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I know it's scripted but still find myself watching for lolz.
The thing that gets irritating is the ad nauseum "I must have stainless steel appliances, granite counters, and hardwood floors". Seriously, are people sheep or something? Please don't tell me that everyone, or mostly everyone, must have all three of those things. I see nothing wrong with other types of appliances, hardwood floors were never a dealbreaker for me, and I do not like granite countertops.
IMO it's more that the hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances are trendy, and some people must have trendy. IMO having "trendy" kind of makes the kitchens all look alike, so if the folks demanding those "latest and greatest" did so thinking it would make their kitchen look unique, it's failed in that regard. Now if people truly like the stuff, and want to live with it, more power to them. But their tendency ( and sometimes folks in real life too) turning up their noses at kitchens/houses that don't have all of the above is silly, IMO.
I like granite just fine, and IMO it can really be pretty in a kitchen. But we don't have it, I couldn't justify spending that money when we built our house, and IMO there are formica countertops that are just as serviceable and pretty, don't show dirt and are durable. Our kitchen cabinets are white and we thought white appliances would look better in the kitchen. As for hardwood floors, I will agree that they are pretty, and certainly easier to keep clean than carpeting, and nice to walk on. I grew up with hardwood floors, and know they take maintenance ( I remember my Dad sanding and varnishing our hardwood floors every couple years to keep them looking nice.
We live in SW Florida, though, and I've always liked a lighter, more "tropical" look in Florida houses, and with the humidity I've always thought wood floors might tend to swell and warp- and I don't care for wood-look laminate floors. I've always preferred ceramic tile in our Florida houses. But I see many houses around, even in Florida, that have wood floors, and though I really don't care for them, it certainly is a matter of "different strokes"....
I watch it now and then and take it with a grain of salt. It is not as good as it was in the past (Good God, did I say that?).
Nowadays, it seems the houses are the same, plain and nondescript. Before they seemed to have people who specifically liked Mid Century, Craftsmen, etc.
Recently I saw one where the couple entered, stopped dead in their tracks, and proceeded to freak out over a...foyer closet. They honestly could not understand what it was doing there and they could not shut up about it. I always thought they were for hanging up coats and storing umbrellas.
I discussed this in another thread, but I love my 600 square foot master suite. the bedroom portion of it, once you come down the included hallway, is 20x16 and I do spend a bit of time in there, and my wife and I no longer run into each other when trying to get dressed in the morning.
Computer renders of it before we built it (hard to get good photos from inside)
The bathroom has a 4x8 shower area that you walk thorugh to the 4x8 tub area:
I also have dual sinks with a lot of counter space, where my wife and I can both get ready for work in the morning side by side and not be in each other's way.
When we were building the new garage addition, we simply put on a second floor that is the master suite. The old master bedroom was 10x12 with a very small en-suite that was tight even for one person:
I like ours better. But that should be what it's all about, right?
Househunting in Arizona and having a cow because most of the properties feature xeroscaping - ('I want green grass!!')
It's Arizona, people. As in desert. I live in Texas, and we're knee deep in a drought. Water is a precious resource and turf grass is a notorious water drain.
So, because you don't want these 3 things, people are sheep? Obviously, there are a lot of people out there who like these 3 things. Heck, go into a new construction home and chances are, they will have all 3 of these things. Why? Because this is what majority of the people shopping for a home want. If everyone wanted carpet, white appliances and butcher block countertops, then this is what you would see in shows, in your home improvement stores, and for sale.
Just wondering though, seems to me that some folks like things because they ARE trendy......because that's what everyone else has......because that's what they see on HGTV, so it MUST be what's in.....
Stainless has been popular for decades now. And it could be that a lot of people like it better because they like the way it looks, and not because they think it's trendy. If HGTV was all about trying to create sheeples who were swayed by the latest trend, they'd be trying to convince people to get some other color appliances by now.
IMO it's more that the hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances are trendy, and some people must have trendy. IMO having "trendy" kind of makes the kitchens all look alike, so if the folks demanding those "latest and greatest" did so thinking it would make their kitchen look unique, it's failed in that regard. Now if people truly like the stuff, and want to live with it, more power to them. But their tendency ( and sometimes folks in real life too) turning up their noses at kitchens/houses that don't have all of the above is silly, IMO.
I like granite just fine, and IMO it can really be pretty in a kitchen. But we don't have it, I couldn't justify spending that money when we built our house, and IMO there are formica countertops that are just as serviceable and pretty, don't show dirt and are durable. Our kitchen cabinets are white and we thought white appliances would look better in the kitchen. As for hardwood floors, I will agree that they are pretty, and certainly easier to keep clean than carpeting, and nice to walk on. I grew up with hardwood floors, and know they take maintenance ( I remember my Dad sanding and varnishing our hardwood floors every couple years to keep them looking nice.
We live in SW Florida, though, and I've always liked a lighter, more "tropical" look in Florida houses, and with the humidity I've always thought wood floors might tend to swell and warp- and I don't care for wood-look laminate floors. I've always preferred ceramic tile in our Florida houses. But I see many houses around, even in Florida, that have wood floors, and though I really don't care for them, it certainly is a matter of "different strokes"....
Yep.
Personally, I don't see why people would want wood floors in Florida. My father lives in Miramar and his house is almost all tile. He's originally from Brasil/Panama and 95% of the homes have tiled floors. I've always associated tiled floors with warmer climes and wood floors with colder for some reason.
Stainless has been popular for decades now. And it could be that a lot of people like it better because they like the way it looks, and not because they think it's trendy. If HGTV was all about trying to create sheeples who were swayed by the latest trend, they'd be trying to convince people to get some other color appliances by now.
The feature other types of appliances now? Almost all of the renos and "suggestions" I've seen/gotten from HGTV featured stainless appliances.
While I do agree that many people may like stainless steel, there are many who also do not particularly care for it or are indifferent. Meanwhile, many of the design gurus on HGTV like to constantly mentioned "upgrading" to SS, even when the existing non-SS appliance is perfectly fine. I must admit that I was contemplating swapping out my perfectly fine black appliances but both the people on this forum and my realtor said that it wasn't worth it or necessary. And I agree.
Coming from a first time buyers point of view: Due to the awesome financial crisis and the fact that homeowners haven't been keeping up with contemporary designs, we saw a LOT of crap when we were buying last year. Too many people were asking 200k (a lot in my area) for a house that hadn't been updated or renovated since the 80s. If a house is going to take 40k to be brought up to contemporary looks, you cant ask full price for a house. Hence why so many had DOM's of 100 days+.
We certainly weren't on the smallest budget, but we expected the house to at least not look like the set from Married with Children.
Coming from a first time buyers point of view: Due to the awesome financial crisis and the fact that homeowners haven't been keeping up with contemporary designs, we saw a LOT of crap when we were buying last year. Too many people were asking 200k (a lot in my area) for a house that hadn't been updated or renovated since the 80s. If a house is going to take 40k to be brought up to contemporary looks, you cant ask full price for a house. Hence why so many had DOM's of 100 days+.
We certainly weren't on the smallest budget, but we expected the house to at least not look like the set from Married with Children.
You think that's bad, here in San Diego it takes a minimum of $600,000 now to get anything that's either new (or renovated) or not 1 hour away from the actual livable parts of the area. Even that $600,000 will only get you 1,200 square feet or a place in a weird location. To get a standard middle-class house that's not falling apart takes $700k+.
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