Joanna Gaines says it was a privilege to renovate a special space for her parents, Nan and Jerry Stevens.

On a new episode of her solo series Mini Reni (airing July 2), the Magnolia Network star, 47, is transforming her parents’ outdoor patio into a multifunctional glass-enclosed space where her father plans to house his plants, and the couple plans to host gatherings with friends and family.

Gaines spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about the extremely special project.

“I just love that I got to do something for my parents, and I made them film with me,” she shares, but notes the space posed a special challenge thanks to a preference of her mom’s.

“My mom is like, ‘I don’t want to be outside if there’s bugs.’ And I’m like, ‘Well then, you don’t want to be outside because there are bugs. It’s Texas,’ ” Gaines jokes.

Her father is the exact opposite. “My dad loves being outside. He loves working in the garden,“ she continues. “So we always feel like when he goes outside, that he and my mom are just apart and they’ve been married 50-plus years. They love being together.”

She shares her dad’s sweet request to her: he would “love to create a space where [he] can kind of be outside, but [Nan] is with me.”

Gaines tells PEOPLE that she and her father were at lunch one day at her Waco restaurant Magnolia Table when she decided to create a rough drawing of what their outdoor space could be.: “I pull out a napkin and I start dreaming about it with him.”

Jerry approved her vision and his daugther got to work transforming the backyard and covered patio into “more of an interior space” for all his plants. “It’s almost like a greenhouse, but a dining room and a living room. So my mom will be out there, it’s temperature-controlled. There’s no bugs. So my mom now will be out there, and my dad can have everything he loves.” 

Since the room’s completion, Jerry and Nan have been sharing frequent updates about it with Gaines.

“Every night he’s texting me, showing me a picture of them in there, eating dinner,” reveals the designer. “I got to create the space where they’re together. But my dad feels like he can tend to everything that he loves, where he gets nurtured with plants.” 

Gaines also notes that the upcoming episode “feels really special” and allowed her to bring “that dream to life for them.” 

“[My dad is] truly is like that’s his favorite space now in the house,” she notes. “So that feels like such a gift that I got to help create that for them.”

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Mini Reni, which Joanna stars in solo with a few cameos from her husband and Fixer Upper co-star Chip, premiered on May 14 on Magnolia Network. The nine-episode series, which drops weekly, follows the designer as she executes a series of inspiring designs on a smaller scale than the months-long overhauls fans are used to seeing her complete on the couple’s flagship show.

“I love doing the bigger Fixer projects because you get that big before-and-after reveal moment. That’s what I live for; I love those,” Joanna tells PEOPLE. “For me, though, as a designer, I have to say, ‘Okay, what challenges me the most?’ and it’s typically not those bigger projects. It’s smaller spaces, tighter timelines and smaller budgets.”

Nan and Jerry’s episode of Mini Reni will be available to stream on Max, Discovery+, and Magnolia Network starting Wednesday, July 2.