Peanutbuttercup

The civil engineer half of that civil engineer + physician couple in Denver came across as a whiny bitch. What a freaking complainer and negative person throughout. And why does being tall mean that you need an open floor plan in your house? Maybe that is something I don't understand as an average height person.

Australia to Boston area couple -- another kitchen with white cabinets, subway tile backsplash, and a farmhouse sink. I think I even saw some Edison type light fixtures somewhere. And of course there were some sliding barn doors in the house too. YAWN. I liked the downstairs better except for the floor, which was way too busy with everything else going on there, at least too busy for me. I will say, I thought I was going to hate the striped accent wall across from the entrance but I actually really liked it -- and I usually hate all striped walls. Overall, there was at least a refreshing lack of drama and entitledness.

I generally love the episodes in Nordic countries, and this pair of artist/student types moving to Sweden seemed cool. Not a whole lot of whining about missing their American style amenities or anything like that. But that weird earring the guy was wearing (it looked like a giant extracted molar?) distracted me throughout a lot of the show.

My Big Family Renovation? If that is the one you are thinking of (motorcycle riding pastor, family with five kids, two of whom are adopted from Ethiopia) -- it does not have a forum that I could find.

Wow, if HGTV paid 1.5 million for the entire complex back in September and then sold the units for collectively less than 1.4 million -- can't say I'm impressed with either HGTV's negotiating skills at the outset or the contestants' ability to upgrade/add value to the units. It's the rare person who can't make even a little money flipping LA real estate, but this group managed to lose money.

Well, there are two Asian dating couples on this season, so maybe they are tied for first place rather than the first ever? At least at the outset I'm pulling for Tim & Te Jay but I admit to being biased in favor of my own (gay) people.

Somehow my dvr missed this one. Well, I won't kill myself trying to find it. ETA: somehow the forum ate the bit of my post where I snarked about converting the atheistic, post-Christian people of Germany :(

Agreed -- having permanent storage bins carved into your countertop seems unhelpful and ridiculous to me. My spices work perfectly fine in their little jars, so I can sprinkle them onto the food and then put the jar back into the cupboard. No need to take the spices from the jar, put them into the depression on the counterop, then sprinkle them on the food, then try to wash out the depression in the countertop so that it doesn't permanently smell like cumin or whatever it was I used for my roast and might not want to use when I am making eggnog or baking a pie. Putting those depressions in the countertop also took away from actual, usable countertop space IMO. That said, I like that they did some things differently from the standard HGTV aesthetic and they didn't whine about how the NEED a master "retreat," dual vanities (sic), blah blah blah. Overall I thought they were a pretty refreshing change. I liked the metal tile wall in the bathroom, too.

It would certainly make our country a better space for entertaining.

It was late 2011 or early 2012. She did apply to be on the show but she thought it was real and that they were going to set her up with an agent and help her find an apartment. Then they didn't even get back in touch with her until she had actually moved and found her apartment -- she was surprised when she told them she was already set up and they said great, that's exactly what we want!

My anti-house hunters list: I hate open concept. I like separate spaces. I don't need or want huge bedrooms - I'm not hosting bar mitzvahs or planning to set up a dog agility course or something in a bedroom. I hate stainless steel appliances. Difficult to keep clean plus they just look institutional to me. I would never buy a house on a corner lot. Double the street traffic plus you get an oddly shaped lot with no backyard. I also like having close neighbors. If I'm doing something that requires privacy, I close the drapes/blinds. I love formal dining rooms and unlike many of the House Hunters who proclaim that they don't know what to do with them - I do know how to set a table and serve a meal and I even like to eat in a dining room when I'm the only one there (like usual). I don't need separate tables and spaces for eating breakfast vs. eating dinner.

I have a friend who was an International House Hunter. She told me that the "friends" she was entertaining at the end of the show were a bunch of people she'd never seen before in her life -- apparently random ex-pats rounded up by the film & production crew. That said, I would guess that most of the time the U.S. versions include real friends & family.

I really liked the couple in Florida last night. They actually didn't care about stainless steel appliances and granite countertops and said they'd rather spend time together as a family than working to get a blinged out house! The wife was against an "open concept" floor plan because she didn't want to spend her time keeping the kitchen clean! And they ended up with the best house IMO and didn't disturb the bats!

yikes, the Boston area renovation from last night, what a cluster fuck. Great advertisement for spending the money for a generalc contractor and not trying to DIY it I guess. As far as the kitchen goes - if I never see another white kitchen with shaker cabinets, glass tile backplash,* and Edison lamps again it will be too soon. I think the only completely overdone aspect of an 2010's kitchen that was missing was the farmhouse sink. Or maybe it was there and I just didn't see it. *alternative backsplash for a completely overdone, everyone else has it kitchen of the moment: white subway tile.

I skip almost everything that appears to involve vacation homes in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. How many gated compounds full of bland, cookie-cutter condos do I need to see in my life?

Fans of this show might want to check out My Big Family Renovation, which has some similarities. Another large, uber-Christian, Texas based family, but this time they are working on their own house, not doing it for clients likes the Gaineses. From what they showed of the interior of the current home, their decorating taste is very similar to Joanna's. And once again, even though I am leery of uber-religious types from conservative parts of the country, this family seems very likeable. http://jenhatmaker.com/ http://brandonhatmaker.com/

Ha! I knew that woman in Wellington would And yeah, she's another one that made me wonder how Americans can both support themselves while "travel blogging" abroad and get permission to stay in these countries long term.

re: the lazy Toledo couple and others who don't want a house, or a large yard, because it's "too much work": WTF. I am incredibly lazy and I happily bought a house on a half acre. I didn't unlazy myself . . . I hired someone to do yard work! It wasn't hard, it's not illegal, it's not even expensive. Less than $100/month where I live. Why do all these people act like having a yard/lawn/garden service is something that doesn't exist?

I do think they are fundies - Google leads me to believe they belong to this church: http://recoveringzealot.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-hate-antioch-community-church-and.html http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/rock-god/Content?oid=770463 I've also noticed the home-schooling aspect and the strict gender roles that seem to be reinforced in the family. And I have to say I HATE Joanna Gaines's taste. All that distressed metal and chipped wood just looks dirty to me, like you are walking into a room that you will leave needing a tetanus shot. Plus the big words on the walls -- just no. All that said, I still really enjoy the show - even as a gay atheist who would bar the door and set my dog on her if Joanna Gaines came and offered to re-do my house for free. They seem like a very sweet, loving, and positive couple -- and I get the same vibe from a lot of their clients. And I love their cute kids and animals. A refreshing change from the unpleasant, bickering, snobby folks on shows like Househunters. ETA: Have we ever seen an unmarried couple as clients on this show? And I know we haven't seen a gay couple, and will be shocked if we do.

The Berlin wife did have a job, doing something with customer service.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Atlanta couple on a future edition of House Hunters: Where Are They Now. And I agree, they weren't quite as bad as I feared they would be from the previews.

So was I the only one not buying it with the two "roommates" looking for a 2 bedroom apartment in Cape Verde and they kept stressing that they needed separate bedrooms? Reminded me of the two women who moved from Canada to Finland and kept insisting they wanted separate bedrooms (though they somehow ended up with just one, go figure).