Dawn

Coming to this one late. I agree with the love for Mike's lamp -- that was awesome. I thought the rest of their basement was really boring, and felt the most "finished basement-y" to me. (I didn't grow up with a basement, and haven't quite managed to warm to them in general.) And I am not fan of her in general, so ... David and Tiffany - eesh. Granted, that was somewhat less egregious than an all-pink basement could be, but still pretty bad. IMO, at minimum trim shouldn't match the walls. Brian and Mika's bowling alley was potentially fun, but definitely could be a negative for some people. I liked the rest of their space fine. I was surprised to read here all of the comments regarding Tamara's caution about Nate & Jeremiah's stove. I had interpreted her comment entirely different from what others apparently got, and I went back and rewatched that part, and still don't get it. As I understood it, it had absolutely nothing to do with being a gas stove, or about children playing around a stove in general. I interpreted it as specifically being about having a full stove in the basement -- that is, away from the adults, in the kids' play area. This is what she said: "The only con, I felt like, is I've got little kids, I come home and they've made their ramen noodles on the stove top and left it going." So it wasn't about them accidentally turning on the stove while playing, but about them deliberately using the stove, but perhaps this being more dangerous than using the stove in the main kitchen because it's out of sight/has less normal supervision. Am I crazy? Did anyone else get that meaning? (I think GeorgiaRai's comment above was maybe along the same lines?) I haven't liked some specific things about Nate & Jeremiah's designs (the ridiculous stone bathroom sink and the like), but I love the look of their iron & glass doors everywhere, and am sucker for all of the greenery they've brought into their spaces, and I thought this was a good one for them to win (even though I think they have no chance at the final win, and rightfully so). And like Brian and Mika's expanded laundry room last week, I think the overall judgment of this space can't be done until we see the outdoor spaces (and entrances) next week, regarding its usefulness as a separate unit.

Oh my goodness, yes!! I thought it looked nice, but all I could think about every time they showed them was how much much it would hurt to catch one (or both!) of those edges with my hip. I have enough problems with normal corners.

Same here. I wasn't necessarily bored by the segment, but I wasn't much a fan of the bowls. The main thing I kept thinking about was how do you keep dirt/food bits/dust/cat hair etc. from getting stuck beneath the copper or around the little nails/rivets? There's a reason why food serving dishes are usually solid surface. I was also wondering about that. I mean, clearly it must not have been the whole bathtub, or something?? But it was so bizarre looking, and they didn't say anything about it.

I had no idea the host was Jon Knight until I started watching it! I was shocked, and delighted that he seems like such a decent, down-to-earth, skilled guy. (I was in junior high when Hangin' Tough came out, so prime age for NKOTB fandom.) I mostly liked the outcome, but I agree about the staircase; I wish they had kept the posts white, at least, and/or maybe added a runner. (Every time I see a painted wood staircase, all I can think about is how quickly that paint will get dirty and worn off by the foot traffic.) I also didn't love the ceiling in the living room. The beams would have been nice by themselves, but the whole thing being all that old wood just felt dark and heavy and barn-like in a bad way, IMO. That chicken wallpaper in the coop was so freaking cute! Yes, the part they knocked down was a later addition (still old, but more late 1800s) and basically had no foundation under it -- just some rotting wood beams, and a crumbling rock wall. The whole thing sloped horribly, including one door that had about a 3-inch gap between the door and the top frame on one corner (but was basically level with the frame on the other corner). It was bad, and they really had no choice. But they matched the look well with the new build, which I appreciated.

I was pleasantly surprised by this (I've seen a few episodes of Rebab Addict, but didn't love it). That house indeed was amazingly beautiful. But what I really liked about it was that it showed what can be done with a small budget: $40,000 is much, much less than most of these other shows ever work with, never mind for a house that huge! So the focus on a few major things (electricity, floors, working appliances) and then just painting and other more cosmetic fixes was really practical. Obviously it helps that the house was clearly well made and had been pretty well maintained, but it was nice to see a focus on making a house livable and beautiful on a minimal budget and a lot of elbow grease, and not worrying about high-end finishes and the latest design features.

I now spend a lot of time on my street-facing front porch when the weather is nice, which has actually surprised me, since I've always really liked/needed privacy. But my street is quiet, I have gotten to know my neighbors since buying the house a few years ago, and I live on a half block with my (small) back yard actually facing a much busier road, making it not a great option. So you never know. I think the feel of the house/street etc. can be really hard to know until you live there for a while. The Columbus couple tonight (my neck of the woods): any guesses on the suburb they ended up in? Did she say it took her 45 minutes from work/OSU? I loved that Victorian, but wasn't surprised that they ended up in the ranch. He was driving me nuts with his "smart appliances" thing, especially the HVAC. I bought a wireless thermostat for < $100 (and got rebates back from my electric and gas company) and can control my (rather old) furnace and AC with my smartphone (in my 1910 house). If he had been going on about the stove or fridge being smart, that would've at least made a little more sense, but a wireless/smartphone-controlled thermostat is super basic.

If I understood it correctly, there is absolutely nothing currently wrong with the upstairs laundry room, so there is no reason why the family upstairs would have to do anything to it to pass inspection. The only issue is if it is a shared space with the unit downstairs. The new codes say the unit downstairs has to have full fire protection separating it from the unit upstairs. It's like when you see someone (e.g. Good Bones) reno a duplex, and they learn that the middle wall, or an outside wall that is only a few feet away from a neighbor's house, has to be fire-rated. That's the issue: keeping a fire in one dwelling from spreading to an adjacent dwelling. So in this case, part of their reno is to put in necessary fireproofing on wall, ceilings, doors etc. (I don't remember the details) separating the downstairs unit from the upstairs. But if they wanted to say that the laundry upstairs was shared between the two dwellings, then that laundry room also has to be entirely fire-rated, so that a fire could not spread somehow from one unit to the other via the laundry room. (If I'm right about this, this potentially seems silly, depending on where exactly the room is and how it would be accessed from the lower level, but that's the way codes work sometimes.) If this is correct, then as long as that upstairs laundry room isn't part of the downstairs unit, it wouldn't be part of the inspection, and more importantly, there's nothing fundamentally unsafe or not-up-to-code about the room. There's no code violation for the family upstairs to use it as part of their dwelling. It just can't be a shared space. So there were two solutions to this code issue: get the upstairs laundry room fire rated, or add a laundry room to the downstairs unit so that this was no longer an issue. Adding the room downstairs was the cheaper and easier option, so that's what they're doing. Two laundry rooms, no shared spaces = no code violation.

I think it was an issue of bringing even more flavors into the dish, to compete with (or overwhelm) the delicate flavor of the truffle. Had it been only one type of meat, there would have been fewer flavors. At least that's how I understood it.

Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I was convinced Bryan had this one in the bag and was shocked when Melissa was declared the winner -- more so than at any other point this season. I may have to watch it again, because I don't remember a single negative comment about his dish, and lots of very positive comments, so I don't really understand what happened here. As much as he's been dinged over the course of the season for not meeting the particular challenge parameters or not properly highlighting the focus ingredient -- here he does the best job (according to Gail, at least) of highlighting the truffle, and makes a great dish overall, but still doesn't win?? What did I miss? I really like Melissa and Gregory, and Kevin seems to be a top-notch cook, even if I don't like him quite as much as the others. Stephanie has been a surprise this season, but I've grown to love her personality. So I would've mostly been fine with any of these five winning. But for whatever reason, I think I'm rooting hardest for Bryan: I liked him on his original season (so much more than brother Michael), and he's just got this hot, intelligent, super skilled, and slightly nerdy thing going on that I really enjoy (despite how bad his Italian was), I also thought it would be Kevin going home rather than Gregory (or Stephanie: I was a bit nervous for her, but pretty sure she was safe), and I was prepared to be pretty happy with that outcome based on what we saw. So I was surprised on that end of things as well. But while I'm very bummed for Gregory, as much pain as he seemed to be in due to his back, his elimination was perhaps for the best, as terribly unfortunate as it was. I certainly do wish him all the best moving forward and am more intrigued by Haitian food than I've ever been previously, so kudos to him, and I hope I'll get to try his some day.

As someone who has a closet that was originally a (small) bedroom (the previous owner did it -- I get all of the decadence with none of the guilt!), I can't fault her for that, not if there are enough other bedrooms. It's amazing. (Especially in old houses, like mine, where the original closets are quite small.) I don't know if I could ever go back to a regular closet. And I'm not exactly a walking fashion plate; I just don't like doing laundry and love having all of my clothes accessible all year round, particularly since going from e.g. 60 degrees to 90 in 3 days is a regular thing where I live. Her renos continue to be a real mixed bag for me. The busy wallpapers, dramatic paint and light fixtures, and other oddities mix with some nice features. I once again hated what she did with the main stairs/entryway; painting the wall, treads, risers, trim, etc. that dark blue made the stairs feel like a big black hole and lost all of the detail and beauty of the stairs. If the trim and risers had been left white (maybe?), I think it would have been much better. The den was way too dark again -- navy walls, trim, and ceiling is excessive. Laundry room wallpaper was super loud, and why have open shelves instead of proper cabinets? The coral front door and especially porch ceiling was too much, and why those silly little swings on the porch instead of a proper porch swing?? Who would want to sit on there for more than a few minutes?? I liked the color of the kitchen cabinets, and the kitchen overall. The countertop would not have been my first choice (a little busy for my taste), but I did like it with that soft blue on the cabinets. I've been thinking about painting my "closet" a similar color (it currently is covered in that cheap ugly wood paneling that was big in the 1970s for covering crumbling plaster & wallpaper; previous owners nicely painted out all of it elsewhere in the house, but apparently did not want to try painting around the closet system installed on over 60% of the walls). I think fixing the top floor bathroom to make it more usable was a good idea in principle, but though they only showed quick glimpses of it, I think the dormer they added to make the bathroom work looked terrible! At least add a fake window to it to make it look like it belongs, and isn't just a random box sticking out of the roofline. A garage is always a good thing, but did the house have a yard after that was done? Was the front/side yard usable? I wasn't paying close attention at that part.

I didn't hate this challenge, but I didn't particularly like it either (though I thought learning about the Kaiseki progression was interesting). To me this seemed just as gimmicky (or more so) than last week's challenge. At least last week they were allowed to cook whatever they wanted (though of course limited by ingredients available); this particular style of food was so specific and precise and seemed much more limiting and "unfair" than last week's challenge (IMO). It was neat seeing the Olympians (though I also mourned at all the happy Olympics talk), but they weren't exactly well matched to this challenge/menu, other than the completely random Olympics = Japanese theme, so I don't think they added much interest to the episode. I would have much more appreciated hearing from people who at least fancy themselves foodies of some sort and are somewhat familiar with the food; most of them seemed even more out of their element than the chefs. I was worried for Gregory and Melissa, but it was clearly time for Karen to go (again). She seemed really off the whole episode, and particularly uncomfortable with the EC (though the grilling task seemed difficult, but choosing duck maybe wasn't the best bet, since it's not an easy meat to cook correctly in any circumstances). I don't think Stephanie can/should win the whole thing, but I was very happy for her to win this one. I have also grown to like her a lot over this season, and am proud of her for keeping her head above water and excelling on occasion. I absolutely love lemon (particularly in desserts), so her dish sounded like perfection to me. And it was very smart to use the lemon as a "dish". Melissa is great and very kind (though I was surprised she didn't do better -- this seemed up her alley more than some of the others), I adore Bryan Voltaggio (dorky laugh and all) so am happy to see him do well, and, well, I think it's about time for Malarkey to go. He's made it farther than I thought he would, so good for him. But if the final isn't Melissa, Gregory, and Bryan, I will be really disappointed.

Yes, I agree that she should talk less -- or find a way to make it more "natural". The running monologue and one-sided conversations get annoying. I liked the house tonight more than some of the other recent ones. I didn't love the black walls, but I'll take that over the super-busy things she's done recently. I loved that she left the wood wall in the living room -- it really was gorgeous. I liked the kitchen well enough (though I think that stone back splash would be awful to try to keep clean), and while the beams and big wooden chandeliers in the family room were maybe a bit much for the room, they weren't terrible. BUT: I literally screeched out loud when I saw what she did to the entryway and main stairway. The ugly wallpaper! Taking out the nice wooden banister and putting ugly carpet on the stairs!! To me, that took it straight back into the 70s, which is supposedly what she was trying to get away from. I'm sure it could have used some cleaning up and updating, but that entrance to me would have been a terrible first impression on walking into the house. Also, the master bedroom and bathroom were pretty hideous, though more cosmetic issues. I hated the wallpaper and the curtains, and even more how they looked together. She got rid of the beautiful wood and glass door to the deck and apparently the wood trim around the windows. It looked very dated and weirdly fussy to me. Though she didn't show it, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she put laundry somewhere in that redone basement (since it looked like the new bedroom went where the old laundry room might have been).

Lol. I never want to criticize child actors, but the "yay!" in unison in response to everything is so silly. How about just "Okay/Yes/Hi, mommy!" once in a while? That would be much more realistic, even while maintaining their angelic characterization. I'm so tired of addiction story lines. I get it: it's a real issue, and can particularly be so in the medical community, but I'd so much rather they focus on the stories of the mothers and the community (which they do such a good job on!), rather than on random new doctor who just showed up.

Yes. If I'm remembering correctly, they used to play the two parts as separate episodes (and still could easily enough), so that's why they pretend it's two separate projects. This one was better than some of the others, but I agree that her style choices this season are just ... not good. I liked the office in theory, but the wall was too dark (there wasn't much natural light in there). I liked the hall bathroom, but not the random blue tiles in the new little bathroom. For the mudroom, I liked the yellow cabinets and wallpaper more than I thought I would (at least for a few minutes), but what really bothered me was how she didn't make it a proper laundry room. The washer and dryer were just sitting there. There was a utility sink, but having a cabinet over it really limits the functionality. And while there was a huge wall of cabinets, there was no flat surface for folding laundry, no racks for hanging things, etc. If part was mudroom storage and the rest of it was a nicely laid out and functional laundry room, that would have been a much better use of the space, IMO. And I'm not really a fan of banquette's in general, but I thought that one looked horribly uncomfortable, with the sloped back. How in the world could you sit there comfortably, with back support, and be able to eat and talk to others? Leaning back on the bench would have you staring at the ceiling.

This is what I first assumed, too, but then I started to wonder -- is it possible they're hormone-blocking drugs, or some sort of drugs related to her transition? Since that was a secret, it would make sense for them to be hidden. I'm don't think we know this yet for sure. That was Julien's conclusion right at the end of the episode, but we got no confirmation of that. I wouldn't be surprised if there were another twist and she turns out not to be the traitor.