well as tough terrains to create an individual home that truly represents their personal style.

15. 'What's With That House?' (HGTV)

Style: Real Estate How-To Factor: If you've ever driven by a really unique looking house and wanted to take a peek inside, this show offers that. Viewers don't get many DIY tips, but the unusual designs serve as inspiration for those living in cookie-cutter dwellings.

14. 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' (ABC)

Style: Makeover How-To Factor: Get your tissues ready when Ty Pennington and company pull up outside the house of a deserving family and send them off while they build them a new house. While many viewers are unlikely to have the funds to create one of these mini-mansions from scratch, it does show what you can accomplish if you dream big.

13. 'Flipping Out' (Bravo)

Style: Makeover/Reality How-To Factor: The drama centers on Jeff Lewis, house flipper extraordinaire, and the his crazy crew of employees. While the characters are the centerpiece of this show, the sometimes soapy series gives a fun perspective on the industry and the tension that flipping a house can cause.

12. 'Toolbelt Diva' (DIY)

Style: Makeover How-To Factor: Norma Vally has girl power galore. There is no project too tough for her to tackle. From rebuilding walkways to installing new shelving to putting in a new floor, the self-proclaimed Toolbelt Diva does it all with a style and helps gets your beginner Do-It-Yourselfer started on a fun project.

11. 'House Hunters' (HGTV)

Style: Real Estate How-To Factor: If your search for the perfect home hasn't yet turned up your dream abode, give the 'House Hunters' team a try. Host Suzanne Whang uses her psychology background to help buyers find what they are really looking for as they scope out three different properties.

10. 'Bought and Sold' (HGTV)

Style: Real Estate How-To Factor: Ever wonder how the real estate gurus can make a dud property sound quaint and cozy? This series gives home owners a chance to peek behind-the-scenes as experts buy and sell residences, exposing the sometimes cutthroat tricks of the trade they need to stay in the business.

9. 'Designed to Sell' (HGTV)

Style: Makeover/Selling How-To Factor: Charming host Clive Pearse (who also helms 'Design Star') works with real-estate experts and designers to give hopeless homes lucrative facelifts. The team is often able to produce miracles for under $2,000, turning dull digs into hot properties.

8. 'FreeStyle' (HGTV)

Style: Makeover How-To Factor: Most shows demonstrate design on a budget, but this one does the seemingly impossible: 'FreeStyle' redecorates a living space for, you guessed it, free. Former 'While You Were Out' host Evan Farmer works with designers to recreate a room using materials already available in the house.

7. 'How Clean Is Your House?' (BBC America)

Style: Organization/Cleaning How-To Factor: Two sassy British hostesses help ordinary homeowners eliminate face their hidden dust bunnies and other unlock the domestic warriors within. The ick factor is high (eww … mites) and rubber gloves are always necessary but the duo explains how to keep messes from becoming massive problems.

6. 'This Old House' (DIY and PBS)

Style: Makeover How-To Factor: Classic looks never truly go out of style, and neither does this long-running series where carpenters give an aging house a much needed face-lift. For DIY wanna-bes who want to add modern conveniences while keeping their Victorian aesthetic, this show is still must-see TV. Where else could you learn to install heating under antique tiles?

5. 'Curb Appeal' (HGTV)

Style: Makeover/Gardening How-To Factor: You can't judge a book by its cover, but you sure can judge a house by it's front yard. Potential home buyers are turned off by overgrown bushes and peeling paint, so 'Curb Appeal' gives straight-forward landscaping advice, inviting even casual viewers to transform their terraces and make their doorways more inviting.

4. 'Design Star' (HGTV)

Style: Competition How-To Factor: Contestants compete for a chance to host their own show on the HGTV network. Challenges force them to stick to a budget and work within groups while still showing off some style. Under pressure, some of the wanna-bes produce truly inspirational design. Following their lead and learning from their missteps is a valuable tool when redoing your own décor.

3. 'Divine Design' (HGTV)

Style: Makeover How-To Factor: Hostess Candice Olson and her team turn drab, underutilized spaces into stylish and swanky hideouts. Olson offers up plenty of tips on how turn even the darkest basement into a bright, relaxing place and she does it all with a good sense of humor and a practical sense of style that’s easy to mirror.

2. 'Flip This House' (A&E)

Style: Makeover/Selling How-To Factor: There's a whole lot of house flipping going on these days, but 'Flip This House' shows that there’s more to turning a profit than simply putting in new appliances and adding a fresh coat of paint. Featured 'House' experts cope with poor inspections, bad contractors and ballooning budgets, exposing the dark underbelly of this booming industry.

1. 'Trading Spaces' (TLC)

Style: Makeover How-To Factor: This clever TLC series reinvigorated the home improvement genre by having neighbors redecorate each other's homes. For every room filled with impractical cardboard furniture there are 10 really practical ideas that anyone can implement. Even a DIY beginner can learn to redo an entire room in a short period of time with limited funds.