It would be pretty hard to not love the host of HGTV and DIY web link’sRehab AddictNicole Curtis.
She’s a gorgeous spitfire who refuses to take no for an answer.
Every house she renovates clearly finds a special place in her heart.
One of herdesign mantrashas always been, “only garbage goes in the dumpster.”
Curtis shared her philosophy with theLa Crosse Tribune.
“I challenge people every day.
I really use all salvage materials,” she explained.
“My goal is to make you think before you act.”
And Curtis doesn’t just salvage everything for her remodeling jobs.
She insists on creating her own home this way too.
“I garbage pick every day.
Any given week I pick up things from the garbage,” shares Curtis.
“Broken furniture is my favorite because most of the time it’s a quick fix.
I staged the entire house off my garbage finds and Craig’s List.”
So where did this love of garbage come from?
It may be in her blood.
“Opportunity comes to those who value what they have.”
First, she went to college in three different states: Georgia, Florida, and Michigan.
And her indecisiveness didn’t stop there.
She also changed her major.
Curtis started out studying law and then later switched to an education major.
Curtis shared withAZ Centralthat she loved teaching.
“I am still a teacher at heart,” she shared.
“My favorite saying is: ‘I love kids; adults, not so much.'”
Maybe that’s why it’s so surprising that Curtis didn’t have much when she started out.
“I said, ‘Well, will you give me the houses?
Even though this offer sounds like a no-brainer for everyone involved, it wasn’t always that easy.
“This is a good idea.
That’s kind of how it got going.”
She had humble beginnings.
“Then I bought the house I currently live in, and picked up two others.”
I said, ‘Oh, that’s horrible.'”
“A small torch in your toolbox goes a long way,” she shares.
“I’ve done so much plumbing in my way, removed flooring and all that.”
Curtis started small and recommended we do the same.
Don’t jump into your first renovation and make a run at do it all.
Start with a few basic tools and go from there.
“With simple things, you’re free to get a lot done.”
Curtis actually created her own line of tools and decor items for beginner rehab addicts.
She toldPopSugarthat she wants to empower everyone to take ownership of their homes.
“So many times, people jump into these huge projects and get overwhelmed.
They quit, and they give up,” she shared.
“I always say celebrate your small successes .
sit back, have a glass of wine, and be like, ‘I did that!'”
In reality, Nicole hustled her way to success.
She worked her way through college as a waitress at a few different restaurants including IHOP and Hooters.
Not only that, but she cleaned houses before her shifts at the restaurant just to make ends meet.
Once her son Ethan was born, Curtis continued cleaning houses to support the two of them.
She actuallyowned her own cleaning businessso she could set her own hours and always be there for her son.
Did she have an inkling that this could become a mega successful career?
She toldAZ Centralthat she did it out of necessity.
“I got interested in rehabbing because I was poor,” she explained.
“They’re all houses that I found.”
Curtis values her relationship with her fans and wants to truly connect with them.
“I handle all of my social media,” she toldPopSugar.
“No one ever believes me when I say that, but I’ve handled it since day one.
It’s always my tone.
It’s me making a post.
I am really guarded about that.
It’s me I’m very open about everything.”
Not only does this practice save money and retain the original charm, it’s also just more realistic.
Original is always best."
Real mistakes happen
Curtis lives by the mantra, “Mistakes are knowledge waiting to happen.”
On every show, she makes sure to stress that beautiful, thoughtful renovations take time.
“I tell it like it is.
I show what really goes on,” Curtis shared withThe Inquisitr.
“You cannot remodel a kitchen in 22 minutes and make it look perfect.
I think that’s why people enjoy it (the show).”
“That’s what’s fun about it,” she says.
“You learn as you go.”
“My dad is a history enthusiast; we were always restoring furniture,” she shared.
I remember screaming, ‘Why isn’t anyone buying this house?’
My family just let it go.
So this whole thing is the result of that post-traumatic stress.
I was heart-broken."
She now uses that passion on every home she transforms.
Fortunately the story of her grandparents’ home doesn’t end there.
Curtis was eventually able topurchase the homeand rehab it herself!
She even dedicated the entireseventh seasonof Rehab Addict to this home.
It was the biggest kitchen rehab she had ever completed.
“After I got past that, I had to explain that it wasn’t ‘Add-ick.’
It was ‘Add-ict.’
It’s come a long way.”
Now that she’s become a household name, Curtis no longer has to explain herself.
“We’re going into our eighth season, so it gets a little easier,” she shared.
“Now, we have such a following.
Somebody said the other day, ‘Nicole, you’ve developed this cult.’
I said, ‘I know I have.'”
No more confusion about what kind of rehab she’s into!
Like it or not, she’s working in a male-dominated field and has experienced some blatant sexism firsthand.
“Some days it might as well be 1925 around here,” she toldMinnesota Monthly.
“There are still men that want to speak with my husband.
There are people who will explain projects word-for-word to me.”
Curtis shared that she even had a hard time with her own family.
Fortunately, he’s come around now.
“Now I go there, and he has a to-do list waiting for me.”
“With my first house, I bought an old house and it needed work.
The show is off my real life,” she shared with theLa Crosse Tribune.
“It’s just kind of what I do.
Nothing I do is separate.
It’s all wrapped into one.
And it’s all self taught.”
So how did Curtis learn how to transform these homes if she had no training?
Simple, she asked!
“That’s how I learned everything,” she shared.
“I brought in a plumber and I asked him, ‘How did you do that?’
Not because I can master it and do it myself, but I’m paying for the knowledge.
I ask questions about everything.
I want to learn about everything I can.”
“LeBron’s been here every day with me,” Curtis shared.
“This is a family affair for him.
His mom’s been out.
His wife’s been out.
The boys have been out.”
“It’s so cool that I can now call him a friend.”
“We’re never going to be able to rebuild them.
And it seems the only thing Curtis loves more than an old home is a challenge.
“My favorite words are ‘Watch me.'”
