Home Town - General Discussion

[pasdetrois]

On 3/19/2024 at 8:16 AM, sadtvjunkie said:

The young woman homeowner on this episode during the reveal was TOO EXTRA, I had to mute the TV.

Same here. I think the Napiers were a bit taken aback by her screechy hysterics, but were too polite to react.

Adorable house with thoughtful design. Erin really got to draw on her creativity (those cabinet knobs), which must have been fun for her. I liked the green roof for a change. Erin has a great sense of color. I think the one error was no screened porch, as this young couple loves to live outdoors and they could use the extra "room" in the summer time.

Erin seemed to feel the need to apologize for building small and building new. She wove the justification throughout her commentary. I like that someone built small as opposed to the monstrosities that are in fashion, and clearly they had to tear down. I would love to see more of those new, charming small houses that are affordable for regular folks. Of course, developers don't make much money with them.

 

Edited April 17 by pasdetrois

[pasdetrois]

On 3/24/2024 at 12:35 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I love that they restored the grandmother's metal patio furniture.   

The new wood arms that mimic the original metal open work are great design, and the turned legs on the new dining table are stunning.

I like that this house was not the cookie-cutter open floor plan that many old homes get turned into.

There was a famous Auburn football coach named "Shug" Jordan (pronounced Jerdan, which is a common Jordan-pronunciation in Alabama).

Edited April 20 by pasdetrois

[pasdetrois]

On 4/1/2024 at 1:52 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I wonder where the potter put her kiln for firing her pottery?

I wonder about this too. Plus, will she keep all the supplies and mess that being a dedicated potter requires? Would ruin the vibe of that room. When I saw it, I thought morning coffee/reading/meditation/yoga room, and how my family and friends would appreciate hanging out to chat there (no TV). In fact, I suspect the buyers had already chosen the house, given their need for a pottery space.

Another beautiful re-design, with thoughtful elements. I hope someone saves the other house, which was lovely.

Edited April 21 by pasdetrois

[CrazyInAlabama]

My guess is that the potter will build an entire work shed for supplies, creating pottery, and the kiln.   I bet the garden room will be a display showcase for her work. 

I'm watching the Homecoming episode about Jones College.  A lot of places where I've lived they used to have Junior Colleges like what Jones Junior College used to be.  Everyone went to two years in the J.C., then transferred to four year colleges for the last two years.  Of course, they did have two year degree courses and some students ended their education then.    The courses were set up in conjunction with the 4-year schools to make sure that if students took the first two years in a transfer course, they didn't lose any credits, and graduated on time.    It was a good system.  

 

Tonight's new episode is "English Country Cottage"

From Titan TV: A woman who grew up in New York hopes to raise her kids in a cozy place just like the one she lived in as a kid, and enlists Ben and Erin's help searching for a home with a massive fireplace and at least two acres of land.

Melina is a single motehr who grew up in Long Island, lived in Florida, and is now moving to Laurel with her two kids.  Jeremaiah and Amaya.  Budget is $225,000 max with rehab. 

Wilkinson House-3 bed, 2 bath, 1600 sq ft, $145,000. Repainting and adding character will make the house cute.  Living room has a huge brick fireplace.  I love the fireplace. Kitchen is small, but Erin has a great plan to remodel it, with a peninsula and bar stool seating.  House used to have skylights, they were filled in, and it will get fixed to remove the last of the holes in the ceiling.    LVT flooring in a wood-look pattern.  Cased openings, and faux beams on the living and dining room.   All in $225,000. 

Knight House, 2 acres, 3 bed 2 bath 1600 sq ft, $130,000.  On a busy street but far back, fix the two front door issue.  Interior living has a fireplace, looks like gas logs.  Acoustic tile ceiling will have to go.  Brick floor in the living room. kitchen feels bigger, but it's not really bigger.  (It looks bigger to me). Ben says there is a lack of counter space, and though I love Ben, he's wrong. 

Erin will open a wall up, add a big peninsula, move the sink to the peninsula.   House has a glassed in porch, with the washer screened porch.   They will add a banquette with a long table in the dining room.  $225,000 total for the rehab and purchase price. 

There is artwork on Masonite, which was invented in Laurel.  Sorry, I can't stand Masonite. 

Melina chose the Wilkinson House.  The kitchen demo is easy, nothing was attached properly.  Kitchen demo was quick, and removing the sutters was too.  Sam and Ben are going to Smith Brothers Sawmill, in Buckatunna, MS, for oak beams.   Sam (Ben's brother) and Ben worked with the current owner at the sawmill.    I love hearing how Allen the plumber will use sensors to find and reroute the water lines.   

Ben and Josh are making a replica of an apothecary cabinet as a sofa table with nine drawers.  I love the cabinet.   The window mullions look fantastic.  I love the brown LVP flooring.  Ben's sofa table is wonderful.  The kitchen is so much more open, and easy to use. 

I love the finished house.   Melina looks thrilled, and I'm glad she's so happy with the house.  I hope the family has a lot of happy years in that house. 

 

 

 

Edited April 22 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

Ben’s furniture gets better and better.

I may have to look at LVP. That floor did look good. More economical than hardwood, I’m hoping. Softer, too, I’d guess—I love how carpeting feels, but it doesn’t wear well here (no kids or pets, go figure). 

Laurel is like Manhattan? I know you love your home town, Erin, but, please.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

11 hours ago, buttersister said:

Ben’s furniture gets better and better.

I may have to look at LVP. That floor did look good. More economical than hardwood, I’m hoping. Softer, too, I’d guess—I love how carpeting feels, but it doesn’t wear well here (no kids or pets, go figure). 

Laurel is like Manhattan? I know you love your home town, Erin, but, please.

 

LVP is what I have in my entire home, and I love it.   It's the full length glued version.  A replacement someday will be click together, and can be put right over the current floor.   There are no threshholds between rooms, it's not noisy like a lot of laminate is to walk on, and mine is a medium oak pattern.   Just don't go too dark or too light, or it shows everything.   Really quick to install too, at least the click together is.   

[chediavolo]

18 hours ago, buttersister said:

Ben’s furniture gets better and better.

I may have to look at LVP. That floor did look good. More economical than hardwood, I’m hoping. Softer, too, I’d guess—I love how carpeting feels, but it doesn’t wear well here (no kids or pets, go figure). 

Laurel is like Manhattan? I know you love your home town, Erin, but, please.

 

I know! I suppose she was trying to make a joke, but even that is just too far-fetched

I always have to wonder since they don’t show any of the rooms in the house except the ones that they are renovating, what the ,for instance, bedrooms and bathrooms look like. Just like this latest episode. They spent all that money on the house and the renovations and you know that the bathroom or bathrooms and the bedrooms have to be horror stories like the rest of the house was and all these people just gonna live with those rooms looking terrible while the rest of the house looks like a showplace?

[CrazyInAlabama]

There is already a description for another episode, and it's a a follow up, where they do more of a house they showed recently.   I don't know which one though.     

I suspect that for the houses the part they can't do in budget isn't horrible, but can get by with some paint, or carpet until the homeowner gets enough money to complete the job.   The home inspector chose between the living, dining and kitchen for now, and left the bathrooms and bedrooms for later.  

Edited April 22 by CrazyInAlabama

[RoxiP]

When my house was being remodeled for sale LVP was put in the downstairs and I loved it so much I almost kept the house!

[DonnaMae]

It would cost a lot for paint for the bedrooms, but those old bathrooms would have to be redone.  They would be expensive to remodel, and the homeowners have already spent what they can afford on the rest of the rooms.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

"Sisters Know Best"

New, 4/28/2024.   From Titan TV: Ben and Erin help a young woman searching for a modern, moody retreat in Laurel, where she and her six sisters grew up and where she hopes to find a place where they can all come together for wine nights.

Shelley Jones and her six sisters grew up in Laurel, now she wants to have a home with wine nights for the siblings.  She works for Jones County EDA (Economic Development Agency.) Budget is $225,000. She likes bold colors. Shelley is taking two sisters with her to see the house.  

Harrell House-3 bed, 2 bath, 1500 sq ft, $80,000. Screened porch on front. House apparently comes with a cat, and Erin notes that the cat has been around for every viewing of the house.   I knew the house looked familiar.  Sheet rock over the paneling.  One sister wants to paint the paneling.  They will have to put in central air and heat, and foundation repairs. Dining room needs sheet rock and a light.  Kitchen is awful, except for the drain board sink, that will be transformed with enamel work.  Erin suggests a bigger cased opening, banquette seating, all new custom cabinetry, with lots of pattern and color the homeowner loves.  Laundry room adjoins a great sun room.   $120, 000 renovations, purchase $80,000, and total of $200,000. 

Boteler House-all brick, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1593 sq ft., $160,000 price.   The neighborhood dog comes along to the viewing.  Nice living room, hardwood floors. kitchen is big, but tight.  Erin would change everything in the kitchen, all new cabinets, peninsula with seating.    Back patio is great, covered, with access from several sets of french doors. Laundry is off the back porch, that will be moved to the front coat closet.   Total price is $240,000 (I think). 

Shelley chooses the  Boteler House for the huge covered back patio.  (I would have passed on the Harrell House, because of the foundation issue). 

They find wood floors under the awful sheet vinyl floors.  Ben will build ah L-shaped day bed with a Chippendale rail, just like the front porch rail.   Ben, Josh and Jim go to Shelley's family tractor service to get parts for a wine cabinet.   Cabinet pulls will be off of a tractor, from the tractor parts yard the father has next to the business. The tractor name will be cut out, put into a cabinet top, and epoxy over it, with the tractor parts being the cabinet pulls. The interior paint is medium green.  Countertops are a white quartz, with dark green/teal cabinets, with v-groove for the backsplash, stained medium oak.  

I love the scenes of Laurel and the countryside they show, the B roll I think they call it. 

The wallpaper in the entry is beautiful.  The dining light is either feathers or leaves, in metal.   They mounted backets on the back patio, to put up curtains to shield them from the sun in the afternoons.   Ben's wine cabinet is fantastic. Erin and Laura (Shelley's sister) water colors are beautiful.   

I love the green shutters and exterior trim.  The foyer wallpaper looks wonderful.   The stacked washer/dryer in the launtry room looks so much better than going outside for laundry.   The painted ceiling darker than the usual white compliments the green walls.   The wine cabinet that Ben and Shelly's father Vic made is beautiful.    I love the new kitchen. I like the quartz behind the stove, under the vent hood, and the kitchen color is beautiful.  The covered patio is beautiful with the curtains.   Ben's daybed L shaped sofa with the Chippendale trim is fantastic.    

House was $225000 all in. 

(They've shown the Harrell house several times over the years, I hope someone buys and remodels it.)

 

Edited April 30 by CrazyInAlabama

[RoxiP]

I would have picked the Harrell House just for the screened in front porch but I wasn't the one doing the picking!

I actually thought this was one of Erin's nicest, most cohesive designs.  Not particularly my taste but altogether I thought the house turned out nicely (although not a fan of the wood back splashes and definitely not a fan of the countertop going up behind the stove - but again - not my house!).  The front of the house looked really nice with the upgraded landscaping and shutters and the back patio really seemed to suit their family.  Moving the laundry room was definitely the right choice.

[MsJamieDornan]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

I actually thought this was one of Erin's nicest, most cohesive designs.

JMO, I didnt like the furnishings, but I think they used the homeowners stuff. It seemed a bit messy to me.

[chediavolo]

19 hours ago, RoxiP said:

I would have picked the Harrell House just for the screened in front porch but I wasn't the one doing the picking!

I actually thought this was one of Erin's nicest, most cohesive designs.  Not particularly my taste but altogether I thought the house turned out nicely (although not a fan of the wood back splashes and definitely not a fan of the countertop going up behind the stove - but again - not my house!).  The front of the house looked really nice with the upgraded landscaping and shutters and the back patio really seemed to suit their family.  Moving the laundry room was definitely the right choice.

My thoughts exactly. The backsplash & the wood were ugly. How are they going to keep that wood clean in a kitchen? The grease & the odors will never come out. 

[RoxiP]

3 hours ago, chediavolo said:

My thoughts exactly. The backsplash & the wood were ugly. How are they going to keep that wood clean in a kitchen? The grease & the odors will never come out. 

I'm thinking that they probably sealed it within an inch of its life (or at least that's my hope).

[chediavolo]

2 hours ago, RoxiP said:

I'm thinking that they probably sealed it within an inch of its life (or at least that's my hope).

I hope so. Otherwise that is going to be a gross mess. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm watching the rerun "Rustic Renovation" , with the two men who moved from Arizona.    I know they had horses in Arizona, but they might have been leasing them, not owned.   Either way, I' sure the horses are well cared for. 

 

"Do You Believe in Bradgic?"

New, 5/05/2024, 

From Titan TV:    After going through a divorce, Erin's friend and former bandmate enlists her help making a new start in his old home with a transformation of his spartan bachelor pad into the customized house he's always dreamed of.

Brad SMith (Bradgic is Brad and Majic combined) was in a band with Erin when they were 15.   Brad is in the marketing department at Jones College, and videographer for businesses around town.   Brad divorced a year ago, and he wants the house changed to his style.   I love the exterior of the house.  3 bed 2 bath 2,000 sq ft, $100,000 rehab budget.  Erin says repaint, change the aluminum window on the front.   Interior is nice in the living room, with hardwood.  He wants to get better furniture. They will paint the living room, and everywhere else with a dark khaki, and charcoal trim.  The front sunroom is adorable.  Fix the arch.   Dining room just needs paint and a new light.   Kitchen is cute, but he wants Bradgical.   Erin will add a lot more cabinets in charcoal, backsplash will be updated, and a black apron sink, and countertops.     Brad wants a milk bar in the kitchen, he doesn't drink.    Brad likes 2% milk, and Ben likes whole milk.   Brad needs hat / ball cap storage, and a bigger closet.  Built-ins for closet storage in the bedroom.   Add darker thiled shower, and floor, fix the bathroom fixtures.  Total for everything is $100,000. 

 Then, Brad says he wants a rollup garage door in his bedroom, leading to a deck, but that means no bathroom remodel.   Brad sends a video to Ben and Erin, and he's going to go with the bathroom remodel, and cancel the rollup garage door.  Then, he proposes a reunion for the band with Erin.   We're getting the band back together! Sunday's Maria is the band name. 

They find a brick wall, and are going to chisel the mortar off.  Ben's project is a lovely Walnut dart board, with a Lazy Susan base.  Ben will do a cork inlay.  Also, a hat rack, under the dart board.   He's building a milk bar too.  Then, the door next to the Milk Bar was put in the wrong place, and has to be moved 11".  Then they tell David the Tile Wizard to do the niche and tile in the shower, in a chevron pattern.  They're not serious, and doing a stacked pattern that's much better. 

The built in closets in the bedroom look great.  Ben is building a desk using an old work table base, with two huge legs that raise and lower the table, in the sun porch area. 

The interior house paing and new outside trim transforms the house.  The cabinets are a medium blue with a little grey in it, and countertops are black.   Kitchen backsplash is matte brown tile.  The milk bar has mercury glass backsplash.   They didn't find any rot while replacing the front window, which is extremely rare.   

The band will perform at Laurelpalooza.  Ben spray painted a t-shirt saying "Sunday's Maria Fan Club President" . That's so cute of him. 

I love the finished house.  It's exactly what Brad asked for. I love Ben's desk in the sunroom/office.  I love the dining room, and the kitchen, even the black countertops with the bold white veining.   The milk bar is gorgeous with the mercury glass backsplash.    The giant built in closet in the main bedroom is gorgeous.   I love the remodeled bathroom.  

Edited May 6 by CrazyInAlabama

[RoxiP]

I agree that the latest "Brad" house was really good - very personal to his own taste.  I would have foregone the milk bar because that walkway was fairly narrow (besides, it was wasted on milk - but if it had been a coffee bar...!), but altogether a very nice remodel.  I especially liked that they included more than just the kitchen and living areas.  His bathroom was really transformed and they didn't move any walls!

[CrazyInAlabama]

New, "Mother's Day"  5/12/2024

From Titan TV:  Ben and Erin celebrate Mother's Day with a new nursery for a close friend, but they only have two weeks to complete it, all while Ben secretly plans a surprise of his own for Erin in the form a greenhouse built with salvaged materials.

Erin and Ben have two weeks to do a nursery for Aly and husband Jordan (Aly runs the companies for Laurel Mercantile).     They bought the Italianate house, with the motorcycle gear locker for Jordan on the back porch.   Aly has to go on bed rest at the hospital for two weeks before delivery, so Mallorie and Erin will do her nursery.    They'll paint the trim a neutral gray-blue to match the rest of the house, do artwork, blackout shades, changing table, a comfortable glider for Aly, a rug, curtains, and get help from others.   

Ben will make a Jenny Lind crib (a spool bed, named after the opera singer Jenny Lind "the Swedish Nightingale") with Jordan. 

Mallorie and Erin are doing a casserole shower too, so the new parents don't have to cook too often.   Aly's friends at the casserole party all had houses renovated by Ben and Erin.  Adam is doing a triptych painting mural for Aly's nursery.  Emily made a cart to go next to the glider, with notes from friends, snacks, baby nursery supplies.     Ben and Jordan are guilding the crib.  They're getting the baby quilt embroidered with letters from the important women in Aly and baby Mary Owen's life. Baby Mary Owen will be in the NICU for  least two weeks.   The art pieces from Adam are spectacular.  The crib is finished, and lovely.   The room looks lovely.   I love that Ben and Josh put up little book shelves, and the shelves are stocked. 

 Aly is so thrilled with her nursery.   Truly a room built with love.   

Ben is doing a greenhouse for Erin at their country place, using scraps and collected treasures.  Three sides of glass, with salvaged doors, and windows.  A potting bench on three sides.  A raised bed garden, and a garden space.   Ben bought a stoage container at the farm.  The stanchions are from Titanic, the movie set, not the ship.   Ben is putting single color stained glass panes in the greenhouse windows.  The garden beds look great. Ben is building a table for the greenhouse.   Everything for the greenhouse is from salvage, or is something Erin's relatives used.   Ben built a table so he could have a nice, romantic dinner with Erin, and the baby monitor reaches too.  

Edited May 13 by CrazyInAlabama

[sheetmoss]

I was said 3 times on the episode, I can't believe  somebody didn't correct Erin on how you pronounce 'autumnal'🙄

[RoxiP]

Not going to lie, I cried through a lot of this episode - it was just so sweet and truly showed a community of people who loved one another.  I loved it when Erin got a text during her soft interview that the baby was being born early and dashed away!

[DonnaMae]

On 5/12/2024 at 6:30 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Ben is doing a greenhouse for Erin

I kept thinking 'where's the water for these plants'?  

[65mickey]

And the electricity for the lights? I guess they ran a line all the way down from the house??

[Scatterbrained]

A water pump was shown already in the location when it was still just an idea.  I’m not sure about electric.

[DonnaMae]

15 hours ago, Scatterbrained said:

A water pump was shown already in the location when it was still just an idea.

That's good.  Don't want those plants to wither and die.

[chessiegal]

RE: underground electricity. We have electricity at our boat dock which is over 200 feet from our house. So do all our neighbors with docks. Can't be that difficult. We've never had any problems with it. 

[buttersister]

I’m confident Ben has it under control. Wonder if he’ll add solar panels eventually.

it was sweet that he put that table-for-two inside. Away from the potting table, I figure😉

[CrazyInAlabama]

"Unfinished Business" (The Paulsen house, Part 2)

New, 5/19/2024,   

From Titan TV: With half of their Victorian home restored, Ben and Erin return to help two siblings (actually all three siblings) with the next phase of their own project, which sadly came to a halt when their father passed away. 

(This is the descrption of the original episode: "New-Stalgic Restoration " season 7, episode 4.   Three siblings wants a house in Laurel, so they have a place to stay when they visit their dad, instead of staying in hotels.  the Paulsons, Tommy, Jennifer, and Pam. )   This house is meant for short visits, so the closets to be added will be small.  

Tommy, Pam and Jennifer want to complete extra bedrooms, and bathrooms to finish the renovation of the house.   They're going to put a bunk room for the kids in the attic.  Added two bathrooms, and a spiral staircase to the attic bunkroom.   They're going to spray foam the attic.   The upstairs bunks will be full sized, with book case shelves for each occupant, with storage in between each set of bunks.  The wall paper in the downstairs rooms is gorgeous. 

All of the large items have to be hoisted into the attic, before the spiral stairs are installed.   They can't get the items up the spiral stairs.  

Pam's husband is a retired Naval Aviator, and brought items from the father's service.   

On reveal day, Pam's husband, and an Honor Guard honor Mr. Paulsen, and the family are presented with a folded flags.      Ben presents the footlocker Brian, Pam's husband, made.  They can store the flags and other memorabilia in it.  

The new bedrooms, and baths are gorgeous, and the bunk room is so nice.  Bunk room has six bunks, a bed with a trundle, and another sofa that they can sleep on too. 

Edited May 20 by CrazyInAlabama

[RoxiP]

Don't forget Tommy, the brother who likes high ceilings...LOL!  This house was stunning although I probably would have added one more bathroom - two relatively small bathrooms in a house meant for a group of that size (if they all are there at once - 8 cousins, 3 couples - 14 people - 2 bathrooms - YIKES!).  

In the meantime it would be a lovely vacation rental.

I think my favorite bedroom was the add-on in the back.  I loved the brightness of it and preferred the blue over the green.

I wonder where they had stored the furniture?

I hope they do keep a close family relationship.  I know after the death of my parents and my sister it is a struggle to keep up a close relationship with my niece and her family and they only live 2 hours away.

[Scatterbrained]

Pam’s son was also part of the honor guard.  My guess is this will be a short term rental, mostly.  My guess is they will sell it once they break even on the costs.  They will probably use it as a family a few times.

ETA:  I wonder if their dad’s place will feature on a future show.

I bet the previous furniture was just staging for the show and removed soon after.

Edited May 20 by Scatterbrained

[RoxiP]

I just assume the father was in an assisted living facility or a nursing home - no reason why but since they didn't mention a "family home" that was where my brain placed him.  Quite willing to be wrong!

[Scatterbrained]

2 hours ago, RoxiP said:

I just assume the father was in an assisted living facility or a nursing home - no reason why but since they didn't mention a "family home" that was where my brain placed him.  Quite willing to be wrong!

They said he died two and a half weeks after phase one was finished.  I thought that in the phase 1 episode he was still in his home, but I might have imagined that.

[buttersister]

Quote

In the meantime it would be a lovely vacation rental.

100% that's what it ends up as. Especially with the bathroom situation. You could see Tommy's wheels turning.

But, hey, nice job.

Edited May 20 by buttersister

[DonnaMae]

23 hours ago, Scatterbrained said:

I bet the previous furniture was just staging for the show and removed soon after.

Of course it was.  They stage all of their houses, and sometimes there are pieces from the family and objects that Ben makes.  It's going to cost them a lot of money to pay for furniture, and they've already spent $350,000 for the house and renovations.  

[chediavolo]

I call bullshit on these three siblings keeping this house as a vacation getaway for the family. A vacation rental it is going to be now that it is done. Also, I always wondered, like most of us,  what happened to the rest of the house when they only did certain rooms. Well I don’t even know how to express this but so you’re supposed to live in three rooms and three shit boxes of rooms for example. Can you imagine how horrendous some of these bathrooms were that were not done on the renovation and just left for people to use or is this all just one big joke and people are going back later on to finish fixing up the house because I don’t see how you could live  it in a house like that.. are people really doing this?  it just seems to be so ridiculous. instead of taking the hundred thousand or so and fixing up the house to be livable and then   like normal people do, finish renovating the house little by little when you have the money, you’re supposed to live in  Half showplace half a wreck?  absolutely ridiculous ! 

[Scatterbrained]

Quote

 

This is my speculation:  the brother seemed the most opinionated and uptight about the house.  I suspect he was the main financier.  I’m guessing the dad didn’t want to leave his home to move closer to one of his kids and as his health deteriorated, the kids decided that they wouldn’t force the issue, but would visit more often in shifts to oversee some things.  I do believe they bought the property to rehab and use during these shifts, BUT I also believe that the plan all along was to use the popularity of the show as real estate advertisement to flip the house quickly and at a profit once their dad passed away.  Their dad just passed away more quickly than anticipated.  Then they were left with a huge, unusable monetary investment.  
 

They probably needed the whole year to come up with more money to finish the place.  Again, the show is part of their real estate investment strategy.  The show likes it, too.  You have a known, local family, who are probably not too picky about how it’s done as long as it gets done and who have no pressing timeline.  I mean, I’m sure they want it done asap so they can start earning an income stream, but I’m also sure they were given many show discounts in compensation.  No body HAD to sell a home, or HAD to move in by a certain date.  Nobody is really going to move in at all.  And the show made sure to emphasize that Ben’s brother lives across the street for all the enthusiasts who might want to meet know townsfolk when they are renting as tourists, or buying as fans.

Edited May 21 by Scatterbrained

[DonnaMae]

Isn't the entire house renovated now?  It sure looked like it.

[chediavolo]

56 minutes ago, DonnaMae said:

Isn't the entire house renovated now?  It sure looked like it.

Yes. After purchase price and hundreds of thousands of $$. Ready to rent😀

[RoxiP]

Since the original purchase price was $15,000 I think the result was really nice. They obviously had the money to invest in the original renovation of the home and the subsequent finalization. Regardless of whether it is used as a vacation rental (I'm considering building a retirement home for myself and renting it out as a vacation rental - what a great way to help pay for something!), the house looked spectacular at the end.  I'm sure they were saddened that their father passed away so quickly and their plans got disrupted, but I love the fact that they want to keep their family together as a unit and having this home available when they are able to get together while it earns income the rest of the time sounds like a great plan. 

I can't form a cohesive sentence this morning, sorry for the choppiness.

[CrazyInAlabama]

"Cozy-Phobic"
New, 5/26/2024 

From the show site: "A couple purchases her great grandmother's large property and small house with plans to turn it into a Christmas tree farm; Ben and Erin must tear down every wall in the house to change the cramped and quirky rambler into a cheery, functional home."    

Tim and Amber want to turn the grandmother's property into a Christmas Tree farm.  They have 41 acres.   House budget is $150,000.   Tim doesn't like anything about the house as it is, it hasn't been updated in years.  Amber's mother used the house as an art studio, and loved butterflies.    They have a lot of animals, and relocated all but the peacocks, who are not aggressive as long as you feed them.   Erin wants to paint the brick charcoal gray, fix the lights, door, and landscaping. 

Erin's plan for the interior will be move the laundry inside.  Kitchen   They want to change the fireplace to gas logs.  Make the patio door wider.   Kitchen is cramped, and needs storage.   

The couple changed a bedroom to a big closet.   Main bedroom has little storage.  They want to change the main bath to bigger, get rid of the half bath in the other bedroom into a closet.   

They intend to move almost every wall in the house.  

The demo involves every wall in the house.   Erin and Ben can't believe it when they walk in and it's down to the studs.  Fireplace is gone.   They replace the windows, and they will be so much more efficient. 

Ben asks what the peacocks need for the cooler weather, and the answer is they love cat food, and only need a tree to roost in.   

The mudroom/laundry room will be so useful for the farm life, and the mess that comes with it. 

Erin and Ben, and a lot of volunteers will redo the playground at Daphne Park.   Daphne Park is where Josh's high school prom was held.  The playground looks lovely, it's the same configuration as the previous play space, but better.  They're also painting the old locomotive in the park too. 

It must be hard to make both homeowners happy, she loves color and he want neutrals only.   The new exterior design is lovely.   Interior is all new, and equally lovely.   The layout is so functional, and has so much kitchen and other storage.  Ben's kitchen table is gorgeous.   I love the new main bedroom and closet, and the en suite.   

 

(Starting next week they will show Fixer Upper the Lakehouse.  At least on 2 June it will be the premiere, and I think there are only six episodes of the series.  It will be followed by Celebrity IOU,). 

Edited May 27 by CrazyInAlabama

[chediavolo]

There wasn’t much left to the original mid-century modern except what I am assuming was the original fireplace.. which they proceeded to tear out! 😳

otherwise, the house was a beauty.