‘Luxe For Less’ on HGTV: Who is host Michel Boyd? Interior designer dabbled in many careers before finding his ‘calling’
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: HGTV’s new renovation show is a celebration of extravagant luxury with a twist; it’s all affordable! The new show, rightly titled, ‘Luxe For Less’, will feature some of the most luxurious home decor and renovation ideas, all achieved under a fixed budget without a sky-high price tag. And to accomplish this feat, HGTV has looped in the celebrity interior designer Michel Boyd. Michel will use his innovative thinking and nifty design sensibilities to create swanky spaces with his team.
Michel and his team of designers, Kai Williamson, Laura Green, and his 'Rock The Block' partner Anthony Elle will use clever budget hacks to help homeowners apply new and luxurious renovations without spending an extraordinary amount. ‘Luxe For Less’ will show viewers the world of real estate renovations and interior designing while also providing insight into what happens in this business. The show is all set to air on December 1 and has indeed created quite some hype about the premiere and the host. So here are the details about the ‘Luxe For Less’ host Michel Boyd.
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Who is Michel Boyd?
Michel Smith Boyd is an African-American interior designer and TV personality known as one of Atlanta’s top designers. He is also known for appearing on Bravo’s ‘Buying It Blind’ and HGTV’s ‘Rock The Block.’ After graduating from The Art Institute of Atlanta with a BFA in fine arts, he started his design firm, SMITHBOYD Interiors, in 2006. The firm’s work has been featured on the pages of Atlanta Home & Lifestyles, LA Weekly, Traditional Home, House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, and Vogue. Michel has even participated in and designed spaces in Atlanta Symphony Associates’ Decorators’ Show House, Southern Style Now Designer Show House in New Orleans, and the Christopher Kennedy Compound Show House in Palm Springs, California. The designer also has a bespoke furniture and textile collection called MSB x 1429 and MSB Bespoke Rugs.
But designing was not Michel’s first calling. Before finding his footing in the world of interior design, Louisiana native dabbled in several niches, including fashion and modeling, and even a brief stint in nursing school. According to Business of Home, the Atlanta native took off for New York and dabbled in everything from modeling and acting classes to beauty school. Nothing felt quite right until he and his then-partner hired an interior designer to decorate their place in the city. “Meeting him exposed me to so much, I was really enamored with what he was doing,” Michel explained in an episode of the Trade Tales podcast.
He continued, “Once he took me to the D&D (Design and Development) Building, and I saw all these showrooms and realized that this is legitimate, it felt so exciting—like there was this ball of energy in your chest and you feel really full and can’t catch your breath. It was that. Much to my excitement and surprise, I discovered what I was supposed to be doing.”
Figuring out his true calling did wonders for the designer. After starting SMITHBOYD, Michel has steered the design venture to success for around 16 years and has managed to grow it into a firm of eight expert members, a significant achievement for the small-town boy from Thibodaux, Louisiana.
Catch Michel’s design skills at work in ‘Luxe For Less’ premiering on Thursday, December 1 at 9/8c on HGTV.