HGTV Star Jenny Marrs Has Totally Transformed Over The Years

Avid HGTV fans will recognize Jenny Marrs as one of the hosts the fan-favorite show "Fixer to Fabulous," where the Florida-native serves as an interior designer while her husband Dave is a licensed contractor. Together, the duo works to restore client homes in Northwest Arkansas, prioritizing the wants and needs of families and having a specific interest in historical properties. They've made appearances on shows like "Rock The Block" and "Home Town Takeover," while also hosting the limited spinoff "Fixer to Fabulous: Welcome Inn" in 2022.

HGTV provides a window into Jenny's family-centered farmlife, as her five children make frequent appearances in front of the camera, but her head-turning transformation started way before her television debut in 2019. From her Florida roots to her unexpected entry into design, the TV personality has had a winding road to success, being transparent about her hardships and quick to spread positivity along the way.

While "Fixer to Fabulous" sees the Marrs family with firm Arkansas roots, Jenny Marrs actually hails from Florida and comes from a family of six. The TV personality shared a glimpse into her childhood in October 2025, sharing snapshots of a fun-filled family vacation. "Growing up in Central Florida, my whole family would spend weekends together at the beach fairly often," she wrote on Instagram. "I remember walking over to 7-Eleven with my older cousins to buy ring pops and slushees every afternoon while our parents sunbathed."

Marrs also points to Beech Mountain, North Carolina as an important place of her childhood, reminiscing about family vacations when sharing resources for Hurricane Helene disaster relief. "Twice every year, my family of six would pile into our station wagon and drive the [12] hours to a magical cabin in the mountains my grandparents owned for over [20] years," the TV personality wrote on Substack, including snapshots of skiing and scenic sightseeing.

Though it may come as a surprise to HGTV fans, Marrs doesn't actually have a formal background in interior design, with the TV personality pursuing a different career path with her college major. "I studied advertising and [public relations] in college, and I've done marketing and sales," she told About You. "I've been creative all my life." Following graduation, the Marrs worked for Rubbermaid, where she crossed paths with her future husband.

HGTV power couple Jenny and Dave Marrs first met in the early 2000s as employees at Rubbermaid. "We met at our new hire training and just built this friendship that eventually developed into more," the interior designer told the "Jesus Calling" podcast. Though they were initially stationed in different states, their budding romantic relationship marks a major component of the Florida native's transformation.

By 2003, Dave was ready to retire from corporate life and pursue a career in building, a trade his father had been in throughout the HGTV star's life. The couple moved to Northwest Arkansas, where much of Dave's family had already relocated, for the new venture. "We were just going to be here for a couple of years and go back to Florida," Jenny told About You. "I think, like a lot of people do here, we came for a stint and realized how great a place it is. This is home."

The renovating duo went on to exchange vows in April 2005, with Jenny sharing details of the special day with HGTV. The milestone event took place at Mission Inn in Howey-in-the-Hills with 250 guests in attendance, which included eight bridesmaids for the interior designer. "We danced late into the night, surrounded by our family and lifelong friends as we celebrated the absolute wonderment of finding one another," she wrote on Substack. While Christina Haack has shown us red flags to avoid, the Marrs are definitely relationship goals.

Jenny Marrs ranks among the celebrities who have shared the realities of their fertility journey, opening up about how she and her husband Dave initially struggled to start a family together. "We decided to make one last ditch effort with fertility treatments and finally became pregnant with twin boys in the fall of 2009," she told Kelly's Korner in 2016. "They were born prematurely and spent a month in the NICU but are now perfectly healthy and strong."

While the couple unsuccessfully pursued adoption before welcoming their sons, they resumed their efforts in the following years, with Jenny writing on her blog about how her faith prompted the major decision. "We are called to care for the orphans of this world," she said. "We are simply called to love. To love God and to love others." The HGTV duo adopted a daughter named Sylvie from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a projected six-month process that actually spanned three years and was documented on Jenny's blog.

During Sylvie's long-awaited arrival to the U.S., Jenny became unexpectedly pregnant with a daughter named Charlotte. "Charlotte was born in May of 2014 and on July 7, 2014, we received the most incredible and long-awaited email from the [U.S.] Embassy in Kinshasa," Jenny shared with Kelly's Korner. "Our daughter was being released to come home. In a complete whirlwind, she arrived home two days later!" The Marrs family grew even larger when the couple welcomed Luke in June 2019, just months before "Fixer to Fabulous" debuted on HGTV.

After making the move to Arkansas, Jenny Marrs didn't immediately dive head first into the interior design sphere. "Dave started this building business when we moved here, and I started helping him along the way," she told About You. "I was also working in the vendor world. We were broke, and I had a real job." It wasn't until 2012, eight years later, that Jenny left her full-time job, writing in a now-deleted blog post about her decision to become a stay-at-home mom. "I know I may question this in some moments," she wrote in November 2012. "But I also know that I will cherish these precious days with my boys."

The major change coincided with a huge project, as Jenny similarly chronicled the couple's efforts to move and restore an over-100 year old farmhouse. Initially located off the Bentonville town square, the historic home was saved from demolition when the couple agreed to move it outside of city limits. "We took the second story off, split the house into three sections and caravanned it," Dave explored to About You. The couple decided the restored farmhouse would be their full-time family residence while continuing to work with historic homes in the area.

Regardless of when Jenny began officially identifying as an interior designer, her catalogued experiences making the farmhouse a home, alongside the couple's continued work with vintage properties, likely influenced her design ethos. "A house is simply four walls and a roof. Yet a home is much more," reads her website. "My job is to create a home."

Jenny and Dave Marrs were contacted by HGTV in 2016, with Betsy Ayala, SVP of Programming and Development, opening up about the couple's initial draw. "Jenny and Dave are incredibly talented home renovators who care deeply about their clients," she told About You in 2019. "They also live an incredible and aspirational life raising their kids and living on their beautiful farm." Still, the duo was hesitant to commit to a show, uncertain how their small-town community would be portrayed or how it would impact their young family.

"Was it wise to open our family up to the inevitable criticism and loss of privacy that must come with a television show?" Jenny recalled on Instagram. Eventually, they decided that it could be a great opportunity to highlight their faith and philanthropy, so they took a cautious, but big leap. "It was a long process of back and forth, talking, developing what the show would look like and what it would be," the TV personality shared with About You in 2018. "We filmed a sizzle reel that they presented to the network."

Despite their pitch being one of almost 100, the renovating duo was selected for a pilot that eventually turned into "Fixer to Fabulous." As fans will know, the series has seen immense success, with the Marrs family pointing to their faith. "We would never have done it had we not felt like God could use it, and he was leading us here," Jenny told People.

Since finding success on HGTV, Jenny Marrs has expanded her career into other avenues, becoming a published author in 2023. "House + Love = Home" combined the star's long-running interest in writing, as demonstrated by her blog and Substack, and her interior design speciality, featuring exclusive photos and design tips. "I didn't want to write a standard how-to guide for decorating or renovating your home," Jenny wrote on Instagram. "Instead, I wanted to write a book to encourage you to be creative with your home."

While the 2020s have already seen some must-read celebrity memoirs, Marrs went on to publish her own entry into the genre in 2025. "Trust God, Love People: Stories of My Openhanded Faith" hit shelves in October, including behind-the-scenes details about the Marrs family, their adoption journey, and their road to HGTV. "I open wide the doors to my life and my family's home to share stories of how little steps of faith have added up to an unexpected and abundant life," explains the couple's website.

Back in 2023, Jenny opened up about what this accomplishment meant for her, reminiscing about receiving an "I'm An Author" button from a young author's conference as a kid. "After receiving the button, I declared: this is what I want to do with my life. I want to be an author," she wrote. While life may not have gone exactly as the HGTV star expected, she's certainly had an amazing transformation.