Nearly 100 pieces of furniture that once looked destined for a landfill are about to go under the gavel in Bloomfield Hills, judged in part by a familiar face from HGTV. The Furniture Bank of Metro Detroit will hold its 2nd annual Furniture Flip Bash on Sept. 10, where guests can bid on roughly 100 refurbished furniture pieces made over by Michiganians who signed up for the organization's flip challenge.
Hilary Farr, a former HGTV Love It or List It star, is returning to judge the contest after appearing as a guest judge at the inaugural event in 2025, according to The Detroit News. Farr hosted 19 seasons of the HGTV design show over 15 years before leaving the series in late 2023, and has since focused on international design projects and philanthropic work, per Social House News. The premier 2025 event, also held at The Village Club, featured more than 150 project pieces from dozens of local creators, the outlet reports.
How the Contest Works
Entrants paid a $30 fee per piece and picked up their raw, untransformed furniture from the Furniture Bank's Madison Heights warehouse between June 1 and today, choosing up to three items on a first-come, first-served basis before restoring them with their own tools and materials, according to the organization's contest rules published on its website. The 2026 challenge carries a total prize pool of $10,000, including a $5,000 Best in Show grand prize plus five $1,000 category awards for Best Children's, Most Transformative, Best Restored, Most Artistic, and People's Choice.
WDIV Local 4 news anchor Kimberly Gill, who joined the Furniture Bank's board of directors in 2025, will emcee the Sept. 10 fundraiser. General admission tickets run $200, while VIP reception tickets cost $350, per the nonprofit's own event listing. The evening runs from 6 to 8:30 pm and will feature strolling food stations, cocktails, and a live silent auction of the completed flips, concluding with the announcement of the cash prize winners.
Furniture as a Path Out of Poverty
The contest doubles as an environmental effort, diverting discarded, landfill-bound furniture donated to the organization's warehouse into functional, upcycled statement pieces, according to Detroit Design. CEO Diane Charles has emphasized keeping quality wooden-frame furniture out of landfills rather than discarding it. The Furniture Bank of Metro Detroit provides essential home furnishings to families across the tri-county area, supporting its broader nonprofit mission through fundraisers like the flip bash.
That mission is substantial in scale: the organization distributes roughly 20,000 pieces of furniture annually across Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb counties, including a target of 1,000 twin beds for local children each year, according to Business of Home. Many client children served by the organization previously slept on floors or shared beds with relatives, the outlet notes. Founded in 1968 by local churches and community volunteers, the Furniture Bank of Southeastern Michigan is one of the oldest furniture bank operations in the country, originally formed to help low-income Detroit families in Wayne County.
Academic research published in 2022 in partnership with the Furniture Bank found that providing basic furniture to formerly homeless individuals directly improves physical, mental, and social health while accelerating attachment to a new home, per a study cited by PMC examining vulnerable Wayne County families transitioning into permanent housing. That research underscores why an empty apartment, without a bed or a couch, can slow someone's recovery from homelessness or crisis, even after they secure a lease.
Between the entry fees, ticket sales, and the live silent auction of finished pieces, the flip bash channels the proceeds back into the Furniture Bank's core work of furnishing homes for families across Metro Detroit. The event's second year brings a celebrity judge, a bigger prize pool, and a growing roster of local flippers back to The Village Club in Bloomfield Hills on Sept. 10.
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