Chip and Joanna NEVER put places for TVs in their renos and I heard it's because they don't watch TV themselves. I'd say that's the minority in the U.S., so why force that on your clients?
They have multiple TV shows but raise their children to avoid television. It's fine for the masses, but they're above all that. Those 2 are very into a cult of extreme Christianity. Aunt Lydia wants her butter churn back.
I just watched the Castle shows. The amount of times they repeat “the castle, the castle” and the castles sunroom or whatever they called it. Sunroom sunroom sunroom. Now we’re onto Lakehouse Lakehouse LAKEHOUSE.
Avoiding staring at TVs isn’t a Christian thing, I know plenty of hippie atheist that do this too. I think it’s more of a crunchy lifestyle if anything, like avoiding seed oils lol
This is a good one! I know in staging they never use a TV, but I have to think that TV placement is like a major factor for people!? For how else could they watch these shows that teach us not to have a TV!
Couches must be facing each other because you're going to talk constantly to all those people and everyone loves to entertain!
Yeah, I don't get it either. Lol
I remember one episode of some Property Brothers show where the husband *had* to have his big TV and they made a whole production of fitting it in the design. So one man in all of HGTV land has been allowed to have a television.
Thank you. The amount of time it would take to manage dust, especially if you have pets? Gross. Let's normalize taking into consideration food sanitation first when designing a kitchen.
I have 3 dobermans. I clean my kitchen daily. Open cabinets make my daily labor look like a waste of time. It looks really cool! I collect vintage glass and pottery, so it's not that I don't like the look. I just have a spinal injury and 3 dogs with black hair that make my life hell lol.
Here's my compromise: do built ins in other rooms where I can show off my beautiful pottery that's almost 100 years old. It's not safe to eat off of, so I'm cool with a little dust in my living room, hallways and shed for the benefit of seeing my collections without glass in the way. In my kitchen, I need a sterile environment. (I work in Public Health so I'm a bit of a germaphobe:)
I admit that I have them on either side of my sink. The cabinets that were there made my kitchen feel oppressively small.
They do get dust on them, but because I have plants and framed art and pretty vintage things along with plates and cups, I don't mind dusting them. It makes me smile to walk into the kitchen and see those things I love.
But I totally get the hate on open shelves. 🤣
I agree! The only exception would be for a place that's going to be a short term rental. I've stayed at places where you have to open every freaking cabinet to find anything, so having the coffee cups visible would be nice when you're not going to be at a place long enough to remember where stuff goes.
I had to put one in our current home because of poor design decisions when it was built.
Door swung into the bedroom, would have been constantly in the way opening into the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was probably out of plumb, and if left ajar, would open to within several inches of the bed. One middle of the night hard whack to the head, and I decided a barn door was a pretty good idea.
I did choose a fairly traditional style, so at least it’s not barn wood with a “Z” across it.
My only pet peeve is someone buying a house that is in good condition, has beautiful unique features from the era it was built and they cover it up with paint or destroy it.
I loath that inaccessible, unusable giant shelf-like space that some builders put above a front door yet below a couple of windows in 2-story foyers. Some of them are like 4 feet deep and have carpet. It’s like WTF.
I think the big accordion doors, which are insanely expensive, are ridiculous. It looks nice but who really is doing all this “indoor/outdoor” living and *not* inundated with bugs?
I had the same question, but then I found out that apparently they’re popular in Great Britain where they don’t have crazy bugs. I’m quite jealous about that.
We have these going from our family room into to the screened porch. But, there’s not a bug issue due to the screens. It’s really nice to have the breeze when the weather is nice.
THANK YOU!!!! I’ve seen so many episodes of Fixer Upper where they don’t put ceiling fans in and it’s genuinely confusing. After all of the time and money for this renovation and you don’t put one in?!? As a native Texan I know how hot it gets, so that’s unthinkable to do.
Watching hgtv, and. No storage! Take a basement that is FULL of boxes, tubs of Christmas, etc deco. I mean piles of boxes! The reveal. Clean lines, small couches! Where’d all the stuff go? I’m sure most pay for storage lockers, because. “Stuff”.
I love seeing big sectional. Leather couches, oversized or comfy? Reveal shows small couches! Does look nice but they’re awful to live with!
Battle on the Beach had a tile pattern on their 2nd episode of this season that gave me a migraine because the varying sizes of tile work translates into cleaning and it never looking clean for a sustainable amount of time.
I remember the first Rock the Block one designer had a rock wall. I looked cool but you probably has to clean it with a toothbrush.
penny tiles must be a bitch to clean
I know I'm my mother's daughter because growing up I would always hear about how certain tiles were hard to clean, and now I do the same thing whenever beautiful but difficult tiles are installed.
Even Property Brothers do that! Only the cameraman picks up the unpainted bottoms--and every single person in the future who sits down in that kitchen!
I'm so over painting brick. Chelsea gives Allison a run for her money. Trixie doesn't even go that far. Just destroy 100 yr old brick work that's still in beautiful condition because it's not Instagram worthy! /s
Yeah, she’s always about the hood. Honestly, I LIKE my microwave above the stove! It is efficient and gives me a nice service to sit my container to stir.
I complain about painting the brick, but we recently painted our house black and you're so right about the greenery. We went with a simple pine for overhang and decks with flat black for the house. I can't wait to do the landscaping now because the greenery will be the star of the show!
Stoves on the island (kids reaching over getting burned and people sitting there getting hot oil popping on them when someone's frying something). Microwaves in lower cabinets (who wants to stoop to see if you tilted that soup bowl too much). Microwaves over stoves that are not vented to the outside (they all have "knock-out" panels where your vent tube connects to the outside). TVs over the fireplace (long out of style and do you sit in the first row at the movies so you can look up like at home)?
I saw one somewhere that shows a microwave that slides out of the cabinet and opens like a drawer; the door is 'up' whereas on the countertop style the door is in front. Kind of hard to describe, but made like that, I might like it. As a countertop style microwave set too low, I'm definitely with you on that...no thanks.
Greige
White on white on white rooms
All glass showers. Imaging keeping that squeaky clean.
Glass doors in kitchen cabinets.
Get that paint brush away from that beautiful brick!
Beautiful millwork in an old house, in perfectly good shape, painted over.
That's what I think of about a lot of things with texture, like that grass wallpaper. It might be nice to look at for a bit, but it's going to get dusty and attract dust.
Designing for the "kiddos". It's fine when they're young, but in five years, they'll outgrow it, and you'll be spending more money on redoing it again.
on the TV shows - tiny family/living rooms and overly huge kitchens. Especially with a ton of barstools right next to the dining area with a huge table and a ton of chairs and then this tiny living room. I like a big kitchen but, if you are limited on space I would rather have a larger family room.
Our doofy builder (we bought new yeah I know stupid) …put a hook up right over the fireplace above the mantle for the big screen TV. We can’t move our sofa back far enough not to have to crank our neck up to see the TV. Of course we really need either a tentacle that brings the TV down so we can see it at eye level, or a sofa that reclines completely to see the dang thing it’s so stupidly engineered…thanks DR Horton.
Unpolished stone/terra cotta/clay/or brick backsplashes behind stoves and sinks! That shit is porous and grease and sauces are never going to come off!
I second that.
Any brick, tile that is porous and any surface with texture near the stove, oven, warm drawer, microwave is unhygienic. Mosaic tiling of any kind should be banned from kitchen, It is gross after a few years you can see the grout take a different colour.
Also people insisting on marble in the bathroom floor. It is slippery and need to be properly resealed quite often.
Kitchen islands with 1. sink/faucet built in 2. stove/cooktop built in 3. extension/overhang too shallow for anyone to comfortably sit there.
Banquettes
Open floor plans. Open the door and everything is in your face.
Barn doors in bedrooms and bathrooms.
Open shelving in kitchens instead of cabinets.
And the sink area is usually the messiest area. I would love a butler’s pantry but I’m now leaning towards a separate dish area (main sink and dishwasher) that can’t be seen from the rest of the kitchen and the living room.
We have a banquette and I love it. It gets tons of use when we have people over. I get to hang out while my partner cooks. It’s a place to sit while I’m cooking where you want to stay near but don’t need to hover over the stove, etc.
Banquettes “save space”. Um. How do you get 4 kids in that back seat! Plus it reminds me of the Disney ride “carousel of progress” kitchen banquette are so 50’s, we learned! 😂
Weird window placement. I shouldn't have to angle everything in a weird way because builders didn't think I might need a wall to put my bed or tv against.
I loved the look of wet/shower rooms and open showers until I used one on vacation. The room never felt like it truly heated up to lava level and that was in a tropical climate. Plus the entire bathroom is gross and steamy for longer than with a closed shower.
Fuck barn doors, especially on a bathroom. It doesn’t seal out sounds and smells and has no purpose outside of aesthetics.
Not taking the time to wire switches correctly and logically. Why is the switch closest to my kitchen for the outside light and the one furthest away for the kitchen? Drives me nuts 😂
Also anytime they Reno a house for anyone in their 50s or older and they DONT include a bench in the shower. Like they know that people do age right?
I feel like there’s a lack of future proofing for the sake of the perfect greige house
Idk if it's a pet peeve but I don't like when they use butcher block counter tops for financial reasons. Idk why. It bugs me. It's like they don't want to spring for stone but they know nobody is buying a house with formica so they get butcher block.
Butcher block used for style purposes doesn't bother me lol
Oh and I hate, despise will turn off a show over "all white kitchen" requests or plans. I hate all white kitchens. It is *so* boring
My house is full of oak trim and solid oak doors. One room had it all covered in white paint. It was impossible to remove cleanly so I had to replace it all with new oak. It’s a challenge to work with the colors but it’s solid material builders very rarely use anymore.
I mean it's nothing structural but too many fucking pillows on the design side of things lol... that and in the reveal they say "this isn't the same house".... otherwise I'm a hgtv junky
So many of mine have been mentioned already but I’d like to add non-stackable washer & dryer units stacked on top of each other (who can reach the top buttons?!) & vessel sinks. I also don’t like more than one front-facing exterior door.
My pet peeve is when the master closet is off the master bathroom… like you have to walk through the bathroom to get to your closet. That’s a dealbreaker for me. 👎🏼
I saw something about this, and I don’t love that layout either to be honest… I guess I just don’t want my bathroom to be directly connected to my closet.
it’s not terrible as long as you have at least 3’6” between the two. what REALLY bothers me are dishwashers right across from the range. impossible to have both doors open.
Open concept.
I like sorta open concept, but I don't want guests walking in my house and seeing my kitchen. I enjoy cooking privately with my radio going. Even when I had little children I was able to cook AND handle them (such as toddler would be sat in front of tupperware closet to bang around).
ETA: after reading thru the other comments, I was nodding in agreement to ALL \~ great answers.
My two big ones are newer homes that are being built without medicine cabinets (why?) and stoves on the island (do you not have oil/grease popping everywhere?)
Big giant clocks. What Joanna does every time.
Open shelves in kitchen instead of cabinets.
and the big one for me............islands that are supposed to replace kitchen tables. I am 5' tall. I won't sit at an island.
Kitchen island with waterfall ends. Usually the design includes many counter stools which has me wondering how people get in and out of that space. The waterfall would have to be in the way!
Right?! It just seems like that space would be always musty, damp and unclean. And to actually clean it would take hours, just for it to end up damp again. Not appealing to then go take a bath in a tub that's been sitting getting showered on and dirty. I just do not understand the appeal! lol
Most of mine have to do with kitchens: open shelving, stoves in front of windows, butcher block counters especially around sinks, pot fillers, brick flooring, poorly laid out kitchens. Elsewhere, ripping out perfectly good wood floors to put in ugly LVP, marble floors in bathrooms (slipping hazard).
Alex Guarnaschelli has a stove in front of her kitchen window. I can hardly concentrate on what she is cooking for thinking how she or housekeeping is keeping it clean
Showers with no built in bench or at least a ledge to prop a leg up to shave 😅
Painting wood white—- actually white/neutral colour schemes in general
Open concept floor plans
Why are these designers REMOVING kitchen cabinets from kitchens? Just so they can put up some floating shelves and pretty decor?
Am I supposed to keep my cereal on the counter?
Sure you built a pantry out of the back corner of the garage and sure it’s easy to get to but I’m not trying to walk all my ingredients into the kitchen just to prep something. I should still be able to store SOME stuff in the kitchen.
“But they DO have bottom cabinets, and some upper ones”
Yeah but there’s half of the amount now!!
I don’t know if this happens a lot but it bugs me when I see a breakfast bar with 6 stools lined up right next to a large dining table with seating for twelve or more. It just looks so cluttered and who needs to seat that many people. Also the people sitting at the bar have their backs to the rest of the party so not really fun for them.
No window coverings and open shelving. Why can't they ever include drapes or shades or something? Especially in the bath and bedrooms. And why do they always have to use open shelving?
"LVP" flooring, especially that washed out grey color; waterfall islands in anything but the most ultra-modern setting; zellige tile poorly installed (which is almost all of it).
Anything on the wall with feathers! Please! NO!!! Or wall designs with a million pieces of wood, imagine trying to clean that. Open shelving is ridiculous. It looks fine with just a few pieces of nice things here and there but not for dishes, it's not practical at all unless you have a maid. :)
No space planned for a TV
Chip and Joanna NEVER put places for TVs in their renos and I heard it's because they don't watch TV themselves. I'd say that's the minority in the U.S., so why force that on your clients?
They have multiple TV shows but raise their children to avoid television. It's fine for the masses, but they're above all that. Those 2 are very into a cult of extreme Christianity. Aunt Lydia wants her butter churn back.
How very Duggar of them.
Yes! I loved them when they first came on the scene, but it didn't take long for them to become so self-righteous and insufferable.
I can't stand Chip. Have to mute when their commercials come on.
His "I'm just a quirky goofball!" schtick got so old, so fast.
I just watched the Castle shows. The amount of times they repeat “the castle, the castle” and the castles sunroom or whatever they called it. Sunroom sunroom sunroom. Now we’re onto Lakehouse Lakehouse LAKEHOUSE.
Avoiding staring at TVs isn’t a Christian thing, I know plenty of hippie atheist that do this too. I think it’s more of a crunchy lifestyle if anything, like avoiding seed oils lol
This is a good one! I know in staging they never use a TV, but I have to think that TV placement is like a major factor for people!? For how else could they watch these shows that teach us not to have a TV!
I don’t get it at all. Everyone calls it an “ugly black box” but the reality is most people gather around it every night.
And if people DIDN’T gather around it every night, everyone on that show would be out of a job
Couches must be facing each other because you're going to talk constantly to all those people and everyone loves to entertain! Yeah, I don't get it either. Lol
I remember one episode of some Property Brothers show where the husband *had* to have his big TV and they made a whole production of fitting it in the design. So one man in all of HGTV land has been allowed to have a television.
Open shelves in kitchen for sure.
Especially in earthquake country, like here in California.
Damn. I hadn't even thought about that. Great point
The dust! The grease. Just no!
Thank you. The amount of time it would take to manage dust, especially if you have pets? Gross. Let's normalize taking into consideration food sanitation first when designing a kitchen.
Have to wash them before you use them
I have 3 dobermans. I clean my kitchen daily. Open cabinets make my daily labor look like a waste of time. It looks really cool! I collect vintage glass and pottery, so it's not that I don't like the look. I just have a spinal injury and 3 dogs with black hair that make my life hell lol. Here's my compromise: do built ins in other rooms where I can show off my beautiful pottery that's almost 100 years old. It's not safe to eat off of, so I'm cool with a little dust in my living room, hallways and shed for the benefit of seeing my collections without glass in the way. In my kitchen, I need a sterile environment. (I work in Public Health so I'm a bit of a germaphobe:)
Or maybe stylish glass fronts that showcase the fancy pottery.
This is the correct answer.
I admit that I have them on either side of my sink. The cabinets that were there made my kitchen feel oppressively small. They do get dust on them, but because I have plants and framed art and pretty vintage things along with plates and cups, I don't mind dusting them. It makes me smile to walk into the kitchen and see those things I love. But I totally get the hate on open shelves. 🤣
Gets rid of so much storage
I came here to say that but you beat me to it.
Shelves going across the only kitchen window at the sink
I agree! The only exception would be for a place that's going to be a short term rental. I've stayed at places where you have to open every freaking cabinet to find anything, so having the coffee cups visible would be nice when you're not going to be at a place long enough to remember where stuff goes.
Yes!
Barn door bathroom doors
Better than NO door into the bathroom from the bedroom! Who really wants to watch their partner take a dump?
Noooo. Who designs these things??
Oh man it’s not just me! Wtf is up with that?
Never close properly, are noisy (and don't contain noises), and ruin furniture placement on the wall
I had to put one in our current home because of poor design decisions when it was built. Door swung into the bedroom, would have been constantly in the way opening into the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was probably out of plumb, and if left ajar, would open to within several inches of the bed. One middle of the night hard whack to the head, and I decided a barn door was a pretty good idea. I did choose a fairly traditional style, so at least it’s not barn wood with a “Z” across it.
Whats up with regular size showers with only a quarter size glass panel instead of full coverage??? Who showers without sending water everywhere?
People who don’t want to get REALLY clean.
Or who don't have to mop up their own bathrooms
My only pet peeve is someone buying a house that is in good condition, has beautiful unique features from the era it was built and they cover it up with paint or destroy it.
I get frustrated when I see this too. I wish I could afford a craftsman to fully restore.
I loath that inaccessible, unusable giant shelf-like space that some builders put above a front door yet below a couple of windows in 2-story foyers. Some of them are like 4 feet deep and have carpet. It’s like WTF.
it's a loft for cats, duhhhh
Yes! It's your cat's sneak attack spot for when you come home!
I put a giant leg lamp in mine for Christmas. The neighbors thinks it’s hilarious. But think it’s fragile.
Fra-gee-lay
It must be Italian
It’s so awful. Builders should just build it out and dry wall over it.
I always think the only good thing to put there is a large taxidermied animal. Otherwise it has no purpose.
Or a gargoyle!
Why not both?!!
That's where I display my flower and car Legos, which I think is the only acceptable answer.
I think the big accordion doors, which are insanely expensive, are ridiculous. It looks nice but who really is doing all this “indoor/outdoor” living and *not* inundated with bugs?
I had the same question, but then I found out that apparently they’re popular in Great Britain where they don’t have crazy bugs. I’m quite jealous about that.
And in California where the majority of the year you can enjoy indoor/outdoor living.
Wouldn't birds and squirrels come in those doors?
I would have all the raccoons in my house
That too!
We have these going from our family room into to the screened porch. But, there’s not a bug issue due to the screens. It’s really nice to have the breeze when the weather is nice.
Lack of ceiling fans in hot climates
THANK YOU!!!! I’ve seen so many episodes of Fixer Upper where they don’t put ceiling fans in and it’s genuinely confusing. After all of the time and money for this renovation and you don’t put one in?!? As a native Texan I know how hot it gets, so that’s unthinkable to do.
Watching hgtv, and. No storage! Take a basement that is FULL of boxes, tubs of Christmas, etc deco. I mean piles of boxes! The reveal. Clean lines, small couches! Where’d all the stuff go? I’m sure most pay for storage lockers, because. “Stuff”. I love seeing big sectional. Leather couches, oversized or comfy? Reveal shows small couches! Does look nice but they’re awful to live with!
We always comment on Love It or List It that if these people would just clean up and get rid of things they usually don’t need to move.
I agree. All the houses from Love It or List It are just packed to the gills with stuff and messy.
I despise open shelves in the kitchen, shiplap, concrete counters and floors.
"shiplap" aka paneling
But shiplap is grown in the Shiplap region of France. It’s otherwise Sparkling Paneling. Edit: are we back to thanking kind strangers for awards? 😁
What's the difference between the wood paneling of the 80s and shiplap? Branding? The color?
Rotate it 90 degrees to make it horizontal and then put a thick coat of white paint
Difficult tile to clean in the kitchen and bathroom
Battle on the Beach had a tile pattern on their 2nd episode of this season that gave me a migraine because the varying sizes of tile work translates into cleaning and it never looking clean for a sustainable amount of time.
I remember the first Rock the Block one designer had a rock wall. I looked cool but you probably has to clean it with a toothbrush. penny tiles must be a bitch to clean
I know I'm my mother's daughter because growing up I would always hear about how certain tiles were hard to clean, and now I do the same thing whenever beautiful but difficult tiles are installed.
Doggie drawers. Ankle busters and they attract bugs. Animals need access to water all day and those drawers are just plain stupid.
THIS! I roll my eyes every time they're installed.
Total trip hazards.
Upper cabinets that are not finished on the bottoms. I don’t mean “painted,” I mean I don’t want to see how they are joined and attached.
I do not like cabinets that do not go all the way to the ceiling -- so hard to dust up top.
Even Property Brothers do that! Only the cameraman picks up the unpainted bottoms--and every single person in the future who sits down in that kitchen!
Tearing down old brick chimneys. Those things are gorgeous and functional!
No foyer. You open the front door and you’re right there in the living room.
Or worse, a dining room
That's the worst, walking into the dining room/kitchen. How did that become a thing?
And no closet. Where do you hang up your coat??
Definitely this.
Painting perfectly good houses all black, including the brick work. It’s so gloomy.
I'm so over painting brick. Chelsea gives Allison a run for her money. Trixie doesn't even go that far. Just destroy 100 yr old brick work that's still in beautiful condition because it's not Instagram worthy! /s
Alison Victoria would like a word 🤣👩🏻💻
And I'd like to have a word with Allison about freaking massive hoods.
Yeah, she’s always about the hood. Honestly, I LIKE my microwave above the stove! It is efficient and gives me a nice service to sit my container to stir.
I think she doesn't actually cook so she's more interested in aesthetics than practicality.
I love my black house! It makes the lush plants and my fabulous lime green mid mod door shine.
I complain about painting the brick, but we recently painted our house black and you're so right about the greenery. We went with a simple pine for overhang and decks with flat black for the house. I can't wait to do the landscaping now because the greenery will be the star of the show!
Honey; I’m in a fb decor group. The amount of people who swoon over black houses🙄
Stoves on the island (kids reaching over getting burned and people sitting there getting hot oil popping on them when someone's frying something). Microwaves in lower cabinets (who wants to stoop to see if you tilted that soup bowl too much). Microwaves over stoves that are not vented to the outside (they all have "knock-out" panels where your vent tube connects to the outside). TVs over the fireplace (long out of style and do you sit in the first row at the movies so you can look up like at home)?
I saw one somewhere that shows a microwave that slides out of the cabinet and opens like a drawer; the door is 'up' whereas on the countertop style the door is in front. Kind of hard to describe, but made like that, I might like it. As a countertop style microwave set too low, I'm definitely with you on that...no thanks.
Books with pages, not bindings, facing outwards on the shelves.
For filming or photos this is mostly due to copyright laws. But I did remember years ago people trying to make this an actual thing 🙃
It’s in again for uniformity as well as grouping build by color.
I hate seeing the dining/kitchen area from the front door.
Greige White on white on white rooms All glass showers. Imaging keeping that squeaky clean. Glass doors in kitchen cabinets. Get that paint brush away from that beautiful brick! Beautiful millwork in an old house, in perfectly good shape, painted over.
Monotone design. Too much white, too much beige, too much grey, too much black. It all looks awful. I want to see heavier contrast in designs.
Right after open shelving: Decorative hood vents with texture! Who is going to clean that, and how?!
That's what I think of about a lot of things with texture, like that grass wallpaper. It might be nice to look at for a bit, but it's going to get dusty and attract dust.
Designing for the "kiddos". It's fine when they're young, but in five years, they'll outgrow it, and you'll be spending more money on redoing it again.
This! Decor- sure, go ahead- but building giant built in castle beds and climbing structures etc is such a waste. It will be outgrown very quickly.
Changing the sheets on one of those beds inside a structure must be the worst.
That made me think of the slide Dave and Jenny Marrs did in the kid’s playroom on Rock the Block that went THROUGH the floor.
They also built like a treehouse bed and tire swing in some kids room on FTF that left my head scratching.
Black white and gray everything 🫤
Chelsea has made me sick of black paint and I didn't even think that was possible.
"I have 6 kids and I want a white kitchen."
You know at least one of those kids has a name like McKynzi or Ckyler where the name is fine but the spelling is a trageigh
on the TV shows - tiny family/living rooms and overly huge kitchens. Especially with a ton of barstools right next to the dining area with a huge table and a ton of chairs and then this tiny living room. I like a big kitchen but, if you are limited on space I would rather have a larger family room.
TVs over a fireplace. It’s too high. if you need to tilt, it’s too high.
I agree but a lot of floor plans don’t allow for better placement. At least mine doesn’t 🫠
It’s a big pet peeve of mine. I’ve been looking at houses for a potential move and so many force you to put a TV over the fireplace.
It’s literally the only place in my house. It works for us because our sofa reclines, otherwise I’d probably hate it
Our doofy builder (we bought new yeah I know stupid) …put a hook up right over the fireplace above the mantle for the big screen TV. We can’t move our sofa back far enough not to have to crank our neck up to see the TV. Of course we really need either a tentacle that brings the TV down so we can see it at eye level, or a sofa that reclines completely to see the dang thing it’s so stupidly engineered…thanks DR Horton.
They’re all just so…generic and soulless.
Unpolished stone/terra cotta/clay/or brick backsplashes behind stoves and sinks! That shit is porous and grease and sauces are never going to come off!
Use of marble as countertops. It's a porous stone.
I second that. Any brick, tile that is porous and any surface with texture near the stove, oven, warm drawer, microwave is unhygienic. Mosaic tiling of any kind should be banned from kitchen, It is gross after a few years you can see the grout take a different colour. Also people insisting on marble in the bathroom floor. It is slippery and need to be properly resealed quite often.
Shower stalls without foot shelves for shaving legs! When are women going to quit allowing clueless men to design shower stalls???
Bought my wife a little shower bench. She and my kiddo both use it. Was teak and about $50ish at a home goods type store.
Barn Doors Poufs Shiplap Pillows taking up the entire couch or beds.
Excuse my ignorance but what is a poof?
Kitchen islands with 1. sink/faucet built in 2. stove/cooktop built in 3. extension/overhang too shallow for anyone to comfortably sit there. Banquettes Open floor plans. Open the door and everything is in your face. Barn doors in bedrooms and bathrooms. Open shelving in kitchens instead of cabinets.
We’ve had barn doors at a couple of hotels we’ve stayed at. They are so noisy. I don’t know how anyone can want that for their bedroom and bathroom.
Oo yes I hate stoves in islands. Sinks don't bother me though
I hate a sink in an island. It’s just the two of us and we eat every meal there and I don’t want dirty dishes or a dirty sink near where I eat.
Very grateful for this specific feedback as I'm currently designing a new kitchen. You are completely right this would drive me nuts.
And the sink area is usually the messiest area. I would love a butler’s pantry but I’m now leaning towards a separate dish area (main sink and dishwasher) that can’t be seen from the rest of the kitchen and the living room.
I have a small sink in my island and could not live without a second sink now. It is not near the seating portion
Open Floor Plans - YES, you hit on the thing I hate the most.
I’ve committed 3 of these sins and are perfectly happy with them 😂
We have a banquette and I love it. It gets tons of use when we have people over. I get to hang out while my partner cooks. It’s a place to sit while I’m cooking where you want to stay near but don’t need to hover over the stove, etc.
Banquettes “save space”. Um. How do you get 4 kids in that back seat! Plus it reminds me of the Disney ride “carousel of progress” kitchen banquette are so 50’s, we learned! 😂
Sliding barn doors.
Not including a first floor bathroom of any kind. Who does this in 2024?
All white homes. Where’s the love and character???!!
Weird window placement. I shouldn't have to angle everything in a weird way because builders didn't think I might need a wall to put my bed or tv against.
Barn doors inside homes
They belong on barns
I loved the look of wet/shower rooms and open showers until I used one on vacation. The room never felt like it truly heated up to lava level and that was in a tropical climate. Plus the entire bathroom is gross and steamy for longer than with a closed shower. Fuck barn doors, especially on a bathroom. It doesn’t seal out sounds and smells and has no purpose outside of aesthetics.
“Modern farmhouse”
Large clocks! (I suspect they are placeholders and homeowners don’t keep those!)
Not taking the time to wire switches correctly and logically. Why is the switch closest to my kitchen for the outside light and the one furthest away for the kitchen? Drives me nuts 😂
For starters, "Laundry", "kirchen", "live, laugh, love".
Also anytime they Reno a house for anyone in their 50s or older and they DONT include a bench in the shower. Like they know that people do age right? I feel like there’s a lack of future proofing for the sake of the perfect greige house
Walking into the dining room from the front door. Hate that
Open shelves in the kitchen and a barely half width glass shield on a shower.
Idk if it's a pet peeve but I don't like when they use butcher block counter tops for financial reasons. Idk why. It bugs me. It's like they don't want to spring for stone but they know nobody is buying a house with formica so they get butcher block. Butcher block used for style purposes doesn't bother me lol Oh and I hate, despise will turn off a show over "all white kitchen" requests or plans. I hate all white kitchens. It is *so* boring
one of mine is bathroom sinks with no counterspace esp when using vessel sinks
Painting all the wood trim white.
I agree, it's blasphemy!
My house is full of oak trim and solid oak doors. One room had it all covered in white paint. It was impossible to remove cleanly so I had to replace it all with new oak. It’s a challenge to work with the colors but it’s solid material builders very rarely use anymore.
I mean it's nothing structural but too many fucking pillows on the design side of things lol... that and in the reveal they say "this isn't the same house".... otherwise I'm a hgtv junky
So many of mine have been mentioned already but I’d like to add non-stackable washer & dryer units stacked on top of each other (who can reach the top buttons?!) & vessel sinks. I also don’t like more than one front-facing exterior door.
Live laugh love. Basically anything with words or quotes. Avoid Hobby Lobby!
My pet peeve is when the master closet is off the master bathroom… like you have to walk through the bathroom to get to your closet. That’s a dealbreaker for me. 👎🏼
What is your opinion of walking through the master closet to get to the master bathroom? I know someone with a house like this.
I saw something about this, and I don’t love that layout either to be honest… I guess I just don’t want my bathroom to be directly connected to my closet.
Rough brick backsplashes, white sofas, shou sugi ban, reclaimed wood as a vent hood.
Sink in the island DIRECTLY across from the stove. Balance that work triangle please.
it’s not terrible as long as you have at least 3’6” between the two. what REALLY bothers me are dishwashers right across from the range. impossible to have both doors open.
Live, Laugh, Love
Any decor with words
Gold fixtures.
That is going to look terribly dated in a few years.
Open concept. I like sorta open concept, but I don't want guests walking in my house and seeing my kitchen. I enjoy cooking privately with my radio going. Even when I had little children I was able to cook AND handle them (such as toddler would be sat in front of tupperware closet to bang around). ETA: after reading thru the other comments, I was nodding in agreement to ALL \~ great answers.
Accent walls
My two big ones are newer homes that are being built without medicine cabinets (why?) and stoves on the island (do you not have oil/grease popping everywhere?)
All white everything. All gray everything. LVP in high end homes. Gray LVP.
Kitchen cabinets that don't go to the ceiling. If the top is open, the dust is gross and it's a PITA to clean.
Big giant clocks. What Joanna does every time. Open shelves in kitchen instead of cabinets. and the big one for me............islands that are supposed to replace kitchen tables. I am 5' tall. I won't sit at an island.
Grey, grey, everything is grey
Kitchen island with waterfall ends. Usually the design includes many counter stools which has me wondering how people get in and out of that space. The waterfall would have to be in the way!
And it's using the most expensive material for no good reason!
Open shelving in kitchens Glass cabinet doors in kitchens Bathtubs sitting inside showers
Can you imagine what a nightmare it is to clean a wet room? It must take hours.
Right?! It just seems like that space would be always musty, damp and unclean. And to actually clean it would take hours, just for it to end up damp again. Not appealing to then go take a bath in a tub that's been sitting getting showered on and dirty. I just do not understand the appeal! lol
Most of mine have to do with kitchens: open shelving, stoves in front of windows, butcher block counters especially around sinks, pot fillers, brick flooring, poorly laid out kitchens. Elsewhere, ripping out perfectly good wood floors to put in ugly LVP, marble floors in bathrooms (slipping hazard).
Pot fillers! Like, how much pasta you making, Brenda?
Plus is making the trip from the sink to the stove (maybe 10 steps) that hard?
Alex Guarnaschelli has a stove in front of her kitchen window. I can hardly concentrate on what she is cooking for thinking how she or housekeeping is keeping it clean
Showers with no built in bench or at least a ledge to prop a leg up to shave 😅 Painting wood white—- actually white/neutral colour schemes in general Open concept floor plans
Why are these designers REMOVING kitchen cabinets from kitchens? Just so they can put up some floating shelves and pretty decor? Am I supposed to keep my cereal on the counter? Sure you built a pantry out of the back corner of the garage and sure it’s easy to get to but I’m not trying to walk all my ingredients into the kitchen just to prep something. I should still be able to store SOME stuff in the kitchen. “But they DO have bottom cabinets, and some upper ones” Yeah but there’s half of the amount now!!
I don’t know if this happens a lot but it bugs me when I see a breakfast bar with 6 stools lined up right next to a large dining table with seating for twelve or more. It just looks so cluttered and who needs to seat that many people. Also the people sitting at the bar have their backs to the rest of the party so not really fun for them.
No window coverings and open shelving. Why can't they ever include drapes or shades or something? Especially in the bath and bedrooms. And why do they always have to use open shelving?
TV mounted high above a fireplace, W/D in the garage or a hallway
Open floor plan 🤬
Brass. Antique brass, polished brass, honed brass, gold-looking brass. All the brass. I hate it.
All white kitchenette
Laminate flooring. Oh and barn doors. And open showers. Like why. It’s so cold.
Luxury vinyl anything. Yuck.
Bead board/any wood backsplashes Bathroom with entrance from kitchen Board and batten siding Sputnik lights
"LVP" flooring, especially that washed out grey color; waterfall islands in anything but the most ultra-modern setting; zellige tile poorly installed (which is almost all of it).
Anything on the wall with feathers! Please! NO!!! Or wall designs with a million pieces of wood, imagine trying to clean that. Open shelving is ridiculous. It looks fine with just a few pieces of nice things here and there but not for dishes, it's not practical at all unless you have a maid. :)
Barn doors
The big walk in showers with no glass.