Joanna Gaines Lays Bare Renovation Nightmare as Work on Waco Farmhouse Kitchen Heats Up

Home renovation guru Joanna Gaines is renowned for her elegant house-flipping skills—but when it comes to working on her own home, the HGTV star has admitted that things can get a little bit more chaotic than the picture-perfect version of events viewers see on TV.

Gaines, 48, and her husband, Chip, 51, are currently carrying out a major overhaul of the kitchen at their longtime Texas farmhouse, a project that has become decidedly more complicated by their refusal to temporarily leave the dwelling while construction is carried out.

The mother of five opened up about the mayhem that has erupted in their Waco, TX, abode as a result of the kitchen renovation, which is being done at around the same time that their younger kids are due to finish school for the year.

As a result, Gaines said she is being "stubborn" about remaining in the house as work is carried out, insisting that she wants her kids to maintain some stability during this time in their lives.

In a video posted to her Instagram account, Gaines opened up about the mammoth project, revealing a glimpse inside the havoc it has caused, while explaining that she is struggling to figure out how to balance the work with her parenting obligations.

“I'm trying to do this renovation in pieces. I am stubborn in that I refuse to move out. The kids have two weeks left of school," she explained.

“This is going to be a fun two weeks of trying to figure out how to end the school year well, but also work through mothers' emotional challenges through renovation."

The reality TV icon and her husband share five kids: son Drew, 21, and daughter Ella, 19, who are away at college, plus sons Drake, 17, and Crew, 7, and daughter Emmie, 16, who are all still in school.

The upcoming end-of-year milestone hasn't stopped the Gaines family from making some significant progress on the renovation, which Gaines proudly showed off in her clip.

“The guys moved this wall over. This beautiful hutch came in last week. We already painted behind it. This weekend we'll paint the rest of the shiplap just a creamier white," she said, pointing to the large furniture piece.

“But it is kind of funny that this is my normal," she added, before gesturing to the kitchen cabinets and adding, “and then that's a bit undone.” 

She then revealed a large window that was added to the room.

“This gorgeous old warehouse window went in, and then today, all of this goes away,” she said.

In the caption of her post, Gaines revealed that her home was going through its first makeover in over 15 years.

“Living through the farm renovation is building character, but getting a front-row seat to it all coming together is my favorite part. After almost 15 years, my kitchen is getting a whole new look," she penned.

Just last week, Gaines showed off the work that has thus far been done in her kitchen while eating her breakfast.

The star could be seen munching on a breakfast burrito in the clip, which then panned over to her kitchen, which was filled with construction workers who have already made extensive progress on gutting the space and removing the existing cabinets and fixtures.

"Breakfast with a side of sawdust. #FarmReno," she captioned the clip.

However, it appears that the Gaines family have a ways to go before they will be able to use their kitchen once again, with the space currently left almost entirely bare of all appliances.

The home pro's fans flocked to the comments section to express their excitement about the space, begging Gaines to continue to provide updates.

"I can't imagine redoing your kitchen when it was already so beautiful!" one person said.

Another social media user added, "Love this! Can't wait to see the finished product!!!!"

Gaines has previously opened up about her farmhouse updates, revealing that she was also going to be transforming her son's nursery into a walk-in pantry and expansive baking room.

The design expert frequently shows off her farmhouse, which she has previously branded her forever home, on her social media, showcasing the expansive amount of lush greenery.

Set on 40 acres, the dwelling has already undergone extensive updates conceived by the talented home design duo.

Gaines previously opened up about life inside her Waco farmhouse during an appearance on the "Today" show, sharing a glimpse inside some of the tips and tricks that viewers will find on her new show, "Magnolia Table: At the Farm," which she hosts with Chip.

The on-air renovations expert, who hosts the show inside her own dwelling, explained that one of the "weird" ways she tries to make the abode more appealing to visitors is keeping an array of treats on offer in her kitchen at all times—a tradition she said was started by a wedding gift she and Chip received in 2003.

"There’s a cake plate stand on the island that since I first got married—it was like the first year, I got it for a wedding gift, and it was empty," she explained. "We had so many friends and family coming in, and I was like, ‘I need to start having something in there,’ so it was kind of a weird rule I made."

To this day, Gaines said, she continues to keep the cake stand fully stocked with baked goods to offer guests—or her children—whenever they want a sweet treat.

"The rule is just kind of always have something on the cake plate stand for the family or for guests," she said.

However, she conceded that, after her two eldest kids moved out of the family's abode to attend college, she ends up being the person who partakes most often.

"It’s really me now just eating the stuff, so that’s fun. It’s now for me," she joked.

"Magnolia Table: At the Farm" marks a new chapter for the Gaines family, who had previously used a separate kitchen to film different installments of the series in a bid to preserve their own home as a safe haven.