Trixie Mattel Encourages You to Ruin Your Rental

Charlotte Collins
·7 min read

Photo: HGTV

Trixie Mattel can a handle a home reno in full makeup and heels. But, as the in-demand drag queen informs us, it’s far easier out of fabulous costuming and in some sturdy steel-toe boots. For the unfamiliar, Mattel was first introduced to viewing audiences on VH1 ratings juggernaut RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she sashayed away from season seven only to snatch the crown three years later on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season three. Mattel amassed fans with her biting wit, folk musical prowess, and a trademark dramatic mug—painted, as they say, for the back of the house.

As a performer who makes her living by being a chameleon, she’s made light work of parlaying her drag queen stardom into mainstream success, hosting a talk show on Vice, launching a cosmetics empire, and, now, becoming a TV home renovation personality. Viewers first saw Mattel applying her talents to the overhaul of a Palm Springs boutique lodging in season one of Trixie Motel, which aired on Max in 2022. The next iteration of the franchise sees Mattel bringing audiences back to her place.

Trixie Motel: Drag Me Home (airing now on Max), will take fans through her journey reshaping the LA pad she shares with her partner, David Silver, in her signature pink plastic-fantastic vision. While Mattel’s work in the arena might seem like a major departure for the performer, she explains to AD that drag and home design are not exactly worlds apart. “In drag, we renovate our bodies every single day. I have to look in the mirror and go, How am I going to turn Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins into Barbie?” she explains. “Renovating the motel really planted the seed of like, Wow, it’s putting spaces in drag. It’s the same principles and design concepts.” Having learned a thing or two about moving (too) fast and breaking things, blending her own design style with Silver’s, and managing expectations throughout her home makeover, she sat down with AD for an informative kiki on her renovation do’s and don’ts.

Mattel ended up lacquering or painting a number of her home furnishings to fit her unique style. “Our dining room table's like sea foam green, you can’t just exactly pick that up at West Elm,” she says. “So we did a lot of acquiring, and then tweaking.”
Mattel ended up lacquering or painting a number of her home furnishings to fit her unique style. “Our dining room table's like sea foam green, you can’t just exactly pick that up at West Elm,” she says. “So we did a lot of acquiring, and then tweaking.”
Photo: HGTV

Do: Balance your own design personality with the bones of the structure

I knew I wanted the home’s design style to be “Trixie.” I mean, it’s the house that Trixie literally paid for. I wanted pink, some touches of doll stuff, and some touches of gay stuff, but I didn’t want to take the classic masculine energy away from this beautiful Craftsman-style home. People are obsessed with white walls, white kitchens, white floor, and that’s not me. I like depth, color, pattern, and texture. I like big swings, and I like cohesive color stories too, so the house is almost entirely green and pink because I love that color combination. It has pink walls and gold ceilings and really frilly fixtures, but there’s still a lot of natural wood grain.

Don’t: Be afraid to go all in—regardless of your rental or ownership situation

Looking back on all the apartments of my 20s, I’m like, Why did I never paint? Why did I never try? I think I just felt it was outside my reach. Whether you’re renting, or owning, or living in your mom’s basement, make your space your space and don’t pull punches. Don’t think twice about it. Especially renters. You’re never going to get that security deposit back, ruin your house. Ruin it! I saw an interview with Amy Sedaris where she said, “Your deposit is your creativity fee.” You’re never getting it back anyway, so do whatever you want.

“I think David and I represent that couple who has the toxic trait that they think they can do everything,” Mattel says. “We’re not professional renovators, or house flippers, or designers, so I think the audience will see themselves in us.”
“I think David and I represent that couple who has the toxic trait that they think they can do everything,” Mattel says. “We’re not professional renovators, or house flippers, or designers, so I think the audience will see themselves in us.”
Photo: HGTV
See the video.

Do: Consider all the residents of the space when plotting out the style

I’m the breadwinner, but [I’m] also frugal, which I’m sure is annoying to David because when he shows me a $3,000 coffee table, I’m like, “Are you out of your fucking mind?” I’ve seen him drink coffee, he never sets it down. Why do you need a table?

It’s a balancing act. There are still hardwood floors and lots of neutrals in the space because of my partner; I didn’t want to make it all Trixie. Obviously, I love pink, and David loves green, but he also loves gold and animal print and you see a lot of green, gold, and animal prints through the house. That’s how we balanced out the Trixie-David aesthetic.

Don’t: Design for resale value

My house is some peoples’ nightmare house, but when I walk in every single time I’m like, “God, this is amazing!” And I live there. I feel like there’s an epidemic of decorating for resale value. You don’t buy your clothes for who’s going to wear them after you, so I don’t know why people decorate for who’s living there next. What is that?

“You know that measure twice, cut once thing? I almost never do that. And it does bite you in the ass,” Mattel warns viewers, having demolished fireplace tiles she later regretted touching.
“You know that measure twice, cut once thing? I almost never do that. And it does bite you in the ass,” Mattel warns viewers, having demolished fireplace tiles she later regretted touching.
Photo: HGTV

Do: Your research before you start sledgehammering

Our house came with a Batchelder fireplace, which is this designer tile, and we were told when we bought it, “Don’t touch the tile! This is historic tile.” I’m a drag queen; if you tell me not to do something, I want to do it. And I wasn’t crazy about the tile. So when we started, I was like, “Well, if we’re going to redo this whole dining room, we should redo this tile.” I wanted to do a Coke-bottle jade green. We start swinging sledgehammers. Then we go to Lisa Vanderpump’s house, and she’s was like, “Well, you didn’t touch the tile, did you?” Of course, I trust her with design, so then we had second thoughts. We had to hire a restoration specialist to restore the tile we smashed.

Do: Ask friends for practical advice

When you buy a house or a condo or apartment, it’s good to have your friends come over and see it. We had a room in our house that faces the pool, and I was like, “I want to put a bar in here so when we have parties, we can leave the doors open, like indoor-outdoor bar vibes.” Everyone I told the idea to was like, “That’s great!” The series ends with our friends coming and walking through the house for the first time, and they all loved it. They all picked out the little parts they did. Friends are also good for venting frustrations. “Hey, can I have you on the phone for a second? I think I’m going to kill my husband today.” Stuff like that.

Actor and comedian Nicole Byer, left, hands Trixie a jello cake.
Actor and comedian Nicole Byer, left, hands Trixie a jello cake.
Photo: HGTV

But don’t: Pull in pals to help with the dirty work

My celebrity friends love to show up for a couple hours while the camera’s there and then try to go home. And I was like, “Why don’t you be here for the full three weeks? We’re going to need you and we will not be paying extra.” So unless you’re best friends with Bob Vila, I don’t see why you’d call Beth Ann from the bakery to come down and help you swing a hammer.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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