Good Bones - General Discussion

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, Scatterbrained said:

It makes me wonder if they are designing homes for investors to rent out, possibly as AirBnBs.

fascinating thought. They do seem to work better in that context, don't they? Beds == coin of the realm.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I don't like the second floor hang out rooms, that are way bigger than the first floor living room.    I think the guess about selling to investors for Airbnb is right.    You could have two couples rent that house, and the kids stay upstairs with Mom and Dad, while the grandparents stay downstairs.     They would also be good for a small family with a kid or two, living upstairs, and the grandparents live downstairs.   The lack of dining room is very irritating to me though.  

Edited September 13, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Minivanessa]

On 9/10/2019 at 4:26 PM, Scatterbrained said:

It makes me wonder if they are designing homes for investors to rent out, possibly as AirBnBs.

I think they're okay with selling to investors as rentals, but IMO full time AirBnB use of a house would be contrary to Mina's and Karen's often declared neighborhood-building goal.

Also, I'm not sure how, or how much, Indy regulates AirBnB type rentals or how much demand there would be for them except maybe for Indy 500 and similar big events. The market may be self-limiting there.

But, if you look at the "before" walk throughs on their houses, most of them look to have ended their days as horrific and sordid squats or crack/meth/shootup houses. So a nice rental property has got to be a big step up from that, and the neighbors who aren't squatters/druggies/criminals would probably be happy to have legit renters in there. Maybe they would be OK with even some hard-partying AirBnB weekenders, who will at least go home and not stick around. 

I think I commented on one of their recent renos, that the layout wasn't great as a family home (no real dining area, etc.) but would work as a rental. If I were young and single and starting out I could see buying that place, taking the main floor master suite for myself, and getting a couple of roommates for the upstairs bedrooms. The property would have been ideal for that setup.

Edited September 13, 2019 by Jeeves

[CrazyInAlabama]

Monday, October 21 7-8 pm Central (8-9 pm Eastern), they claim it's a new episode.    It might actually be one of the recut, with narration ones, but they claim it's new.  

I hope Karen has more time for her own family projects now.    They did a show where her son (I think) was moving back part of the year, and they built that guest house in her back yard, and I'm sure more time for family will be great for everyone involved.   

Edited October 20, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Booney]

Recently saw a story that Karen is retiring from Good Bones. She’ll still do some DIY segments (be prepared for more macrame fish bowl death traps holders, but she is officially retiring from the company she and Mina built. https://people.com/home/good-bones-star-karen-laine-is-retiring-from-family-business-with-daughter-mina-starsiak-hawk/

[car54]

Aw, well, I'm happy for Karen to be able to retire and do what she wants to do, but I've enjoyed her on the show, so I will miss seeing her.
Glad she'll pop in with her projects when she wants to.

[pasdetrois]

I did not know that Karen is an attorney. I do hope we get to see her occasionally.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I saw an article talking about the reason Lenny disappeared after the first season, and it was economic.    He costs too much for them to have him as the contractor on their jobs.     Especially since the price they pay for houses has gone up a  lot.   The article also said Karen was Mina's father's first wife, the had three children (maybe), then after the divorce Mina's father married Cheryl, and had a few kids, and they divorced, and she married Lenny the contractor.      Tad moved in with Karen after his mother died.    I don't know if Cheryl and Lenny were still married when she died.      

I love how all of the step siblings, half siblings, and everyone else seem to be one big family.  

[IvyCeltress]

I'm wondering if what they'll do is have some combo of Tad/Corey/Austin doing the initial walkthrough with Mina and Chelsea involved with the floor plan, design, and staging stuff. And Karen popping up when she feels like

Edited October 24, 2019 by IvyCeltress
Edited for typos

[RoxiP]

It sounds to me like Karen will still be involved in the show a lot, she's just stepping back from the company Two Chicks and a Hammer.  

[pasdetrois]

Quote

I saw an article talking about the reason Lenny disappeared after the first season, and it was economic.    He costs too much for them to have him as the contractor on their jobs. 

I wondered if Lenny wanted to get paid by production, as the family members are doing. I wonder if Todd gets any production money.

Edited November 15, 2019 by pasdetrois

[Kemper]

I didn't used to watch much of Good Bones; all of the flipping shows are exhausting to me.  But I kind of liked this show and would watch occasionally.  I saw one this morning (don't know how old it was) but Mina and Karen were redoing Mina's father's house (Karen's first husband?).  I know there are a lot of kids/stepkids, etc.   I had never seen her Dad before and I couldn't figure out why his looks seemed odd to me. (He is an attractive man and I am old)  Then it hit me that it looks like he has had a good bit of work done on his face.  Eyes, teeth and perhaps a facelift or Botox.  I am not criticizing (well, maybe) - but has anyone else noticed this? Granted, I had never seen him before so maybe that is how he always looks.  And there was a blonde woman with him - maybe his wife?  It seems like one big, messy and seemingly happy family.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

The woman with Mina's father is the wife (I think 4th wife).   I think Karen was the first wife.    Then Cheryl was another wife, Tad's mother, and was married to Lennie the contractor from the first season.     I love how interconnected, and loving the entire family is.

    

Edited December 21, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[car54]

On 11/15/2019 at 4:21 PM, pasdetrois said:

I wondered if Lenny wanted to get paid by production, as the family members are doing. I wonder if Todd gets any production money.

Online there are some special content interviews with the 4 designers  from Rock the Block and one of the questions was about how they wind down or how driven they are and Jasmine and Mina both said they feel very driven and work all the time --Mina said she feels like now she is responsible for half her family's incomes--so I assume the ones who work on the show get paid.    From the way they talked--it sounded like they do a bunch of houses together and move the key people from place to place to film and have other crew who stay and work on the house.  I bet the season where Good Bones did several houses close together made it a little easier just in travel time to set up and film.

When you think about a season being sometimes 13 shows that's a lot of content they have to do and a ton of money tied up at the same time.   It kind of made me realize why some shows can only put together short seasons--like 6 episodes, and sometimes they do a few and just don't come back---probably a lot of work and money for a small business to put up--even if eventually they make it back when the houses sell and the show airs.

Edited December 21, 2019 by car54

[CrazyInAlabama]

Mina is pregnant with baby #2, due in September.    Congratulations!    I'm so happy for MIna and her entire family. 

https://people.com/parents/mina-starsiak-pregnant-expecting-second-child-after-fertility-struggles-exclusive/

Edited March 12, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[CrazyInAlabama]

Mina's sister in law, Stefanie, died suddenly, on Thursday.   

 

https://people.com/home/mina-starsiak-hawk-mourns-death-of-sister-in-law-stefanie/

[sasha206]

I know this is a superficial comment, but I would love to see what Karen would look like with a flattering, shorter cut -- like a long pixie bob..  She's a beautiful woman.

[pasdetrois]

I think we saw Stefanie in a couple of episodes. I seem to recall her helping with demo.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Isn't Stefanie the one who moved into the 1 bed, 1 bath home as a rental?     With special areas for her dog.  

[pasdetrois]

And children, right?

[CrazyInAlabama]

There were two in-laws.   One was the sister in law that works on the demo crew sometimes, and had no kids.   She moved into the 1 bed, 1 bath duplex.    She's the one who lost her mother in 2018, and the father died in 2018 also.      She had a dog that they made a special area for.    

 Then the other woman had a couple of little girls, and moved into a two bedroom upstairs unit that Mina and Karen redid, Maybe it was a four plex?  .    I think that was a sister or step or something on Mina's side.  

[IvyCeltress]

I was sorry to here about Steff. She was so badass was I was looking forward to seeing her grow in skills like Tad and Austin had.

[two.turtles.art]

Did anyone else notice in the purple house renovation that the mom was going on and on about the "poison ivy" that was just regular ivy? She got on a big protective suit to rip it out . .  the regular common ivy. That was the most annoying thing ever. Other than that I enjoy the show a lot.

[IvyCeltress]

I'm seeing promos that season 5 starts on June 8th.

[RoxiP]

On ‎3‎/‎31‎/‎2020 at 2:16 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Isn't Stefanie the one who moved into the 1 bed, 1 bath home as a rental?     With special areas for her dog.  

I'm pretty sure it was the sister-in-law with the dogs who moved into the little 1 bedroom house (the picture on the link looked like her).  How very sad - she was so young.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Viewing alert!   The season premiere on Tuesday June 9 is now scheduled for 7-8 p.m. Central.  

There is a special on all of the Discovery networks, which includes HGTV.   

[Grrarrggh]

That house in Fountain Square, the most recent, was laid out horribly! The living and dining rooms were just a wide corridor. A hallway, not rooms. 

I wonder, with the huge price increase FS has seen how many residents have been priced out. 

[sadtvjunkie]

I agree with the notion that the new house in FS is a big hallway. Could you see a family of 4 using that dining room. It barely had enough room for 2 chairs and a side table. And the nasty old wallpaper idea. Gross! And Karen made it harder to take down by applying polyurethane over it. 

[dleighg]

55 minutes ago, sadtvjunkie said:

And the nasty old wallpaper idea.

She called it "distressed"? Seriously? It needed to go away.

[dleighg]

Braveheart the chicken is a ROOSTER.

[dleighg]

what on earth is the purpose of having a tiny double vanity? You give up counter space to have two sinks? How often are two people going to be brushing their teeth at the same time? Isn't it more important to have SPACE for two people to have their toiletries? 

[Minivanessa]

My DVR recorded a couple of "new" episodes, and after reading the latest posts here, I decided to watch them.

Conclusion: I'm over this show. I couldn't watch more than a few minutes of either episode. One was a rehash of earlier stuff with Mina and Karen sitting in chairs talking. I lasted about a minute before I deleted that one. Then there was an episode about a house in Fountain Square and that's when I realized I can't stand Karen, so poof that one was deleted too. 

I've seen some teaser footage that suggests that Karen is stepping back from the business but that was obviously not the case in these two episodes. Too bad.

Oh, and this is tacky, but.  I keep seeing promos with a closeup of Mina talking. Her teeth are so over-whitened that I think they would glow in the dark. I have no idea what she said because those teeth dominated the screen. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I thought the sight line from the front door, through the living, and kitchen looked like a bowling alley.   The double vanity was too crowded to have any decent counter space.   My guess is that no one who ever lived or previously owned any of the house flips could ever afford the remodels.     

 When I was house hunting, I told my realtor that I wasn't looking at anything "up and coming'.   I haven't been surprised with the 'up and coming' neighborhoods that the duo have redone, that local residents don't want to move there.        I didn't like the wallpaper accent wall either.     

I've noticed that the house listings that are on the MLS sites, have a lot less stuff in the room, the knick knacks are gone, and the rooms look a lot better.  

I was recently looking at wall decor, and put that into search on Amazon, and ended up with a bunch of macrame wall hangings, some with plant holders or test tubes like the ones Karen did a few houses ago.   I was stunned there was a market for them.   

I understand that Karen will just be doing special projects in the future, but what happens when Mina goes on maternity leave?  They already had a long shut down for Covid reasons, so they can't just shut down for a couple of months.  

Edited June 11, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[RoxiP]

2 hours ago, Jeeves said:

My DVR recorded a couple of "new" episodes, and after reading the latest posts here, I decided to watch them.

Conclusion: I'm over this show. I couldn't watch more than a few minutes of either episode. One was a rehash of earlier stuff with Mina and Karen sitting in chairs talking. I lasted about a minute before I deleted that one. Then there was an episode about a house in Fountain Square and that's when I realized I can't stand Karen, so poof that one was deleted too. 

I've seen some teaser footage that suggests that Karen is stepping back from the business but that was obviously not the case in these two episodes. Too bad.

Oh, and this is tacky, but.  I keep seeing promos with a closeup of Mina talking. Her teeth are so over-whitened that I think they would glow in the dark. I have no idea what she said because those teeth dominated the screen. 

Those teeth!  Why did she do that?

Is painting walls almost black a thing in decorating circles now, along with using gaudy tiles with gold in them?  Oh, and green cabinets?  Mina's taste isn't always in line with my own, but I have never thought it was as off-point as last night.  Putting gold on a wall doesn't make it more "high end" in my opinion - I would have preferred to see her stick to her penchant for carrara marble instead.  

That wallpaper thing was a dreadful idea.

Edited June 10, 2020 by RoxiP
I had additional thoughts.

[3 is enough]

It seems that most of the houses in the Indianapolis neighborhoods where Mina and Karen work are "shotgun" style-long and narrow.  This really limits the options for reconfiguring the rooms without actually widening the structure.  If the house is only 20 feet wide there is only so much you can do.

Part of the problem is the staging- there is just too much stuff crammed in and it feels even smaller. 

The wallpaper was awful.  I'm sure the chandeliers were good quality, but I am not a fan of that style.  Sacrificing a bedroom to make a master bath was smart I think.  Most buyers like at least 2 bathrooms.

 

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

Part of the problem is the staging- there is just too much stuff crammed in and it feels even smaller. 

I'm not sure I agree with that-- the living room had a narrow couch, two rather weird chairs -- and I guess a coffee table. Kind of the bare minimum. And given that it's the only living space-- where's the TV going to go? I guess on the wall that you're going to brush by as you go into the house. Really cramped. 

[3 is enough]

5 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I'm not sure I agree with that-- the living room had a narrow couch, two rather weird chairs -- and I guess a coffee table. Kind of the bare minimum. And given that it's the only living space-- where's the TV going to go? I guess on the wall that you're going to brush by as you go into the house. Really cramped. 

Sorry, I was referring to the decorative stuff- clutter makes rooms seem crowded and smaller, IMO.  And maybe they could have chosen a smaller sectional instead of that weird hand chair that was blocking the path.  Also, the dark wall behind the couch just made the room seem even smaller.

Not adding a tv during staging is a pet peeve of mine too.  You just know that when people look at a house they are trying to figure out where the tv is going to go.

[RoxiP]

2 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

It seems that most of the houses in the Indianapolis neighborhoods where Mina and Karen work are "shotgun" style-long and narrow.  This really limits the options for reconfiguring the rooms without actually widening the structure.  If the house is only 20 feet wide there is only so much you can do.

Part of the problem is the staging- there is just too much stuff crammed in and it feels even smaller. 

The wallpaper was awful.  I'm sure the chandeliers were good quality, but I am not a fan of that style.  Sacrificing a bedroom to make a master bath was smart I think.  Most buyers like at least 2 bathrooms.

 

I think they usually alleviate some of the issues with the layout of the home by adding on an addition to the back, but because of the cost of this particular project they were unable to do so.  Probably limited their design options.  Really cute house though and I loved that front porch.

[irisheyes]

2 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

Not adding a tv during staging is a pet peeve of mine too.  You just know that when people look at a house they are trying to figure out where the tv is going to go.

I spend all my time during a reveal wondering where the TV will go. 

[RoxiP]

Yep, I have a tv in the main living space (because in my neighborhood we rarely have two living spaces...LOL) and then there's the one in my bedroom...and the one in my daughter's bedroom....

[Gam2]

It’s just my husband and me in our house but we have six (6) TVs. Yep, six.

[Grrarrggh]

6 hours ago, RoxiP said:

Oh, and green cabinets? 

That was the only thing I liked, those cabinets. The green, Praise the Decorating Lords no white, and the pulls. Best thing in the whole house. Well, second to the chandelier by the door. 

[3 is enough]

I did like the pulls.  They looked great all polished up.  And since they have been in the house forever you know they are much better quality than anything you could buy today, and most probably were made in the US.

I wasn't a huge fan of that particular shade of green, but I do like colored cabinets.  I can only imagine how difficult it must be to keep a white kitchen clean.

[bilgistic]

8 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

that weird hand chair that was blocking the path.  Also, the dark wall behind the couch just made the room seem even smaller.

Truly the oddest thing I've seen on this show, which, in an episode with a rooster, is saying something.

I hated the dark green wall.

[CruiseDiva]

16 hours ago, Jeeves said:

I've seen some teaser footage that suggests that Karen is stepping back from the business but that was obviously not the case in these two episodes. Too bad.

I thought Karen was leaving as well. I can't stand the "design" crap she comes up with. That said, I had the Fountain Square episode on DVR and watched the initial walk through and then fast forwarded to the reveal. That "distressed" wallpaper treatment was hideous.

[3 is enough]

I believe Karen has stepped back from the business, but she will still be featured on the show.

[Booney]

8 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

I thought Karen was leaving as well. I can't stand the "design" crap she comes up with. That said, I had the Fountain Square episode on DVR and watched the initial walk through and then fast forwarded to the reveal. That "distressed" wallpaper treatment was hideous.

I totally agree. Karen's "designs" are cringe-worthy, for the most part. I thought I detected a brief look of horror on the former homeowner's face (the woman) when she saw that wallpaper. 

I also fast forwarded to the reveal. I find I'm doing that a lot lately with many of HGTV's reno shows. I've gotten tired of watching 30 minutes of demo.

I didn't like much about this completed project. As mentioned above, the living and dining rooms were essentially useless. I was surprised that they already had a buyer for the house, but the location in Fountain Square could be the main draw.

[mojito]

Quote

what on earth is the purpose of having a tiny double vanity? You give up counter space to have two sinks? How often are two people going to be brushing their teeth at the same time? Isn't it more important to have SPACE for two people to have their toiletries? 

I think it works with kids. As a child sharing a bathroom with several others, we just had a toothbrush (one each, of course) on the sink.

Also, I wondered if this was footage shot before Karen's decision to step back.

Edited June 11, 2020 by mojito

[retired watcher]

21 hours ago, Gam2 said:

It’s just my husband and me in our house but we have six (6) TVs. Yep, six.

I feel you. There's 2 of us and we have 5.

[RoxiP]

44 minutes ago, retired watcher said:

I feel you. There's 2 of us and we have 5.

Two in my house and we have 5.