Joanna Gaines Is Revealing All Her Design Secrets for the 'First Time' in a New Class (Exclusive)

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The Magnolia co-founder is teaming up with MasterClass to take viewers step-by-step through her design process so they can create their dream home

Joanna Gaines is pulling back the curtain like never before!

The Magnolia co-founder, 46, is teaming up with online education platform MasterClass to share her expertise with viewers who want to create their dream home but don't know where to start. 

In the above trailer, premiering exclusively with PEOPLE, Gaines explains that "for the first time, I'm taking you behind the scenes of my design process," and shares how viewers don't have to "break the bank" to make their space feel like the ones she creates on TV.

PEOPLE caught up with the Fixer Upper star, best-selling author and mom of five to chat about the exclusive topics she explores in her class. 

Related: Joanna Gaines Shares Her 6-Year-Old Son Crew Gave Her a Sweet Handwritten Note and Flower Bouquet 'Just Because'

Right off the bat, Gaines reminds viewers that (despite becoming a design icon) she's never had any professional training. And especially when she and husband Chip first opened their first Magnolia retail store in 2003, she was just trusting her instincts.

"I didn't go to design school, and I wasn't a professional designer by any stretch, so my toolbox was limited to the projects Chip and I had flipped around Waco," she tells PEOPLE of her early design days. 

When meeting with her first-ever client, Joanna says that she started out with one question that would become a staple in her design process. 

"Instead of asking about scale and proportion or inspiration spaces, I simply asked her to describe how she wanted the space to feel," she explains. "I didn't know that would become the first question I'd ask every client after that. Feeling speaks to story, and storytelling is the heartbeat of my approach to design."

Related: Chip and Joanna Gaines Make 'Roller Skate History' with First-Ever Competition Series, Roller Jam — See the Trailer! (Exclusive)

During her class, Joanna runs through a detailed, practical checklist to help viewers get from point A to point B in their decorating journey — whether it's curating one space in their home or renovating the entire thing.

Her absolute favorite step, she says, is to "establish the look and feel of your space" because of what it leads to next.

"You've reached the point where you can say, 'yes, this feels right.' The very next step is to go get after it. I think that's why I love this part of the process so much," she explains. "You've established the most important aspect of design, which is how this space is going to tell your story, and I think it just gives you this confidence to now go and actually build out the space."

Joanna calls this part of the process the "north star" because it's a step viewers will keep coming back to for guidance, or if they lose their way, throughout their project.

Related: Joanna Gaines Says It Can Be 'Uncomfortable' Reflecting on Her Life: 'Makes You Second Guess' (Exclusive)

The class is ideal for anyone hoping to unlock their inner Joanna Gaines, especially if they tend to get overwhelmed when it comes to design.

"I used to be someone who felt stuck and immobilized when I looked around my home and wondered why it didn't feel right or look like us, and I never knew where to start or how to begin," she tells PEOPLE. 

Joanna hopes her class will give viewers a push "toward creating a home they're really proud of."

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She continues, "I hope it will open their eyes to seeing their home differently — that it isn't about more stuff, but more of their story." 

To learn more about Joanna's class on MasterClass, visit masterclass.com.