Take A Peek Inside The Home Of The Duggar Family

duggar family house tour
Image: Facebook / Duggar Family Official

They are probably one of the most well-known televised families to have graced our TV screens. Widely known for their huge family, the Duggars first appeared on the TV scene in 2004. They were featured in a Discovery Health special called 14 Children and Pregnant Again! The special introduced us to Jim-Bob and Michelle Duggar, and their children, all 14 of them. They are anxiously awaiting to learn the gender of Michelle’s newest bundle of joy. We would all eventually find out that it is a baby boy, whom they would name Jackson Levi, their then fifteenth child. Jim-Bob and Michelle would go on to have 4 more children, with a grand total of nineteen.

The Duggar family made a few more television specials that include 16 Children and Moving In!, Raising 16 Children!, On The Road With 16 Children!  and Duggar’s Big Family Album. The Learning Channel would begin a series on the family, 17 Kids and Counting, then subsequently 18 Kids and Counting. After their 19th child, Josie was born, the series was renamed 19 Kids and Counting. However, after the Josh Duggar molestation scandal, TLC cancelled 19 Kids and Counting. A new series Counting On, which features the next generation of the Duggar family getting married and raising their own progeny, premiered in December 2015.

In The Beginning

Duggars, house, tiny
Image: Youtube / Kim Shepard

On the TV special 16 Children and Moving In, we are given a glimpse of the Duggar family’s old home, which they were renting. There are just a few words to describe it: cramped and tiny. At this point there were 10 boys and 6 girls, ranging in age from newborn to age seventeen. When you add Michelle and Jim-Bob, which makes eighteen people, you can imagine that a three-bedroom home and only 2 bathrooms between them all, would cause a lot of chaos. There must have been a lot of bunk beds in those bedrooms, with little room for much else!

Starting From Scratch

building, house
Image: Youtube / Kim Shepard

When they figured it was time to move out, Jim-Bob began doing some research on building a “dream home” of their own. Jim-Bob’s experience in the real estate industry lead him to find twenty acres of land, which the family purchased. Construction on their 7,000 square-foot home in Tontitown, Arkansas began in 2000. Jim-Bob began researching homes and ultimately chose to build their home out of steel. They made plans, and included all of their children in the building process. Michelle believed that it would be a great learning experience for all of the children. Each child age eight and over even had their very own drill!

Six Years Later

Duggars, new home
Image: Duggar Family Blog

It was six years later that their dream home was complete, despite the family hoping the project would have been finished within a year. While a lot of the construction for the home was done by Jim-Bob and the children, as well as friends of the family, Discovery Networks also found plenty of local construction workers to donate their time and skills. It was on January 20, 2006, that the house was finally completed.  Some of the furnishings, paint, and appliances were given to the Duggars by Discovery Networks and other corporate sponsors. They even fully stocked the famously large family’s pantry!

Thrifty Shoppers

kitchen, Duggars
Image: Facebook / ‘KAÐАРА-21’

Instead of shopping at a high-end home design store, Jim-Bob and Michelle opted for auctions when it came to their kitchen appliances. In the 16 Kids and Moving In special, Jim-Bob explains how all of the appliances for their 2 kitchens were acquired through auctions. The Duggar girls affectionately call the commercial style kitchen “The Duggar Diner.” In their commercial style kitchen there are 2 industrial ovens, an industrial can opener, industrial sinks, and Michelle’s favorite, an industrial dishwasher. She said that she was very excited for that especially, because it could wash a rack of dishes in just three minutes! The whole commercial style kitchen was outfitted with all of the appliances for $11,000, where in reality if they did not shop at auctions, it would’ve cost them $100,000. As Michelle says, “Buy used, save the difference!”

The Great Room

Great room, Duggars
Image: Pinterest / Crystal Lea

Jim-Bob and Michelle had both expressed that they have been frugal with their home decorating in the past. However, when it came to their brand new home, interior designer Deborah DiMare, of DiMare Design was tasked with creating their indoor paradise. She even got the kids involved in the process, sitting down with the group and asking each one of them what they would like to see in the home. Of course, she talked with mom and pop Duggar, too! They decided on a beautiful oatmeal color for their walls. As you can see, DiMare did an incredible job of decorating the home! From the furniture, artwork, end tables and even houseplants, right down to the light fixtures, everything looks absolutely amazing. You can also see the family’s second kitchen to the left in the photo above.

Dining Room

Dining room, Duggar family
Image: Pinterest / Becki Sands

As one would with an ever-expanding family, the Duggar’s have a huge dining room table. It is eighteen feet long and seats twenty people. Oh, and yes, that is indeed a drink fountain over there, so the little tykes have their pick of what they want to drink. Since quite a few of the Duggar kids are getting married and having babies of their own, that table probably houses more high-chairs then regular chairs by now. Can you imagine what a holiday like Thanksgiving would be like, especially with their extended family? It must get a bit crazy around there during the holidays!

Laundry Room

laundry, Duggars
Image: Pinterest / Jennifer Sager

Washing, drying and folding clothes is probably one of our least favorite chores out there. But, it has to be done if we want clean clothes! Can you imagine just how much laundry that the Duggar family does a week? With a family that size, it must be a lot, and it totally is! The family does approximately forty loads of laundry per week. But fear not, they are not overworking one washer and dryer to do all that work. They have what Michelle lovingly calls her “laundromat,” which houses 4 washers and 4 dryers. So, if we do the math, forty loads times fifty-two weeks in a year equals 2,080 loads each year. Can you imagine? Dirty laundry is thrown down a laundry shute, where another Duggar child is there to catch it and sort it. Then it gets washed!

Family Closet

closet, laundry
Image: Pinterest / 19 Kids and Counting

As you can probably imagine, with 19 kids in total, there is going to be a lot of clothing. Can you imagine sorting all of these clothes? From pants and skirts, to shoes and polos, they are all kept in here. After doing laundry, everything has to be sorted, as you can see. According to Michelle, when someone is in need of an outfit to wear, they make their way down to the room-sized family closet. Even though we don’t have 19 kids, we sure do wish that our kids could keep their closets this organized! It even looks like they sort clothes by color, too!

Boy’s Bedroom

boys room, bedroom
Image: Pinterest / Annie R.

When it came to bedrooms while they were building their “dream home,” you would have thought that the kids would ask for more bedrooms! But, they actually didn’t! In the 7,000 square foot home, there are only three bedrooms! Jim-Bob and Michelle’s being the master bedroom, and one for the boys, and one for the girls. Surprisingly enough, the kids wanted it that way! They wanted to stay close to their siblings! As you can see, the boys room has a slew of bunk-beds for all the boys! Not only that, but it also has a trap-door that leads straight to the playroom! Now that some of the boys have married and moved out, we’re sure that there is even more room for the remaining Duggar boys!

Girl’s Bedroom

bedroom, Duggars
Image: Pinterest / Denise Peters Steele

Initially, the girls had a room that was filled with horses and rainbows, as can be seen in the photo above. However, as the girls grew older, they felt that a redesign was in order. They wanted to make it more modern, and we have to say, it sure does look great! We’re loving all the photos on the wall! Reportedly Jana has an eye for design, and she is the one that did this beautiful re-design on the bedroom! She is still living at home with four younger sisters. But we really think that she has an eye for design! The next Joanna Gaines, perhaps?

Master Bedroom

bedroom, Duggars
Image: Facebook / The Original Duggar Family Fan Blog

Jim-Bob and Michelle’s master suite is right in the middle of the house. It separates the boy’s room from the girl’s rooms. We do not know too much about the master bedroom, as Jim-Bob and Michelle are pretty private about that stuff. But we do know that it has two bathrooms, which most definitely comes in handy, especially in the hectic morning hours! They have decorated their bedroom very simply, which actually looks quite nice! The decor is really quite lovely, and that bed looks beautiful! It does look like they have a little reading nook with a comfy chair to sit in!

The Playroom

playroom, Duggars
Image: Facebook / The Original Duggar Family Fan Blog

With 19 kids, you definitely have to keep them occupied! Enter the Duggar family’s 18 by 36 foot playroom! As we can see, there is an old-school arcade cabinet for some nostalgic video game fun! There are computers, a Foosball table, and a pool table, too! Oh, we also forgot to mention the enormous twisty slide, a climbing wall and lockers! There is also a tunnel leading from the playroom downstairs, to the boy’s room upstairs. According to Jason, in an episode of 19 Kids and Counting, the children also have a space (not seen) where they are schooled from 11AM-2PM. Each child also has their own cubby for their schoolwork, as well as filing cabinets where their schoolwork is kept.

Music Nook

music, Duggars
Image: Facebook / The Original Duggar Family Fan Blog

Every child in the Duggar family has learned to play an instrument. Their “music nook” is complete with a black grand piano. Many of the children play violins. However, Josiah took up the cello, and John-David plays the viola. Jana, Jill and Jinger have all learned how to play the harp. Michelle also makes sure that the children get piano lessons. It is wonderful that they have a large space to practice their music in! The children are often invited to play at different events like weddings, rallies and more because of their musical talents. They even make time to visit the local nursing home to play for the residents there!

Prayer Closet

Prayer, Duggars
Image: Facebook / The Original Duggar Family Fan Blog

When it comes to studying, we all need a quiet place to do so. So, when it came to studying the Bible, the Duggar’s came up with the great idea of a “prayer closet.” It is just a simple little room, with a desk and a lamp. Just a quiet little nook where any family member can go in and pray or study their Bible verses. This is such a lovely idea in the way that anyone can really do this! If you have a spare closet in your home (you can clean one out! Marie Kondo, anyone?), this can be easily done. It is so simple and such a beautiful idea!

Pantry

pantry, food, Duggars
Image: Youtube / TLC

When you are feeding a family of 19 children, you sure are going to need a lot of space to store your food. That is exactly what Jim-Bob and Michelle have! They have a huge pantry, stocked to the brim with all kinds of foods. The children are free to come and go into the pantry as they please for a snack or two. This includes the Duggar family’s favorite snack, pickles. They house giant jars of them on the bottom shelf, so they are accessible to everyone. There are also three full-sized deep freezers in the pantry, with all kinds of frozen foods! It truly is like a mini-grocery store!

Josh’s A/V Studio

audio, video, studio
Image: Facebook / The Original Duggar Family Fan Blog

The eldest Duggar child is a budding videographer. So, when the Duggar family built their home in Tontitown, they added a studio where Josh could edit his videos. In the photo above, Josh, Josiah and John-David hang out together as Josh is editing a video. While small and quaint, it looks like it has just the right amount of room for video work! It certainly does look like he has some high-tech equipment in that studio! Now that he has since married with children, and has moved out, though, we wonder if any other Duggars have taken up the hobby!

What was your favorite part of the Duggar family’s home? Let us know in the comments! If you want to learn more about the Duggars, check out the latest season of their series Counting On on TLC!

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