I like to watch real estate porn on tv, and I’m getting really tired of hearing, over and over again, “I have to have granite countertops! It has to have an open concept! I can’t buy this house if it doesn’t have crown mouldings!” etc, et freakin’ cetera. I know I’m not the only real estate porn-watcher on the boards here, so I’m curious what other people think about these trendy things.
I have laminate counters in my kitchen, and while I would like them to be nicer, they don’t have to be granite - granite seems like overkill for a kitchen countertop to me. There are many other options that aren’t quite so over-the-top. As for an open concept main floor, my house has a kitchen that has a wall with two entrances (one on each side), and I think it’s fine - I don’t think walls in kitchens are the worst thing ever. Crown mouldings - yeah - I don’t need those either.
Feel free to talk about any trend you see in homes, not just the ones I’ve talked about here, too.
Granite countertops aren’t really any more trendy than hardwoods floors, though certain colors wax and wane in popularity. There are just a lot more families who can afford the more expensive materials these days.
I do like open kitchens, but I’m getting a bit tired of stainless appliances everywhere. We paneled our fridge and dishwasher in the house we built.
I like granite countertops and open concept. But Crown Molding? I don’t get why people go gaga over it. It just looks stupid to me. Same for SS appliances. Too industrial. I want my home to look homey, not like a factory.
And what’s with people who look at a house and say, “I can’t live with that wallpaper/carpeting/paint scheme. Take us somewhere else.” WTF? You’re spending hundreds of thousands on the house. You can spend another grand on repainting!
I like granite counter tops but hate most open concept homes. I like rooms. I hate that I have to make my kitchen pristine after cooking for a dinner party because you can see it completely from the family room (completely open) and somewhat from the dining room (wide doorway between the two rooms).
My family room has almost no wall space since there is a huge doorway between family room and living room and no wall between it and the kitchen. Limits places for art work, book shelves etc.
I can’t speak to the other trends but I cannot understand the love for granite countertops. Firstly, the reasoning for their popularity seems so circular: “Granite countertops are a good investment in your home because they’re popular. And since so many people like them, they’re a good investment in your home.” Secondly, everyone keeps talking about how beautiful they look. Er, granite is gray and dingy. Buildings made out of granite are dull and ugly–do you want to bring that into your home as a showpiece? Lastly, there are few things less suited to kitchen countertops than granite…ok, maybe cardboard, but not much else. For example, this expert recommends that you “avoid products with ingredients that include lemon, vinegar or other acids” around granite. Great, it’s a good thing nobody ever cooks with those :rolleyes:
Give me old-fashioned formica countertops. I can spill all the fruit juice, alcohol, vinegar and what not on it I want without making a stain. Also, does not need resealing. Also, cheaper to replace if you DO damage it.
My personal opinion is granite countertops are stupid. But obviously not everyone agrees.
I don’t care for islands. Yeah, I know it’s a minority opinion, but I just find them something to walk around-constantly! I have a small kitchen, I like the flow, an island would be wrong for me.
I don’t get the granite obsession either, I have cutting board counters, but very little counter space. I love being able to cut or put down hot things anywhere.
I like some open concept but not so much, the soaring ceiling thing, with giant banks of windows.
And the entire sitting area in the giant bedroom baffles me. It’s just more furniture and more space to care for.
Also, multiple bathrooms. I have to clean those bathrooms. I would seriously not consider a move to a 3 bathroom house, a step up. Even a half bath/powder room. Another toilet to clean? I don’t think so.
Natural materials have a certain allure to lots of people. Hence, granite.
And the open kitchen concept is a better fit to the way most people live these days. People tend to gather in the kitchen, so why not make it more an integral part of the living area?
Crown moulding? I can take it or leave it. But it really doesn’t make much sense on 8 ft ceilings, IMO.
Funny, we’ve been talking about remodeling our kitchen lately, and granite countertops have definitely been talked about. I’m middlin’ on them. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s more than I don’t see them as that much nicer than Formica. Formica is cheap, it looks pretty good, and it’s durable. If granite was the same price or even a little more expensive, I might like it. But I hear it’s about 4x the cost of Formica, and I can think of a lot of other things I’d spend money on before I’d spend 'em on granite.
On the other hand, we bought our house primarily because of the open floor plan. I spend far too much time in the kitchen to want it blocked off from the rest of the house. Plus, we are not formal dining room kind of people; our house now has a great room, with one big room that serves as the living room & dining room, with the kitchen on one side. It completely fits our lifestyle WAY more than if they were all separate.
I’m not sure where you get the idea that granite is grew and dingy. It may not be your taste, but it’s anything but simple grey.
I find it a great material for a countertop. I can put hot pots on it with little care. The only issue with acidic materials is if you have a big spill you let stay for a long time. Under normal wear, they are extremely durable. My parents old type countertops got stained and damaged much easier than my granite ones ever have. It’s not like if I dribble lemon juice on the counter it doesn’t become etched and damaged.
Again, it’s not for everyone and that’s fine, but it’s not as fragile as you seem to think- and the article you linked to doesn’t even seem to state it as cautiously as all that.
Some of the synthetic countertop materials, like CaesarStone, are getting to be popular. They look nice, and are a bit more forgiving than granite, but they cost about the same. And you don’t get the movement look that many granites have. That is, they cost about the same as a good quality granite material-- the material itself varies a lot in cost, so you have to take that into account. But ~$1200/slab is fairly typical. You can go much higher than that, but most people don’t.
I hate extreme, open concept designs. Some look like a huge warehouse or barn.
I don’t mind taking out a wall to open up the space. But leave a few walls so there’s actually rooms to do different tasks in. I don’t want the tv interfering with my wife as she sews. Her sewing room needs to be… A ROOM! and Not a corner area in a 24x12 open space.
I have granite countertops and didn’t think I cared for them before moving into this house but now I love them. Love putting pans right down on them, love how shiny they are, love how nothing stains them. I wouldn’t reject a house for them, but I like them much more than I thought I would.
Stainless steel I can take-it-or-leave-it, we put in white appliances here. I do love my freezer on the bottom fridge though.
I just closed on a house in November and asked my realtor “will people really walk away from an otherwise perfect house just because they don’t like the paint color?” She replied with an emphatic YES.
In a Buyer’s market (especially in my area where it’s an extreme Buyer’s market), houses are a dime a dozen. Most people want to buy a house and just move in and do very little, if any, cosmetic changes, so for most buyers there’s no point in dropping 125-250k (or higher) on a house that you’re just going to have to work on BEFORE you move in when there are 15 other houses just as nice with more palatable color schemes.
Then you have people like me who buy a less expensive house with horrible colors and spend 6 weeks remodeling before they move in. If you’re willing to put in some time and sweat you can get a REALLY good deal on a house, drop a couple of grand into fixing it up and end up with something just as good as you would have if you’d held out for a house that had colors you liked.
I like granite countertops a lot but they’re way out of my price range at the moment. Crown mouldings don’t impress me at all.
I loooove open concept houses. Possibly because I live in a more moderate climate (where I don’t have to worry about sealing off rooms for warmth), but I absolutely love big, open rooms with lots and lots of light. While I’m a big fan of historical stuff, I just can’t imagine living in a dark house-- give me light!
Granite is a big fat meh to me. I, like you, am always perplexed by the insistence of folks on HGTV that a house have granite. I mean, shit-- you’re spending $300,000 on something already, if you want granite that badly, go buy some granite and install it. My countertops are corian and while I don’t particularly like the color (stark white), they are durable and nice.
I suppose if a house had tile or laminate countertops, I’d be wary-- but as long as it was a nice, solid material, I don’t care if it’s granite, synthetic or whatever else.
Crown moulding is a definite plus for my aesthetics, so are tray ceilings. Far from mandatory, though.
Personally, I miss my avocado appliances from the 70s. Those were bitchin’, man. I hate white and SS, so I had to go with bisque on my recent kitchen reno.
I LOVE granite and other stone slabs for bathrooms and kitchens. I hate the dumb mosiacs with the tiny little pieces though. I mean seriously, what’s up with this?
I re-did my kitchen a few years ago. I liked the way the laminate pattern I found looked more than I liked the granite I saw. I would have gotten concrete (also trendy), if I could have found any that was even half affordable. I also got stainless appliances. They’re pretty. If someone is going with the trend because they like the way it looks, good for them. If they’re going with it because it’s trendy, that’s just strange.
I hate open concept. Hate it. I like clearly defined rooms. That said, I live alone. When I go to friends’ houses with families, I can see the benefit of having open concept rooms. I still don’t like it, but I understand it.
There are rooms that benefit from crown molding and rooms where it just looks silly. There the key is knowing which you have.
