Christina Anstead Is Back—With a New Baby and a Bar You Have To See

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Christina Anstead is back for Season 3 of “Christina on the Coast”—and in this season premiere, we see her juggling three kids, including her adorable newborn, Hudson.

When not tending to her growing family’s needs, though, Anstead is helping her clients reimagine their homes—and in the latest episode, she’s got a lot of work to do.

In “Dysfunctional to Functional Kitchen,” she helps Jenny and Anthony renovate their home in Orange, CA.

While their home decor style was all the rage in the early 2000s, it now looks completely dated. Anstead knows this house needs a new look—but the couple can’t decide on the style direction that’s right for them.

Jenny wants the house to have a light, bright farmhouse look, while Anthony prefers the feel of a modern New York loft. They’re very different takes, which means it may be hard for this couple to find a compromise.

Read on to find out how Anstead strikes a balance, and learn some cool home design tricks you might want to try in your own abode.

Dark hardware gives a light kitchen dimension

Before: This dark style makes the whole house feel dated.

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Jenny and Anthony have a lot of dark colors in their kitchen. From the cabinets to the counters to the floors, it’s a whole lot of brown.

“This kitchen was a hot ticket about 10 years ago,” Anstead says when she sees the room. She knows it’s time for an update.

The only problem is that Jenny and Anthony can’t decide on a new design. Jenny wants white cabinets with a white backsplash and white countertops, but Anthony is concerned with her style choice.

“It seems like a lot of white,” he says.

After: This white kitchen looks perfect with dark hardware.

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Anstead comes to the rescue by finding a compromise, recommending that the white cabinets and backsplash be paired with some black, industrial hardware.

The finished look is bright but masculine, giving this kitchen a farmhouse vibe, with a touch of modern.

Floating shelves can open up a kitchen

These floating shelves were the right choice.

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When the new white cabinets finally go into the kitchen, the space instantly looks brighter. There’s just one problem: The new cabinets leave open spaces on either side of the window.

So, Anstead offers to fill the space with either more cabinetry or with floating shelves. Right away, Jenny knows what she wants.

“I like floating shelves,” she says, “I think those are nice, you can accessorize them.”

Anstead ends up using natural-tone wood to build these shelves, and when the work is finally done, they look perfect. The open shelves make the space feel bigger, plus, they show off the great-looking white backsplash that stretches up to the ceiling.

Jenny is right about accessorizing the shelves: Once Anstead places a potted plant on one tier, the burst of green instantly brightens up the space.

A fireplace should be functional and fashionable

Before: This fireplace was dated, and because the brick outer hearth stuck out, it was dangerous, too.

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While Anthony and Jenny want to renovate their kitchen for style, they want to upgrade their fireplace for function.

They explain that the hearth extends out too far on the bottom, and that some of their guests have tripped over it.

“It’s like literally a deathtrap,” Jenny says.

So, Anstead reimagines the feature: She builds out the fireplace face, pulls the hearth back, then updates the look, by adding gray tile and a reclaimed wood mantel.

After: This fireplace looks much better.

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When the fireplace is finally done, Jenny and Anthony love the gray tile, which is configured in a herringbone pattern, and Jenny loves the wood mantle.

“Not too rustic but not too modern,” she says. “It’s just the perfect blend.”

Most importantly, the fireplace is now safe.

“It’s no longer a trip hazard,” Anstead says.

Dress up cocktail hour with a beautiful bar

Before: Anthony’s original bar space was small and cluttered.

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Although Anstead tries her best to find good compromises between Jenny and Anthony’s style preferences, it seems that the home’s design favors Jenny’s choices. So, in order to keep Anthony happy, Anstead decides to build him a custom cocktail bar.

Still, Jenny has one request.

“I just want everything to have a place and be behind a cupboard,” Jenny says of Anthony’s cocktail bar collection.

Not sure how to make this bar area look clean and uncluttered, Anstead asks her husband, Ant, to help with ideas for a fun, classy bar design. Together, they come up with a plan to install glass shelves and up lighting.

After: Jenny may not have liked the look of Antony’s old bar space, but this looks beautiful!

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While the finished bar doesn’t hide all the bottles and glasses behind a cabinet, as Jenny wanted, the space is clean, stylish, and works perfectly with the rest of the home design. Both Anthony and Jenny end up loving it.

“This is so awesome,” Jenny says.

A staircase should match the rest of the house

Before: Christina Anstead knows that a staircase is an important design element. She agrees with Jenny when she says this old banister has to go.

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Anstead has her hands full with Jenny and Anthony’s renovation, but she’s able to stay on schedule and make good progress.

However, just before the project wraps up, the couple drops a bomb: They now want to renovate the staircase, too!

“I just feel like we need to update this to match everything else that looks so good in here now,” Jenny explains.

After: This banister looks much better.

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She wants to run the new vinyl flooring up the steps and replace the wood banister with wrought iron.

Anstead’s contractor, Izzy, tells the couple that the project will be expensive, costing $10,000. Still, Anthony and Jenny decide that it’s worth the extra cost.

It’s a good thing they spend the extra cash, because once the work is done, the stairs look perfect.

Is Christina Anstead’s renovation up to snuff?

Even though Anstead has her hands full with two kids and her newborn, she still manages to nail this renovation.

And she does so on a fairly tight budget: Jenny and Anthony originally had $60,000 to spend. Later, they agree to invest an additional $10,000 to fix up their staircase. Although they end up paying more than they’d planned, it’s all money well spent, because the house looks amazing.

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