Home Renovations Are Personal

Once someone has a good idea for a TV show and it becomes somewhat successful, then suddenly we are flooded with the same type programs – whether it’s police shows; lawyers being dramatic in the courtroom; hospital programs; or even home decorating shows.

 Now, you can literally switch to any channel and watch someone’s home being decorated either by their neighbors or relatives with the help of ‘professionals’. While I do admire the tastes and talents of many, there are some that actually make me shudder and I’m so glad that it’s not my home they are wrecking!!

 But then I’ve been told before that I’m living in the last century – must be my gray hair or something…. Recently I watched a show where several adults decided rather than paint the walls in a children’s room, they would spatter a variety of colors randomly – all the while getting just as much on themselves. That is professional? I don’t think so. One had only to watch the two little girls’ sad reaction to the finished bedroom to realize that the room was definitely not a hit.

 I often wonder if the home insurance companies are comfortable with bedroom walls completely covered in feathers that have been glued on. I’ve also seen a chair covered in feathers – who wants to sit in that? I hate to think of the dust that will soon collect on all those feathers. What about covering all the walls in a room with cardboard? What ARE the designers thinking?  They aren’t. They are just letting their imaginations go wild and laughing all the way home.

 I’m getting a headache from watching shows where everyone is talking at once, all trying for more on camera time with their antics. One professional decorator seems to run into difficulties on a regular basis whether it is an idea that isn’t working (doesn’t she think out any of her plans ahead of time) or a mistake in measuring etc. Seems to me that after a while someone would take note of these major screw-ups and decide if she can’t get it right, then there are many other decorators who could do a better job.

 I’ve seen absolutely gorgeous makeovers where the show’s creators take special pains to consider the homeowners wishes but there have been just as many where they have ignored their wishes and just gone haywire with the room. I’ve seen homeowners extremely upset – especially when they said the only color they wouldn’t like to see used is orange and find their walls painted a terra cotta. While it’s not orange, it’s pretty darn close – especially when there are 101 other colors in the rainbow spectrum that could have been used on the walls.

 Some organizers say that’s the chance you take – well I’m not that much of a gambling person. The neighbors/friends and show organizers can go home after the program is over, but the occupants have to live with the results of two days of complete havoc.

 One well-known designer loves the color I call a light, pea soup green. She wears it often and it looks good on her, but again I cringe when I see her incorporating that color into many, many of her room makeovers. That’s HER taste and not necessarily the taste of the homeowners. One has only to view the entire home to get a feel for the owner’s tastes.  It’s too easy to sit down with them and listen to their hopes and dreams for the room and then use their trained talent to accomplish that aim. I am starting to believe that too much program content is aimed at entertainment rather than out of sense of genuinely trying to create a warm, cozy space for the homeowners.  The majority of the shows focus mainly on how happy the contestants are with the end result – how many shows never get aired because homeowners are either dissatisfied or furious at the results? 

What horrifies me is to see furniture being removed from a room to be worked on only to display junk under a bed or sofa, or under a fridge.  I’ve even seen a sweat stained pillow being given a silky new pillow cover. What are the owners thinking? I guess I’m getting selfish in my old age – I don’t want to share my colony of dust bunnies with anyone – least of all to a national TV audience and what is growing and multiplying under my fridge is known only to me and HIM.

 These home decorating shows are becoming a dime a dozen and with each new show the quality of its contents diminishes. Sad isn’t it that the realities of life aren’t as interesting as make believe. I think they are, but then, I’m living in the last century.