Brian & Mika Kleinschmidt Reveal the 2026 HGTV Smart Home’s Biggest Design Challenge

The only thing Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt don’t like about the HGTV Smart Home 2026 is that they can’t win it themselves.

The 100 Day Dream Home stars created this year’s Smart Home from the ground up in Orlando, Florida. “I think my biggest hope for whoever wins the HGTV Smart Home is, I hope they invite us over,” Brian joked in an exclusive interview with TV Insider.

Mika agreed, adding, “Yeah, for a housewarming party!” Brian went on to quip, “And if they don’t invite us, we might just show up!”

The 3,000-square-foot home features three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a decked-out game room, a cozy lounge, and a warm kitchen. The home’s outdoor area is just as impressive, featuring a pool with a swim-up bar, a putting green, an entertainment area, and more.

Fans can enter to win the home designed by Brian and Mika, as well as a $100,000 cash prize, starting on Tuesday, April 21, at 9 a.m. ET. Hopefuls can enter daily via HGTV and Food Network‘s websites until entries close on Friday, June 19, at 5 p.m. ET. A full tour of the home will be featured on HGTV’s one-hour Smart Home 2026 special on Friday, April 24, at 7/6c.

Here, Brian and Mika break down what went into making the HGTV Smart Home 2026.

How did you two become involved with this year’s HGTV Smart Home? Was it something you were previously interested in doing?

Mika Kleinschmidt: We have a show, 100 Day Dream Home, based here in Tampa. So, when HGTV reached out and said, “Hey, do you guys want to be a part of the design of the Smart Home 2026?” We were like, “Sign us up.” I mean, it’s just a little over an hour drive away from us, and I think designing new construction is our specialty, so it just made sense.

Brian Kleinschmidt: And the fact that we’ve always been fans of [the] HGTV Smart Home, and now, we got to host and design it — the only thing is, we’re not eligible to win. So that’s the only bummer about hosting and designing it. But other than that, it’s been a dream come true.

How did you approach creating the property? You mentioned that it was a completely new build. Did the Orlando location influence the design choices you made?

Brian: Yeah. The first choice was finding the perfect lot, and we followed the whole process throughout the show. So, when the viewers see it, they’re going to see [it] from a blank lot to [the] finished, beautiful home. We started with a beautiful lot out in Apopka, which is north of Orlando, right near Lake Apopka, which is absolutely gorgeous. But we really wanted to make sure that the beautiful natural attractions of Central Florida inspired the house. I know Orlando is known for all the theme park attractions, but we wanted to show what we really love about Florida.

What was it like working on the Smart Home compared to your projects on 100 Day Dream Home? Both take place in Florida, but were there any similarities or differences?

Mika: I think the biggest difference was that when we are working on 100 Day Dream Home, we’re working with clients, whereas [the] Smart Home, we’re trying to design and make decisions, because we don’t know who’s going to win the house. You want to make sure that you’re thinking of everything, all the amenities, all the nice features, and we made the decisions. On our show, our clients are side by side with us, so they make the ultimate decisions, and it’s less pressure.

Brian: We had to kind of design this one blind, which was a challenge. But we are so proud of the house and how it turned out, and I feel like anybody who wins it is going to be very happy.

What were the biggest challenges you faced during the building and design process?

Mika: Funny enough, but the day that we did our final reveal and we were finishing touches, we got a cold snap in Florida. It was colder in Orlando than it was in Alaska that day.

Brian: It was like 25 degrees.

Mika: And we had to be outside. We have this beautiful backyard area with a pool and all this outdoor entertainment. And of course, we have to be dressed like it’s summer, it’s Florida. And the film crew was bundled up in ski jackets, and we just had to suck it up and make it look like it was the warmest day ever.

Brian: That was definitely a challenge. I mean, also driving back and forth. We were still filming the last couple episodes of 100 Day Dream Home simultaneously. So, we were kind of bouncing back and forth between Tampa and Orlando. But yeah, it was a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too.

What were some of your favorite spaces or smart features in the home? I know the shoe carousel and the game room were really cool.

Mika: I think you just named them! I think I would probably hang out in that game lounge pretty much most of the day. I did kind of love that we did convert one of the garage spaces to this movie lounge area, and we color-drenched it in a really beautiful blue. I think I like that because it was more of a cozy space. So, I always like to design about how I want to feel in the room, and that would be my favorite spot.

Brian: We also had this really cool glass inside the movie lounge where, with the flick of a light switch, it became completely private. And then, you turn the light switch again, and it’s regular glass. So yeah, we really wanted to focus not just on smart technology in this house, but also [a] smart layout, smart design.

Are there any design features included in the home that you hope become a trend or that people will incorporate into their homes?

Mika: I love the layout of the home. [In] the kitchen, there’s a very nice feature on the countertop. And we all know that we’re all about technology. So, you just kind of set your phone down, boom, on the countertop, and it charges. No wires needed. That was kind of nice.

Brian: You can charge your phone in pretty much any corner of the house. But we really wanted to make sure that the design was true to us and true to Florida. And, like I said earlier, it’s not just about the technology. It’s space planning, to make sure that every square inch was thought out. Converting the garage to a living space was smart. Even the energy efficiency of this house is very smart. We get very hot summers here, so we insulated [with] the way our windows were, the way we have blackout shades. We really thought about everything when we were figuring out this house.

Poonam Moore designed last year’s Smart Home. Did she give you any advice before you got started?

Mika: No. It’s funny — we actually worked with Poonam on a show that we did about two years ago.

Brian: She was on my team. We did 100 Day Hotel Challenge.

Mika: She was on [Brian’s] team. I really love her, and she has a great design aesthetic. I mean, that’s what she does every single day off TV. But no. No advice. We kind of had to keep it on the hush. We’re just now announcing that we are the hosts, and I think they’re launching the sweepstakes.

Brian: I think Poonam and Mike [Jackson] from last season did not give us advice because they wanted their Smart Home to be smarter than ours. But no, what they did in San Antonio was incredible. We had some big shoes to fill, and hopefully we did it.

You said everything was under wraps. Did any other HGTV stars know you guys were designing this year’s Smart Home?

Brian: I think we kept a pretty good secret.

Mika: We definitely kept a big secret. I know when they did the announcement, when HGTV posted on their Instagram, it got a lot of views. So now, I think, the word is out.

Brian: The only people that really knew were my parents, because they had to watch our dog. But we kept it pretty hush-hush. And the nice thing is, where the Smart Home was, it’s only about 90 minutes from our house here in Tampa. So, we kind of snuck away a little bit, and then came back, and nobody even knew we were gone. We did it under the radar.

Was there anything you learned while working on the Smart Home that you’ll carry over into 100 Day Dream Home?

Mika: I’m gonna be honest, no. Because we’ve built so many new construction houses. I think we brought our skill set and mindset. That’s what we do on our show, and we’ve done over 70 houses in the Tampa Bay community. I think it was great collaborating with a different team, though, so I will say that was really fun. And then, also going on field trips to local spots in the Orlando area to get inspiration for the design. That was definitely cool.

Brian: Central Florida is so well-known for its theme parks. We wanted to show the natural side of Florida, the natural attractions, so that’s where we got a lot of our inspiration. And even though it’s only 90 minutes away from Tampa, it’s crazy how different the landscape is. There’s rolling hills north of Orlando, beautiful lakes, beautiful grand oak trees, Spanish moss. And then, here in Tampa, we’re more beachside here, West Coast of Florida. So, that’s what we love about Florida, is all over the state, you can drive a couple different hours, and you’re worlds away.

What do you hope the winner of the Smart Home appreciates most about the house?

Mika: I think all of it. The outdoor space, I think, for sure. Florida is indoor/outdoor living, because we do have warm weather pretty much year-round. But I hope they just appreciate the little hidden moments, the nods to the area. Some of the artwork was local. We had a local muralist come in and do a really cool mural in the powder bath. So, just the attention to detail on those aspects.

Brian: The backyard, like Mika said, it’s like a resort. You would not have to go on vacation if you won this house.

HGTV Smart Home 2026, Friday, April 24, 7/6c, HGTV, Available Same Day on HBO Max and Discovery+