House-flipping shows have been a thing in the reality TV genre for a long time. However, while many series come and go without fanfare, others stay in people’s minds for such a long time, that we end up caring about its stars beyond what our TV screens let us see.
This describes well what we feel about Erin Napier from the HGTV’s hit series “Home Town”. Ever since her show premiered in 2016, we’ve been in love with not only her top-notch taste as a designer, but with her lovely little family and lifestyle.
Whatever happened to Erin Napier then? Here we will tell you all the details regarding her life nowadays, the future of her show, and what’s going on with her family right now. So keep with us!
What Happened To Her?
It’s known that the lives of reality TV personalities usually aren’t the most stable or peaceful. However, this is not the case of Erin Napier, who is known for dealing with her personal and professional endeavors in quite a balanced way.
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Just in case you haven’t been up to date since the end of “Home Town”s fifth season in early 2021, you might be surprised to find out that Erin and her husband Ben welcomed their second daughter in May that year, only a month after the couple announced they were expecting, confessing they kept the pregnancy a secret only for their inner circle. The baby girl Mae was named after Erin’s aunt Marilyn, who actually works in Erin and Ben’s shop, Laurel Mercantile.
Although her second pregnancy came too soon after the first, it’s understandable that the couple wanted their daughters to be close in age. As Erin highlighted on a heartfelt Instagram post, she and her husband were ‘excited to see the bond [Mae] and Helen will have’. Previously she’d also remarked the important role siblings played in a family to keep their stories ‘alive’, confessing she ‘wanted that for Helen’.
All in all, everything seems to be going great for Erin and her family, and we couldn’t be happier about it.
Was “Home Town” Cancelled?
When a TV show takes some time off-air, people instantly fear that it’s ended. Fortunately for all the “Home Town” fans, the show is still going on strong.
So far, five seasons have aired on HGTV, and filming for the sixth one started in late 2021. The news of the show’s renewal took “Home Town” fans by surprise, as some of them assumed, even feared that the couple would take some time away from TV after welcoming their daughter Mae.
Nonetheless, it’s been rumored that the new season has been stressful for the Napiers. As an unnamed source told OK Magazine, the young couple struggled while dealing with filming the show and managing the recent addition to their family, resulting in a situation which, as described, was ‘wearing them out’.
According to the source, the Napiers sleep little and relax even less, a dynamic obviously worrisome for their friends and family. Allegedly, they are often asked to take some time away to rest, but the couple refuses to stop filming, to not ‘disappoint their fans’.
While these allegations are of course unconfirmed, there’s no doubt that in recent years the Napiers have been working non-stop not only for their show, but also for their business.
Will this situation affect the future of “Home Town”, and the family? Hopeful not.
Did She Have Pregnancy Problems?
The Napiers are such an adorable-looking family, that loving them is just necessary; the perfect-family picture created by Erin, Ben and their two daughters is so beautiful that it’s hard to imagine a time when there were only two of them.
Those who have only followed Erin recently might not know that in the past, maternity was a topic which left her with mixed feelings. For one side her, desire to become a mother was always present, but conversely it also filled her with dread: ‘I was terrified at the whole thought of pregnancy, and childbirth just terrified me’, she told People.
After spending a lifetime with several health issues, a couple of years into her marriage Erin was diagnosed with a perforated appendix, a condition which apparently made conceiving unlikely. In her words, knowing that biological children were out of the picture for her was hard, but ‘it was life-changing’ to finally know what was up with her body.
Leaving the possibility of adoption alive, Ben and Erin couldn’t be more shocked when they found out that they were pregnant with their first daughter. Conceiving completely changed their lifestyle but also filled them with joy, even pushing them to tone down their public life.
Is Erin A Designer?
Everyone who watches “Home Town” knows that Erin’s insights as a designer are very important in every project. Nonetheless, seeing that her business Laurel Mercantile specialises in wares, goods for home and apparel, it’s normal to wonder how much she influences those products aesthetically-wise.
For starters, it’s important to point out that Laurel Mercantile isn’t owned solely by Erin and Ben. Going back to the business’ origins, the shop was founded in the 1900s, and specialised in commercial dry goods for home and work for decades. It eventually closed its doors, but its existence remained in the minds of the Laurel’s community, resulting in its revival almost 100 years after its foundation, by the Napiers in association with Mallorie and Jim Rasberry, and Emily and Josh Nowell.
The all time #HGTVHomeTown FAQ post is right here: https://t.co/1SVM5UorY4 pic.twitter.com/dRcURo0NpK
— Erin Napier (@ErinRNapier) February 18, 2020
These three married couples joined their financial means and creative perspective to make Laurel Mercantile a reality. However, despite selling signature products, these aren’t stated to be solely designed by Erin, meaning that every associate most-likely has some control over the brand’s creative direction. As well, the business sells items made by other typically-southern brands, though these are ‘thoughtfully curated’ by them.
Regardless of the apparently limited control Erin might have over Laurel Mercantile, it’s obvious that the brand conveys some of the aesthetics we’re used to seeing from her.
Her Online Success
Appearing in a famous TV show means that your following on social media would also grow in no time. Though when it comes to Erin Napier, her online success couldn’t be attributed only to “Home Town”s popularity.
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For starters, long before she rose to fame thanks to reality TV, Erin created her successful online blog “Make Something Good Today”, still available on the Laurel Mercantile’s website. The first blog’s entry, “The Walk” dates back to 1 January 2010, and its intention of simply documenting her daily life was evidently humble. As Erin herself recalled in 2020, back when she started writing there, she had just started her life as an entrepreneur, was still a newlywed, and recently moved with her husband into an antique loft.
All of those changes were evidently exciting enough to be documented, but above all, it was the perfect opportunity for Erin ‘to be the heroine’ of her own book. Soon “Make Something Good Today” became popular enough to gain her a loyal following, a couple of interviews, and important magazine features.
Fast forward to the present – the blog is still active, but the content is evidently less personal than it used to be, as Erin chose to keep it that way following the birth of Helen.
How Is Her Marriage Going?
Social media and TV are often misleading, especially when it comes to portraying the real nature of relationships. As much as we would like to get a deeper insight into how Erin and Ben Napier’s marriage is going, beyond what their show lets us see, that’s not possible.
However, the couple has been more than open to talk about their marriage and its issues. One of those times in which they were overtly sincere happened in 2017, when Erin addressed a hate email she received which claimed that Ben’s habit of touching Erin showed he treated her ‘like an object’. To clear up the misconception, Erin assured that Ben’s touches were a way to reassure her when she’s overwhelmed for being on TV: ‘It’s letting me know I’m not alone.
He’s always right there, and then I’m not nervous anymore’
With that topic left mostly in the past, Erin and Ben’s several years of a seemingly stable and healthy marriage proves that their dynamic works well. On a heartfelt Instagram post in celebration of their 12th wedding anniversary in 2020, Erin described Ben as a hard-working and doting husband, which was answered by an equally lovely post from Ben, making it impossible to doubt how deeply those two love each other.
What Does Ben Do For A Living?
Every good fan of “Home Town” knows about Ben Napier’s expertise as a carpenter and ingenious wood creations. Nonetheless, it’s not surprising that people wonder what he does for a living when the TV cameras aren’t rolling.
Besides being a partial owner of Laurel Mercantile, Ben founded the Scotsman Co, a shop which showcases his woodworking creativity while making cabinets, furniture, and also serves as a hardware store.
Funding too many businesses with Napier on their name, Scotsman Co’s is in remembrance of Ben’s Scottish family ancestry, and to evade any future confusions ‘in the off chance that this became something big’, he told Leader Call. Despite his humbleness, the shop’s creations gained international recognition thanks to “Home Town”. However, it’s clear that money is not the main drive for Ben to be in the business, as only hearing him talking about repairing an old piano or making a dinner table is described by him as ‘daunting’.
Ben’s beginnings as a woodworker date back to his college days, when he joined a carpentry club as a way to spend more time with his then-girlfriend Erin, who attended another club in the art building.
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What was a hobby back then is now his life craft, one which made him closer to his now-wife, and now allows him to spend precious family-time with the rest of the Napiers.
How Did Erin and Ben Met?
If you think Erin’s marriage to Ben is extremely adorable, then you won’t be surprised to find that their love’s story has always been like that. They met while attending the Jones County Junior College, in Ellisville Mississippi.
Curiously enough, they hadn’t officially met, but we’re crushing on each other for over a year. Back then, Ben was very popular on campus for being a member of several clubs, which resulted in Erin interviewing him for the yearbook. The so-called “Big Ben” instantly clicked with the artsy Erin, and things quickly developed between them: ‘we hung out that Thursday afternoon and said ‘I love you, let’s get married’ on Monday’, she told the website Southern Weddings.
Their first meeting is nowadays a memorable date for them, celebrating it as the “Love Week”, starting on 7 December.
Their engagement was just as endearing. It happened in 2007 in a bookstore, when Erin was handed a book about couples from college by a friend. Erin soon realized the words on paper were exactly hers and Ben’s story, which ended with a line that instructed her to go upstairs. On the place’s rooftop was Ben waiting for her with a marriage proposal in mind.
What Was Erin’s First Business?
Many people don’t know that Erin’s first business wasn’t Laurel Mercantile, but a small design firm named Lucky Luxe. The drive behind Erin’s idea to found the business was her own wedding but following her engagement to Ben, she found it endearing to express what their relationship was like through ‘paper pieces’. Soon realizing she enjoyed it too much, she left her normal job, founded Lucky Luxe, and started her first journey as an entrepreneur. The enterprise passed from designing only wedding invitations, to becoming an ‘event and wedding stationery boutique’.
Though the path wasn’t easy, the success of Lucky Luxe took Erin by surprise, even more when renowned design outlets such as Martha Stewart Weddings and Brides Magazine featured the business. However, it was an interview with the website Southern Weddings what caught the attention of HGTV to produce a show. Nowadays, Lucky Luxe is no more, but it’s thanks to it that we now know about Erin and Ben.
Impact
The success of “Home Town” is undeniable. Although design shows usually have an overall good reception, Erin and Ben’s show surpassed ratings expectations with nine million viewers during its second season’s premiere. The series is hugely popular with adult women especially, keeping its position as one of the top HGTV shows for years.
So far, the two spin-offs series – “Home Town Takeover” and “Ben’s Workshop” – have premiered with impressive ratings as well. Nonetheless, these accomplishments aren’t only resulting from good production processes or marketing strategies, but proves how well-loved Erin and Ben are by the audience and fans.
