The food, design, and lifestyle shows to watch for inspiration while you're at home

Ruth Kinane
·7 min read

We get it, being stuck at home truly sucks (but better safe than sorry). You never thought you could hate your lampshades so much, or talk to inanimate objects so frequently — but there's good news!

There just so happens to be an abundance of television out there that may as well have been created for a quarantine situation just like this. Yup, all those lifestyle and home improvement shows don't only exist to entertain you and make you harbor aspirational desires for your home and life, but in these times of severe boredom, they can also provide real-time tips on how to make over your life — to some degree. While we don't recommend rushing out to a hardware or home goods store (shelter in place, people!), there's still plenty to learn for later and easy actions to take right now. And you know what you probably do have? A kitchen (or a hallway that doubles as a kitchen if you live in New York City), so there's never been a better time to delve into all those home baking and cooking shows either.

Netflix; Chris Haston/NBC; Christopher Smith/Netflix

To help you on your quest to home/self/recipe betterment, we've compiled a list of some of the best shows out there. Consider this your Quaran-stream Guide: Lifestyle Edition.

Home

Master the Mess — YouTube

This Reese Witherspoon-produced YouTube series is exactly what you need around day 21 of your quarantine when the dishes are piling up and your resolve to keep things in check in your home is wearing thin. As Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin (a.k.a. The Home Edit) transform other people's lives with their "unique eye for stylish organization," you can steal tips for your own!

Make My Space Work — YouTube

In a time where most of us are working from home and growing increasingly aggravated using futons as chairs and ironing boards as desks, this YouTube series could not be more helpful! Home decor expert Alexandra Gater is here to offer office makeovers on a budget — and that includes your home office/living room/kitchen/foot of your bed/whatever space you've been forced to use as a workplace. Why not take a makeover tip or two from Gater and find yourself in a more functional and beautiful (read: less soul-destroying) office space. Get ready for your own jaw-dropping final reveal!

Tidying Up With Marie Kondo — Netflix

If you, like me, have been putting off Marie Kondo-ing your life since the series hit Netflix over a year ago, your time has come! Marie Kondo is the queen of decluttering — and doing so with joy. The Japanese organizing consultant and creator of the KonMari method visits families to help them organize and tidy their homes, making them ask themselves "does this spark joy?" before deciding to keep or donate/trash an item. Sounds like the perfect Saturday afternoon quarantine task, right? (Just remember to hold off on taking your items to Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. for now, as most of those places are currently closed/not accepting donations.)

Mission: Organization — HGTV

Order in the home, please! Maybe your significant other has moved in to social distance with you (aww!), but that's resulted in so. much. stuff. everywhere!! Fear not: Host Gail O'Neill is here on a mission to clear out clutter and reorganize everything from your closets to offices and garages. Got some kitchen drawers you've been forcing to close for some time now? O'Neill won't stand for it. There are also experts tips on storage and how to reduce junk collections so you, too, can reclaim your living space!

Design on a Dime — Hulu

Social distancing means we've all being seeing a lot of the inside of ours homes, and sadly, for others, it also means a reduction or complete loss of salary. Let this budget-friendly re-design show guide your own mini-makeover of the spot you're most fed up with staring at. They've got all the innovative solutions to the toughest makeover scenarios!

Consumed — HGTV Canada

If there was ever a time for de-cluttering expert Jill Pollack, it's right now! You know you've been telling yourself since day 1 of quarantine you'd clean out that coat closet but still haven't quite gotten round to it. Well, Jill's here to put that procrastination to an end. While on the show Pollack challenges families who hoard way too much stuff to survive for 30 days with only the bare essentials, there's no need for such extreme measures in this already-restricted moment in time. Still her "which possession do you truly need and which can you donate" test is a great way to get rid of some unneeded crap stuff in your home.

Lifestyle

Queer Eye — Netflix

Why not let the life lessons instilled by Queer Eye's Fab Five infiltrate and improve your quarantine? As well as picking up tips on how to better your style, grooming, home, diet, and improve your general cultural wellbeing, you'll feel uplifted and full of love for you fellow man/woman, so that when the time comes to re-enter society post-quarantine, your appreciation and acceptance for all around you will be at an all-time high.

The Goop Lab With Gwyneth Paltrow — Netflix

File this one in the aspirational folder. Even if you weren't stuck social distancing at home, it's unlikely any of the treatments and workshops encouraged by Gwyneth Paltrow on this lifestyle and wellness documentary series would actually be attainable. But, hey, there may still be a lesson or two you can try at home if your days are really getting too long. If nothing else, the ladies might learn some self-love and acceptance from episode 3.

Making It — Hulu

Feel like a challenge to pass the time? Grab whatever bit and bobs you have lying around and get down to some crafting with the help of this charming NBC competition that showcases some of the best makers out there. You might not totally be able to keep up with these DIY pros, but there's plenty of fun and laughter from host Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman to keep you entertained along the way.

Food

Of course there's an expansive menu of cooking and baking shows out there to help you come up with new recipes while your local restaurants are shuttered, but in addition to all that great content, chefs and celebs alike have been sharing even more culinary tips on social media.

Everyone from Gordon Ramsay to Ina Garten and Giada De Laurentiis are using Instagram to share what they're cooking up, while Iliza Shlesinger and her chef-husband Noah Galuten have also been posting a daily live-streamed show (every day at 8 p.m. ET) called Don't Panic Pantry in which they post a recipe and cook along with you.

Then there's Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski, who has launched a new Instagram TV series, called Quar Eye, where he shares video recipes designed for people in quarantine. Don't miss out on classics like "The Keep Calm-lette" — it's an omelette "made with whatever was left at the grocery store" — or "Squash Your Hands," a P.S.A. and a recipe all in one!

If social media's not your cup of tea, download the Food Network Kitchen App for all kinds of live classes, demos, recipes, etc. — you'll conquer that quarantine kitchen in no time!

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