Rock The Block - General Discussion

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, Dave and Jenny put a slide from an upper floor to the playroom, or kid's room.    I think the buyer took the slide out, unless it was taken out before the house hit the market. 

Edited March 10, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[kikicat]

20 hours ago, Chippings said:

Although I watch quite a few remodeling shows, I hadn't yet heard of the second kitchen.   Really ??!  I looked it up, and found one designer in Arizona who does them.  They use the word 'scullery' for the second one, which is kind of funny.  It implies  that the 'staff' are back there laboring over the dishes &c while the Quality Folk are socializing over their port.

Ooh, in my alternative life as a British aristocrat, I'd love a scullery (more like I'd be the scullery maid, but OK). Sometimes butler's pantries are called sculleries, and I just about cry when I see someone tearing them out on HGTV. My house & kitchen are small but I still want a butler's pantry!

Edited March 10, 2023 by kikicat

[LennieBriscoe]

10 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

I'm not even watching, because most TV designers annoy the heck out of me, but the posts here confirm what I know the trend still is. Wretched excess.

Yes! God forbid there's no bespoke his-and-hers walk-in closets! Or pantries kitted out like a kitchen! Or a stand-alone clawfoot tub, because the leg-lifting required to enter and then step out of onto the slippery marble floor won't be a problem for years! 

Oh, we didn't get this far this season yet? We will. For all the money and marble and millwork, the designers rely on variations of same old, same new. 

Once I'd like to see something like this modern Italian kitchen:

http://cdn.home-designing.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/italian-kitchen-11.jpg

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by LennieBriscoe

[Grrarrggh]

I wonder if a single "designer/renovator" thought about putting a wall between the gigantic kitchen and the rest of the main public area? 

[BryroseA]

I don’t know why I keep coming back to this godforsaken show, but I think one reason might be to see if anyone - ANYONE- will finally add a screened in porch to one of these homes. 

[LennieBriscoe]

1 minute ago, Grrarrggh said:

I wonder if a single "designer/renovator" thought about putting a wall between the gigantic kitchen and the rest of the main public area? 

 😱 🤯 Why...why, that would mean No Open Floor Plan!! Blasphemer! 

[LennieBriscoe]

4 minutes ago, BryroseA said:

I don’t know why I keep coming back to this godforsaken show, but I think one reason might be to see if anyone - ANYONE- will finally add a screened in porch to one of these homes. 

It was done [No Real Spoiler] in Season 2. (Seasons 1-3 and this S4, E1, are available to buy on Amazon.)

[meep.meep]

My mother put in a butler's pantry when she remodeled her 4br ranch house.  It got used for parties.

One reason to have more than one kitchen is to appeal to Jewish buyers who want to separate their meat and milk meals.  They need separate dishes and pots and pans.

Gotta agree with Michal about that brick floor.  Who wants to walk on that?

[LennieBriscoe]

2 hours ago, meep.meep said:

My mother put in a butler's pantry when she remodeled her 4br ranch house.  It got used for parties.

One reason to have more than one kitchen is to appeal to Jewish buyers who want to separate their meat and milk meals.  They need separate dishes and pots and pans.

Gotta agree with Michal about that brick floor.  Who wants to walk on that?

You are suggesting appealing to a niche group, something the show advises against. Besides, the "front" kitchen here, when there's  a back one, isn't  really for the messy prep stuff. 

[meep.meep]

No, it's a feature that will appeal to many buyers, not just one group.

I do think with houses of this size and all the entertaining people seem to do that a second dishwasher will appeal to many people.

[absolutelyido]

I like to tour Parade of Homes houses in a pricy suburb outside the city I live in. I couldn't afford the houses, but just for fun. A second kitchen, or scullery, is pretty standard in the houses I see. It's like they've made an oversized pantry, then add a sink, dishwasher, often second fridge, and the microwave or a second oven. So, I think those that added the second kitchen are on-point for what luxury buyers want right now. I'm surprised that Kristina didn't put a second dishwasher in their scullery. That's pretty standard. 

I'm also seeing more kitchen islands with rounded corners like Kristina did. So, I agree with Kristina & Jon being the winners, I think they did what buyers of houses in that price range are looking for right now. I only disagreed with them moving the access to the powder room from the front entry to the mudroom. Do you really want guests going into your messy mudroom?

I think Sarah is still stuck in the pre-pandemic, everything open trend. An open breakfast room ten steps from the dining room is just dumb. I also think double islands are already on the way out, it turns the kitchen into a maze.

Not a fan of the wine storage Paige and her partner did. Storing wine in the bright sunlight is not a good idea, and I can see an accident happening with kids bumping into it. I also thought the cabinets that Anthony and his partner did up so high that they were unreachable looked dumb.

Edited March 11, 2023 by absolutelyido

[CrazyInAlabama]

Was it Sarah and Brian's kitchen that had the huge double islands?   I hated it.   Every time you want to go from stove to first island to second island (the one with the seating), you have to go around the first island.   Totally inconvenient, and awful.   The only time two islands work for me would be the ones that are next to each other, with an aisle between them, one to the left and one to the right.    Not two huge islands that are parallel, and constantly in the way.   

That kitchen would have been so much more used full with one island, and a wider aisle between island and stove. 

Good point about Jon and Kristina's second pantry/kitchen needing a dishwasher.   I think their kitchen was the clear winner. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[chessiegal]

I have an acquaintance who lives in a multimillion-dollar home on the banks of the Severn across from the Naval Academy. Her husband is a retired Navy officer, Academy grad. She has 2 islands in the kitchen, one in the triangle and a second one closer to the family room as seen on this show. They do a lot of entertaining. I've cooked in her kitchen, and the 2 islands totally work. Great for when you have multiple folks in the kitchen.

[BryroseA]

"This is a tough decision, they're all so different..." said the judges about four kitchens that were, in fact, incredibly similar.

Edited March 12, 2023 by BryroseA

[meep.meep]

I hope nobody watches this in real time.  They broadcast it over two hours, then cut it down to a single hour with commercials.  Which means the broadcast version has an hour and 20 minutes of commercials!

[buttersister]

Oh, HGTV, quit it. The 7 pm hour is marked with today's airdate. It's last week's kitchen show. the 8 pm hour and one minute is new (living rooms). Also, the kitchen ep is marked S4, Ep 4. Fact: I'll learn who wins ep 4 from you. It's the Alison judging ep and that's not going to happen here.

meep.meep, I absolutely record RtB and watch with the remote in my hand.

[meep.meep]

Your FF finger must get tired.

I liked the living rooms except for the Baumlers hideous rock wall.

[Madding crowd]

I didn’t like any of the living rooms. I especially hate libraries with the books put in backwards. How would you find anything? Also didn’t like the very dark powder rooms. I think the couple who blocked the view made a big mistake. Nothing wowed me this week.

[3 is enough]

Who won?  I fell asleep at the very end. 

 Books have to be put on shelves with spines facing in for tv.  It’s a copyright issue- can’t show titles without permission.

[CrazyInAlabama]

They put the books in backwards because they don't have the publisher's permission to show them.  It's also a way to make the books blend into the background.    It's very standard on decorating and staging on TV. The stagers often buy books by the yard, just for decoration, so they are for design.   

They also want a uniform look when they stage a house, and varying colors would bother the designer.   

It does look odd though.   

Edited March 14, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Dehumidifier]

13 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I didn’t like any of the living rooms. I especially hate libraries with the books put in backwards. How would you find anything? Also didn’t like the very dark powder rooms. I think the couple who blocked the view made a big mistake. Nothing wowed me this week.

Agree about the powder rooms.

The judges made a very negative remark about blocking the view and weren't they the winners? Spreading the wins around for suspense I suspect.

[Madding crowd]

46 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

Who won?  I fell asleep at the very end. 

 Books have to be put on shelves with spines facing in for tv.  It’s a copyright issue- can’t show titles without permission.

I’ve heard that many times but many copyright lawyers say it isn’t true. Book titles cannot be copyrighted and there are many books with the same title. The following was a comment on the HGTV site.

[buttersister]

I'm betting the "issue" is the mixed colors on the spines of the books. Does that go with my color scheme? No? They turn them around and I get a neutral cream/white. Ugh. I noticed Page and Mitch had the shade down on their glorious and expensive folding glass doors in that living room, too. Again, the view (shown earlier) would have distracted from their fireplace/library wall. 

After years of resisting, I moved around my rather large cookbook collection to be grouped by color. It was less chaotic looking, I got used to where each book was, but that's three very long shelves, not floor-to-ceiling shelves avec ladder.

[Madding crowd]

You are probably right about colors but companies including Etsy sell books by the foot organized by colors and they all have non offensive titles. As someone with a carefully selected library, it’s offensive to me but I’d rather do that than look at books backwards. In general I’m finding these houses boring and they have strange layouts. I think they should have gone with smaller houses where the construction costs would be a little less. 

[meep.meep]

I found it refreshing that a designer considered that buyers might be readers and have lots of books.  

I'd love to really see the blueprints for these houses.  Is there no real bathroom for those bedrooms on the main floor?  Page and Mitch were going to put one in and then were thwarted.  The other teams just went with "powder rooms."  (To me a powder room only has a sink, no toilet)

[Shelbie]

Three of the houses had accordion doors which I hate.
Yes the view when they’re open is great but you are left with a houseful of bugs once you close them.
I agree with the other posters that most of the powder rooms were way too dark.

[SusanwatchingTV]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

I found it refreshing that a designer considered that buyers might be readers and have lots of books.  

I'd love to really see the blueprints for these houses.  Is there no real bathroom for those bedrooms on the main floor?  Page and Mitch were going to put one in and then were thwarted.  The other teams just went with "powder rooms."  (To me a powder room only has a sink, no toilet)

Powder rooms in the US always have a toilet and a sink.  No shower or tub.  

The way bathrooms are classified here is in 4 parts: 
1 - sink
2 - toilet
3 - shower
4 - tub

A "full bath" has all four parts.
A 3/4 bath has only three parts - usually no tub
A 1/2 bath has only the sink and toilet and is often called a powder room.

[SusanwatchingTV]

My thoughts on the first two episodes:

Episode 1 - I agreed with the choice of the Farmhouse-style kitchen. It was just the most appealing to me and I loved the second kitchen, but it would absolutely have to have a dishwasher added.

I hated the Baumlers' kitchen. I like them as a couple, but rarely like their taste in anything and this was no exception.

I can't remember much about either of the other two houses so they just were not impressive to me, really.

Episode 2 - I also agreed with the choice of Page and her Aussie guy, BUT that's mostly because you had me at the word Library.  I'm a big reader, so that was right up my alley. 

If it hadn't been for the library, however, I would have picked the farmhouse-style again.  I loved that room overall... BUT

Do none of these people watch TV? There was no place for a TV anywhere.  Maybe you could cut into that brick for a TV mount and stuff, but it would be a huge pain.

Which reminds me of the Baumlers' room again.  They are NUTS covering up that view with an ugly FP and then putting tons of rock on the wall instead of lovely art and a place for a TV!  I hated everything about their room, and I think it all definitely made the resale value less.

[buttersister]

1 hour ago, SusanwatchingTV said:

Do none of these people watch TV? There was no place for a TV anywhere

Maybe they'll all put in media rooms.🤣

[CrazyInAlabama]

3 hours ago, Shelbie said:

Three of the houses had accordion doors which I hate.
Yes the view when they’re open is great but you are left with a houseful of bugs once you close them.
I agree with the other posters that most of the powder rooms were way too dark.

Yes, bugs would be an issue, especially the moths that are all over the place in Colorado for months.     

[SusanwatchingTV]

17 hours ago, buttersister said:

Maybe they'll all put in media rooms.🤣

You're right. I'm sure there will be a media room somewhere.

I shouldn't talk. Our living room doesn't have a TV.  We have a game room upstairs where the big TV is, and then there are smaller ones in the bedrooms.

But still, I like art above the fireplace and art on the walls. I don't understand huge rock walls or large slabs of cold faux marble. It's all so cold and impersonal to me.

[buttersister]

Quote

 like art above the fireplace and art on the walls

Welcome to my house (minus the fireplace;-) I was glad that none of these teams put a TV over the fireplace (tmPropertyBros) because as anyone who is not a Scott brother might have heard, TVs should be at eye level.

[carrps]

22 hours ago, SusanwatchingTV said:

I hated the Baumlers' kitchen. I like them as a couple, but rarely like their taste in anything and this was no exception.
 

This. I've been watching Brian shows for decades, and while I like him, I hate the designs on all the shows he's done with his wife. She has no taste. Not even bad. Her rooms are just so bland and dull, like really boring hotel lobbies.

[Pine]

Always watch these shows with no favourites, or thoughts of who is going to win, as I am almost certain it is all a set up.  Otherwise it is entertaining, as long as you can ff the endless ads.  :)

Edited March 15, 2023 by Pine

[40Love]

On 3/14/2023 at 5:02 PM, SusanwatchingTV said:

If it hadn't been for the library, however, I would have picked the farmhouse-style again.  I loved that room overall...

I'm really liking Johnny and his partner's style... even the painted brick. Page and her cutie-pie partner have a nice style too. Happy one of them won ep. 2.

My least favorite team is the married couple. They keep obstructing the views... and the wife has no style. Hubby kind of implied that in episode 2 when he says he'll just keep building what he's told to build. He looks physically tired and emotionally over the whole thing. 

Anthony and Michel are doing a great job too, but I think they're sticking to that "Lush for Less" theme a little too much. Hoping they crush the main suite next week and bring home a win.

[40Love]

On 3/14/2023 at 12:43 PM, Madding crowd said:

I especially hate libraries with the books put in backwards. How would you find anything?

I think that's kind of the point. The books are for staging purposes only. They don't want anyone pausing and zooming into the titles of any particular books that may potentially offend someone for one reason or another. 

[LennieBriscoe]

11 hours ago, SusanwatchingTV said:

You're right. I'm sure there will be a media room somewhere.

I shouldn't talk. Our living room doesn't have a TV.  We have a game room upstairs where the big TV is, and then there are smaller ones in the bedrooms.

But still, I like art above the fireplace and art on the walls. I don't understand huge rock walls or large slabs of cold faux marble. It's all so cold and impersonal to me.

I have 5 televisions. Not one is in my living room. 

But my full drum kit is! 😁🥁

Marble bathroom floors = Concussion City.

Rock walls = Dust Depot. 

Kitchen cupboards beyond normal reach = The Dark Side of the Moon. 

[Kemper]

20 hours ago, 40Love said:

I'm really liking Johnny and his partner's style... even the painted brick. Page and her cutie-pie partner have a nice style too. Happy one of them won ep. 2.

My least favorite team is the married couple. They keep obstructing the views... and the wife has no style. Hubby kind of implied that in episode 2 when he says he'll just keep building what he's told to build. He looks physically tired and emotionally over the whole thing. 

Anthony and Michel are doing a great job too, but I think they're sticking to that "Lush for Less" theme a little too much. Hoping they crush the main suite next week and bring home a win.

The “married couple” … is that the husband who always wears the cap? He and his wife (blonde) have five kids. There is another couple - blonde wife - who renovated/developed an island. Then you have Tarik and his blonde wife. No shade (pun!) on blondes -  they marry guys who can renovate and build things. Winning. 

[Grrarrggh]

What do these "designers" have against colour that isn't white/black or grey?!

[40Love]

5 hours ago, Kemper said:

The “married couple” … is that the husband who always wears the cap? He and his wife (blonde) have five kids. There is another couple - blonde wife - who renovated/developed an island

I was referring to the married couple who renovated the island resorts. 

[Mrs. Stanwyck]

On 3/15/2023 at 11:17 PM, LennieBriscoe said:

Kitchen cupboards beyond normal reach = The Dark Side of the Moon. 

I know its a pain to get a step stool when you need something but I would still rather have lots of cabinets.  I have a small kitchen with cabinets all the way to the ceiling.  Without that, I'd have to store stuff that I don't use often in the basement.  I'd rather get a step stool when I need it than have to haul something up from the basement.  Its not like you would put your every day dishes in those upper cabinets.

I was okay with Brian and Sarah's idea to have the seating face the wall with the view but I did not like the execution.  If they were going to do it, they should have gotten a fireplace with a much bigger fire box so you could actually see more of the view than what you could through the little one they put in.

It seems every year you have one team that is more artistic and they seem to design for themselves rather than for the masses. which is fine but then don't be surprised when people comment that your design would appeal to a more limited number of people.  That being said, I don't think Luxe for Less team's powder room was any more "bachelor vibe" and limited in appeal than anyone else's incredibly dark powder room.

[SusanwatchingTV]

On 3/15/2023 at 2:23 PM, carrps said:

This. I've been watching Brian shows for decades, and while I like him, I hate the designs on all the shows he's done with his wife. She has no taste. Not even bad. Her rooms are just so bland and dull, like really boring hotel lobbies.

Yes, that's it exactly! Like boring hotel lobbies!  

I like them both as people, but her taste is dull as dishwater, even in their own home where you'd think you'd see personality. Their kids' rooms looked like bland hotel rooms, too. It was weird.

On Page's show the Aussie guy is there, but rarely has much to say from what I remember. I hope going forward they'll let him have a more active role. He definitely is a cutie.

[LennieBriscoe]

Books placed spine and title towards the back on bookshelves?? For appearances' sake?!

Shoot me now.  

[Chippings]

We thought the addition of the deck deserved the win.

In other news, somebody tell me, don't these houses already have laundry rooms elsewhere, and are these added ones adjacent to the "main" suite second laundry rooms?  It was interesting that they all added laundries, but I'm certainly surprised if the houses didn't already have them.  

 

[LennieBriscoe]

Another thing: Since when did Americans start placing toilets into cubicles or even separate rooms, and then start calling these spaces "water closets"?

We aren't British/Euro. 

And no, a urinal is NOT something that belongs in a home. 

Nor do 2 toilets belong in the same bathroom. The definition of over-sharing. Maybe I saw that on an earlier season, IDK. 

Yes, the bedroom deck was deserving of the win! Yay, Michel and Anthony! 💖

 

 

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

Another thing: Since when did Americans start placing toilets into cubicles or even separate rooms, and then start calling these spaces "water closets"?

At least the 1990s. I bought a new home in 1992 that had a water closet in the primary bathroom. I think every new build I looked at had them and they were called water closets.

[SusanwatchingTV]

2 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

Another thing: Since when did Americans start placing toilets into cubicles or even separate rooms, and then start calling these spaces "water closets"?

We aren't British/Euro. 

And no, a urinal is NOT something that belongs in a home. 

Nor do 2 toilets belong in the same bathroom. The definition of over-sharing. Maybe I saw that on an earlier season, IDK. 

Yes, the bedroom deck was deserving of the win! Yay, Michel and Anthony! 💖

 

 

Yeah, since at least the early 90's.  We bought our first house in 1990 and it had a WC. I swore I'd never have a  house without one again and I haven't.  Three houses later this house has two large bathrooms with WCs. 

10 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

Books placed spine and title towards the back on bookshelves?? For appearances' sake?!

Shoot me now.  

All the shows do this these days. Every HGTV and Magnolia show I watch does this.

A reader like me would never, but I assume it's for all the reasons people have stated - probably mostly not to "offend" anyone with a title someone finds objectionable for some reason.

 

Now, about the show this week:
I still liked the Farmhouse style, and I felt bad for Christina that she had to deal with a broken light fixture and tried the lasso thing. I don't know why she didn't go buy something new.  If that had been a good fixture their room would have been perfect for me.  I love the color green.

I laughed when the Baumlers started talking about their hotel room house because that's exactly what we'd been saying. It's just soooooo bland and boring. I've seen more interesting hotels that had some personality.  This is so generic it's ugly.

The winners... okay.  I didn't like the style, but I get that the balcony added value, so you win.

I did like Page's fireplace by the bathtub. As a bath girl myself, I'd love that.

Edited March 21, 2023 by SusanwatchingTV

[Fellaway]

2 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

And no, a urinal is NOT something that belongs in a home. 

I could get behind the idea of a urinal if it was in its own private water closet, but right next to another toilet? No.

Agree that the right team won, though. Adding square footage while upgrading existing space trumps just upgrading existing space. And they did it beautifully. Not sure why Mr. Baumler thought just adding a door to access the balcony space already there was such a smart idea in comparison. The Baumlers just seem like they're shortcutting it, just making things look pretty without putting much thought or creativity into it. They've even cut off the magnificent views twice. I dunno, maybe they think they're all that and a bag of chips, compared to the other teams, and don't have to put in the effort, but it's like they're playing to lose. Which means they'll probably win.

[LennieBriscoe]

32 minutes ago, SusanwatchingTV said:

Yeah, since at least the early 90's.  We bought our first house in 1990 and it had a WC. I swore I'd never have a  house without one again and I haven't.  Three houses later this house has two large bathrooms with WCs. 

All the shows do this these days. Every HGTV and Magnolia show I watch does this.

A reader like me would never, but I assume it's for all the reasons people have stated - probably mostly not to "offend" anyone with a title someone finds objectionable for some reason.

1. We built our house in 1988; never heard the term "water closet." On the cusp, I guess. 

2. I don't watch enough house design/buying shows, because "Rock the Block" is the only one where I've heard the term (not "Lottery Dream Home" or "House Hunters International"). 

3. If truly a separate room and no sink, yuck!

4. Double sinks or not, "water closet" or not, the thought of sharing a bathroom for any utilitarian purpose (brushing teeth; using the toilet; etc.) baffles the cra...bejeebers out of me. Go away until I'm done! 

5. I find the term "water closet" rather Victorian. God forfend anyone on TV say "toilet" (unless it costs $7000, and then they'd better!).  (But then, apparently even the word "shower" is giving way to "wet room.")

Books:

1. I've never heard of placing books backwards, thus being unable to discern any individual  title, so as not to offend another! I wouldn't invite such nincompoops to my house in the first place!

2. I wouldn't advertise so blatantly that I am not, in fact, a reader! Skip the shelves, skip the books, and find a wall paint shade somewhere called "Edge of Book Pages." 

3. I have an entire wall of bookshelves in my living room, all books with their spines and titles facing out. I have never thought of them in terms of color or size, but in terms of type, subject, and author; aka, as books. Call me crazy! 

So I may be out of date and style, but I know enough not to block a valued window view with a fireplace---so that people could face that way for the now-reduced view! 🤪

[meep.meep]

If the guys are smart, they'll replace the urinal with a bidet before final judging.  The extended deck was great.

Why in the world did they pick the larriats over copper?  You could turn a pipe into a lamp easily.  And I thought at one point she was talking about painting something copper.  Too bad about the light fixture - should have just taken it down.