Designers: Love Em or Hate Em

[SunnyBeBe]

I really only liked Vern and Laurie, sometimes Doug, but, Genevieve really got on my nerves with her immaturity.  She acted so clueless.  Like, maybe, she was trying to impersonate Goldie Hawn, only she wasn't funny, to me.  I'm not sure I can put that aside. I wonder if she will return with that personality. 

[Maharincess]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I really only liked Vern and Laurie, sometimes Doug, but, Genevieve really got on my nerves with her immaturity.  She acted so clueless.  Like, maybe, she was trying to impersonate Goldie Hawn, only she wasn't funny, to me.  I'm not sure I can put that aside. I wonder if she will return with that personality. 

I agree about Genevieve.  Everything about her personality seemed fake to me.  Doug was always my favorite, not so much because of his designs, I just loved him and his sarcasm. 

[funky-rat]

I liked the original cast.  I disliked Edward - his "touch of black" stuff got annoying, and I just found him to be too smarmy for my taste.  Also couldn't stand Kia.  I remember the camo room, and the horrified wife who said "We love the military, but I do like to have a place where don't have to have it in my face all day" or something to that effect.  And I just never warmed up to Carter - I liked Amy better.  I preferred Doug to Hildi, but Hildi did get it right at times.  Of her wrongs, I think gluing wine labels to the kitchen walls of a family who didn't drink alcohol wasn't cool.  And the labels were largely black, if I recall.  The neighbors who did the room were all like "Don't worry - we'll go rent a wallpaper steamer  tomorrow" or something similar.  I recall reading somewhere that they had to rip down the drywall to fix it.  I actually liked the flower bathroom, but couldn't imagine trying to clean it.  I quit watching around the time Paige left.

My uncle loved Frank's (I think it was Frank) Mexican kitchen with the serape painted ceiling that he did it to his kitchen.  He did a pretty good job.  And to be fair, their kitchen was in dire need of a makeover, and they didn't have the money to replace cabinets and stuff, so they just went for it.

[AZChristian]

49 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

My uncle loved Frank's (I think it was Frank) Mexican kitchen with the serape painted ceiling that he did it to his kitchen.  He did a pretty good job.  And to be fair, their kitchen was in dire need of a makeover, and they didn't have the money to replace cabinets and stuff, so they just went for it.

Yep . . . that was Frank.  LOVED that kitchen!

[auntjess]

I liked Edward usually, and while I hated a lot of the things Hilde did, she COULD, when she tried, do beautiful work.  Also, she always made a place for any animals in the home.
Once in a while, I'd like some of Kia's work.  We both liked orange.
Didn't like Gen's work, and disliked some of her other shows.
Laurie was there to sell her fabric, or so it seemed to me.
Christi was partial to using old doors too often.
I liked Frank's rooms fairly often.
I disliked Doug's work, and I especially disliked Doug.  He seemed to be spiteful, and mean-spirited, way too often.  I'm sorry he's back.

[jcbrown]

How about Kia's graveyard-themed room? She was just awful. Not hay-glued-to-your-walls, sledgehammer-your-original-Craftsman-mantle, put-broken-glass-shards-in-your-fireplace-screen horrible but still not good.

I agree--I never liked Doug. I saw a repeat of his "prisoner of love" room this weekend. It just seemed like he tried to get attention so hard and never cared what the homeowners wanted.

[auntjess]

I think it was Kia, who painted a piano once. I believe that that is NOT DONE.
I've already quit on some of the repeats.

[AnnieHeights]

I have caught several of the old episodes they are currently re-airing and have yet to see anything that would have stood the test of time.  Laurie and Vern (IMO) were by far the two best designers with Frank being  the worst.  I just watched a kitchen he redid where there was painted 'stone' on the countertops, a hideous window treatment, a painted 'tile' floor.....the whole thing was awful but the homeowner loved it.....I would also like to see updates on past homeowners.  I never really cared for Paige as a host back in the day but after re-watching present day, she was actually really good.  I liked Doug but never liked his designs, Hildi was gorgeous and I loved her personal style but she was too out there design wise.  Genevieve was hit or miss and Edward was down there with Frank.  I will give Frank credit for being a decent artist and likeable.  I liked all of the carpenters......it looks like everyone from the original is back but Amy Wynn Pastor? Wasn't Sabrina Soto on the show as well?  I think I have caught her on the commercials for the reboot.         

[auntjess]

2 hours ago, AnnieHeights said:

liked all of the carpenters.....

I didn't care for Faber Dewar, who always tried to be be father confessor and guide to everyone.
I'd love to see them revisit the scenes of their crimes, too.
Vern had left by the time I started watching.
 

[meowmommy]

On 3/26/2018 at 7:31 AM, AnnieHeights said:

I just watched a kitchen he redid where there was painted 'stone' on the countertops, a hideous window treatment, a painted 'tile' floor.....the whole thing was awful but the homeowner loved it.

That truly was hideous.  Not only was the "stone" painted, it was Dremel-tooled into the countertop, thereby destroying it.  The one thing he could have done that would have made a positive impact would have been to paint the very dated cabinets, and he didn't do that.  Still usually liked Frank because he was always so good-hearted.  Liked the Mexican kitchen a lot, but then, I like color.  Too many episodes where the designers say they're adding color, and it's putty or taupe or beige.  And the HOs ooh and aah when they open the paint can and it's ecru.  Producers, much influence?

TS was the reason I started reading, and then joined, TWoP.  I can only hope PTV can come up with recaps that are even a tenth as outstanding as TWoP's recaps of TS.  If they're even recapping.

[joanne3482]

5 hours ago, meowmommy said:

Still usually liked Frank because he was always so good-hearted. 

For me, I liked Frank and Vern and to some extent Laurie (although I'm having a hard time remembering her stuff) and Gen because I felt like for the most part they could put aside some of their design aesthetic to create something they thought the homeowner would like. I regularly felt like Hildi and Doug and Kia didn't care about the homeowner's tastes and likes. They just wanted to do what they wanted to do. And while I get that you're on the show and it is a risk and you should be willing to push yourself, it's the hope you get a nice room out of the deal. I also think, though, that after season 1 or 2 if you're on the show, you should have some expectation that there shouldn't be things that are "off limits" or if you do hide those in an off site storage unit. 

[jennblevins]

13 hours ago, meowmommy said:

TS was the reason I started reading, and then joined, TWoP.

Me too!  Nobody in real life wanted to talk to me about my weird obsession with design shows, so I had to find people online to bore instead. 

[Enigma X]

Doug (and his snark) was my favorite. I am so exicited for this reboot.

[auntjess]

On 3/28/2018 at 6:21 PM, jennblevins said:

Me too!  Nobody in real life wanted to talk to me about my weird obsession with design shows, so I had to find people online to bore instead. 

Yes, although my obsession changed the first time I saw Mike Holmes knock a hole in drywall.  It was an episode that began with a hunt to find where the dryer was vented to.  I was totally hooked.
 

On 3/28/2018 at 11:03 AM, joanne3482 said:

For me, I liked Frank and Vern and to some extent Laurie (although I'm having a hard time remembering her stuff)

Laurie had her own line of fabric, so that was always a big part of her rooms.
 

[Wings]

I gather that we are going to see the same format and obscure design  I am here for the duration but I have a hunch it is going to be the same shit.  I am not opposed to the same shit, just sayin'.

[CatsAndMoreCats]

I thought it was very interesting when, during the Today Show interview, it appeared that no one had been directly contacted by Trading Spaces to see if they would like to re-up.  Genevieve heard about it via CNN and E.  Doug seemed to say much the same thing.  Paige called TS.  So...makes me wonder how badly the producers wanted the OG's back in the first place?

[Maverick]

13 hours ago, Kemper said:

I don't remember much about Kia's rooms; I think I had stopped watching by that time.  Maybe the difference is that Kia wasn't very good or had terrible taste.  She didn't deliberately set-out to shock or horrify or show that she was the smartest person in the room.  Of course, a friend of mine says that when you turn over your house to a person you have never met before, you get what you get.  Why can't we get just a little House Porn with this show?  It's sad when we have to depend on Wayfair.  There are professional designers and carpenters onsite for crying out loud! No excuse. 

Kia, along with Edward, Laurie and another blonde designer (Laura Day, I think?) were part of the expansion when the did the Trading Spaces: Family spin off.  For some reason, I'm thinking Kia and Laurie had more time on the spin off than the mothership.  Edward stuck around till the end but Kia and Laurie didn't stick around much after TSF folded.  I don't remember much about Laura, other than she was universally disliked and didn't last long.

[auntjess]

On 4/7/2018 at 6:37 PM, CatsAndMoreCats said:

So...makes me wonder how badly the producers wanted the OG's back in the first place?

But on the other hand, they didn't have to take them, just say they wanted new people.  Maybe the news of the remake was leaked prematurely.
 

[LexieLily]

2 hours ago, auntjess said:

But on the other hand, they didn't have to take them, just say they wanted new people.  Maybe the news of the remake was leaked prematurely.
 

I wonder how the idea of the remake would have been received if they hadn't gotten all or at least a few of the OG's back, and also Paige. They do have three new designers and two new carpenters, but at least for me I wanted the OG's! (Yes, even Doug and Hildi. They all bring back memories.)

[Bastet]

I've watched a couple dozen old episodes lately, and I'm trying to decide who I'd least like to have designing my room.  Vern, Laurie, or Genevieve I'd easily take my chances with, but Frank, Doug, or Hildi?  In those 20+ episodes, I saw precisely one Frank room that I didn't find hideous, and zero that I actually liked.  Doug and Hildi did some awful, bizarre rooms, but then they also did some I liked.

So at first glance Frank would be my "No Way" designer, because the odds of me liking the room would be slim to none, but, on the other hand, Frank doing my room would just be a waste -- I'd have to repaint (over all his god-awful stenciling) and give away most of what was in there, but I wouldn't be any worse off than when I started -- whereas with Doug or Hildi, while there's a chance I'd like the room, at least in part, there's also a chance I'd not only dislike it, but have repair work I'd need to do to fix it. 

So, it's tough to say (and a moot point since I'd never go on this show), but I think I'd least want Frank, then Hildi, then Doug.  So, in order of preference: Vern, Laurie, Genevieve, Doug, Hildi, Frank. 

(I saw two episodes with Edward, which wasn't enough to get a sense of him - and I don't remember from back in the day - and none with any of the other designers, so I'm just ranking based on the six whose designs I have a decent sample of in fresh memory.)

As for who I'd want to work with, I think I'd enjoy the experience with any of them, but I'd rank my preference as: Genevieve, Vern, Frank, Laurie, Hildi, Doug.

[auntjess]

I watched in the later years, and I'd probably have picked Edward.  I remember him doing some elegant rooms.
If you were hiring someone, and had control, I'd like Hildi, because she could do beautiful work.  And I could depend on her to make a room that was dog friendly.

[SunnyBeBe]

Did anyone actually watch the new episode?  I'm just curious as to how the ratings were.  

I'm trying to envision why a homeowner would want to go into another's home and redo a room for fun.  I mean.....that's energy you could spend on your own home.  I didn't get it then, and I don't think I do now either.  Back then it was sort of a novelty.  Now, with all the renovation and DIY shows......I don't see the point. 

[Wings]

I watched a couple dozen reruns and my excitement for this reboot faded a tad.  I realized that Vern is the only designer I like both in personally and skill.  

[Wings]

 I find myself wishing there were more new designers.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Wings

[Enigma X]

I was hoping for more new designers as well.

[auntjess]

I may not even watch. 
For me, and perhaps for others, the marathon of old shows, of which I only watch a couple, made me realize that TS is a show whose time has passed.

[Kickboxer]

On 3/13/2018 at 6:33 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

I really only liked Vern and Laurie, sometimes Doug, but, Genevieve really got on my nerves with her immaturity.  She acted so clueless.  Like, maybe, she was trying to impersonate Goldie Hawn, only she wasn't funny, to me.  I'm not sure I can put that aside. I wonder if she will return with that personality. 

Totally agree. She was so 'try-hard, I'm a pretty princess!' god I wanted her to step on a rake.

[friendperidot]

Rick Rifle! How did we forget Rick Rifle? Or at least I had forgotten him. His tent living room was a little nicer than Hildi's. I seem to remember something about silver paint and a dining room. Can't remember much more than that. Did he do more than about 3 episodes?

[suedehead]

I remember a poster on TWoP would call her “Kia DollarTree-a” due to her cheap-ass designs. 

Hildi’s hay walls were bullshit, but could at least be fixed. I’ll always hate her for destroying the beautiful and historic Douglas Fir mantle and replacing it with some pine POS. Fucking wrong and disrespectful on so many levels just so she can “fully realize her design concept.”  Any designer worth a damn (i.e. without an inflated ego; and respect for craftsmen, history and the homeowner) wouldn’t have touched it. If it had been my house, I would have been in jail that night. 

Edited April 23, 2018 by suedehead

[Wings]

Looks like we have pretty good clues that Vern and Genevieve are interested in pleasing the HOs.   Doug and Hildi are probably not.   Hopefully then have matured when it comes to destruction.  Frank is an unknown but I don't expect to see a change in style with him.  I wonder what he would do if faced with a modern/contemporary house with not a hint of "country" anywhere.  I sure hope we see some flexibility.  Faux finishes are long gone even if you liked them back then.  His folk art will not work everywhere.  

I am looking forward to the new designers in a big way.  It is already feeling a little stale due to the same old format.  It could use a few tweaks. 

Edited April 23, 2018 by Wings

[Wings]

I would have liked the designers getting more information as to what the HOs style was and colors that are tabu.   Drop asking what they think their neighbors want.  It doesn't matter what they want, you already bought the stuff.   

[meowmommy]

4 hours ago, Wings said:

I would have liked the designers getting more information as to what the HOs style was and colors that are tabu.   

According to an old TWoP interview with Vern (yes, some of the old recaps are still out there), the designers get plenty of information about the HOs well in advance.

Quote

What happens is, about ten days to two weeks before we actually arrive on location, we get a package that gets dropped off at our doors....

So you immediately tear open the packet, and what's contained inside is about a two-page written description of the homeowners, and that usually contains more personality information and also, restrictions. That's where we'll find out for instance, that so-and-so's grandmother's piano...

D: Can't be painted?

VY: Yeah, that type of thing. Then there are pictures. There's probably about four pages of pictures of the room itself from different angles and then other rooms in the house, so that we can get a feel for what the whole design style of that person is. Then there's a video, and in that video, that's the piece of information that I probably use the most. It's so funny to me, because the video is taken when they actually go to scout the house, and on that video are interviews with both the homeowners that you're doing the room for and the homeowners that you're doing it with. And both sets of neighbours express wants, desires, and dislikes for their own rooms and each other's rooms. It's really up to you as the individual designer how much of all that information you utilize. You're required to actually obey the rules in terms of, if they have actually said, "Do not paint this, do not touch this," then you're required to not paint that or touch that. But the rest of it is up to you, whether you really want to actually sit and listen or not. Each one of us has a unique and different approach.

[Wings]

Thanks, @meowmommy.

[auntjess]

39 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

VY: Yeah, that type of thing. Then there are pictures. There's probably about four pages of pictures of the room itself from different angles and then other rooms in the house, so that we can get a feel for what the whole design style of that person is. Then there's a video, and in that video, that's the piece of information that I probably use the most. It's so funny to me, because the video is taken when they actually go to scout the house, and on that video are interviews with both the homeowners that you're doing the room for and the homeowners that you're doing it with. And both sets of neighbours express wants, desires, and dislikes for their own rooms and each other's rooms. It's really up to you as the individual designer how much of all that information you utilize. You're required to actually obey the rules in terms of, if they have actually said, "Do not paint this, do not touch this," then you're required to not paint that or touch that. But the rest of it is up to you, whether you really want to actually sit and listen or not. Each one of us has a unique and different approach.

So if they didn't changes the rules later on, Doug definitely went against them.  

[Mabinogia]

That's really interesting. So Doug and Hildi very purposely go out of their way to antagonize the homeowners. Wow! They know full well what they are doing. Interesting.

I'm wondering about that white room now. If the "DO NOT TOUCH" has to be on that video and in the packet they receive, then maybe the homeowners didn't think of it at that time. If it is any time during the whole production, well, then why didn't one of the million crew members recording all of this stop him? I'm guessing either that rule was changed or it is only if they say it ahead of time and they didn't think to mention it until the show was filming. Doug isn't the only one who has broken the "DO NOT TOUCH" rule, making me think it wasn't an actual rule but Vern is a decent human being who is not trying to be the super villain of home décor or the rule got changed at some point because the producers are super villains who don't get that we want to see happy people doing nice work. At least I do. I can watch a million other reality shows to see people sabotaging each other.  

[LexieLily]

Or maybe the white room homeowners assumed whichever designer they got would be decent enough and know enough to know that freshly-stripped wood like that shouldn't be painted and so they didn't think to make it a "protected" item?

[Mabinogia]

2 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Or maybe the white room homeowners assumed whichever designer they got would be decent enough and know enough to know that freshly-stripped wood like that shouldn't be painted and so they didn't think to make it a "protected" item?

Production shot that dream out of the sky when they decided, probably quite deliberately, to go with the black room white room theme, basically forcing the designer to paint the wood. I kind of blame the show more than Doug on that one simply because they forced the designers hands by giving them that stupid, stupid theme. I hate theme eps. Hated the no electricity, hated black and white, just let them design nice rooms. We don't need the manufactured drama.

[LexieLily]

13 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Production shot that dream out of the sky when they decided, probably quite deliberately, to go with the black room white room theme, basically forcing the designer to paint the wood. I kind of blame the show more than Doug on that one simply because they forced the designers hands by giving them that stupid, stupid theme. I hate theme eps. Hated the no electricity, hated black and white, just let them design nice rooms. We don't need the manufactured drama.

I don't remember a no electricity room but that doesn't mean I didn't see it. Who were the designers/carpenters for that one and how did it end up working out?

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

I don't remember a no electricity room but that doesn't mean I didn't see it.

It wasn't a room with no electricity but they weren't allowed to use electricity. One of the designers, was it Doug?, used a washing machine for something and got punished by losing an hour of work time. I don't remember who the carpenters were. I want to say Amy Wynne was involved but I can't be certain. They basically just couldn't really iron anything and had to cut all the wood by hand. But it was such a stupid gimmick I can't figure out what they thought was going to happen.

[Maverick]

Doug and Hildi were the designers and Amy was the carpenter.  

[meowmommy]

I just saw a rerun with Edward as one of the designers and I hate to say it, because it makes me sound so shallow, but that godawful greasy ponytail just made me literally want to throw up.  I FFd to the reveal.  I always thought he was sweet and moderately talented, but that ponytail....just yeccchh.

[Musical]

I am so glad there is this thread to comment on Trading Spaces.  I'm thrilled this show is back and taking great delight in watching some of the original episodes over again.  I love the promo ad too...'the mother of all design shows'...lol, love how they are all posed, have actually tried to freeze frame it to view each of them precisely.  Such fun.  

[Wings]

On 4/30/2018 at 2:27 PM, meowmommy said:

I just saw a rerun with Edward as one of the designers and I hate to say it, because it makes me sound so shallow, but that godawful greasy ponytail just made me literally want to throw up.  I FFd to the reveal.  I always thought he was sweet and moderately talented, but that ponytail....just yeccchh.

That is pomade used smooth curly or frizzy hair.  

[andipandi]

Vern, laurie, geneveive, doug, frank, in that order. Hilde is a gamble I won't take. Newer people, meh. Doug, can be an ass for the camera but that's fine as long as he puts that nice wax treatment on the walls and picks good fabric. I don't think there's a room Vern has done I didn't like, but he doesn't have a wide range of styles.

[Enigma X]

Doug is my favorite, and I know he can be ass.

Does anyone remember the episode where he was working with a mother/daughter team, and they told him they were not going to do the homework because they were going to a rock concert? He became serious and told them that would be very unfair to their neighbors/friends in their house. The mother/daughter still went to the concert and did not do the homeowrk. Doug was not happy.

[LexieLily]

3 hours ago, Enigma X said:

Doug is my favorite, and I know he can be ass.

Does anyone remember the episode where he was working with a mother/daughter team, and they told him they were not going to do the homework because they were going to a rock concert? He became serious and told them that would be very unfair to their neighbors/friends in their house. The mother/daughter still went to the concert and did not do the homeowrk. Doug was not happy.

I was just about to ask if there was ever an occasion where the homeowners did not do their homework and what was done about it. What episode was that? A few weekends ago I saw a rerun of Laurie's where the homeowners misunderstood or "misunderstood" what she wanted done, didn't get the base coat of some furniture piece done so it ended up not going into the room.

[Enigma X]

21 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

I was just about to ask if there was ever an occasion where the homeowners did not do their homework and what was done about it. What episode was that? A few weekends ago I saw a rerun of Laurie's where the homeowners misunderstood or "misunderstood" what she wanted done, didn't get the base coat of some furniture piece done so it ended up not going into the room.

I don't remember the episode title or know if it was a rerun. Sorry.

[absolutelyido]

Genevieve is in a new show on Netflix called "Stay Here". She and another guy go around the country and work with owners to update short-term rental properties (AirBnB-types). Genevieve remodels the properties and the other guy helps them with a marketing plan. So far I have watched them do a Brooklyn brownstone, a California wine country cottage, and a Hudson Valley NY carriage house. I really like the show. Genevieve's Trading Spaces designs were always a bit hit-or-miss with me, but I like everything she has done, and the homeowners have all been very likable.

[taragel]

On 8/18/2018 at 9:05 AM, absolutelyido said:

Genevieve is in a new show on Netflix called "Stay Here". She and another guy go around the country and work with owners to update short-term rental properties (AirBnB-types). Genevieve remodels the properties and the other guy helps them with a marketing plan. So far I have watched them do a Brooklyn brownstone, a California wine country cottage, and a Hudson Valley NY carriage house. I really like the show. Genevieve's Trading Spaces designs were always a bit hit-or-miss with me, but I like everything she has done, and the homeowners have all been very likable.

I've watched up to the carriage house one but got interrupted. (The pilot's Seattle houseboat was fun too.) I really enjoy this one, especially that you get a different perspective than just design because they talk about the marketing. I wish you got results on how they helped the homeowners increase their business. And I assume it must be Netflix/AllTheRooms that must be footing the bill for all these flips, because the homeowners all seemed pretty stretched thin for cash (one worked for a nonprofit, one owned the huge farm, one's husband just died and he was the breadwinner)... and these renos are EXPENSIVE.

Edited August 27, 2018 by taragel

[zillabreeze]

Anybody come across "Best Room Wins" ?   On Bravo.  It's a two house competition with Genevieve as mod.

So far, I'm enjoying it.