HGTV hosts Chelsea and Cole DeBoer think 'sterile, modern' homes aren't practical for families

• Former "Teen Mom 2" stars Chelsea and Cole DeBoer have a new show on HGTV, "Down Home Fab."
• Insider spoke to the pair about how to make homes pretty but functional for families.

It's no secret that having children changes everything about your life, including your home.

Not only will you probably need more space, but the way you use the space you do have will change — particularly as your children start accumulating toys.

And if you're drawn to a minimalist, all-white aesthetic, it can feel intimidating to figure out how to make your home work for your whole family.

Insider spoke to Chelsea DeBoer (née Houska) and Cole DeBoer ahead of the premiere of their HGTV series, "Down Home Fab," about how to balance family function and design preferences when decorating a home.

The series spotlights Chelsea and Cole renovating houses in their home city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

"It's hard because I love the way a super clean, modern home looks, but it's not practical," Chelsea said. "At least for our family where we have four little kids and animals."

When your space is actually lived in, it's likely it will get dirty easily or end up not looking how you imagined it to be when you designed it.

"I think that almost sterile, modern look isn't very practical," she added. "Is it aesthetically pleasing? Yes. Could we have that in our home? No."

"You have to understand and accept your kids live here too, so you have to make it work for them," Cole said.

But the DeBoers also told Insider that while an all-white space might not work when kids are in the picture, you don't have to completely give up your decor preferences because of them.

For instance, Chelsea and Cole recommend prioritizing storage when you have children, but that storage doesn't have to be out of place in your home.

"There are toys everywhere, but we try to keep cute, big baskets that they can put their toys in that still look really nice out and about," Chelsea gave as an example. "I don't need to have hot-pink toy bins all over the place."

In addition, as they documented in the premiere of "Down Home Fab," Cole built a custom playhouse for their kids in their playroom, complete with a slide. But rather than making it a bold color, the DeBoers instead chose to make the play home look like a miniature version of their black house — which their kids loved.

"Some people get caught up in feeling like they have to do these bright colors, but kids don't give a crap," Chelsea said. "They're gonna play in it either way, so I might as well like to look at it."

Viewers might be familiar with the DeBoers from their tenure on "Teen Mom 2." Chelsea appeared on the MTV reality series for over a decade. She first appeared on the show's sister series, "16 and Pregnant," when she gave birth to her daughter Aubree in 2009, as People reported.

Cole began appearing on the series in 2014 when he and Chelsea started dating, and they tied the knot in 2016, according to US Weekly. They have three children together: Watson, 5; Layne, 4; and Walker, 1.

Chelsea and Cole told Insider they fell in love with home renovating as they built their own house in Sioux Falls.

"We had a blast throughout the whole entire process," Cole said. "Everyone warned us beforehand, 'Hopefully you guys have a strong marriage, because building a house can be very stressful.' We found it the complete opposite."

"So then we're like, 'How can we continue doing this?'" Chelsea said, which led them to "Down Home Fab." "We felt like this was the perfect opportunity to work with other people and help them."

"We enjoy the process so much, so we want to make it an enjoyable process for other people," she added.

"Down Home Fab" premiered on HGTV and Discovery+ on Monday.