Pet Peeves: The Holy Trinity and Beyond

[Rhondinella]

I'm sensing that many of you are WAAAAY more invested in cleaning than I am.  Cleaning my shower door?  Um, doesn't it get clean every time I take a shower?  :-)  

 

Hello, I'm Rhondinella, and I'm a slob.

[formerlyfreedom]

In my last apartment before this one, I took the shower doors off and hung up a shower curtain. Much easier to take down and throw out!

[SpiritSong]

I'm sensing that many of you are WAAAAY more invested in cleaning than I am. Cleaning my shower door? Um, doesn't it get clean every time I take a shower? :-)

Hello, I'm Rhondinella, and I'm a slob.

Me too! Cleaning is the bane of my existence. With 3 cats and a dog, I ripped out all the carpeting in my house and installed ceramic tile instead, just for ease of cleaning.

On a different subject, can someone explain to me the appeal of living on a golf course? Saw a show recently where a couple was looking for a beach house in Nicaragua and they ended up in a house open to a golf course. The pool was in the back yard in full view of every golfer walking/driving by. No privacy whatsoever. Ugh.

Edited June 16, 2014 by SpiritSong

[OSM Mom]

Besides acres and acres of beautiful green grass that you're not in any way responsible for, I have no idea.

[FormerMod-a1]

Living near a golf course is dangerous.  Balls hit your house often.  Imagine sitting on your back patio or deck and having a ball whip past you so fast it breaks you window.  Yikes.  And even if you think you're far enough off from the main path, you'll still get balls hitting your house.  Even friends who are avid golfers and thought the pros of living on the course would outweigh the cons, ended up hating that.  

[LazyToaster]

I wondered about the golf balls - geez, I wouldn't even want my dog to have to deal with that!  The other thing I wondered about houses on golf course, they are usually upscale nice places, but you would think that it could be a security issue - a lot of open access to the back of the houses maybe?  Course, they probably all have security systems so maybe not an issue. 

[FormerMod-a1]

The other thing is it's a bear to mow your lawn, if you have one, due to golf balls in the yard.  Don't get me wrong, golf balls flying by, hitting your house, or landing in your yard is not like an hourly thing, of course.  It's not like living in a war zone.  But it is often enough that my friends would end up with buckets of balls each month.  Which was good for them, they didn't have to buy balls anymore.  But they also had to scour their yard before mowing, and did still have house repair due to the stray balls.  Can you imagine accidentally running your mower over a golf ball?  Especially in mulch mode where you might not have a bag attached.  Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!

[mojito]

I have to chime in on the bathroom off the kitchen. Or half-bath.

 

First, given a choice between no bathroom and one off the kitchen, I choose the latter. Second, don't people wash their hands when they leave the bathroom? Aren't more hands likely to be clean when the bathroom is there? Third, meals take up maybe 6 hours a day. Just because a bathroom is next to the kitchen, it doesn't mean that people have to use it during meal time. That leaves 18 hours a day of availability.

 

Chessiegal, how about  "the house is 2200 square foot"? I shake my head at all the realtors out there who call themselves "realitors".

 

 

Plus I'm thinking that in 20 years people will walk into that house and sneer at those vessel sinks like they sneer at brass fixtures now.  'That's so 2000.'

How about, "The kitchen looked so turn of the century. You know, when people were into that industrial look and were crazy about those busy countertops that you couldn't be sure were clean. And the house had hardly any walls. It was like an auditorium. And don't get me started on all the chandeliers. They even had them in the master bedroom. What, did they have dinner parties in their bedroom because there wasn't enough privacy in that ballroom-size living area?"

Edited June 17, 2014 by mojito

[auntjess]

Mojito, there were shows last year "That's So 70s," and "That's So 80s," and while I was watching them, I was thinking of items for "That's So 00s."
(I think of them as the "aughts," because I remember my great aunts talking about the early 20th century dates as "aught one," etc.)

The first thing on my list was all the walls painted gray.  All of them.
Then the things you mentioned, like no walls.

[Gladrags]

I don't understand the ooing and aahing over the clear glass shower doors either. No privacy and those things have got to be a bitch to keep clean.

 

I saw an episode recently where the wife wouldn't even walk into a bathroom with glass shower doors because the doors harbor germs. As if a shower curtain doesn't?

 

And then her tall husband walked under a ceiling fan in the eating area and complained about it being too low, according to script.

[ShuFace88]

I confess that I can relate to the woman who hated glass shower doors.  Our previous house had sliding shower doors in 2 of the 3 bathrooms.  There are so many nooks and crannies on those sliding doors that are impossible to keep clean, especially the track.  We removed the doors that were on the tub and put up a curtain - much easier.  We kept the doors on the stand-alone shower and it was a PITA to clean.  However, I don't think the frameless glass shower doors that open like a regular door are that bad.  They have fewer metal parts and should just require spraying with cleaner every so often.

 

I am one of those people who sees the giant, luxury bathrooms in these houses and thinks "who wants to clean all that".  These houses also usually have 4 bathrooms!  Our new house only has two bathrooms and I couldn't be happier.

[mojito]

 

As if a shower curtain doesn't?

You can put the shower curtain in the washing machine once a week. That's what I do (though not that frequently). And I'm talking about the plastic ones. Get one that's pliable enough and it can last through many machine washes.

 

I think about putting in a glass door, and I've a feeling they're not like the old shower doors with the tracks.

 

I suspect that at least 50% of women watch these home shows and ask, "Who's gonna clean all that?"

 

Vessel sinks look awkward to me. I want a sink that's wide and low and less likely to create a splash (like the stupid sinks in my bathrooms that are the size of a good size tub of popcorn). You can't wash your face without getting water all over the counter top.

 

My house has no utility sink, so the kitchen sink is it. I replaced my puny double sink with a single sink that's not only bigger than both of those puny sinks, but deeper. Aah. Imagine allowing your wok to soak in the sink, flat. 

 

I'd like something like that in the bathroom, too. Doesn't need to be as deep.

 

While I'm being chatty.....does anyone else hate when stagers put all those pillows on the bed or sofas or chairs? I would not allow anyone to spend my money on silly pillows.  First thing I do when I sit on someone's chair is remove all those uncomfortable pillows. And where do they go? The floor. Another chair. The coffee table.

Edited June 21, 2014 by mojito

[buttersister]

Ha, this show has made an impression on me, alright--I'm going to do some work in the kitchen and am loathe to get granite (it'll be some kind of quartz, thanks) and most likely, no stainless steel appliances. They've become de rigueur to my condo neighbors, but I have no desire to feel like I'm living in HH episode. Also, it's just not that big and there's no window, so making it monochromatic white with some grey accents seems like a good idea to me (I'm not buying friends telling me that stainless is easy to keep clean, either).

 

Based on the popularity of glass shower doors around here, too, I'm guessing it's so everyone can see and appreciate the expensive tile in the shower. Shopping around, I see I won't have to bother with tracks (ugh, have that now) and there's some sort of coating you can get so that the water doesn't spot so much (so they say;-)

Edited June 22, 2014 by buttersister

[outtahere]

We got stainless steel appliances.  Very sorry we made those purchases.  Won't do it again.  Too hard to keep clean and looking good.

[FormerMod-a1]

I've had no problem keeping real stainless clean.  Heck, half the time you can't even see the dirt.  You don't know you need to clean until you feel the dirt.   However, a stainless "finish" seems to show the dirt.  My dishwasher and microwave both have a stainless finish and they look dirty much easier than the stove and refrigerator which both have real stainless.  That said, I would never get black again.  You just have to put your hand near it to get fingerprints, it seems.  It smudges so easily.  Touch it and you've got smudges, even with clean hands.  When the time comes for me to replace my kitchen appliances, I will replace with (real) stainless and white.

[mojito]

I was recently told that white appliances are a special order in at least one national home improvement store. After all the colors kitchen appliances have gone through, white has always stood its ground. Maybe not anymore, though.

[ChelseaNH]

Used to be white was the default and everything else was special order.

 

I think an advantage of the trackless glass shower enclosures is that they make they bathroom visually bigger, since your sight lines aren't blocked.  And then you're "forced" to buy the pretty tile...

[OSM Mom]

Watching a "Where are they now" episode, and this twit of a woman got rid of beautiful plantation shutters and put up ugly drapes and shades. Have fun with all those dust catchers. I would kill for plantation shutters.

[txvoodoo]

I don't find them difficult to keep clean at all; a 30-second job with a squeegee after use keeps them looking nice, and then regular cleaning is no different than anything else.  They don't cause privacy issues for me, either, because anyone in the bathroom while I'm using the shower is someone allowed to see me naked.

 

But for awhile those doors seemed like a recurring storyline, and I don't understand HHs getting excited over them, either, or just in general making curtain vs. door, what type of door, etc. more than a minor consideration given how easy and inexpensive in the grand scheme of home buying it is to change.

 

I'm a lackadaisical housekeeper at best, but it's really easy keeping my doors clean, too. And like you, the only person likely to come in there is my husband, so no issues. 

 

I dislike curtains. I don't care how much you wash them, they harbor mold. And water gets past them at the bottom! A door *shuts*! 

[QuinnM]

I dislike curtains. I don't care how much you wash them, they harbor mold. And water gets past them at the bottom! A door *shuts*!

I'm a crazy OCD cleaner. I dislike curtains for the same reason. When I renovated I put n a steam shower. That means millions of spots. The contractor was all about getting this diamond coating on the inside of the glass. So this coating diffuses the light or something because you can't see spots from the outside. Really changed my mind about glass doors.

[auntjess]

OSM Mom, we don't say "drapes," we say "window treatments."   That's important.

I love the small bathroom I got when I moved to an apartment.  Everything necessary, no wasted space.

And I'm all for carpet, not hardwood.

First, because it's much more comfortable for the dog, important to me.  And also, I find it a lot easier to vacuum the carpet, and shampoo it a couple times a year, than to deal with hardwood floors.

 

 

[Bastet]

As a matter of personal taste, I hate carpet because it can't be kept as clean as hard surface flooring no matter how much one works at it and I prefer the look of hardwood, but as a viewer of the show I absolutely love when a HH wants it just because it's a refreshing change from the usual script.

[DownTheShore]

Oh, I hate those beds-and-sofas-of-a-thousand-pillows!  First of all, in those bedrooms there's never any obvious place to store them - other than throwing them in a corner on the floor.  I sure as heck wouldn't want to have to put them on and off the bed every single day.  And second, it is darned awkward to sit on a sofa that's filled with pillows.  I don't like pillow-back sofas for just that reason.

 

I always figured that if I ever built my own home, I would put in one of those showers that is so large that you don't even need a curtain or a door, because the water would never be able to splash out of it.

 

One thing that drives me crazy is when a couple is shown banging into each other in the kitchen as they try to prepare a meal.  Every time I see that I say to myself, "figure out which one of you is cooking tonight and the other one just get out of the kitchen!"

Edited June 27, 2014 by DownTheShore

[Rhondinella]

Every time I see that I say to myself, "figure out which one of you is cooking tonight and the other one just get out of the kitchen!"

 

 

Agreed.  Everyone in my family is banned from the kitchen while I'm cooking unless I specifically invite them.  

[OSM Mom]

Agreed. Everyone in my family is banned from the kitchen while I'm cooking unless I specifically invite them.

But can all your guests come and be entertained while you cook? [/snark]

[Rhondinella]

Yes, because my slopping food around is truly something to behold! :-)

[DownTheShore]

Those people with their obsessions regarding the kitchens being open so they can participate in the rest of the family's activities crack me up.  I mean, really, how long does it take any of us nowadays to prepare a meal?  It's not like it was back in the day when you had to butcher your own chicken and bake your own bread.  What are world-shattering fun are they going to miss?  Their significant other and/or children staring at the TV while they wait for the meal?

 

I would like HH to quiz the children of these people and find out how many of them want their parents hovering within their sight-lines at all times - lol.

[LazyToaster]

When I was raising my kids, all boys, they mostly wanted in the kitchen to ask me things, bug me, tell on somebody, get food, etc. I was always telling them to get out of the kitchen!

[OSM Mom]

Those people with their obsessions regarding the kitchens being open so they can participate in the rest of the family's activities crack me up. I mean, really, how long does it take any of us nowadays to prepare a meal? It's not like it was back in the day when you had to butcher your own chicken and bake your own bread. What are world-shattering fun are they going to miss? Their significant other and/or children staring at the TV while they wait for the meal?

I would like HH to quiz the children of these people and find out how many of them want their parents hovering within their sight-lines at all times - lol.

But don't you know, you have to be in constant eye contact with everyone in the house. Beats me as to why.

[DownTheShore]

When I was raising my kids, all boys, they mostly wanted in the kitchen to ask me things, bug me, tell on somebody, get food, etc. I was always telling them to get out of the kitchen!

 

My mom did the same thing with us - we were always being told to go play until the food was ready.  My mom loved us, but she didn't want us underfoot all the time.

 

Then again, my childhood wasn't as structured and as regimented as the lives of children are today.  Title IX hadn't been passed so there were no formal sports activities that girls could participate, few families in my neighborhood could afford private dance or music lessons, and there was no Girl Scout group in my area.  Other than school, we had nothing but free time in which to amuse ourselves, and since mothers were usually home and dads usually worked nearby, it wasn't that important to schedule "family time" because we were around each other most of the time.  Maybe that whole line-of-sight thing has a strong element of guilt to it since both parents usually work now, and are away from the home for much longer periods of time.

 

I mean, there was no such thing as after-care when I was a kid because there wasn't much of a need for it.  Your grandparents or a neighbor usually handled it if it was necessary.

[NYGirl]

I watch HG network a lot.  What I can't understand is why every single show is the same.  The open concept, the sight line to watch their child sitting on the sofa watching TV, the entertaining, the wood floors, stainless steel.  My goodness doesn't anybody do anything different nowadays?  It's all so cookie cutter (HG word).

 

Every single HH entertains nightly ..even when moving to a new state or country.  It's amazing to me.  The producers don't even try  anymore.

 

The one show I absolutely love now is "Fixer Upper".  I love Chip and Joanna and their cute little children.  I like the way they work together ..and I love the way she designs.  Every house they do does NOT look the same.

[auntjess]

Fixer Upper now has a forum.  I like it too, but Holmes et al are still my favorites.

It will be interesting to see the house hunters in ten years or so, wondering what it will cost to put up walls.

[twinks]

I think the most annoying comment to me is "tall ceilings." I always think about ceilings as being high, not tall.

[OSM Mom]

All pools are death traps as are stairs.

[Bastet]

Don't forget screenless windows.

[DownTheShore]

I think the most annoying comment to me is "tall ceilings." I always think about ceilings as being high, not tall.

 

There used to be a series of commercials for a large real estate firm, might have been Century 21 or some other, years ago that consisted of a little girl all dressed up in grownup clothing showing her outdoor playhouse to her prospective "clients" - another young boy and girl.  One of the phrases that she used to describe her "house" was that it had "high ceilings and low floors".  Every time a HH exclaims about the high ceilings, I always ask myself, "But does it also have low floors?"  LOL

Every single HH entertains nightly ..even when moving to a new state or country.  It's amazing to me.  The producers don't even try  anymore.

 

 

 

That's one of the first thing they look for - good entertaining space.  They've never lived in that state or country.  If it's a new country, neither of them can speak the language, yet they expect to entertain hordes.

 

I always wonder about those folks who need that outside balcony in order to grill.  I don't know what the rules are everywhere, but in my town, they don't allow any grills on rental apartment balconies or patios.  They consider it a fire hazard.

[FunGirl]

It will be interesting to see the house hunters in ten years or so, wondering what it will cost to put up walls.

 

Aunt Jess, I feel the same way. What's wrong with a wall or two to hang pictures on and a place to put a chest of drawers for storage (and a focal point)?  I personally don't want guests entering to see directly into a kitchen where I'm cooking. 

[DownTheShore]

The tip-over away from stainless steel appliances should start occurring shortly, because the go-to choice seems to be dark cherry cabinets with brushed stainless knobs/handles with stainless appliances, or else it's those boring white cabinets also with stainless appliances.  It's becoming generic.

 

The wood cabinets are finally transitioning to painted ones; those started appearing in European home decor magazines at least five years ago.

 

I'm waiting for the French stoves to start appearing, like La Cornue and Lacanche, with their enameled colors.

[OSM Mom]

One other thing that bothers me is the use of the term "city center". Is that a term that's actually used? I never heard it til HH and was wondering. I've always heard that area of a city called "downtown".

[Bastet]

I hear it in a lot of European cities, but in America it is as you say -- whatever the city, I generally hear its core described as downtown.

[walnutqueen]

When you're alone & life is making you lonely you can always go ...

[Bastet]

Ha!  Now I'm having flashbacks to the Seinfeld episode where George and Jerry attempt to use the lyrics to suss out Mr. Wilhem's instructions.

[Enigma X]

Every European country I have been to does not have a downtown but they do have a city center (which they sometimes shorten to "the city.") No North American (this includes Canada) place that I have been to ever has called their downtown a city center.

Since I hate the open floorplan so much (vehemently), I have looked to my friends and family to try to discern what types of people actually have looked for an open floorplan. Granted, this is not a scientific conclusion but I noticed that my friends and family who never have anything done at said time of the event are the ones who like the open floorplan. I know, even for the best of us, sometimes time slips by, but these people who I have encountered who sought this floorplan are always still in preparation mode, and usually have only started preparing, an hour before the functions starts. 

[DownTheShore]

That's because they're putting on a show for their guests, with themselves as the stars. ;)

 

That's what a lot of the open concept desire seems to me, at least in regard to the people we've seen who want it on HH - either exhibitionism (wanting to show off cooking skills), insecurity (afraid that something is going to happen in "the other room" that they're not a part of), or over-protectiveness (must watch the child's every single move).

 

No one ever says that they want it for better air flow, or for more light, the ability to give the kitchen a better view outdoors, and rarely do they mention a better traffic pattern, which are the things that I would consider if I wanted a place with an open floor plan.

 

But after having lived in apartments most of my life, I'm tired of being able to see the majority of my home from a single vantage point.  I want the mystery of separate spaces.  I don't want everyone seeing or passing by my kitchen; I want to be able to leave things messy and not have everyone see it.

Edited July 6, 2014 by DownTheShore

[NYGirl]

I've watched a couple of Property Brothers this weekend and they are the main culprits of the "open concept".  When all is said and done it turns out the whole first floor of your house is one big room..that's it...one room.

 

However....the homeowner can "not be left out of the conversation", "can watch their child sitting on the couch", and has a sight line straight to the front door in case somebody walks by that they wish to entertain.

[chessiegal]

I like an "open concept". I wouldn't choose a house based on it, but our forever house we bought 3 years ago has a great room (living area) open to the kitchen and breakfast nook. We don't "entertain", we're empty nesters, so no kids to keep in sight - I like it because I can watch TV while I'm cooking, especially nice because I'm usually making dinner when Jeopardy! is on. We have other closed rooms on the 1st floor, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, 2 powder rooms, and a laundry room.
 

[suedehead]

Same here...no kids and cook during J! Between the great room and my kitchen/breakfast room is an open staircase (like the Brady's, but 'U' shaped w/ a landing halfway up). I'm somewhat separated from the GR, but can also see/hear the tv.

 

My laundry room is also off the breakfast area. I can fold/hang clothes in there and see the tv in the reflection of a bigass mirror that's hanging on the wall in front of the open staircase. 

 

Now that I written this I'm beginning to think I watch too much tv.   

Edited July 11, 2014 by suedehead

[OSM Mom]

No such thing as watching too much TV. ;)

[WendyCR72]

My pet peeve has no doubt been mentioned here, but *I* didn't mention it! And it's more general than episode specific, but it drives me nucking futs when a couple or person on House Hunters International goes on and on about how they want to experience the customs and cultures of the country he/she/they will be moving to...but then whine to hell and back when the living space is less than large as it sometimes is in the US or Canada or wherever they hail from.

 

HELLO, FOREIGN COUNTRY!

 

It is rare that one will find as much space in some countries as they will at home, AND 9 times out of 10, IF there's a chance to get more, you will have to PAY MORE.

 

I'm sure some culture shock is involved, but some of the grand expectations still make me want to kick my TV sometimes regardless!

[DownTheShore]

Drives me crazy when they walk into what will be the master bedroom and complain that it's so much smaller than what they have back in the US, or there isn't a good view from the window.

 

To my way of thinking, all you need is enough room for a bed, to take care of all the business that is normally done on it.  And if you're sleeping - usually with blinds, shutters, drapes, curtains, shades closed - then what the heck does the view from the bedroom window matter?  As long as it provides light and no one can stand outside it and stare in, I'm good.

 

I think the problem is that here in the US, we really have no conception of what things cost elsewhere.  I know that I was raised during a time when my relatives in communist Eastern Europe basically ate dirt, so my notions of Europe formed as everyone there being poor and that an American income would let you live like a king.  Even though I know better, I'm still shocked at the housing prices in the UK, for example, because of that image that was imprinted on my brain as a child.