laredhead

My DVR did not record the Baton Rouge episode, and I'm so bummed because that's where I live. It did record the Philadelphia designer episode. Where to begin? These are the types of people I cannot relate to. I learned a new term - portfolio piece. The husand owns a party planning business and she's a designer. Wonder how that party business has fared over the last few months, and if they are in over their heads with that property? The wife declares at one property that the kitchen has "potential", and the cabinets could be painted, but when the realtor suggests that in another house with the bathroom cabinets, the wife balks. The styles looked the same to me, but what do I know. I've never had a portfolio piece for a home. The alpacas were the best things on the show, but according to the blurb on the screen, they cost $1,500 a month in upkeep. I would love to have the closet that the wife dissed so badly. I'm sure the last scenes of her and her husband chipping away at the fireplace surround were purely for effect, because I don't see her breaking a nail doing renovations.

Just discovered this series on Netflix and I've been binging on it. Glenn would be someone I'd love to hang out with, and to be a cooking partner with him. Love his personality. Kimberley is another contestant who is a favorite of mine. Ruby is just downright irritating to me. A bundle of insecurities, and I cannot figure out how she made it into "the tent" after competing with other contestants. I've made English muffins in the past, but not for several years. I'm getting inspired to drag out the ingredients and try them again.

I agree that a shower curtain with an L-shaped rod would look less than attractive. Solution is to have glass installed, but that would require spending $$ which she didn't want to do either. The condo unit with the small kitchen was less than 800 sq feet with 2 bedrooms. That place was small overall. Of the 3 we saw, I guess she chose the best one, but I didn't like any of them personally.

The realtor in the D.C. episode stated that the garage door opener would have to be replaced every couple of years because it was exposed to the elements. Yes, it was a weird set up, but I'm also guessing that having a door that can be closed from the alley is also a security issue. Personally, I would spend a little extra $$ and have a carport built to shield the car from the rain, sun, snow, and that would extend the life of the garage door opener. The 3rd house was great, but I knew they wouldn't choose it because it was furnished which is usually a dead give away as a red herring most of the time. I wasn't impressed with the one they chose. That place is going to become very crowded once children arrive.

Aradia22, I like your comment about attempting to try one of Paul's simple bread recipes. I used to buy the rustic bread at Whole Foods once in a while, but found a no knead yeast bread recipe that is wonderful. Easy to make, almost a mix and forget recipe, and I now make it about every 2 weeks. Makes 2 loaves, and I haven't bought store bread in almost 2 years. Go ahead and try your hand at bread making. It's rewarding, and cheaper than buying.

I loved all of the Palm Springs houses, but especially the one they bought. I can understand the desire for a one story house on the part of one of the guys because I have back issues that began with no warning. For 2 weeks I had to use a walker in my one story house, and I could barely lift my leg to get in and out of the low curbing on the shower. My house has one 4" step between the den and kitchen, and navigating that was torture. There would have been no way I could have climbed stairs. I have recovered, but it will be an ongoing situation for the rest of my life. You never know when a sudden, or unexpected twist or turn is going to create a problem, so keeping things on one level is a good idea. I want to go to Palm Springs just to drive around and see all of the beautiful houses.

Reaching back to the episode of the L.A. attorney buying a 2nd house in Palm Springs, she and her friend (and it seems the realtor as well) were puzzled by no handles on the kitchen cabinets. I wonder if they had the little hidden cutouts on the bottom of the doors where you can pull the doors open. I asked for that feature when I redid my kitchen a few years ago. I wanted a clean look with no hardware on the upper cabinets, but you can open the cabinets by pulling on the doors using the cutouts. I also thought the realtor's comment about the pool at one of the houses being very deep because it was original. I bet it probably had a diving board when it was built, but those are never installed now due to safety reasons. I would love to visit Palm Springs just to drive around and lust after all of those beautiful houses.

StatisticalOutlier, the development is about 30+ miles outside of Austin, and is called Starlight Village. It doesn't have that many houses in it. I love some of the designs, but where I live in south Louisiana, those low roof line shapes would be a disaster in our heavy rains, especially the "butterfly" roof.

StatisticalOutlier, I'm in agreement with you about converted carports or garages that are not done well, as seems to be the case most of the time. The house they bought falls into that category. The exterior is not the same material or color of the rest of the house, and the driveway runs right up to the door. I think painting that white siding to match the brick would help a lot. If you need the space, but convert a finished room back to a carport, you would be taking away value from the house as far as square footage is concerned. Having said that, I bought a house like that, and overlooked my intense dislike for that feature due to the location, and other redeeming features of the house. I've lived here 17 years, and through 2 professional landscaping/hardscaping jobs, and the addition of a style appropriate carport this spring, I am finally happy with the look of the house. Time and $$ can cure almost anything. I know people do those conversions because it's a less expensive way to add interior square footage rather than adding on somewhere else at a greater expense.

I guess if you want to live in Flint, Michigan, there are some good buys in real estate. I loved the Tudor style house (#3), and while the outside of the #2 in the transitioning neighborhood looked impressive, it needed a lot of work. I wouldn't want to sink a lot of $$ into a house, and not be able to recoup that investment when selling. I laughed at the ironing board cover in house #1 because it was so late 60's early 70's in it's patterns and colors. In fact, it might have been the original cover from when the house was build. I do wonder if the HH bought a jacket just for the show to match the kitchen counters. As for the New Orleans couple, Slidell, LA is across Lake Ponchartrain and not that far to drive into New Orleans for dinner or a day trip. My favorite of the 3 houses was the second one on 2 acres in the wooded area. It had space, and looked like it would be perfect for her plants. Of course, we don't know how far out of Slidell it was, or if it had ever flooded in that area which is something to consider here in Louisiana. I liked the cat, especially in the last scene where they are discussing which house to buy. It was sitting next to the man on the arm of the sofa.

One of the recent big time winners on Jeopardy is a professional poker player and high stakes gambler. I can't remember his name. I haven't seen the Inglewood episode yet, but looking forward to it now.

Re the Maldives episode, yesterday I read an article about people who live on their boats, and make around the world journeys full time. One of the places that many of them have on their route is the Maldives; however, people trying to enter the area now are quarantined on their boats because the Maldives (and the capital city) have the COVID 19. If people are confined to their houses and apartments, then that living situation with the family is going to get even tighter.

Re the Maldives episode - was the man's father still living in Sri Lanka? They kept talking about how much larger their apartment was in UAE, and that the husband made more $$ there. I wondered why they didn't move the man's parents to the UAE. I just did a crash course on Wikipedia about the Maldives, and it was enlightening. The entire chain of islands is threatened by rising sea levels due to global warming, and predictions are many parts will be underwater in the not too distant future.

Littelggy, the house has been remodeled over the years by former owners, and those changes did not provide back yard access. When originally built, there was access directly from the kitchen. One of my "hobbies" is to go to open houses on Sunday afternoons, and it never ceases to amaze me at what people do to houses to make them less desirable, and in many, many cases, these are houses that stay on the market for months w/o an offer. You're right, I think I would spend the $$ on installing some French doors, and cut my losses.

I haven't seen the Prague episode yet, but I did read her blog after it was mentioned. OMG - I was exhausted at the end of the post about their trip home. From the initial indecisiveness, to the final decision, to the uncertainty of getting into France, and then home, it was pretty grueling. They were also traveling with a dog! I'm too old for that type of adventuring.

Littleiggy, I agree about the Seattle house with no access to the backyard from the inside of the house. I have a friend who is trying to sell her house which has the same set up. It has been on the market for over a year, and one of the most mentioned problems is people want access to the back yard from the house. Buyers don't want to have to spend money on doing that type of remodeling. The other problem with the house is the kitchen which is functional, but needs updating.

I liked Clinton a lot last night. I really loved his comment about his being a fashion stylist in the past. Of all of the hosts this show has had, he's my favorite. I thought the judges were a little looser in all of their comments, both complimentary and negative, and some were pretty funny. I would have been happy for any of the final 3 to have won. With regard to the 80's and decor and colors, all I can remember is Miami Vice and it sure wasn't red and black.

I laughed out loud a few times during this episode. When Clinton and Tati were talking about Mother's Day and not having children, their exchange was increasingly funny. Clinton's reaction to taking a sip of the tequila with the hot peppers was wonderful. Even the judges were more light hearted tonight.

Back to the Arizona episode where the wife was expecting their 3rd child. It's ridiculous that people can't imagine a room being used for multiple purposes, or have the "brilliant" idea of installing a door to make the room private. They walked into the first house and declared the front room unusable as an office because it didn't have a door. He wanted projects, so there's a project, dude. Install a door frame and a door. Add one of those barn doors y'all seemed to love in another house. When I bought my house, the seller had the room I'm using as my living room staged as a dining room. He had the room I'm now using as my dining room staged as a sun room (it has 11 windows!). it never occured to me to ask the realtor what the purpose of each room was. The wife got on my last nerve with her helicopter mothering. Children grow up, and the oldest child was certainly old enough to sleep more than 2 rooms away from her parents. A bedroom on a separate floor will be great when all of those children are older.

I like Clinton as the host. He has a great personality, and his skills were certainly necessary for this episode. Duff was obviously having a bad day. Am I the only one who thinks that 2 hours wasn't enough time for the main challenge? If the judges want a good tasting product that is beautifully and creatively decorated, I think more time should be given. They have had 3 hours during past episodes for certain things, and I think this challenge should have been one of those. Heck, it takes me 30 minutes at least to make a cake from boxed cake mix - lol.

Chitowngirl, yes, this was an early season finale. There's an article in TV Line about the episode, and the fact that there were 4 more episodes planned, but the Corona virus shut down production early. The article also talks about Lloyd's and Harmon's performances. https://tvline.com/2020/04/14/ncis-recap-season-17-finale-episode-20/

I enjoyed the episode with the 2 guys buying a weekend house in Wayne County, PA. Anyone know how long it takes to drive from NYC to Wayne County? The first house that was a converted barn was pretty cool, and I loved all of the land that came with it. I like the house they bought, and 12 acres is nice for a get away. That was quite the vegetable garden they had going, but I wonder if they don't spend all weekend working in it. Maybe after living in the city, that's relaxing for them.

What a powerful and moving episode! This is the best one in a long time. Christopher Lloyd should win an Emmy for his performance. This one was odd though in the timing of the airing of it, kind of like the St. Patrick's Day episode that seemed weird because of the same thing. I wonder why CBS didn't show this one closer to December 7?

StatisticalOurlier "All in all, with the kind of notoriety he has, with a unique name, it seems odd he'd want to appear on some house hunting show." - Answer: Ego and self promotion of his business.

Regarding the post in the Palm Springs house, many times owners remove load bearing walls to have a more open concept and instead of spending extra money to install a load carrying beam in the ceiling, they will install a post to support the weight. The post could have been integrated into the end of a counter, but they stopped the kitchen cabinets short of the post. I agree it was in a very awkward position, and detracted from the design. I would just figure out a way to extend the cabinets which would be cheaper than installing a ceiling beam. The view of the mountains from that house was nice, but the back yard needed some major help from a professional landscaper. With the price of that house being so low, I wonder what the surrounding neighborhood looked like. I also like watching the Palm Springs episodes It's like going to another world of housing styles, and I love MCM.