Meet Syd and Shea McGee: The influencer couple in Dream Home Makeover on Netflix

I want their lives please

4 years ago | UPDATED 4 years ago

Just when you thought nothing was going to fill the Selling Sunset shaped hole in your life, and like Netflix was running out of reality series to give you – along came Dream Home Makeover. The series follows Syd and Shea McGee – the influencer couple behind interior design company Studio McGee.

Prepare for lots of dreamy home renovation shots and houses to die for, as the show takes us behind the scenes of their business – which started in a spare bedroom and now sees them with their own YouTube channel and 1.4million Instagram followers.

Here’s everything you need to know about Syd and Shea McGee, stars of new Netflix reality series Dream Home Makeover.

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via Instagram @studiomcgee

Syd and Shea McGee met through Shea’s brother

Shea is from Texas and originally started working in PR, but says she always had an interest in design. She met Syd through her brother – he was moving home and Shea went along to help, Syd was a friend of her brother’s who was helping with the move too. In the couple’s book, “Make Life Beautiful”, Shea describes: “There Syd was on a skateboard, wearing the skinniest skinny jeans I had ever seen. We went on our first date the next night.”

She describes Syd as a “Californian surfer boy”, whilst she was more looking at how to get structure and start her dream career. Shea took interior design classes at a college in California to go alongside her degree in public relations. After this, she started working freelance as a designer. Shea says she learnt most of her skills on the job, with her clients.

They’re now married and have two children

Syd and Shea McGee got married in 2008 when they were 23-years-old. Their wedding was in Utah, and afterwards they were renting a “crappy” one-bed apartment in Laguna Beach. They now have two daughters, called Wren and Ivy. Wren is currently seven and Ivy is four.

via Instagram @studiomcgee

The idea of Studio McGee started when Syd and Shea McGee were renovating their own home

Syd and Shea McGee began documenting their own home style and renovations on Instagram in 2010. These got an incredible response, and the page started growing and growing. People seemed to love their signature rustic and light style. It was then that they decided to make a company out of the page – and Studio McGee was born.

Syd joined Shea to handle the business side of things, working as the CEO of the company. Whilst Shea sticks to her design roots and works more hands-on, designing and developing the homes for their clients. The company started in the spare bedroom of their house but now they have an upcoming book, a home collection at Target, over 200,000 YouTube subscribers and their own decor line, called McGee & Co.

via Target

According to the company website: “In 2014, Shea and her husband Syd decided to launch their interior design firm with one directive in mind, ‘Make Life Beautiful.’ As the firm’s designs and fan base grew, it paved the way for the launch of their e-commerce brand, McGee & Co., two years later. With a vision that beautiful design can be approachable, Studio McGee has become one of the leading innovators in the interior design industry.”

Now, Syd and Shea McGee have 1.4 million followers and are on Dream Home Makeover on Netflix

After starting from nothing, the couple’s page has 1.4million followers on Instagram (and growing). The aesthetic is everything you could dream of and more. Think clean and fresh, modern interiors that you could scroll through for days.

via Netflix

In Dream Home Makeover we’re given an insight into Syd and Shea McGee’s business, and how they juggle it with their family life. We see them taking on dreamy renovation projects – including swanky houses with basement cinema rooms and kitchens you could only dream of.

In the trailer they say they help clients with budgets from $20k to anywhere up to $2 million – and it’s their job to deliver them their dream home for that money. The Netflix synopsis for the show says: “Dreams come true for real families looking for the perfect home tailored to their own unique style, thanks to Shea and Syd McGee of Studio McGee.”