Maybe since last week was such a disaster with Jackass Jackie HO, this episode seemed somewhat boring. The HOs had two very long rooms with oddly placed fireplaces and those huge “niches” which is where you’re supposed to put a TV, I suppose. Both the HOs had tiny tvs. But I thought the rooms looked fine to begin with.
I wasn’t quite digging the stripes in Vern’s room, and I was shocked to see that he didn’t use any red! I love how anal he gets…what with drawing the detail on the doors using graph paper and the “module” of the stripes based on the stained glass windows. Was it just me, or when they were hanging the doors on the niche did the paint job look crappy? I couldn’t tell in the reveal, but maybe they put a second coat on.
Gen, I thought, did a nice job with the wood around the fireplace. I didn’t quite get the point of the artificial grass on the second tier above the fireplace, but the African violets looked nice. Her attempt at stained glass was pitiful, though. Compared to what the other HOs had, the purple diamonds looked rather silly. Are you supposed to nail wood right into ceramic tile around the fireplace? Don’t you take the tile down first?
Except for Paige breaking the light fixture, no angst in this episode. I know every episode can’t have a Kia crisis or a hysterical homeowner, but please, can’t they stick to rooms that actually need help, and not redo rooms just because the HO wants a change?
I confess that I found this episode to be a bit uninspired as well. I did like the light fixtures that Genevieve had. I don’t think she improved her room, however. I could take or leave the purple, but the other walls were turned from a warm off-white (I guess) to a sterile white-white. Not good, IMO.
I didn’t pay close attention, but it seemed like that if the owners of Vern’s room want to watch the evening news together, one has to sit on the floor. That doesn’t make sense. I know that it is popular to act all elitist about how television is big with the intellectual hoi polloi, but just because a room accomodates tv viewing that doesn’t mean that the design is all ad captandum vulgus and shit.
Here’s my question: Did anybody notice the difference in Paige’s body between the 8 pm and 9 pm episodes? In the eight o’clock one there seemed to be more of her. Don’t get me wrong, she’s lovely and has a great figure–in both episodes. What I’m wondering is if the difference is due to weight loss, or do clothes make that much of a difference?
I’m also thinking that Kia should change her name to Rikki Retardo.
I think the TV is in the armoire Amy Wynn built, and there’s a couch and a chair angled toward it. I’m not real sure what’s in the niche. Maybe they just put the doors there to cover up the huge gaping hole in the wall. (Why do builders put those things in houses now? They look hideous!)
I also noticed a difference between Gen’s slipcovering and Vern’s. Vern’s was much neater and looked more like an upholstery job. Gen’s looked like slipcovers. Plus, the curtains she hung needed ironing.
I live in Las Vegas and have a very similar home…new, with LOTS of windows and light.
One of the reasons I moved to Las Vegas is because I like sunshine.
The main reason I bought the house is because of the abundance of windows and light!
Because of that, we have about 50 live plants, growing furiously throughout the house. It is NOT a big deal to pull down a plant from a ledge and water it once a week.
Gen did everything possible to turn the place into a batcave! If she had covered my windows with full length curtains, ruined a whole wall with deathdark woodwork, put pillows to lounge by the ceiling with dustbunnies, and basically ruin the whole room, the episode would have made national news as I strangled her on-air. What the hell is wrong with her? By the way, those two “cute” berry lamps looked exactly like she got them from a very cheap flea market for 50 cents.
Vern at least got the idea that sunlight is not a bad thing. Granted, he, like every other designer, simply doesn’t get the idea that those TV nooks are built for…tada…TV’s! Cover it with a door if you will, but that is where the cable hookup is, and that is a nice place to stuff the TV, VCR, stereo and DVD and have it out of the way.
At least they kept the ceiling fan…you only have to be here one summer to realize they are kinda nice to have.
I think they were nailing the wood into the grout around the tile; otherwise all the tiles would break, right? I can’t imagine nailing into tile. I did notice Gen painting right over an outlet, (plate and all!) in that TV-hole. How freaking hard is it to unscrew the plate and paint around it, you lazy moron? And that bright pink in the TV-hole? Ug-lee!
I hated the plastic grass. It reminded me of that fake green stuff in the meat department in the grocery store. And was she serious with that top tier being a seating area? Maybe for cats.
I thought the wood was stained too dark. And it looked uneven and sloppy.
I didn’t care for her stained-glass diamonds in the windows, either. That just seemed like she wanted something more to do, like “more is more” or something.
And linen curtins? Are you serious? How impractical is that?
I’ve noticed that they seem to be leaving ceiling fans up more often. I think someone clued them in to the fact that they’re not a “design element”; they’re a necessary feature in some parts of the country! People don’t have ceiling fans because they’re pretty, they have them because they need them for heating and cooling purposes.
Vern’s room… I usually like his stuff, but this one gets a big ‘meh’ from me. I’m not real crazy about the stripes. I liked how he slipcovered the sofas. It didn’t look “slipcovered.” He does make things look nice and neat.
Since the niches were located right next to the fireplaces, I rather got the impression that the niches were designed to store firewood. But since someone with a similar home says they’re designed for the TV, what do I know? But the first thing I thought was “why do both HOs have TVs parked in the wood hole?”
Liked Vern’s room except for something seemed off with the colors of the stripes. (It reminded me a bit of the kitchen Gen did a few weeks ago with the cream cabinets and the grey/silver panels.) I was sorta “not seeing” it when he was outlining his ideas at the beginning of the show but it came together nicely. It’s a little “bland” for my tastes but I got the impression that that was (gasp!) exactly what the homeowners wanted. (Personal “ouch!” moment: When Vern was slipcovering their old couch and said the style was “nice but dated” – that’s the exact same pattern on my living room drapes and a chair slipcover, lol. I think I only got it like a year ago – it’s dated already? I can’t win!)
Gen’s room? I don’t think those people needed design help at all. The room they had before was ok, and the quick shot we had of their kitchen showed a surprisingly adventurous paint (possibly wallpaper?) treatment. I think they were just thinking the huge fireplace/plant mountain area was beyond their scope (with good reason!) but I think maybe they could’ve hired some local design help just for that area or something. Gen was really working my nerve this episode. First: “We don’t paint wood!” What? You don’t paint wood TODAY you mean. :rolleyes: She kept calling the plant shelving “potted shelving” or something. WTH? Then when she was doing that craptacular Gallery Glass (man I hate that sh!t) she first said she’d never done it before then proceeded to boss the hell out of everyone about how to do it. The fake grass looked lame (use real, like Vern did in that woman’s meditation kitchen!) and the small flowers looked chintzy (sp?) to me.
Linen wrinkles if you look at it wrong. And IIRC, she had it “puddled” at the bottom, which I hate. Linen curtains will be a huge PITA to keep clean, and you certainly can’t take them down and throw them in the washing machine.
I have a bunch of curtains from a company called Country Curtains (but they don’t all look “country” style) and they’re cotton and poly blends and look great, but the best part is I can sort of vacuum them with the attachment on my vacuum or take them down and throw them in the washer and dryer and then just hang them back up. Very easy to care for. Linen…not so much.
Yeah, that’s the Gallery Glass stuff I was talking about. It is to actual stained glass what a kazoo is to Mozart music. I don’t know if you used to mess around with Elmer’s glue when you were a kid (mixing it with glitter and food color to let it dry translucent, etc) but it’s the same premise.
I also forgot to mention I did like the coffee table design in Gen’s room. Still too dark though. (I actually thought the one Vern did turned out pretty well too. Great idea. I actually probably would’ve cut off the inner legs and bolted the tables together but this way the homeowners could take them apart and use them in a different configuration if they wanted.)
I was kind of relieved that this episode had no major drama. My favorite episodes are the ones where the HOs really like the rooms they get.
I didn’t like Gen’s room at all. I know it’s partially because I don’t like purple, but also…the furniture and the curtains looked bad. They looked shoddy and cheap. I think white slipcovers have to be done well; otherwise, they look like someone threw a sheet over a chair. I preferred the room before it was redone.
I never like it when the rooms are so nice to begin with. Huge changes are more fun. I think the rooms should start with wood paneling and velvet Elvis paintings, cause if it looks like the couple doesn’t really need an interior decorator, it’s just not as fun.
I thought Vern’s room was pretty good. I think I would have liked it more if the colors combined a little better. If he was going for “summer,” I don’t think that dark blue was the best color for the furniture and such. But he certainly helped to warm up a chilly room.
These pocket holes are actually quite large. The one we have, right next to the fireplace like in the show, holds a 36" tube televsion, and it is on 2 foot high tv stand (so no, you do not have to “look down” when you watch television.)
HIJACK ALERT (Skip if you don’t want to be thrown off track!)
Sorry for a slight hijack, but if you are a fan of this show, I have to quickly relate an amazing incident from “Changing Rooms” (BBC version of TP) that aired last night.
In one of the rooms, the designer came up with this great idea of a hanging bookshelf, in the middle of the room, to display the homeowners collection of antique teapots. So, there it was, hanging nicely, the teapots all put in order, then some books. Two seconds later - BANG! The whole thing fell down, completely destroying the homeowner’s collection!
And I do mean to smithereens! Broken teapots all over the place!
The two women who were doing the room broke down, the one had a major crying jag and the designer, to her credit, took all the blame and went over and told the other homeowner what happened to her room and her collection(you didn’t get to see that on the air.)
The upswing - the homeowner wasn’t all that upset - said that accidents happen and that was it.
It seriously looked to me like she’s been doing some upper body workouts. It looked like her arms and shoulders were a little more defined and large. She still looks great, but I asked jeevfiancee if Paige had been working out or what, because her arms seemed to be rather large for such a small-framed woman.
So instead of smaller on the bottom, bigger on the top to create the effect? That make sense.
I still really don’t know what effect clothes can have (I’ve watched a couple episodes of What Not To Wear and it seems like they can have a large effect), so I am still curious if the lighter color and different cut accentuates the difference.
Regardless, the homeowner from the last show, or at least someone claiming to be the homeowner from the last show, has posted on the TSMB. Y’all may read it here. Evidently he was very unhappy with the room he got.