Pet Peeves: The Holy Trinity and Beyond

[auntjess]

21 hours ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

I don't understand why everyone needs a separate room for every one of their hobbies:

Dave wants a room for his extensive geode collection, while Amanda wants a room for knitting dolls out of badger fur.

Back when I used to watch these shows regularly, people would want a room for scrapbooking.  

[Neko]

1 hour ago, auntjess said:

Back when I used to watch these shows regularly, people would want a room for scrapbooking.  

Still a totally relevant hobby, right? ;P

[Neko]

Can someone explain to me why tile floors in the kitchen are so awful?  I've seen several episodes now where the HHers act like tile flooring needs to go, even when it doesn't look bad, and I'm stumped.  I know people have different tastes, but what is it about tile that makes these people want to vomit?  Please enlighten me.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Sweet Summer Child

[Kohola3]

30 minutes ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

Can someone explain to me why tile floors in the kitchen are so awful?

While I wouldn't have a melt down over tile, I don't care for it because a) a dropped glass shatters into about a zillion teeny pieces when dropped on tile and 2) the grout is just a germ magnet that can never be really cleaned to my satisfaction.  But that's just me.

[CherryAmes]

34 minutes ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

Can someone explain to me why tile floors in the kitchen are so awful?  I

To me most of the time what they're saying is "it's so dated".  Which may well be true but what they're replacing it with will be dated in a few years too.  Which I guess is my biggest pet peeve.  A lot of the stuff these shows insist are must-haves really really aren't!  I mean totally get why they'd say take down the wallpaper or get rid of the avocado green appliances but painting over wood because "everyone" wants a white kitchen or, and this really steams my clams, painting over a red brick exterior "because it's so dated" just kills me.  Some stuff you can update again in a few years when fashions change but you'll never get the paint off that brick house! 

[Neko]

2 minutes ago, CherryAmes said:

To me most of the time what they're saying is "it's so dated".  Which may well be true but what they're replacing it with will be dated in a few years too.  Which I guess is my biggest pet peeve.  A lot of the stuff these shows insist are must-haves really really aren't!  I mean totally get why they'd say take down the wallpaper or get rid of the avocado green appliances but painting over wood because "everyone" wants a white kitchen or, and this really steams my clams, painting over a red brick exterior "because it's so dated" just kills me.  Some stuff you can update again in a few years when fashions change but you'll never get the paint off that brick house! 

Someone has to have said that about granite countertops and stainless steel appliances by now, right?  I know that was the big fad when HH began, but everything I've read about home decor has suggested that granite and SS are out.  I would give anything for some snotty wife to comment on a "dated" kitchen that would have been all the rage, five years ago.

[CherryAmes]

2 minutes ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

I would give anything for some snotty wife to comment on a "dated" kitchen that would have been all the rage, five years ago.

It'll happen!  And eventually we'll get people going "hey put up a few walls and we'll have ourselves a dream house". 

[Neko]

I wonder if the open concept is ever going to go away?  I hope it does, but it's been years now, and people still seem to really want it.  I think it's so weird, though.  Why the hell would I need to "entertain" guests while I'm cooking, or watch my kids like a hawk while they're doing their homework in the living room?  (I don't have kids, BTW).  Honestly, open concept sounds like just more work for SAHMs; you don't get to have one minute away from the rest of the family, you must practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE, at all times.  Yeesh.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Sweet Summer Child

[CherryAmes]

We are planning to move next summer and we went to look at model homes in a new subdivision last week-end.  Every single bungalow was open concept.  Every single one.  The two story homes were more a modified open concept - they all had a "great room" but most of them also had a separate living room and some had an L shaped living dining area (how dated!!!!) -- of course this cost $$$.

Edited October 26, 2018 by CherryAmes

[auntjess]

Open concept just sounds so noisy.  TV competing with blender or mixer.

[Neko]

1 hour ago, CherryAmes said:

We are planning to move next summer and we went to look at model homes in a new subdivision last week-end.  Every single bungalow was open concept.  Every single one.  The two story homes were more a modified open concept - they all had a "great room" but most of them also had a separate living room and some had an L shaped living dining area (how dated!!!!) -- of course this cost $$$.

 

That's a shame.  I hate it when classic style homes like bungalows are made to look just like every generic new construction home, out there.  No personality, everyone wants the same things.  Blah.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Sweet Summer Child

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm getting an accent wall in my bedroom (that's what the tile lady calls it, I almost cried when I saw that), and the grout will be the same kind they used on my back splash in the kitchen, and the bath, grout is very pricey (about $200 a bucket), but it never needs sealing, is totally washable, and to me that's worth every penny.     

[Kenzie]

On 10/26/2018 at 11:13 AM, Sweet Summer Child said:

I wonder if the open concept is ever going to go away?  I hope it does, but it's been years now, and people still seem to really want it.  I think it's so weird, though.  Why the hell would I need to "entertain" guests while I'm cooking, or watch my kids like a hawk while they're doing their homework in the living room?  (I don't have kids, BTW).  Honestly, open concept sounds like just more work for SAHMs; you don't get to have one minute away from the rest of the family, you must practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE, at all times.  Yeesh.

I have come to loath these total open plans. I like to cook in a kitchen by myself and definitely don't want it visible from the front door. I grew up with 5 brothers in a 1350 sq. ft. house. Separate living, dining, kitchen, etc. gave us a place to go to and not have to be together every second.

[laredhead]

Kenzie, I recently read an article about the renovations that Prince William and his wife made to their house, Anmer Hall.  Evidently they embraced the open concept to some extent with the kitchen and living areas, and Queen Elizabeth was said to have remarked that she found it odd that they seemed to live all in one room.  I laughed at that one.

[BlossomCulp]

We had what they called a "great room" back in the '90s so the open concept idea has been around for new builds at least since around then but as was referenced above the great room was essentially the family room rolled in with the kitchen (my mother informed me at the time that having a sofa in a kitchen wasn't exactly new - her own grandmother had it back in the '30s) but anyway we also had a separate living room that was very private (comparatively speaking) and this was the room anyone coming to the door would have seen and could have been "entertained" in.  Like others I cannot begin to imagine living in a goldfish bowl where anyone coming to the door can see my pots and pans in the sink and the debris field known as "prepping a meal" all over the counters!

[Neko]

I could put the show on mute and not miss a thing.  OPEN CONCEPT, HARDWOOD FLOORS, WHITE KITCHEN, and EN SUITE BATHROOM will still flash on my screen, and that's pretty much all I need to know about the HHers in question.  As much as the hipster, preservation-at-all-costs types tend to annoy me, at least they're looking for something different.  I'll take a thousand of those episodes over one where they HHers claim they don't want cookie-cutter, then list their 'wants' as the same things everyone else wants.  BARF.

Oh, there is my pet peeve of the day: "cookie-cutter".  Generic.  Commonplace.  Ubiquitous.  Please use a different adjective, folks.  I'm begging you.

[BlossomCulp]

2 minutes ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

I'll take a thousand of those episodes over one where they HHers claim they don't want cookie-cutter, then list their 'wants' as the same things everyone else wants.

Totally agree!  When they say cookie cutter they really mean "don't want Mom's house".  In 20 years their house will be "Mom's house" and their own kids will be rebelling against cookie cutter!

[aguabella]

9 hours ago, BlossomCulp said:

We had what they called a "great room" back in the '90s so the open concept idea has been around for new builds at least since around then but as was referenced above the great room was essentially the family room rolled in with the kitchen (my mother informed me at the time that having a sofa in a kitchen wasn't exactly new - her own grandmother had it back in the '30s) but anyway we also had a separate living room that was very private (comparatively speaking) and this was the room anyone coming to the door would have seen and could have been "entertained" in.  Like others I cannot begin to imagine living in a goldfish bowl where anyone coming to the door can see my pots and pans in the sink and the debris field known as "prepping a meal" all over the counters!

And before the 90's when we consider FLW's prairie style, developed from another architect's work in the late 19th century, IIRC. 

As homeowners update, I believe they're essentially using the great room style.  Builders might add a few walls, too, but we know who'll pay the added costs for new and improved (!) at the end of the day.

[laredhead]

When my parents bought a newly constructed house in 1965, it had what was called the den, and it also had a living room.  The den and kitchen were one room with a peninsula of kitchen cabinets acting as a separation.  The TV was in the den, the piano and "good" furniture was in the living room.  In just about every renovation I have seen of houses like this, the owners/contractors have knocked down the wall between the living room and den, and now you walk in the front door and most of the house is right there as one big room.  No space get away from anyone if you want a few minutes alone, no playing the piano and closing the door to keep from disturbing someone who might be watching TV, etc., and you can see all of the dirty dishes and cooking mess all from the front door.  Looking back on it, the house wasn't large, but it worked for 2 adults and 2 teenagers. 

[Homily]

32 minutes ago, laredhead said:

When my parents bought a newly constructed house in 1965, it had what was called the den, and it also had a living room.  The den and kitchen were one room with a peninsula of kitchen cabinets acting as a separation. 

This is what I want in a house!  I like the idea of the family room/kitchen combination as long as there are still other rooms on the main floor!  To me what you describe sounds like a cozy family home.  The One Big Room just doesn't.  

[auntjess]

On 10/31/2018 at 10:58 AM, BlossomCulp said:

Totally agree!  When they say cookie cutter they really mean "don't want Mom's house".  In 20 years their house will be "Mom's house" and their own kids will be rebelling against cookie cutter!

I think some of the people today think they've discovered the ultimate style, and don't get that it will old hat in a few years.

[Homily]

54 minutes ago, auntjess said:

I think some of the people today think they've discovered the ultimate style, and don't get that it will old hat in a few years.

A flipper show I saw last night had them gutting the kitchen (of course) because it was "so 90s"  they even talked about how everyone went in and changed up houses then to look like what they were now gutting.  Neither of them seemed to have a clue that what they're doing to that house right now will be just as dated in 20 years and someone else will be gutting it.  Just once it would be nice if they would at least give a passing nod to that but so far I've never seen anyone admit to it!

[Neko]

The other day, I saw an episode in which an HHer gave his partner crap for liking light colored wood floors: "What are you, stuck in the 90's?".  He acted like it was the most ridiculous thing.  Something that I don't consider dated in the same way avocado green appliances, or busy wallpaper would be.  Not gonna lie, I wanted to smack him, lol.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Sweet Summer Child

[Homily]

22 minutes ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

He acted like it was the most ridiculous thing. 

Maybe not every dark wood is like this but the last house I lived in had dark coloured hardwood and the dust just shone - I'd no sooner clean it off then it would settle back down.  That has put me off dark wood for life!

[auntjess]

True confession.
When I  first started watching this, probably 10 years ago, they showed a house with with a nice bathroom with brass fixtures, and I thought "how cool," and then realized my mistake, as the buyers expressed their horror at it.
I'd only had chrome.

[iamsophia]

15 hours ago, Homily said:

Maybe not every dark wood is like this but the last house I lived in had dark coloured hardwood and the dust just shone - I'd no sooner clean it off then it would settle back down.  That has put me off dark wood for life!

I agree. I put dark wood floors in my previous home because I liked how they looked. They showed everything. And in a house with a dog and two cats, I ended up having to dust and steam mop the floors every single day. They showed every bit of hair, dust, or drop of dog slobber.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I hate that the flippers who claim they are doing an authentic, vintage remodel on a 100 year plus house turn it into open concept, and use very modern looking finishes.       

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I hate that the flippers who claim they are doing an authentic, vintage remodel on a 100 year plus house turn it into open concept, and use very modern looking finishes.       

Have you seen the show Restored on DIY? Brett Waterman does a wonderful job restoring old homes. He might move a wall or doorway, but he makes old homes livable.

ETA: He's not a flipper, he works for clients that already own the home.

Edited November 3, 2018 by chessiegal

[BlossomCulp]

3 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I hate that the flippers who claim they are doing an authentic, vintage remodel on a 100 year plus house turn it into open concept, and use very modern looking finishes.   

Just watched a flip show where they took what they called a Craftsman house that was at least 100 years old and basically turned it into just another open concept 2018 bungalow.  To be fair the house was a mess and they were pretty much building a new house but it was too bad that they decided to just build, at least inside, what was essentially every house you see on these shows right now.  Walls have got to go!

What made me laugh was they said they were going for a vintage look in the bathroom so of course they put on a barn door.  Yes.  That was certainly part of the yesteryear charm that you find in 100 year old houses.

Edited November 3, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[msmarjoribanks]

6 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Have you seen the show Restored on DIY? Brett Waterman does a wonderful job restoring old homes. He might move a wall or doorway, but he makes old homes livable.

ETA: He's not a flipper, he works for clients that already own the home.

 

I loved that show.  The restorations were so interesting.

I also hate when renos of places have no sensitivity to its historical period or what makes it interesting, and just makes it look like every other place -- following all the trends -- on the inside.  On another (local) housing blog I follow someone was talking about some of the Alison Victoria renos, which are apparently going to be on the Chicago Flipper show.  The one the person linked was pretty much all the HGTV trends, and they made it look ridiculous for the area/what it was on the outside too.

They also are trying to jump the price ridiculously -- took a place that had been around $400K (and probably needed repairs/reno), but which was already reno'd and sold for over $700K in 2017 and then did what they did and now were trying to sell it for $1.4m.  I'm going to watch just because I'm curious how they will justify all that.

Edited November 3, 2018 by msmarjoribanks

[Neko]

Hey, HGTV, you wanna find more Victorians and Craftsmans you can use in your footage when you show us what type of style the HHers prefer?  I'm tired of looking at the same yellow Victorian, and beige Craftsman, over and over again.  Thanks.

[chessiegal]

4 hours ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

Hey, HGTV, you wanna find more Victorians and Craftsmans you can use in your footage when you show us what type of style the HHers prefer?  I'm tired of looking at the same yellow Victorian, and beige Craftsman, over and over again.  Thanks.

Not going to happen. That would cost money.

[CherryAmes]

Well I know when I've been insulted!  Just watched a flip show and I swear the appliances in the house were the same as mine and the flipper sneered and called them "substandard" (or some word like that).  Now I admit they're :gasp: white but they were not by far the cheapest fridge and stove in the fridge and stove store!!

[chessiegal]

Isn't funny that white cabinets are all the rage because they make the kitchen so bright, but white appliances can't possibly function? I was sitting at a red light next to a local lumber company truck with pictures hawking a brand of cabinets they carry. There were 5 pictures, everyone with some variant of white cabinets.

[msmarjoribanks]

It's so dumb.  I think they act as if white or black appliances must be old because they assume they aren't made anymore (which obviously is not true) or some such.

Although also some snooty people seem to think anything less than the fanciest appliances (SubZero and Wolf and what not) are intolerable.  Probably people who use their kitchen to show off, and I don't mean by their cooking.

[CherryAmes]

What's also dumb (well to me) is a lot of these flip shows are for houses that are at most mid range in terms of their price point in their area.  In other words we're not talking high end properties here.  Now if they want to put super expensive appliances in a house they're flipping I'm sure they account for that in the price they ask but mostly I would bet people looking for houses would be more than happy with new appliances period they aren't expecting high end -- well of course unless they're on HH and expecting a champagne house on a beer budget!!

Edited November 6, 2018 by CherryAmes

[Bastet]

It's audio only, but here's the section of Kathleen Madigan's Bothering Jesus comedy special in which she complains about the people on House Hunters:

[topanga]

On 11/5/2018 at 8:09 PM, Bastet said:

 

It's audio only, but here's the section of Kathleen Madigan's Bothering Jesus comedy special in which she complains about the people on House Hunters:

 

I friggin love this bit. 

[DianeDobbler]

Obviously the show has a formula but I get tired of the option that is not only fully furnished, but the personal effects of the occupants are everywhere. The closet is full of clothes, a bike is in the hallway, the kitchen is full of appliances - nobody is streamlining for an upcoming move. It's the decoy. I've also learned that if the "agent" takes the clients out of their "preferred area" of town, and the place they're viewing is both unremarkable (no houseboat, no backyard full of circus animals) and empty, that is the one. 

I think my favorite house hunters was the young woman from Boston house hunting with her mother, and the mother's schtick was actually getting to sound like a reasonable human being. "It's paint - it can be changed." "Plumbing is not as difficult as some plumbers want you to think." Etc.

Like everyone, I'm sick and tired of freaking open concept. I even hate the two words together. And I also dislike when there is no obvious conflict or issue so they make up something stupid that one of the parties has to hammer on about every five minutes before abandoning at the point of "decision".

[Homily]

On 10/8/2018 at 1:19 PM, topanga said:

And when did rose gold become a thing? I’ve been seeing it used in a few house flipping shows. I don’t know. It looks cheap to me. 

I just saw a flipper show tonight and every single fixture in the bathrooms and the kitchen were going to be in rose gold.  And one of the reasons was she looked at the house and said it was "so 2008".  Right, so changing things like perfectly serviceable fixtures to what is trending in 2018 (10 years later, not 30 or 40, 10 years!) makes an awful lot of sense.  And she doesn't see that she's just dated the house?

Edited November 10, 2018 by Homily

[auntjess]

56 minutes ago, Homily said:

Right, so changing things like perfectly serviceable fixtures to what is trending in 2018 (10 years later, not 30 or 40, 10 years!) makes an awful lot of sense.  And she doesn't see that she's just dated the house?

On one of the DIY shows from an exhibition, they showed easily changeable fixtures.  I think they were Kohler.

[CrazyInAlabama]

What I hate is they mix the brass or rose gold lights or fixtures, with other finishes, and it looks pieced together, and ridiculous.  

[kirklandia]

I think that mixing metal tones, in home decor or fashion, is now considered chic.  No more matchy-matchy.  Of course, you have to know how to do it!

[Kohola3]

On 11/5/2018 at 8:09 PM, Bastet said:

It's audio only, but here's the section of Kathleen Madigan's Bothering Jesus comedy special in which she complains about the people on House Hunters:

Kathleen Madigan has long been a real favorite of mine and I think she speaks for most of us!  Love the comment about the twits being lucky the Realtor wasn't showing them a mobile home with their budget.  Hee!

8 hours ago, kirklandia said:

Of course, you have to know how to do it!

And with some of the idiots we've seen, I"m not sure any of them do.  I especially love the ones who demand certain things (must have granite, or I will perish) and then ask the Realtor "Is this granite"?.  If you can't tell the difference you obviously don't need it. you want it - and only because some decorating show told you that you do.

[Sakura12]

Snl had a skit about House Hunters. I figured this belongs here since they talk about the ridiculousness of the show. 

Edited November 12, 2018 by Sakura12

[Gini]

On 4/5/2014 at 11:53 PM, Rhondinella said:

Interestingly, OSM Mom, I lived in Europe for a while (Belgium) and I knew several women who had dishwashers but didn't use them.  They didn't trust that the machine would get the dishes as clean as they would.  I thought they were insane.  I didn't have a dishwasher and wanted one so badly.  But the Belgians are notoriously picky about their cleanliness--women would actually sweep and mop the PUBLIC sidewalk in front of their house every morning.
 

Anyway, topic?  I agree with most of what has been said here.  The twin sinks in the master bath is the thing that annoys me most, I think.  I mean, maybe my husband and I are different, but we are on completely different body clocks (he gets up at 5, I stumble out of bed no earlier than 8 if I can help it), and so we almost never use the bathroom mirrors and sinks at the same time.  So one works fine for us.

Of course, heaven forfend someone should have to wait 30 seconds for their spouse to finish brushing their teeth.

How about in the 70’s when all families I ever knew had 4 kids and 2 parents all using ONE bath with ONE sink...

[chessiegal]

I have a stepdaughter with husband and 7 children in a 2 bedroom house with 1 bathroom with 1 sink.

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, Gini said:

How about in the 70’s when all families I ever knew had 4 kids and 2 parents all using ONE bath with ONE sink...

Shocking.  Did any of them need therapy?

[CruiseDiva]

5 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Shocking.  Did any of them need therapy?

LOL!

Aw gee, I remember the 50s when we had three bedrooms and us four kids had to share. Horrors! I had to share a room with my baby brother. And we had one bathroom. Then my step-father got a job in another state and all he could find to rent were two bedroom houses. My parents slept on a hide-a-bed in the living room and us kids had bunk beds in one room and a trundle bed in the other and still only one tiny bathroom. After his next transfer the step-father found a three bedroom house with TWO bathrooms. Man, I thought we were in tall cotton, even though I still had to share a room with the baby brother.

So, now that I'm an old broad, I feel rich with two and a half bathrooms for just my husband and me and the full bathrooms have double sinks. I don't need therapy because now I have my very own sink. /sarc

[msmarjoribanks]

10 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I have a stepdaughter with husband and 7 children in a 2 bedroom house with 1 bathroom with 1 sink.

I live in a Chicago neighborhood primarily made up of early 1900s cottages, and originally they were all built in one story with unfinished basement and attic style.  Many of them now have been expanded and had the attics/basements finished and the attics dormered out -- mine is a 3 bed, with no bedrooms on the first floor anymore -- but some are still in the traditional style.  My neighbors who raised kids here in the '80s had 3 sons and 2 parents with 2 beds, one bath, and did not die.  Another nearby family who recently moved had 3 beds, one bath, 2 parents and 4 daughters.  Both of these baths have -- gasp! -- a single sink.

A friend and I were just talking about this, since in my prior neighborhood, which had a similar housing stock originally but is now really well-off, developers snap up the remaining old houses, knock them down, and then build ridiculous monstrosities with 7 beds, 6 baths or the like.  We were saying it's funny that back when 6 or more kids was common the houses had 2-3 beds, and now that most families have 1-3 at most, you get these houses with 7 beds.