Joanna Gaines Says Son Drake’s Apartment ‘Looks Like a Club’ Thanks to Decor He Added After Mom Left

Joanna Gaines’ son Drake has his own design vision for his college apartment.

The Magnolia Network co-founder, 46, opened up about her oldest son during a Today show appearance on Oct. 22 alongside husband Chip Gaines, revealing the 19 year old added his own personal touches after she decorated it for him.

“I spend all this time and plan. I do it, and then the day I leave, he’ll send pictures to his siblings and then they’ll show me,” she explained to hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.

A photo of Drake’s apartment pops up on the screen behind her as she speaks showing a space that doesn’t exactly evoke Joanna’s signature farmhouse modern style.

In the shot, a strip of blue LED lights can be seen glowing around the entire perimeter of the ceiling. 

“This is all about lighting. He wanted more lighting,” Joanna explains. “He bought some lights on Amazon and strung them throughout his whole apartment. Now it looks like a club.”

Chip jumps in to add his two cents. 

“This place was adorable the day before. Now he’s put disco lights in this thing. He’s got a smoke machine in the corner,” he jokes before his wife cuts in, “No he doesn’t. I hope he doesn’t.”

Joanna offered a glimpse of her extensive decorating at the apartment when she first dropped Drake off for his second year of college back in August. 

The Fixer Upper star began the mini tour with a shot of Drake’s fridge that was nearly empty except for a bottle of ranch dressing. “College apartment move in day,” she wrote in green text over the photo. 

In the next few clips, she offered a closer look at the decor she added to the space, including a rustic coffee table adorned with a candle, books, and a brown leather baseball. 

She also shared another angle of the coffee table to reveal a contraption that she first thought was a “ring toss for good ol’ fashion fun,” she said in the caption.

She then clarified what it actually was according to her son: “Mom, this is a drinking game.”

Drake is Chip and Joanna’s first kid to go to college. They also share sons Duke, 16, and Crew, 6, as well as daughters Ella, 18, and Emmie, 14.

In November 2023, Joanna and Chip opened up to PEOPLE about what it was like to watch Drake leave for college while also raising Crew, who was 5 at the time, in a very different phase of life.

“I think the greatest gift of having a kid go off to college and having a 5-year-old toddler, is kind of that perspective of it’s not here forever,” Joanna told PEOPLE. “Don’t take it for granted, and cherish these moments.”

Echoing with his wife, Chip added, “Something about Drakey going off to college really does make you shift your attention to Crew who’s on the tail end of all this. And you’re kind of living very intentionally because you know that — which is so hard to believe when you’re holding a 1-year-old — ‘Oh, this time’s going to go by quickly.’”