Joanna Gaines reveals 'weird rule' she implemented in her Texas farmhouse since marrying Chip

Daily Mail​

20 hours ago

Chip and Joanna Gaines have built an incredible lifestyle empire for themselves since shooting to fame on HGTV's Fixer Upper.
So it's no surprise that Joanna - who has been compared to a modern day Martha Stewart - is a pro when it comes to welcoming guests into her Waco farmhouse.
During an appearance on Today to promote her new home cooking show, Magnolia Table: At the Farm, Gaines, 47, revealed the 'weird rule' that she's implemented at home since marrying husband Chip in 2003.
'There's a cake plate stand on the island that since I first got married - it was like the first year, I got it for a wedding gift and it was empty,' she explained.
'We had so many friends and family coming in, and I was like, "I need to start having something in there," so it was kind of a weird rule I made,' she continued.
'The rule is just kind of always have something on the cake plate stand for the family or for guests - it's really me now just eating the stuff, so that's fun. It's now for me.'
Chip and Joanna have been married for over two decades - but that doesn't mean they haven't had their fair share of ups and downs.
The HGTV stars - who share five children - recently opened up about their private life and how they have dealt with the challenges of marriage.
Joanna, 47, revealed that they had 'non-negotiables from day one,' speaking on how to balance their fame, family and relationship.
She referenced the store she and Chip, 50, owned - which was called The Little Shop on Bosque and opened in the early 2000s - at the start of their marriage.
However, the mom-of-five said even though it was scary, she could see the bright side even if they 'were struggling for the first 12 years of marriage.'
'Like every Friday it was like, "Well, is this when we close our doors [of The Little Shop on Bosque]?"' she explained on the Stronger Podcast with Don Saladino.
'Every day we showed up, it was like, "Well, if this all goes away, we still have each other,"' the Fixer Upper star said passionately.
She explained that sums up the 'core and foundation' of who they are.
'Every decision we make, we say, "How will this affect this?"' the renovation star shared.
Joanna credited her and Chip's decision to prioritize each other as helping them navigate fame whilst raising a family.
Chip agreed, adding he would be fine with stepping away from the spotlight, as long as the most important thing - his wife and kids - were still there.
'As I think about fame and success and money in comparison to my marriage and my family… [If] all of this would instantly go away, and my wife and my kids would be back on the farm, raising animals,' the doting dad mused during the interview.
'But Jo and I, we believe we can have our cake and eat it too in the sense that I can be successful and I can have a healthy marriage and family,' he added.
Joanna also shared the new endeavor the two are embarking on - their wellness journey.
'At this stage in our life, what we're trying to figure out is: we've got family, we've got business, like that's our thing... but now this wellness and health and working out, that is a new thing for us that we're trying to figure out,' she shared.
Joanna and Chip have been married since 2003 and share five children: Drake, 20, Ella, 18, Duke, 17, Emmie, 15, and Crew, seven.