Pet Peeves: The Holy Trinity and Beyond

[aguabella]

22 hours ago, laredhead said:

I just saw what is being called a hot, new decorating trend - hombre walls.  The picture that was shown was of a beautifully paneled room with white paint on the top half fading to the original paneling finish at the bottom.  The paneling was gorgeous, and was in an older house so it was real wood and expensive.  The overall effect looked like the painted ran out of paint, or walked off the job before it was finished.  Ugh.  Same site said that white was the top color for interior decor in 2017.     

You probably know ombre isn't new, laredhead.  And, white?  It wasn't the color of 2017 - at least not according to my sources.  News to me, lol.

Checked out a few of those "Top 10" decorating articles last year.  None were written by actual id's.  They were written by out-of-work journalists* (sorry, guys), struggling to write / sell a few column inches, freelance.

On the plus side, at least they didn't demo the beautiful paneling.  Hopefully someone will clean it up, eventually.

*Not purposely disparaging journalists.  They provide a valuable service to society.  Nothing wrong with free-lancing, if they do sufficient research in the topic before submission / publication.

Edited June 8, 2018 by aguabella

[doodlebug]

3 hours ago, aguabella said:

You probably know hombre isn't new, laredhead.  And, white?  It wasn't the color of 2017 - at least not according to my sources.  News to me, lol.

Checked out a few of those "Top 10" decorating articles last year.  None were written by actual id's.  They were written by out-of-work journalists (sorry, guys), struggling to write / sell a few column inches, freelance.

On the plus side, at least they didn't demo the beautiful paneling.  Hopefully someone will clean it up, eventually.

Small correction:  I think the term you're looking for is 'ombre', not 'hombre'.  Nobody is putting Spanish men into their décor, although maybe we should give it a try.

[aguabella]

2 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Small correction:  I think the term you're looking for is 'ombre', not 'hombre'.  Nobody is putting Spanish men into their décor, although maybe we should give it a try.

Sounds like a great idea to me, doodlebug!  Yep, knew that but very late in the evening, waiting for client docs so borrowed laredhead's spelling.  (No worries, laredhead!)  And, spellcheck prefers hombres, too, lol!

Thanks, correction made, above.

Edited June 8, 2018 by aguabella

[Kohola3]

Hombre in ombre - works for me.

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Kohola3
spell check - didn't

[msmarjoribanks]

Just got an email from HomeAdvisor with an article about how granite is going out of style (which is not news, but made me think of this thread!). After the headline the article said that granite is still one of many solid choices, so, you know, headlines.

In style for counters, apparently:

quartz (I've noticed this locally, and I believe it's coming up on HH's more and more)

wood

soapstone

concrete

stainless steel

Edited June 8, 2018 by msmarjoribanks
clarify

[MaKaM]

3 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

Just got an email from HomeAdvisor with an article about how granite is going out of style (which is not news, but made me think of this thread!). After the headline the article said that granite is still one of many solid choices, so, you know, headlines.

In style for counters, apparently:

quartz (I've noticed this locally, and I believe it's coming up on HH's more and more)

wood

soapstone

concrete

stainless steel

Yeah, so basically everything that is already cool, nothing much new. I've seen glass countertops at those DIY-filmed expo things and am surprised those haven't gotten more traction. I've also seen thin porcelain used and that hasn't seen much play on any of these shows. That list reads like the same-old/same-old (except for the increasing popularity of soapstone which has always been my dream material) and you would think they would be pushing something totally new at this point.

 

No matter how many times they show the commercial (the Leanne Ford one) with the formica designs, formica anything is still not going to be cool--especially formica marble. Yuck, is that ugly.

[doodlebug]

7 minutes ago, MaKaM said:

Yeah, so basically everything that is already cool, nothing much new. I've seen glass countertops at those DIY-filmed expo things and am surprised those haven't gotten more traction. I've also seen thin porcelain used and that hasn't seen much play on any of these shows. That list reads like the same-old/same-old (except for the increasing popularity of soapstone which has always been my dream material) and you would think they would be pushing something totally new at this point.

 

No matter how many times they show the commercial (the Leanne Ford one) with the formica designs, formica anything is still not going to be cool--especially formica marble. Yuck, is that ugly.

Wouldn't glass or porcelain be prone to chipping and cracking?  I can't picture either surface holding up to even light use.  Just remodeled my kitchen replacing Corian (black/gray with flecks of green, white and peach) with quartz (white with light gray marbling).  Love the quartz, cleans up beautifully and looks terrific.

Edited June 8, 2018 by doodlebug

[laredhead]

Pardon the misspelling of ombre upthread - spellcheck strikes again, and I did not reread the comment before posting.  Attaching a picture of the room with the bad ombre treatment on that beautiful paneling. 

Re countertop choices, when I remodeled my kitchen 2 years ago, I looked into the pros & cons, and prices of various materials.  I really wanted glass countertops, but the cost was out of my budget.  They are not inexpensive, and neither is soapstone.  I could have gone with quartz (did not want granite), but decided that since the kitchen style was MCM with the 60's vibe, Formica was the best choice.  It looks great, and has held up well.  I do have a nice selection of vintage counter savers and cutting boards that I use all the time to make sure the Formica stays new looking for many years.  It's a solid color and not the marble look, BTW.  

[mojito]

Quote

No matter how many times they show the commercial (the Leanne Ford one) with the formica designs, formica anything is still not going to be cool--especially formica marble. 

Quote

Formica was the best choice.

One day, people are going to realize that Formica is just fine after all and that they can afford to change it every couple of years if they want.

[chessiegal]

I've never had anything but Formica. Our last house was a flip, and the Formica was easily damaged. Our current house has Formica that holds up to whatever knife cutting abuse I give it. Obviously I don't put hot pans on it, but there must be different grades of Formica. If I decide to replace it, I'm going with quartz.

Our sailboat has Corian in the galley.  It amuses me that I have better counters in our sailboat than our home kitchen.

[FormerMod-a1]

1 hour ago, laredhead said:

Attaching a picture of the room with the bad ombre treatment on that beautiful paneling. 

That is horrible!  Dear lord.  The Trading Spaces one was so much better.  (wish I could find a pic, but I'm only coming up with 360 tours from the episode where you have to let a video play and this room isn't the first one).

[msmarjoribanks]

2 hours ago, MaKaM said:

Yeah, so basically everything that is already cool, nothing much new. I've seen glass countertops at those DIY-filmed expo things and am surprised those haven't gotten more traction. I've also seen thin porcelain used and that hasn't seen much play on any of these shows. That list reads like the same-old/same-old (except for the increasing popularity of soapstone which has always been my dream material) and you would think they would be pushing something totally new at this point.

 

No matter how many times they show the commercial (the Leanne Ford one) with the formica designs, formica anything is still not going to be cool--especially formica marble. Yuck, is that ugly.

I don't think HomeAdvisor is really cutting edge.  Neither are the HHers, so that's why it seemed fitting.

[Gothish520]

2 hours ago, MaKaM said:

Yeah, so basically everything that is already cool, nothing much new. I've seen glass countertops at those DIY-filmed expo things and am surprised those haven't gotten more traction. I've also seen thin porcelain used and that hasn't seen much play on any of these shows. That list reads like the same-old/same-old (except for the increasing popularity of soapstone which has always been my dream material) and you would think they would be pushing something totally new at this point.

 

No matter how many times they show the commercial (the Leanne Ford one) with the formica designs, formica anything is still not going to be cool--especially formica marble. Yuck, is that ugly.

No matter what they come up with, I will stick with my granite. Stain resistant, scratch resistant, heat resistant, comes in tons of colors and patterns... There's a reason why it has become so popular. It is beautiful and functional. 

[Kohola3]

No matter what they come up with I will stick with my Corian.  Wonderful colors and patterns.  People always ask me about it when they visit.

[MaKaM]

4 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Wouldn't glass or porcelain be prone to chipping and cracking?  I can't picture either surface holding up to even light use.  Just remodeled my kitchen replacing Corian (black/gray with flecks of green, white and peach) with quartz (white with light gray marbling).  Love the quartz, cleans up beautifully and looks terrific.

No clue about the glass but porcelain tile is among the hardest out there and if it works under your feet for years, it should be fine on countertops, if correctly installed/supported.

 

I'm not against formica/corian/or any of the other manufactured countertops (or any of the ones on the list, frankly. I have some sort of laminate in my kitchen currently) just the faux marble stuff Leanne has been pushing. Looks terrible. I am just surprised that the "popular"  stuff is the same old stuff. I was expecting LED screens at this point or something.

 

Also, that picture of the ombre panel is evil. Why would a person ever do that to innocent panel?

[Kohola3]

33 minutes ago, MaKaM said:

Also, that picture of the ombre panel is evil. Why would a person ever do that to innocent panel?

Absolutely hideous!

[msmarjoribanks]

14 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

No matter what they come up with, I will stick with my granite. Stain resistant, scratch resistant, heat resistant, comes in tons of colors and patterns... There's a reason why it has become so popular. It is beautiful and functional. 

I like granite too, personally, and find it super convenient and pretty.

I've mostly realized from these discussions that I don't care that much, within limits.  The two condos I owned had granite (they were mid to late '90s construction) and I liked it, but most of the things I looked at had the same (my prior apt -- second floor of an old house -- had some kind of '70s era formica, if memory serves but at that point I barely cooked so didn't think about it much). When I was looking at houses I was open to a kitchen I'd redo and probably would have gotten into the weeds of countertops and what look I wanted (I do like butcher block in some formats/uses, for example), but the house I decided on, though built in 1910, had a kitchen redone around 10 years ago and it has granite.  It was neither a "must have" nor a deal breaker, and I'm not planning to redo a perfectly good kitchen to change the counters, which admittedly I like anyway. (I do have some other non kitchen things on my "will redo" list but other than some painting before moving in wanted to live with it as is for a bit and figure out what will work best.)

Quartz or quartzite (I had to look this up, guess it's related to soapstone) seems really common here in new construction kitchens, along with white cabinets (or grey), and luxury appliances (Bosch and Wolf and SubZero) seem much more common than when I looked last at new construction, even in places appealing to the same people. I don't personally care for white cabinets (I like stained wood), but if that had been part of the kitchen redo I'd gotten, I wouldn't have redone that either, at least not for years and years and only assuming the money was no object.

What works for a kitchen of course depends a lot on the overall look.  For example, the idea of a vintage '60s kitchen with formica sounds great, but formica would look terrible in my current kitchen.

[Gothish520]

4 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

I like granite too, personally, and find it super convenient and pretty.

I've mostly realized from these discussions that I don't care that much, within limits.  The two condos I owned had granite (they were mid to late '90s construction) and I liked it, but most of the things I looked at had the same (my prior apt -- second floor of an old house -- had some kind of '70s era formica, if memory serves but at that point I barely cooked so didn't think about it much). When I was looking at houses I was open to a kitchen I'd redo and probably would have gotten into the weeds of countertops and what look I wanted (I do like butcher block in some formats/uses, for example), but the house I decided on, though built in 1910, had a kitchen redone around 10 years ago and it has granite.  It was neither a "must have" nor a deal breaker, and I'm not planning to redo a perfectly good kitchen to change the counters, which admittedly I like anyway. (I do have some other non kitchen things on my "will redo" list but other than some painting before moving in wanted to live with it as is for a bit and figure out what will work best.)

Quartz or quartzite (I had to look this up, guess it's related to soapstone) seems really common here in new construction kitchens, along with white cabinets (or grey), and luxury appliances (Bosch and Wolf and SubZero) seem much more common than when I looked last at new construction, even in places appealing to the same people. I don't personally care for white cabinets (I like stained wood), but if that had been part of the kitchen redo I'd gotten, I wouldn't have redone that either, at least not for years and years and only assuming the money was no object.

What works for a kitchen of course depends a lot on the overall look.  For example, the idea of a vintage '60s kitchen with formica sounds great, but formica would look terrible in my current kitchen.

Very good points. Granite was not a must have for me either-i just wanted a decent and relatively modern kitchen. We were lucky that the previous owners had redone the kitchen three years prior to our purchase. Having had granite for almost six years now, I've been very impressed with how functional it is and how easy to care for. I especially love the fact that I can stick a hot pan right from the stove onto the counter with no issues. I don't get crazy (no giant pots of boiling water), but anything else is just fine.

[MaKaM]

2 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

Very good points. Granite was not a must have for me either-i just wanted a decent and relatively modern kitchen. We were lucky that the previous owners had redone the kitchen three years prior to our purchase. Having had granite for almost six years now, I've been very impressed with how functional it is and how easy to care for. I especially love the fact that I can stick a hot pan right from the stove onto the counter with no issues. I don't get crazy (no giant pots of boiling water), but anything else is just fine.

Yeah, I'd like to replace my countertops (they are a laminate with a raised silver transitionthing between the pieces that crumbs get under and has several chips) but the cabinets are far more important than the countertops to me. Now that I've had the lovely experience of deep drawers instead of shelves and doors, I never want to go back. The house hunters that moan about countertops but ignore poorly painted particleboard cabinets make me scratch my head. Cabinet functionality is way more important to me than the countertop. And the people who put in the ugliest granite in with the busiest mosaic backsplash and then expect a huge return on investment (though that is more Flip or Flop Las Vegas that HH) make me roll my eyes.

Edited June 9, 2018 by MaKaM

[Sakura12]

On 6/5/2018 at 11:02 AM, chessiegal said:

We arrived in Salzburg, Austria today, and our travel agent (who always finds us nice hotels) booked us a room that has the biggest hotel bathroom I've ever been in - including double sinks! I'm going to make sure we brush our teeth at the same time, lol.

I really don't understand on how not having double sinks in the bathroom is a deal breaker.  I could maybe understand that if it was the only bathroom in the entire house. Otherwise I'm sure the sinks are not being used at the exact same time all time. My parents house has 2 and half baths, and me and my 3 siblings managed to use a bathroom with one sink the entire time we lived there. My parents bathroom also had one sink and they managed as well. If you were really desperate to brush your teeth and the sink one bathroom was being used there were other sinks in the house or share the sink. 

Also do they decide their budget on the houses they are looking at. I've seen some people say their "budget"is 500,000 to 950,000. What kind of budget is that?  And they really need to stop saying if it's under budget or over budget. We can do the math, you told us your budget. 

[CherryAmes]

I really have to stop watching the flip shows because according to them my entire house is a 'gut job'!!  It was bad enough that it isn't open concept and I don't have two sinks in my en suite or stainless steel in my kitchen but according to the show I saw last night no one will want to buy my house because its exterior is red brick.  Apparently this is just so dated and will need to be covered!  Hell the red brick is the main reason I bought this house!!!

Edited June 12, 2018 by CherryAmes

[auntjess]

23 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

no one will want to buy my house because its exterior is red brick.  Apparently this is just so dated and will need to be covered!  Hell the red brick is the main reason I bought this house!!!

I hate when they paint brick, because you're committed either to regular repainting, or having it blasted off.  And I LIKE brick, loved the pink brick on my house.
I cringe when Mike Holmes covers brick with stucco, which seems like a real downgrade to me.

[Bastet]

I don't like brick, and particularly hate it as the exterior of a house, but that just means I'd never buy a brick house (they're not common here, so it wouldn't be an issue).  Painting it makes it look even worse to me. 

Edited June 13, 2018 by Bastet

[irisheyes]

23 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

I really have to stop watching the flip shows because according to them my entire house is a 'gut job'!!  It was bad enough that it isn't open concept and I don't have two sinks in my en suite or stainless steel in my kitchen but according to the show I saw last night no one will want to buy my house because its exterior is red brick.  Apparently this is just so dated and will need to be covered!  Hell the red brick is the main reason I bought this house!!!

 

I love the red brick on my house. It’s a solid red, and the white trim and black shutters pop off of it. It has such great “curb appeal”. ?

The rest of my House is probably a gut job too.  It’s got carpet throughout the lower level, the cabinets are a light oak, the countertops are NOT granite/quartz, and the appliances aren’t stainless.  (They’re actually on the list of things to replace when we get the funds.  They’re almost 20 years old.). AND, I don’t have a farmhouse sink!

There are some things we’d like to do to update, but we’ll get to it as time and finances allow.  We certainly didn’t want or need to do a whole house renovation before we moved in.

Edited June 13, 2018 by irisheyes

[Sakura12]

How often do the people on these shows entertain? Are they having raging parties every week? Some of them act like that's most important part.

If I want space it's for me, not for my friends and family that may or may not stay with me. I'm the one living in the house. 

Edited June 15, 2018 by Sakura12

[suebee12]

On 6/13/2018 at 1:33 PM, irisheyes said:

The rest of my House is probably a gut job too.  It’s got carpet throughout the lower level, the cabinets are a light oak, the countertops are NOT granite/quartz, and the appliances aren’t stainless.  (They’re actually on the list of things to replace when we get the funds.  They’re almost 20 years old.). AND, I don’t have a farmhouse sink!

How about barn doors somewhere? You know they are the "thing" these days!

[irisheyes]

Nope, no barn doors either. Not even sure where I’d put them. 

[MaKaM]

12 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

How often do the people on these shows entertain? Are they having raging parties every week? Some of them act like that's most important part.

If I want space it's for me, not for my friends and family that may or may not stay with me. I'm the one living in the house. 

 

I mean, yeah but it also has to either be producer- or socially-driven. Like no one wants to go on the show and say they are looking for a Mickey Mouse room for their turtle and never want friends to come over because a) it's been done before and b) no one wants to look like a loser.  I think the "have a party celebrating your new house" was part of the requirements of the show back in the day, maybe even still. (which makes it hilarious when it is the real estate agent they are having a party with because they either know no one or no one wants to be on camera with them). "We need a five bedroom house for just the two of us so when our family comes to stay because they've never heard of hotels and can't use them anyway the 1 time a year they come" still makes for acceptable mainstream TV than "We need five bedrooms because he snores , we need a dungeon room, my hobby, and one for the cat" even if that is how they are going to end up using them.

 

ETA: But, yes, dang does it get boring. "It's so open for entertaining!" "This patio is great for entertaining!" "I could make so much for our parties in this kitchen just because the countertops are granite!"

Edited June 15, 2018 by MaKaM

[laredhead]

I have a small group of long time friends over for dinner about 3 times a year and other than Thanksgiving dinner Christmas Eve dinner for family at my house, that's about the extent of my entertaining.  I live by myself in a 2300 sf house that has 3 rooms designated as bedrooms on the real estate listing.  I use one as my bedroom, one as what I call my "climate controlled storage unit" (I don't have an attic, basement, or garage for storage), and the other is an office/library.  I'm not into entertaining overnight guests even family, and when my brother visited recently, he slept on the sofa in the den for 2 nights.  Even though he was family and only here for 2 nights, my normal routine was interrupted.  Guess I'm too old and set in my ways, but I enjoy visits with friends and family for shorter periods of time, and if they are in town for more than a day, a little privacy away from everyone for all works best for me.  Maybe I need more friends or to be more extroverted, but after 70 years, I doubt I will change.     

[Mittengirl]

Looking at it from the other side, I have a cousin in another state who always invites me to visit and I know she would expect me to stay with her.  I would much rather stay in a hotel because I like my “me time”.   But as the sole caretaker of my 90-year-old mother, I’m not going anywhere, anytime soon.  I really would like to visit my cousin, though.  Maybe by the time I can, I will have come up with an excuse to stay in a hotel.

[Gothish520]

On 6/12/2018 at 2:35 PM, CherryAmes said:

I really have to stop watching the flip shows because according to them my entire house is a 'gut job'!!  It was bad enough that it isn't open concept and I don't have two sinks in my en suite or stainless steel in my kitchen but according to the show I saw last night no one will want to buy my house because its exterior is red brick.  Apparently this is just so dated and will need to be covered!  Hell the red brick is the main reason I bought this house!!!

 

I LOVE brick houses! I love exposed brick inside as well, and I cringe whenever someone paints over it!

Edited June 16, 2018 by Gothish520

[BlossomCulp]

On 6/14/2018 at 10:51 PM, Sakura12 said:

How often do the people on these shows entertain? Are they having raging parties every week? Some of them act like that's most important part.

I can understand this if they live someplace really cool like London and they know that family and friends are likely to come visit and either stay with them or hang out with them.  But even with that how often is that going to happen?  And do people who live in a regular house in a neighbourhood near most of their friends and family really entertain every week, let alone multiple times a week?  On HHs they do!  I love when they go into a kitchen and have to say "I can see myself entertaining here".  Wow, can't wait to party at your house so I can watch you cut up sweet peppers as we sit at your island.  On a stool.  For hours.

[doodlebug]

6 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

I LOVE brick houses! I love exposed brick inside as well, and I cringe whenever someone paints over it!

Where I live, brick houses sell for a better price than other houses in the same neighborhood.  

[msmarjoribanks]

11 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Where I live, brick houses sell for a better price than other houses in the same neighborhood.  

I think of brick as more expensive than frame too.  And always in style.

[Mrs. DuRona]

I love the idea of a brick house, but most of them in our area are out of our price range, unfortunately. I hate when it's painted.  

We are considering family visiting while we put together our wants/needs for our pending house hunt, mostly because my parents are older and I would love to have a guest bedroom for them on the main floor, and they would probably visit more if we could accommodate them - hotels around here are expensive.  BUT, it's not #1 on our list.  That would be that it is in good shape with everything working.  Move-in ready to me means we don't have to fix/renovate anything before we move in.  Painting, appliances, etc. can all be done over time.  Isn't that the fun part of owning a house?  

[CruiseDiva]

Our subdivision is mostly brick houses in traditional styles (Georgian, Federal), but there is one section that has a lot of 'different' homes--mostly with vinyl siding. A friend who lives closer to that area calls them Jimmy Carter houses because they were built of cheaper materials when he was president and mortgage interest rates were 18%. 

[MaKaM]

"The house is about 2851 square feet."

Ain't no about about that; feels pretty precise to me. Unless you were aiming for 2851.8333825.

[scootypuffjr]

Not really a pet peeve, but I do wish they'd show some sort of scale when "pin-pointing" the three houses on the map. What looks like forever can be a 10 minute drive, and vice versa. It would be nice to have some idea just how far away the houses are from the city center/job/school or whatever, and from each other as well.

[scootypuffjr]

Here's another one - a comment in the International thread reminded me. "We could never fit a turkey in this oven!" Lol. People in other countries must think Americans cook a turkey at least once a week instead of once or maybe twice a year; that is ALWAYS their comment about the size of the oven. It never fails to amuse me. Are turkeys even regularly eaten or readily available in many other countries? I've never traveled, I don't even know

[doodlebug]

54 minutes ago, scootypuffjr said:

Here's another one - a comment in the International thread reminded me. "We could never fit a turkey in this oven!" Lol. People in other countries must think Americans cook a turkey at least once a week instead of once or maybe twice a year; that is ALWAYS their comment about the size of the oven. It never fails to amuse me. Are turkeys even regularly eaten or readily available in many other countries? I've never traveled, I don't even know

I think you could probably find them in most of Europe, but turkey really isn't all that popular as a main course there.  I'd be doubtful about finding a typical Butterball frozen turkey in South America or Asia, though.  I've done some traveling, don't recall seeing a lot of turkey on the menu, but you don't find it on the menu often in the US, either.  It would probably be easier to find turkey breast than the whole bird, but that would fit in most ovens and wouldn't be worth talking about on the show.

Edited June 28, 2018 by doodlebug

[CherryAmes]

I lived in England and I do remember getting turkey there but the oven was big enough to accommodate it - in England a "Sunday Roast" is pretty common.  I suspect in many countries, including England for that matter, running an oven long enough to cook a birdzilla like grandma always made would be pretty expensive though and not something the average person would be doing on any kind of regular basis.  My favourite "wow this oven is small" people are the ones in more tropical countries.  Are they really going to run their oven for hours at a time when it's 98 in the shade outside?

[chocolatine]

14 hours ago, scootypuffjr said:

Are turkeys even regularly eaten or readily available in many other countries?

They are available, but most people buy a breast or legs instead of the whole bird. It's often cheaper than chicken, so my refugee family used to eat it a lot when we first came to Germany. Even now, 25+ years later, when my father finds turkey meat on sale, he'll buy a lot of it, fill up the freezer, and cook it in a bunch of different ways - roast it, grind it for meat balls, make kebabs, etc. Old habits die hard. :)

[aguabella]

On 6/27/2018 at 7:08 AM, scootypuffjr said:

Not really a pet peeve, but I do wish they'd show some sort of scale when "pin-pointing" the three houses on the map. What looks like forever can be a 10 minute drive, and vice versa. It would be nice to have some idea just how far away the houses are from the city center/job/school or whatever, and from each other as well.

I agree but doubt they'll make this change for 2 reasons.  First and foremost, if the plot's about commute times but the locations don't quite work, they'll fake it.  Second, some participants request privacy.

Reading back the thread, it's interesting how many times local resident posters or others familiar with the area comment that the locations either don't make sense for the given plot or were misstated during the episode.

Edited June 29, 2018 by aguabella

[CherryAmes]

My husband and I are seeing four properties on Saturday.  I doubt we're going to buy any of them, this is a bit of a reconnaissance mission to see if we even want to move to this particular town, but anyway I am trying to convince him to go sit somewhere picturesque after we look at the houses and then eliminate them one by one until we choose the winner.  Then, of course, we have to kiss.  Oddly, he thinks I'm nuts :).

[laredhead]

CherryAmes, don't forget to ask the realtor questions like what's the purpose of each room, mention that you can see the neighbors (if you can), and each one of you needs to have a totally different style and be sure to stump the realtor when you ask him what the style of a particular is.  I've noticed that the four square style is being used more in recent episodes than craftsman style.  You must want a Victorian even if the area is full of only 70's ranch houses.  If the kitchen doesn't have SS appliances, declare that you absolutely cannot cook food in it.  The list is endless, and your realtor will think you have lost your mind after the first 10 minutes.

[CherryAmes]

1 hour ago, laredhead said:

The list is endless, and your realtor will think you have lost your mind after the first 10 minutes.

If we realize this isn't the town for us I could start saying stuff like "complete gut job" and "but the neighbours can SEE us"  just so she doesn't get excited about the possibility that we might buy!

[selkie]

On 6/23/2018 at 11:07 AM, MaKaM said:

"The house is about 2851 square feet."

Ain't no about about that; feels pretty precise to me. Unless you were aiming for 2851.8333825.

 

We had one appraisal when we bough the house and another one when we refinanced and each appraiser came up with a different number based on whether they counted the laundry room as heated and cooled living space. And there's a third number on file with the tax collector's office for property tax purposes. Because the person in charge of those numbers was a lush or just incompetent because the square footage listings in my neighborhood are off by 10% or more. 

 

On 6/28/2018 at 8:45 AM, CherryAmes said:

My favourite "wow this oven is small" people are the ones in more tropical countries.  Are they really going to run their oven for hours at a time when it's 98 in the shade outside?

 

I live in Florida and don't really think of the outside weather when running the oven. If you've got a modern oven, an energy-efficient home and good AC it's not really an issue, and I've done my fair share or baking and roasting when it was 95F+ out. 

[Phoebe70]

Granite is no longer in style?  They'll have to pry my granite counters from my cold, dead hands!  I love my granite.  It's so durable and really adds a lot to our kitchen.

Did you see the guy who wanted the number of bathrooms to match the number of bedrooms?  He was upset because one house had 2.5 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms.  Bizarre.

[Phoebe70]

On 5/27/2018 at 11:45 PM, biakbiak said:

Lots of adults like baths for themselves.

This is me.  I take a hot bath several times a week in my large, jetted tub to unwind.  I could bathe in a smaller, non-jetted tub that is in my daughter's bathroom.  Having no tubs at all in a house would definitely be a deal-breaker for me.

[msmarjoribanks]

Description of a rerun my DVR picked up that I haven't watched yet:

"A former military man, his wife and daughter are ready to settle down in a home in small town Pittsboro, N.C.; she wants a luxury kitchen and no stairs, while he's looking for a big bonus room and a neutral color scheme."

May be a great episode, but it reminded me that "no stairs" (absent an actual reason like mobility limitations) and "color scheme" are two of my pet peeves.  Paint the interior the colors you want it.