Hawaii Life was kind of a shocker to me. I don’t know what I expected the houses to look like over there (grass huts?), but was fairly certain they wouldn’t look like some contractor from Anchorage, Alaska moved there and began building subdivisions. Ugly tract houses, it seems, are what you get for your $300K.
Yup, Merida. Those floors were lovely. I can deal with no front yard, a small patch of back yard would do me, especially if it is fully fenced with a cement fence and has a small pool and space for a few potted herbs. [I go through basil and mint like they are going out of style!]
One of the little houses had a small front courtyard, a fence with a gate. It was the same width of the house and about 8 or 10 feet deep between gate and front door. Basically enough for some nice potted arbor vitae, bay laurels or rosemary bushes.
David Bromstad Color Splash? You can buy one of your very own (scroll down if you dare):
Property Virgins today had a 26-year-old woman looking for her first place and exclaiming that the master didn’t have a sitting area!
I would agree about the homes they show on Hawaii Life - if you don’t have several million dollars, the houses they typically show look like they are made out of cardboard and were previously inhabited by meth addicts. And they they want $500,000 or something for that crap house?
Yes, I know “location, location, location” but still - what is the point of paying a fortune for a shanty even if it is only half mile from the beach? I would be terrified to live there if there was even a mild thunderstorm, let alone anything worse.
Holy crap. And I do mean crap.
Hm, I like his ombre towels. He is a fairly competent commercial artist for what friends of mine refer to as sofa art [big canvases that hang in a living room over a sofa to provide a splash of color in a rental where you can’t paper or paint but can hang art.]
And yes, I did like color splash - at least his stuff looked pretty livable compared to some decorators. He did an office with a funky bed that pulled out, where the mattress sort of slid up and down from behind a set of shelves. He was adorable sitting in the space he was going to decorate with his clipboard and colored pencils. 
I liked him, too, and I liked his room designs.
I’m pretty picky about what I hang on my walls. I don’t just fill space with colors and shapes.
I love the DIY shows that apparently feature people who stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night: “I want to turn my 1920s Craftsman into an open concept, so let’s just demo this (load bearing) wall, and, oops? Move all the plumbing and electrical? We watched Bob Vila once, so surely we can finish up by tomorrow evening!” Schadenfreud (sp? My phone isn’t recognizing the word, sorry) baby!
Ditto the shows where alleged professionals are flummoxed by the super predictable issues that arise when remodeling any home more than 20 years old.
I’m currently at the tail end of a major-ish home update - new floors throughout, paint, update bathrooms, gut and refit kitchen, so I’ve lately paid a lot of attention to home buying and remodel shows. Am I the only person of the opinion that today’s granite and stainless kitchens will be tomorrow’s avocado and harvest gold horrors? Honestly, our rental place had those, and I hated them: the dark granite made it impossible to find things (think black phone against black counter. Or knife handles.) And the only way I want stainless steel appliances is if they’re actually professional quality, not some cheap crap with a crummy “upgraded” finish. I often think that the modern deluxe kitchens being sold today are mostly for people who don’t actually cook.
Also, with regard to open concept homes? Those are ideal for singles or couples without children or pets. How do you keep the dogs out of the kitchen without walls or doors? Why do I want a wide open kitchen to be part of a convenient traffic pattern? So the kids can come barreling through every time I try to cook a meal? Do I really want to let the world know that I left dirty dishes in the sink every time I open the front door? I hate the concept!
No kidding. My house was built in 1970something, and the kitchen and bathrooms have been updated somewhat since then, but every prospective buyer on these home shows would run screaming out of them. I love it when they walk into a house that is, like you say, less than 10 years old (maybe five or so years old), and they call everything “dated.” Welcome to the real world, honey!
Oh yeah, and what’s the big deal with CROWN MOLDING???
People become orgasmic when they see it.
If they only knew that often contractors put it up just to hide the ugly seam between the wall and the ceiling.
No clue. I suppose with the correct molding, you can use it as a hanging mount for artwork without having to pound nails into the walls.
Though I do think it is as a result of looking at the pre WW2 houses with all the lovely real wood details, and then at the mid-century moderns that are plasterboard boxes slapped together. Look at the lovely woodwork, then look at your plasterboard box …
Me? I absolutely adore Craftsman, Victorians, Georgians, Federals. I will live in a midcentury box, but I really love the old houses. I will NOT however orgasm over stupid pressed wood cheap crown moldings [or those funky compressed plastic and cardboard moldings] and don’t want them in my house. I want real wood!
Exactly. I can’t stand to watch these shows anymore. The 20-somethings walk around and sniff that there needs to be granite counters, hardwood floors, stainless appliances, marble showers, a brick patio, etc. The selfish expectations are completely unrealistic.
Mrs. Cretin speaking, without hula hoop.
Of all the unrealistic expectations (granite, stainless, hardwood, high ceilings, open concept, with “character” but updated, close to downtown but quiet & with parking) the most galling is for a large master suite. What do they do in there? How much space do you need when you’re comatose? These entitled twenty-somethings should be grateful to be able to buy an old starter home. Nevertheless, I do enjoy seeing the houses.
I could sort of see a large master suite if you had another couple as roomies [twin master suites] or a fair amount of kids in the reasonable and responsible age [where they could be trusted to get themselves breakfast and go watch tv or play nintendo saturday and sunday mornings] so you could have a little quality time together NOT knocking boots in bed.
But you are quite correct, the average person comes home from work, changes clothing into nonwork clothes, eats dinner, does laundry or whatnot, maybe logs in to read email and sports scores. If TV is watched it is frequently in bed while falling asleep. Not very many people do the long luxurious sipping of coffee sitting in a reading nook or on a belvedere/balcony in the morning, they head to the kitchen and slam a coffee down on the way to work. We have the impression of high quality of life being reflected in luxury surroundings that in all honesty would never or rarely get used. I know a fair number of people that have hot tubs they never use - I got my first one from a nice lady that had one installed and hadn’t used it in 5 or 6 years. They used to toss kids toys into it while it was empty and use it sort of like a playpen.
No, I’ve always thought that. We did almond (biscuit/off-white) appliances, but those are hard to find and ours will need to be replaced soon, alas. I did finally yield to my spousal unit and get granite counters, but I hate them. It’s impossible to see if they’re dirty unless you get the light at just the right angle. I’d have been just as happy with laminate, but I got tired of fighting about it. Now I feel stuck. Oh well… It is nice to put pans right from the oven on the counter.
And for the record, I like David Bromstad and I like much of his artwork. I don’t think I could live in one of his remodels - sometime he uses TOO MUCH COLOR!!! Still, I loved watching him - he always seemed to be having so much fun.
Well, I shouldn’t be surprised to hear that they’re set-ups. I was, but I shouldn’t be. Shame on me.
Me too. The other day a young lady kept saying how perfectly good kitchens were “dated” – my GOSH they were at LEAST 4 years OLD! The granite wasn’t the latest colors, and oh my. Ignore the pro gas cooktop, because it’s not stainless.
Worse yet, you see them say this in downtown Paris or on a beach or some other place where people don’t live in their bedrooms.
Agree about the term “man cave” but disagree with your relationship advice. I’m happy to have a room for my work and play, though it’s not much of a cave. Forgive the bad photograph:
http://learjeff.net/forums/keyboard/studio/studio-1-900.jpg
I wouldn’t want that stuff in the rest of the house either. In our last house, I had half of the family room, because that’s what worked. I like this much better, both practically and esthetically.
Something to keep in mind is that during filming, the subjects are required to say at least one comment about each room, which is a bug part of why they seem so inane and nitpicky.
My “new” kitchen is (rather, will be) equipped with white appliances. Maybe not the latest trend, but I can’t imagine they’ll appear dated any time soon. Besides, when the Gods of Thrift send me a white Kitchenaid convection/microwave oven for $300, and a white six-burner Viking cooktop for $200? Who am I to argue that I’m meant to have white appliances? 
(And I already owned a white refrigerator, so there!) The only stainless steel in my kitchen will be the sink and the counters - which the contractor thought was a bad idea because they’ll show wear and tear. I don’t care if they develop “character,” I wanted something that is easy to clean and durable, and that I can actually see grape jelly spots on - not granite! Besides, the counters I wanted only cost me a bit more than $1000, including installation, versus at least four times that for granite. I can replace them later if I hate them!
(Actually, I’m pretty proud of the vision I had for my kitchen, and of the cost I’ve managed for: between recycled cabinets, a couple of used appliances, etc., the whole project - including floors, lights, and a vintage enamel-top table, plus a new dishwasher, sink, and range hood - is coming in under $6000. If I’d purchased them new, just the cabinets would have cost that much!)
Undoubtedly, a home buyer appearing on HGTV would run away in horror at first glance, but I’ll take my $283/month ten-year mortgage payment over any amount of granite and stainless steel!