‘Totally ‘90s House’ Stars Debate the Decade’s Trends and Which of Their Iconic TV Characters Could Renovate a Home (Exclusive)

Get ready for a blast to the past! The decade of pagers, grunge fashion and scrunchies is back in the new HGTV show, Totally ’90s House. The six-episode renovation competition tasks the competitors with modernizing a home stuck 36 years in the past, while also preserving its nostalgic charm to create a ‘90s-inspired dream home. And who better to do it than your favorite ’90s stars?

Hosted by Jaleel White (Family Matters), Totally ’90s House stars Jodie Sweetin (Full House), Melissa Joan Hart (Clarissa Explains it All, Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Matthew Lawrence (Boy Meets World) and Keshia Knight Pulliam (The Cosby Show), Joey Lawrence (Blossom), Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills, 90210) and Beverley Mitchell (7th Heaven).

Divided into two teams, the celebrities have the chance to win bragging rights and $25,000 for their chosen charity.

Woman’s World had the chance to catch up with the stars where they debated some of the craziest ’90s home trends and determined which of their iconic characters could renovate a house.

Woman’s World: What made you want to join Totally ‘90s House? Was it the nostalgia or the home renovation that drew you in? 

Jodie Sweetin: I think it was all of it. Knowing we would be on teams with other ‘90s celebs, there’s so many that we all grew up with and that we’re all friends with, we knew it would be a fun time no matter what. Then getting to do that with home renovation was super exciting and fun.

Keshia Knight Pulliam: The fun of it was doing something different and it being a fun project and the renovation piece of course because it’s a passion of mine. You got to work with great people, a great network and do something you love so it was a win win in every way. 

Matthew Lawrence: I feel the same. It’s always fun to build and especially underneath these conditions where you’re hanging out with great people, you’re working with great people, and you’re having a blast doing it. You can’t beat that.

Woman’s World: Your show’s host, Jaleel White, said that it was like a big high school reunion for everyone to get back together. Is that what it felt like to reunite with all of your fellow ’90s stars?

Melissa Joan Hart: It did a little bit. Getting to work with Matt [Lawrence] and Joey [Lawrence] again, and Keshia, we’d never worked together, so that was fun to be able to work together for the first time after knowing each other for a while. Then running into like Brian [Austin Green] and and Jodie [Sweetin] and Beverley [Mitchell] when we got together. Jaleel and I did a movie together. So it was a little bit like a high school reunion, but maybe more fun and less people. Less pressure than a high school reunion. 

Woman’s World: Which of your iconic ‘90s TV characters do you think could best handle transforming a house frozen in the ‘90s?

Jodie Sweetin: I think Steph [Tanner from Full House] would just back the car through the kitchen and call it a day. You know what I mean? Forget the demo. Just back a car through the kitchen and let’s go. But they told me I couldn’t do that to these people’s houses, so I was unfortunately not allowed to.

Beverley Mitchell: Yeah, we couldn’t handle the structural changes that that would require. I mean, Annie Camden was definitely the fixer of all things, so hopefully at some point Lucy [Camden from 7th Heaven] would have picked up on some of that. 

Melissa Joan Hart: I mean, Sabrina [Spellman from Sabrina the Teenage Witch] could do it magically, so that wouldn’t be any stress off her back. But Clarissa [Darling from Clarissa Explains It All] had a really specific style, so her style today would probably be pretty incredible. So she would probably be my choice. Although Mel [Burke] from Melissa and Joey, she wouldn’t handle it too well. She’d probably be way too stressed.

Joey Lawrence: Joey Russo for sure not. 

Matthew Lawrence: I was about to say we’d be in trouble. 

Joey Lawrence: Thanks, buddy. But actually, maybe Joe Roman from Brotherly Love probably could handle it pretty well. He sort of took the lead on a lot of things like that, and being the spearhead on a lot of situations and complications, so I think he probably would have done a pretty good job. 

Keshia Knight Pulliam: I’m just gonna go with Rudy [Huxtable from The Cosby Show] since the rest of my characters were in the ’80s or they were in the 2000s and beyond. So that was my one in the ’90s, and we’re gonna stick with her.

Woman’s World: You all received a box of ‘90s communication and media devices—video cameras, a boombox, pagers—which item do you wish would actually make a comeback in 2026? 

Jodie Sweetin: What about an answering machine?

Brian Austin Green: I loved having a pager when I was younger. It was unbelievable that that was figured out, and that we were actually able to use some of the equipment. It was amazing.

Jodie Sweetin: I just remember an answering machine was like a surprise when you got home. You saw the little light blinking and you didn’t know who it was. Anybody could have called. It was like an unboxing every time. You were like, “Oh, I wonder who called or what’s going on.”

Beverley Mitchell: I miss the landline. A corded phone. 

Brian Austin Green: The home that we [renovated] had a landline on the wall in the kitchen. We remembered walking around and having the long cord on it so you could get to all the appliances and even get to your private corner and talk. 

Beverley Mitchell: We tested how far that cord could go, and it was pretty remarkable. It could get around that whole room.

Melissa Joan Hart: I’ve been saying the answering machine because I want people to leave a message. I want to get rid of email. I don’t mind text. I can handle text, but I want phone and email to be in one location, and you have to wait until I can get there to respond. You have to understand that there’s going to be a delayed reaction.

Keshia Knight Pulliam: I like things that allow you to be present in the moment, and I feel like now we’re so bombarded and distracted, and living in everyone else’s world that we’re not enjoying our present. I said earlier, I bought my kids a tin can phone, which is this new house phone that has a cord and you call. So I really love that. I love the old school home phone that was in the center of the house, and it was a mystery who was calling. You had to answer it to find out. 

Joey Lawrence: Landline and Walkman for me, for sure. 

Woman’s World: Now, we’re going to do a game of ’90s ‘This or That’: Home Edition and you can choose which you would rather have in your home.

Sponge painting or patterned wallpaper?

Beverley Mitchell: I think that there is a way you could do patterned wallpaper well.

Brian Austin Green: Yeah, I don’t mind wallpaper. Sponge painting—I’m happy to see that one go. But wallpaper, there’s some really good wallpapers out there now.

Jodie Sweetin: Yeah, I’m gonna say wallpaper. I do like the peel and stick wallpaper that you can get now. I have that in my house and it’s fun because it doesn’t have to be permanent. 

I remember my house had wallpaper on the walls, and then you had a border, and then we did the ceiling—it was three different kinds of wallpaper—that was a lot.

Keshia Knight Pulliam: A patterned wallpaper now, but I definitely had sponge painting back in the day.

Melissa Joan Hart: I actually have my wallpaper sitting right here, ready to go up on this wall. 

Matthew Lawrence: Well, then I’m gonna take the sponge [painting]. 

Plush green or mauve carpeting or honey oak wood floors?

Beverley Mitchell: Wood floors.

Jodie Sweetin: Yeah, wood floors. 

Brian Austin Green: Shag carpeting was pretty gorgeous and super comfortable on your feet but I’d stick to hardwood floors.

Joey Lawrence: Oh, that’s a tough one because plush carpeting is yuck and the honey oak is also yuck. So I don’t know.

Matthew Lawrence: I have to go oak. You can’t do shag carpet. I mean, oh my god, no,

Keshia Knight Pulliam: Honey oak. Yeah,

Joey Lawrence: I’ll probably go honey oak in hopes that I can change the color. Big area rugs are kind of cool, but wall to wall carpet is just brutal, man. Not to mention it’s allergens, it’s dust mites. In its original state. It’s insane to put carpet in a house—especially in a bathroom. They used to put it up to the tub and the toilet. We had it, Matt. They were in every bathroom.

I used to hear my dad go nuts because when we had bath time, if the water splashed any of it, he’d be like, ‘Oh my God, I gotta rip this up.’ He would have to rip it up and let it dry so it didn’t get moldy. He did that several times a year. I mean, what a nightmare! And nobody ever thought, ‘Let’s just rip it out and not have carpet in the bathroom. 

Heavy drapery or plush, floral-printed couches?

Jodie Sweetin: I’m going couch. 

Beverley Mitchell: No way. No big pattern. No.

Beverley Mitchell: Can I say no to both? We don’t need that.

Brian Austin Green: Leave it to Bev to hear the assignment and go, ‘Nah, no, I don’t like that.’

Jodie Sweetin: I’m going big, patterned couch because you can build the room around that and let that be your fun, weird focal piece, you know what I mean? I feel like the draperies are just gonna cut your light.

Beverley Mitchell: Okay, if I have to pick one, I’ll go with Jodie.

Brian Austin Green: I’m just gonna follow everybody else’s lead, and I’m gonna say couch. Or I’m gonna say neither one, like Beverley did.

Keshia Knight Pulliam: Patterned couches are making a comeback right now.

Joey Lawrence: If I had to get rid of one, the drapes are definitely gone. I hate drapes.

Matthew Lawrence: Yeah, me too. 

Melissa Joan Hart: I don’t mind nice drapes. It’s just got to be the right pattern. But the couches that had the silky fabric and the skirt around the bottom…I’m gonna keep the drapes.