What’s your definition of bling? If you’re having trouble discerning, Todrick Hall and Kim Myles can help you out. The dynamic duo recently teamed up to host one of HGTV’s latest design shows, Battle of the Bling.
The series finds the two gallivanting across the country in search of the most fabulous home they can find. The competition features a stunning roster of homes, each with its own unique history. As they take viewers on a journey through the 15 properties, the co-hosts also get real on their personal requirements for a blinged-out home. For Hall, it’s a safe haven where fellow creatives can recuperate.
“My requirement would be themed rooms. I want every room to feel like an experience and for people to feel like they’re staying in a hotel or a resort. My home is a safe haven for artists and people who are in transitional periods in their life,” shares Hall. “I always have my rooms filled with creative people who’ve found themselves in hard times or are trying to start a new chapter of their life. I want them to feel like they’re escaping the pressures of the world and coming to a place where they can breathe, relax, regroup, feel inspired, and be able to go and heal.”
For Myles, an acclaimed interior designer, she feels that the home should express the homeowner’s personality.
“I feel like the personal requirement for the ultimate “blinged-out” home is making sure that your personality is front and center,” says Myles. “That is really the first requirement because that is the starting point. That’s your mask, and it can spin out in gorgeous ways that are as unique as all of us. It’s about centering your story, roots, passions and interests.”
Kim Myles and Todrick Hall at Treasure Island. Image: courtesy of HGTV.
However, upon further consideration, she refined her own definition of bling, which surprised her.
“I thought I understood what bling meant. Bling is a state of mind. Bling is deciding that you need your world to be a certain way, and you’re just going to make that happen and not care what anyone’s opinion is about your space because it will reflect your joy, life, and vision. That’s what these 15 homeowners do, and they each do it so uniquely,” she adds.
As viewers will note, jaw-dropping moments are abundant from start to finish. A few moments also surprised the hosts, and for Hall, it was the rich history that the homes upheld. This moved the performer and co-host to reflect on generational wealth for communities of color. “What surprised me the most was the legacy of what these things mean. Often they are passed down, or come from someone in their life who’s no longer with them. It was surprising for them to live on and keep that legacy while continuing to grow,” he adds. “So often, as people of color, we don’t have homes passed down to us. We don’t have generational wealth to understand what that was like, so for me, working on Battle of the Bling really helped me understand.”
