HGTV Bitch Thread

[ElleCee]

nysha, I've always wondered about the Property Brothers other rooms and if they don't touch them at all. They also never have a front door hall closet. Which I think is super inconvenient.

I heard with Fixer Upper that the house is staged by Joanna for the reveal and then it's all removed. Odd. I always thought that everything stayed in the home.

Right now I'm watching a lot of Masters of Flip with Kortney and Dave Wilson who flip houses in Nashville. They are hilarious and the houses they turn out are always gorgeous. My new favourite.

I noticed that Bryan Inc will be starting soon. I don't mind Bryan but I have a hate on for his wife Sarah. Ever since they were remodeling one of the first houses and she pushed out the designer that Bryan worked with who ended up quitting. She's not an interior designer but I guess she thought she was and the premise of this new show is that she joins his company as the project manager?! The hell? Pass.

[chonies]

Sept 24, 2016 15:11:21 GMT -4 ElleCee said:

nysha, I've always wondered about the Property Brothers other rooms and if they don't touch them at all. They also never have a front door hall closet. Which I think is super inconvenient.

It's not that I disagree, but it just occurred to me that I have no idea when it was last that I saw a house with a front hall closet. I would personally love a bullshit closet for vacuums, brooms, dog leashes, umbrellas, and running shoes. Our front door is pretty much for decoration only, and I'm never quite sure where my bullshit closet would go. : ( We have a coat closet, but it's only coat weather for about two months of the year.

[Mugsy]

I can't imagine not having a front hall closet. If the front hall is never used, then that's a bigger design flaw of the house. Where do guests come in? And the homeowners? Wherever that is, you need storage space for coats, scarves, mitts, boots and shoes, and all the flotsam that kids bring: sports equipment, backpacks, etc.

[mrspickles]

Sept 24, 2016 21:17:32 GMT -4 Mugsy said:

I can't imagine not having a front hall closet. If the front hall is never used, then that's a bigger design flaw of the house. Where do guests come in? And the homeowners? Wherever that is, you need storage space for coats, scarves, mitts, boots and shoes, and all the flotsam that kids bring: sports equipment, backpacks, etc.

Since I got rid of the hubs, mine is filled with only my coats. Trench coats mostly.

It's a sickness.

I also have 2 bedroom closets; one is for nothing but blazers, and sweaters on the upper shelves. Life is good.

[LAX]

Sept 24, 2016 21:17:32 GMT -4 Mugsy said:

I can't imagine not having a front hall closet. If the front hall is never used, then that's a bigger design flaw of the house. Where do guests come in? And the homeowners? Wherever that is, you need storage space for coats, scarves, mitts, boots and shoes, and all the flotsam that kids bring: sports equipment, backpacks, etc.

With the exception of the guests all that other stuff enters and resides at the back or side entrance/garage entrance/other casual entrance. In my rural days most houses had an entrance to a mud room which was where all the outside gear would arrive and prevent muddy & dirty stuff from making it into the house. Front closets are nice but if the front entrance isn't getting much daily use then a coat tree usually suffices for the occasional jacket/scarf/umbrella that needs to go there.

[famvir]

On the makeovers, a friend had it done, I don't remember the show, but they just filled the other rooms with all the crap they removed from the make over rooms. It was a total clusterf***. They hated the "improvements" and wall color, and had to pay to have them redone. Their house was a disaster with all their stuff relocated and stacked everywhere, and they felt forced to ohh and ahh during the reveal (when my friend felt more like crying.). Was not a blissful experience.

So I have an HGTV question. In the Love it or List It show, does anyone List it? I've watched a dozenish times, and they always Love it, even if that makes no sense.

Is this really a major make over show and they just take the homeowners around to different homes for sale, but that is never really an option?

[tortuga]

All I know about Love it or List It is that it's all fake to the point that they tape both versions of the ending and the homeowners don't know which version will air.

[famvir]

Wow....

[chonies]

Sept 25, 2016 14:10:57 GMT -4 LAX said:

Sept 24, 2016 21:17:32 GMT -4 Mugsy said:

I can't imagine not having a front hall closet. If the front hall is never used, then that's a bigger design flaw of the house. Where do guests come in? And the homeowners? Wherever that is, you need storage space for coats, scarves, mitts, boots and shoes, and all the flotsam that kids bring: sports equipment, backpacks, etc.

With the exception of the guests all that other stuff enters and resides at the back or side entrance/garage entrance/other casual entrance. In my rural days most houses had an entrance to a mud room which was where all the outside gear would arrive and prevent muddy & dirty stuff from making it into the house. Front closets are nice but if the front entrance isn't getting much daily use then a coat tree usually suffices for the occasional jacket/scarf/umbrella that needs to go there.

Yeah, this is more or less me. Only strangers use the front door at my house, and I tend to only use the front door at a stranger's house, unless there is no side door. I don't think of this as a regional thing--my grandmother in NJ had a grand entrance to her house and 90% of the traffic went through the kitchen door. It just seems customary. My Euro friends have commented that it seems strange to have front doors if you're not going to use them, but I never really thought about it. I suppose it does, but it goes with other customs of non-use, like a formal sitting room, or people who "like to set a nice table" but never eat in the dining room.

When we have large numbers of people, like twice a year, we'll move the dog crate, open the door, and if anyone has any coats or bulky handbags, they go on the bed in the guest room.

Because everyone cares, I did an analysis of every place I've lived in the last 15 years

1970s colonial style house (mom's house)--Hall closet in front foyer, Capital City suburbs.
1920sish 2nd floor 'flat above a shop' walk up--no hall closet, entered through kitchen or living room, giant cold midwestern city
1920sish 3rd floor flat in greystone--no hall closet, entered through kitchen or living room, giant cold midwestern city.
1980s shitty apartment--no hall closet, entered into living room, deep South.
1950s ranch house--no hall closet, entered into living room or back door to kitchen, deep South.
1940s cutie pie Sears-ish house, entered into living room or back door to kitchen, deep South
1980s semi-shitty apartment--no hall closet, entered into living room. Cold part of Texas. Large "general purpose" closet on the far side of living room.
1920s bungalow house--no hall closet, entered into living room or back door through kitchen, or into basement, extremely cold part of Missouri.
1920s colonial style mini mansion--HALL CLOSET...that had been sacrificed for HVAC machinery once the miracle of central air had been bestowed upon the land. Deep South.
1960 ranch-like house--semi hall closet about 15' from the front door, which no one uses. Coat closet currently holds out of season coats, board games, cameras and folding chairs. Oh, and a previous owner created a recessed space on the other side of the wall so the router and other paraphernalia have a little cubby, which means part of the shelving in the closet has been repurposed.

Of course, this might be self selecting. I don't have kids or a lot of stuff that needs to be put away, so closet space wasn't one of my main concerns. My friends who have kids either designate a space in the house (like a bench) or have their own solutions, like keeping soccer balls and baseball bats in the garage or enclosed back porch.

[ElleCee]

Sept 25, 2016 16:25:03 GMT -4 tortuga said:

All I know about Love it or List It is that it's all fake to the point that they tape both versions of the ending and the homeowners don't know which version will air.

Really? Where did you hear/see that? Just curious.

I like Love it or List it watch it quite a bit. I think where the UK version is better is that the family live in the renovated house for a month or so after and they've had a while to adjust to the changes, if they work or not and then when the hosts show up they tell them their decision. Mind you, they only do 6 episodes.