HGTV's New Series "Breaking Bland" Premieres Tonight With Back-to-Back Episodes
Good news, HGTV fans: The network has a new show for you to obsess over. Meet Breaking Bland. Hosted by designer Mary Welch Fox Stasik, the series premieres with back-to-back episodes at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, August 4.
Based in Charleston, South Carolina, the seven-episode series follows Stasik as she helps her clients feel comfortable taking risks and truly own their personal eclectic style. In prep for the season, here’s everything you need to know about the show and Mary Welch.
In the first episode, Stasik will infuse a family home with Charleston spirit.
You can expect to see the designer guide a family through their home makeover that involves everything from adding a colorful kitchen to crafting a kid-friendly bar. Throughout the rest of the season, you’ll see similar personal yet daring transformations—including a historic downtown home turned into a modern seaside oasis and a family home complete with a music room that hosts an actual stage.
Stasik wants her clients to express their individuality and feel comfortable taking risks.
You don’t have to be safe to have a great space. “I want people to express their individuality in their space, whatever that means to them,” the designer tells House Beautiful. “There are so many different ways to do design and make it timeless and beautiful, and it doesn't have to all be the same.”
What does that involve exactly? “Pulling in the kind of textures and patterns that turn you on as a person,” she explains. “I want all of my clients to feel connected to their space by having some things that evoke memories or evoke a specific feeling for them—and that's kind of breaking the bland cycle of falling back on what you're seeing everywhere or falling back on the easy solution because it’s safe.”
Stasik has wanted to be on HGTV since she was 19 years old.
While growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, the designer sat down in her parents’ bedroom and told them she wanted to be on HGTV. They hooked her up with a friend who worked for a production company in the area to get more information on the steps she needed to take to get there. She was told to put her face on camera as much as possible… and then she didn’t! She went to theater school for a bit in New York City, got her interior design degree from Colorado State University, and went after interior design.
A childhood friend recommended Stasik as an HGTV host.
Around four years ago, Stasik received a call from someone at RIVR Media saying her childhood best friend thought she’d make a great host for HGTV. “I thought I was being punked,” she says. At the time, she was in the process of trying to have a second child and didn’t feel ready for a show. So she told them to give her time, and they did! “It was a miracle and the craziest manifestation of all time ever,” she says.
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She worked in the music industry for a bit.
From Denver and New York City to Chicago and Charleston, Stasik has worked in interior design all over. She also briefly worked in the music industry, traveling the world and the United States with her musician husband. “It has provided us the opportunity to meet all kinds of people from all over the place, which has helped me find a deeper understanding when I'm talking to my clients,” she says.
She meditates daily to clear her head.
“I use movement as a way of clearing my head and meditation every day for at least 30 minutes to help push back any self-doubt that I have,” Stasik says. “I run a challenge called 100 days for Positive Change, and it's a way to help build a community of people who can move together and support each other to help achieve their goals for the rest of the day.” The best part? It’s not a monetary challenge. It’s just for support, and she runs it via social media and through Zoom check-ins every four weeks.
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