Those TV home makeovers that happened in a one-hour episode? People don’t realize Mark Brunetz had a crew of 100, and it took them a week to do one house.

I’m talking with Brunetz, the Emmy award winning co-host of “Clean House,” a series that ran on the Style Network from 2003 to 2011.

Those home makeover TV shows “featured the beginning and the end, and glossed over and glamorized the middle. It shortchanged the design process, which has so much more depth,” he said. That disconnect made him think, “Man, if people only knew the story behind the story, that design is about so much more than putting pretty things in a room and the crying emotional reveal.”

So last year, Brunetz launched Scandalabra, a podcast designed to uncover just that, or as the cutline reads: “The Ugly Truth Behind Beautiful Spaces.”

I’ve known Mark for more than a decade, and he has a way of getting you to tell him stuff you would only tell your dog. Unsurprisingly, when he asked his guests to share the real story, they spilled.

Since the first episode (titled “The Desecration of Design”) aired last July, he has completed 24 unblinking podcast interviews with design insiders, and more episodes are in the works.

Q. Share some scoop! What did you learn?

A. In my first episode, I talked with L.A. designer Jaime Rummerfield about our early days doing home makeovers for television. She said, as much good as home makeover shows have done for the world of home improvement, they have also done a disservice. The genre has cheapened design and architecture. She compared the fast design featured on these shows with fast fashion. Many stores sell cheap clothes that look really cute on the hanger and fall apart after one wearing. It’s all about the moment. That’s happening in the world of fast design, too, pushing poorly made furniture to get that quick look. And every show has someone wielding a sledgehammer taking out a wall. That makes good television, but knocking out a wall isn’t right for many homes.

Q. After 24 interviews with design pros, did themes emerge?

A. Almost every guest said that too many people are so busy copying trends that their homes don’t reflect them. Isn’t the real goal to create a space that’s about you?

Q. In “The Dangers of Idolizing TV Designers” episode, guest Angelo Surmelis warned against mimicking TV design experts’ looks or TV trends. Why?

A. Following either is a sure path to an inauthentic space. Companies manufacture trends to sell products. The only expert on your life is you. Why would you copy someone else’s style? The color of the year is the color you love.

Q. When you talked with renowned architect Dean Larkin (whose residential work includes some of the most iconic homes in Los Angeles, including the restoration of the 24,000-square-foot Lionsgate), he said, “Ignore the “isms.” What did he mean?

Q. When people get locked into a look, like midcentury modernism or traditionalism, they miss the opportunity to create their look. Your home is first and foremost your personal sanctuary and should echo you and your family. Don’t rush. Certainly don’t attack a project like we did, finishing it all in a week. The most successful rooms are designed over time. As for the idea of timeless design, Larkin sees it differently: We must consider the time we live in and move forward. Great design is a nexus of people, space and the time they are in.

Q. How has the pandemic changed home design?

A. The pandemic didn’t introduce anything new. It just put a magnifying lens on what was there. We began looking more at our environment and saying to ourselves, I don’t like this. Why? If your home wasn’t genuinely you, that became more obvious. Now those who are thriving at home are those who connect with their homes because their homes reflect them.

Q. How do you put the “you” in your space?