EXCLUSIVE: HGTV’s ‘Totally ’90s House’ Stars Reveal Kept Set Props From ‘Full House’ and ‘The Cosby Show’—and Spill on their Best Home Makeover Tips

On HGTV’s "Totally ‘90s House," some of the most recognizable TV stars of the decade are renovating outdated homes to remove retro traces of the past—yet, in their own abodes they're proudly displaying throwback decor saved from iconic sets.

The six-week home renovation competition, which premiered Aug. 26, sees host Jaleel White, 49—who played Steve Urkel on "Family Matters"—guiding two celebrity teams.

On Team Mauve, Jodie Sweetin, 44, from "Full House," teams up with Brian Austin Green, 53, from "Beverly Hills, 90210," and Beverley Mitchell, 45, from "7th Heaven." They're tasked with transforming a dwelling in Mullica Hill, NJ, into a modern Mediterranean-style space.

Keshia Knight Pulliam, 47, from "The Cosby Show," Melissa Joan Hart, 50, from "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," and Matthew Lawrence, 46, from "Boy Meets World," alongside his brother, Joey Lawrence, 50, from "Blossom," are part of Team Curtains. They're charged with turning a beachside domain in Long Island, NY, into a contemporary coastal cottage.

Each group gets a budget of $200,000—and the added help of HGTV experts Sabrina Soto from "The High Low Project" and Carter Oosterhouse of "Carter Can." The team that comes out on top is promised bragging rights and a $25,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

The sitcoms the stars of this new HGTV series starred in were filmed on sets that shared style traits tied to the 1980s and '90s—think chunky wooden staircases positioned behind puffy, patterned sofas that took center state on "The Cosby Show" and "Full House."

Knight Pulliam, who played Rudy on "The Cosby Show," reveals to Realtor.com® that she's held onto one sentimental item from this TV set home.

"I have Bobo, which was my bear that was my favorite childhood item as Rudy on ‘The Cosby Show'," she says. "It’s actually living in my daughter's room right now, so she has Bobo. I have passed him down."

Similarly, Sweetin says she kept "a couple of things," including her character's top toy.

"One is, of course, from the original 'Full House', I have Mr. Bear, but that wasn't really home decor, that was just sentimental," she says.

Sweetin adds that she also took a piece from the kitchen of the 'Fuller House' set.

"There was this embroidered little message sign that hung on the wall and it said, 'Love Is All We Need.’ And I just always liked it. It hung over the kitchen door, and I wanted that because it was always hanging over us and it was just a true expression," she says.

Each of the actors on the HGTV renovation competition brings real estate or home remodeling experience to the table.

Sweetin, who became a first-time homebuyer when she was just 19, had a helping hand from her father to give the place a hard-earned makeover.

"It was a nightmare, I hated it," she recalls. "It was because I was living in it while doing it. I was going to school and planning a wedding. There was a lot going on.

“It's interesting because I look back now, and so many of the choices that I made in my first house were so reminiscent of my parents' house."

She admits she would now "totally do it differently."

Green, who really got into DIY home projects during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, first got into real estate as a teen and found his unique design perspective over time.

"I bought my first house when I was 17, and I remember doing a lot of improvements to it, but not being anywhere near the point of trusting my own design choices, so you just sort of went with it," he explains. 

"It was really fun now doing this [show] because I'm really in a place where I trust my design choices, and I challenge people to come up with different ones that work better."

Indeed, Green challenges Mitchell, his teammate, to break free from her comfort zone of favoring neutral tones, though she insists she does stray from beige whenever her own homes have called for color.

"I’ve had the pleasure of being able to do a few different houses, and it's a great creative outlet,” she states. “I do like color; I just like it in certain spurts. I think houses have their own personality.

"We have a house in Colorado that is my moody house. She's a little bit darker, she's got emerald greens and the really dark navies and the rust. And then our California house was light and bright, so that was a lot of beige.”

Hart also has a portfolio of properties that she designs with her own taste in mind.

“I always intend to live in them, I don't flip [houses],” she says. 

“I do have rental properties, but right now, we have a beach house on Fire Island. I have my Lake Tahoe gem that I love—that's my happy place. We have our Nashville home, which is our main house right now. We have our L.A. house, which is, right now, a rental property; some buildings in New York City—but they're always decorated for me and my family and what we want. 

“Right now, my dining room in the house is called the “Bridgerton” room because it's all mint green and gold and pastels—something my husband will never go into unless it's a holiday, and that's fine because I love to just go in there by myself [or] with my girlfriends and have tea or sometimes I do my Zooms in there.” 

Hart’s “Melissa & Joey” costar Joey and his brother, Matthew, now all teammates, say they grew up with handy family members who paved the way for them to pick up some renovation skills.

“My grandfather was an architect and a builder and he designed and built—with my dad—our childhood home in Philly, and so it's in the blood for sure,” says Matthew, who is a “self-taught” builder of specialized reptile enclosures.

“When I started doing it, this was before the internet, but even with the internet, the information's not out there, so you'd have to go and collect all these reptile magazines,” he notes. 

“Then I would get into the community and start working with zoologists and breeders and different zoos and things, and that's how I learned what it is that needs to be done.”

Despite the cast's diverse set of skills, Knight Pulliam is perhaps the most experienced expert of the bunch, as she and her husband run Kizzy James Studios, a successful design firm with offices they’re currently upgrading.

“We purchased the building and then completely remodeled it,” she says. “Right now we're designing our podcast rooms.”

Knight Pulliam’s advice for giving a home a modern refresh while avoiding the traps of fleeting design trends is to make timeless choices that will last.

“There's some materials that are classic that transcend the test of time—great hardwood floors you really can't go wrong with because when times change, you can re-sand, refinish, and do something different. 

“The things that you don't want to change within five years, do [those] a little more neutral, and then the other pieces you can accent with things that are trendy. You know, the things that are more movable and removable,” she adds. 

Unfortunately for the "Totally ‘90s House" contestants, many of the most identifiable ‘90s home trends require a lot of effort to replace.

“You have the sink and the bathtub and the toilet all [matching],” explains Hart. 

“You've got pillars by the bathtub, you have big valances, huge draperies, lots of fabrics, lots of patterns, lots of wallpaper with the border. You've got rounded edges, little rooms."

Thankfully, at least one of the most egregious design elements of the decade is much easier to flush away.

“Carpet toilet covers—who's gonna be sitting on that seat?” asks Joey. “Like, I'm going to sit here because it looks soft, I'm not even gonna open it, I'm just going to sit on top because you've made it so sit-able with this little cushion that's carpet?”

Though the “Blossom” star says there’s one nostalgic ‘90s home feature he’d be happy to call back.

“I like the old-school intercoms [that] you can just kind of chime in, ‘Hey, is this anybody?’” he says. 

“I would do it for the kids. I would love that 'cause my parents used to do that, ‘Yo, knock it off!’ [And] we’d be like, ‘Oh, my God, they heard us!’ 

“It's so much better than the Alexas and all these things. I like the old-school intercom.” 

New episodes of “Totally '90s House” air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on HGTV and are available to stream the next day on HBO Max.