European Reacts to US Culture Shock: My First American House

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My name is André, and as a European (Portuguese), I always strive to bring a unique perspective to the topics I tackle. All my reaction videos are crafted with a playful and entertaining twist!At least I try... 🌍
✔️ European Reacts to US Culture Shock: My First American House - Reaction For the First Time
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[@spaceshiplewis]

When the fridge doesn't fit, Americans say our kitchen is too small.

[@T25de]

I thought we were talking about the garage fridge at first 😅

[@myowndrum286]

I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason I don't have carpet is that nothing looks better on beautiful shiny hardwood than an area rug to bring out the room. I can change my rugs much easier than changing the carpet.

[@troyshilanski380]

It just makes so much sense.

[@BrainFartTheFirst]

Hardwood floors are also better for people with allergies.

[@kimbulleid]

I agree with you! Nothing prettier then an area rug over hardwood floors.

[@YerpDerp17]

I only have carpet in my bedrooms. The bathroom upstairs and my whole downstairs has no carpet. I do like the carpet in my bedroom though, but I also much prefer hard wood everywhere else. It looks better, and is much easier to keep clean.

[@myowndrum286]

@@YerpDerp17 I get that. Seems to keep the room warmer too, doesn't it? However, what is better than the sparkling lights of the Christmas tree reflecting on the hardwood? One of my fondest childhood memories. Likely one of the reason I like hardwood! Your life is what creates you, isn't it? lol

[@Trifler500]

5:26 - "when a fridge has two doors, we call it an American fridge" Funny that, we Americans call a fridge with two doors a "French Door" fridge.

[@Trifler500]

If you look up "french door", you'll see two wooden doors that open in the middle. That's where the idea came from.

[@boondoggled1]

🤣🤣🤣👍

[@justinbuddy56]

Idk it’s just a fridge to me lol

[@Trifler500]

@@justinbuddy56 If you shop for a fridge, they have set names for each type. They have: - Side-By-Side - French Door - Top Freezer - Bottom Freezer - Freezerless (it's all fridge) - Built-In - Column - Undercounter - Mini-Fridge - Cube - As well as types of freezers like standup, chest, etc.

[@ashleydixon4613]

It would probably blow his mind how many of us have a 2nd refrigerator (or at least a freezer ) in the house as well.

[@mattpoules9225]

A stand alone freezer is usually in the basement, or garage, depending where you have the room for it and you can move it there. My basement has an outdoor sliding glass door to ground level outside, much easier than negotiating a stairway to the basement.

[@ashleydixon4613]

Mine is in the basement as well.

[@JIMBEARRI]

In far Northern areas with lots of snow in the Winter and lots of mud in the Spring, may homes have a "Mud Room" near either the Front or Back door. Th mud room is where you take off your snowy or muddy outdoors boots and put on indoor shoes. There are also racks to hang winter coats. Some will even have sinks where you can wash your hands.

[@pamabernathy8728]

Our kids (eldest son & his lovely wife) have a wonderful mudroom. Room for outdoor shoes, winter boots & jackets. AND SO MUCH COUNTER & CUPBOARD SPACE!

[@VirginiaPeden-Harrington-qd5zu]

Mud rooms are very common in farm country and in mountain villages. They usually include a boot scraper.

[@TangentOmega]

In Houston, where it doesn't snow, and we don't need heavy boots and coats, we'll enter the house through the garage which usually goes into the laundry/utility room.

[@glyakk]

@@TangentOmegaI will confirm this is pretty common in the south at least. I personally still prefer the front door but many people I know is use the garage as the entry.

[@LCx829]

I'm in CA there is no mud room 😂

[@k3w1b3an5]

"This house is so big" . The culture shock because as an American, it's average sized.

[@masterbroadsword3214]

I find it on the small size as I am originally from Ohio and live in PA now.

[@Nishii55]

This house is over 100 years old, that's why it has no carpet , why cover over American chestnut wood floors. Those floors are made of wood from trees that are close to extinct right now.

[@european-reacts]

Oh wow 🤯

[@jeandiatasmith4512]

It's also why the stove and refrigerator don't really fit. By the layout - the stove probably belongs where the fridge is. And there wouldn't have even been a fridge. An icebox may have been kept outside. And with the invention of refrigerators, it may have been kept out in the mud room as well. I lived in a couple of duplexes where the refrigerators were kept in the back stair hallways. Once I got used to opening the backdoor to get it, it just became habit. It was quite nice as the the refrigerator didn't have to work so hard in the winter - and the output helped warm the hallway. And in the summer - all that heat was kept out of the living part of the house.....where we had no A/C. Just relied on cross breezes and a couple of fans.

[@carolynbertram5598]

I'm thinking just about 100 years old... Probably 1920s

[@augiegirl1]

No, I've watched Lawrence’s whole playlist about the house; it was built in the 1940s.

[@tylernorby4939]

@@augiegirl1 The point of the comments is the style is old, rather than the actual construction date. That's the *whooosh* you heard....

[@Ginoulmer]

Lawrence apparently bought a home with all wood floors. There are many of them in the USA

[@garycamara9955]

Most houses have wooden floors.

[@garycamara9955]

They are fans, they distribute the warm air around the room.

[@hellokristi]

I will forever refer to a ceiling fan light fixture as a "helicopter light" because that is a significantly superior term!

[@cherylflam3250]

Helicopter lights ?! That’s funny ! 😂

[@tonilharmon]

Ceiling fans.

[@allthingspaw]

Yes, lots of windows is common.

[@notabot3375]

I built a mud room into my garage that has a restroom/shower, as well as a place for boots, shoes, coats, clean clothes, and laundry hamper and deep sink. If I come home from work one day a month clean enough to go straight inside the house, it's rare.

[@INTPMann1957]

The semi-exterior room is sometimes called a "mud room", and it's more common in northern and mountain climates that get a lot of snow. You won't see them in southern or desert homes. The idea is is that you come in from the cold and shed off the layers of clothing and potentially snowy/muddy boots in the mud room, so that you don't track snow, mud, rock salt (which is spread to melt ice), etc. into the nicer part of the house.

[@tonilharmon]

In the southwest, we have Arizona rooms

[@INTPMann1957]

@@tonilharmon Having only visited briefly (my sister got married in Tucson), I didn't learn about those. They did however have a "swamp cooler", something new to me and totally something that would not work in the South (from where we're from originally).

[@tonilharmon]

@INTPMann1957 I was raised with swamp coolers. I lived on a cattle ranch out in the middle of nowhere. Swamp coolers were how we rolled! An Arizona room is just basically a room used the same as a back porch would be, minus the BBQ grill. That's outside. Usually has a small table and comfy chairs, with large windows all around. It gets much too hot to sit outside. 116° outside will make you miserable. It's also nice to sit out there during monsoon season.

[@jadeh2699]

The back room where you enter and leave your shoes is called a drop zone or mud room. It's for taking off shoes, hanging coats, and putting away gloves, scarfs, etc. A foyer is the front entrance of a house and where you receive guests.

[@cathybrookeburt2616]

Those are not helicopter lights. They are ceiling fans & have 3 speeds. You can get a breeze when it's hot & since they can reverse the direction of the blades for the seasons, (clockwise/counterclockwise) so that in winter, the angle on the blades will force the warm air that rose to the ceiling & push it back down. We sleep with ours running every night, year-round. And people lucky enough to have a 'mud room' often put the laundry there as well. Modern homes usually just call them a laundry room & you often enter the home from the inside of your garage, thru the laundry room, which is always attached to the kitchen. That way you pull your car in, walk thru the laundry room & drop your shoes & then enter the kitchen & into the house.

[@amuseinthecraftroom6257]

Oh no.....I'm calling them helicopter lights from now on.

[@mcm0324]

The refrigerator isn't huge - it's pretty typical in US homes. It's a beautiful home, but it is the size that most middle-income Americans live in. You need to meet his puppy, Arthur! He's not a puppy anymore, but he has so many videos with Arthur in them. He's 'officially' an American, so his dog became the center of his world. We all do that! Our dogs are our world in the US. You were introduced to the American 'mud room'-typical. I'm over 50 and have had a mud room since I was little. It's typical in American homes. The laundry room is there; take off your shoes, and just make Mom happy! We have carpeted floors and hardwood (vinyl) flooring in our homes. It just depends on your preference. We have both depending on the room and its use. If we have hardwood floors, most tend to have area rugs on the floors for warmth, but the hardwood is so much more beautiful. I feel with Lawrence and completely understand the loss of a parent. It is horrible. I can't imagine living continents away. I was with my Mom when she passed. It's horrible.

[@wandapease-gi8yo]

Andre, it has been a bad News day. I am so glad you are posting with your wonderful energy and eagerness to see the US!

[@european-reacts]

Yes. Much love 🙏

[@jolenewitzel7919]

Mud rooms are great. If you live on a farm, or where it snows a lot it is great to leave your wet and muddy shoes there instead of dragging it through the house.

[@YerpDerp17]

Growing up that was where all the adults smoked during the fall and winter instead of going outside. lol But ours was surrounded by windows, and you could open them and basically feel like you're outside without having to mess with the bugs. lol

[@Smileybeeblevrox]

The refrigerator is called a French Door Refrigerator. An American refrigerator usually has one door for refrigerator, another for a freezer compartment.

[@brandonwhybrew3541]

I disagree, most ppl I know have the French door style in the kitchen and a normal side by side fridge freezer in the garage

[@jimonthecoast3234]

​​@@brandonwhybrew3541 you ignore the vast amount of apartments, condos, and smaller sears type craftsman homes. A French door fridge is over a grand. A standard fridge is 1/3 the cost. Most people only own 1 fridge

[@jdb101585]

@@jimonthecoast3234 Not really, we got a French door/bottom freezer drawer (way more efficient) for the same cost as an old-style fridge with top freezer.

[@jimonthecoast3234]

@@jdb101585 for $350-500? Because that is how cheap a standard freezer top, fridge bottom is.

[@sharians-bluesky]

This is an older home. Very nice.

[@Marilla0530]

I couldn’t live without a fireplace - we have full fireplaces in each of our living room, den and master bedroom. You can’t beat sitting by a crackling fire in the winter with a good book and snow falling outside, unless you also have a bowl of posole and some fresh homemade tamales (green chili with cheese or red chili with shredded pork - the REAL kind that we make here in New Mexico). 😁

[@garycamara9955]

Snow? Whats that?

[@SandNSurf]

The USA, and our people, are so amazing……so awesome. 50 beautiful and diverse States. Every morning when I wake up, and each evening before I go to sleep, I thank God that I was so fortunate to be born in our wonderful country. Land of the Free, Because of the Brave. We are blessed beyond measure 🇺🇸❤️🙏 My most sincere condolences to Lawrence and his family. God bless and protect them Always 🙏

[@vidpie]

The "room to leave the shoes" is probably a porch that has been enclosed because of the cold, snowy weather they get up north.

[@joeshmooo5327]

Its called a "mud room" an area to take off your wet shoes, jackets etc.

[@Trifler500]

4:27 - Americans would not change the fridge. They would replace the cabinet to the right of the fridge to make room. Of course, Americans who plan would have measured before buying the fridge, but too late for that now. :)

[@themourningstar338]

Probably the previous owner's doing, since the fridge and stove usually stay with the house. And yeah, the fridge would fit fine if they'd take out that cabinet.

[@carolynhoffman9757]

They are called mud rooms or maybe an inside porch. It’s kind of a junk room, often. Shoes, boots, outside coats and assorted ugly things you don’t want inside the main house. Good place to store garden supplies, tools and things like that

[@yugioht42]

Actually his house was built during the 1940s before WW2. It retains a lot of features from the prewar period. It was modernized over time though so it’s up to code. It’s pretty standard in Chicago to have an older house as the city isn’t really expanding too much. In Florida most homes are built during the 70s or 80s with many built during the 90s. Downtown Orlando even has some very modern houses. The point is Orlando is expanding a lot more than you think and to keep up with the population boom, there has been nonstop building for the last four years. It’s like you see construction everywhere and homes being sold in less than a day on the market. It’s been nuts. I literally got six new neighbors in less than two months. That’s a lot for a neighborhood that rarely has a house for sale. Literally six house went up for sale and they were snapped up quick. Two houses are up for sale in my neighborhood now but they aren’t fully great as they are in the back and were designed differently from the ones in the front.

[@carolynbertram5598]

This might even be built in the 20s or 30s. Some of the details make me think that...

[@mcm0324]

I agree. I have so many similarities with my home that was built in 1944 for the WW2 vets to have homes when they came back from the war.

[@garycamara9955]

The back of what?

[@garycamara9955]

​@@mcm0324they were usually ranch style.

[@yugioht42]

@@garycamara9955 back of the neighborhood.

[@tani29111]

In the desert Southwest we don’t need a vestibule - instead, my house has an enclosed sun room on the back of the house leading outside.

[@norwegianblue2017]

In San Diego we double the square footage of our house by walking into the back yard.

[@tani29111]

@@norwegianblue2017Exactly! Our back yard is like a second living room and we eat most of our meals out there. Good stuff.

[@gkiferonhs]

The unheated room in the house probably began life as a back porch. Eventually the family enclosed it to make it better in bad weather. Adding on or converting space in your house is also very common in American homes.

[@maureenshoevlin8968]

Our first and second florr porches were enclosed long ago. They aren't heated of course sothey make a great added fridge space in the winter and for holidays. They also work as a nice space that seperates the outside cold air from directly entering the house when people ar coming and going.

[@peppernc429]

I have hardwood floors throughout my house, except for the bedrooms.

[@Big_Tex]

11:23 “Captain von Trapp” is an allusion to the movie “The Sound of Music”. The lead male character was von Trapp, played by Christopher Plummer - a pun on needing a plumber to fix the toilet.

[@johnathon007]

10:35 "Helicopter lights" is my new favorite way to describe a ceiling fan.

[@Proudtman]

I grew up with people not caring if themselves or others took their shoes off in their house

[@brandonwhybrew3541]

Same, growing up it felt strange taking shoes off at other ppls houses. But now I have house slides that I wear indoors. Take shoes off in mudroom and slip into my slides

[@Proudtman]

@@brandonwhybrew3541 Unless I'm told to I actually don't think about it

[@sophiefilo16]

Same. You never know how nasty some people's homes are until you're already inside. It also feels rude to just make myself at home as if it's my place. I don't expect other people to take their shoes off either. But many homes have mats inside and/or outside the home for people to wipe their shoes on before entering, so it's never been a problem...

[@patriciab8876]

Never heard of people taking their shoes off in their house until we visited distant cousins who had white carpet! That made sense. Every house I've had I've never asked or expected someone to remove shoes. But now my grown children do - but I don't because I have to wear a significant lift in one shoe and it'd create severe back/leg pain. While silently thumbing my nose (in jest!).

[@LMmccallL57]

The _fans_ in the ceiling are called ceiling fans, not helicopter lights. The fan blades may remind you of helicopter blades, but they're ceiling fans. Mud rooms are found in homes in the South, but no, they're not nearly as popular as in the Midwest or the North. We also have foyers with places for shoes as you enter the front door, and mud porches, which is like a mud room, but with screens, not fully enclosed by walls. Many of us love natural light throughout our homes, so a lot of windows can be a big deal. A lot of people have homes built in the direction of where they'll get the most sunlight in a certain room or many rooms. I love natural light and I also love my long windows that nearly touch the floor. I'm hoping to move in a year or so after I have my grandmother's house remodeled. It was built by my grandfather in 1950, and it was left to the grandchildren. My brothers have really nice homes, and instead of selling our grandparents' house, I can move in and keep it in the family. It'll be a lot of work enlarging rooms and adding new ones, but I know what I want and how I want it. I've priced those long windows and bay windows....sheesh! 😲 They're not giving them away for free, so I have to deal with it. I love carpeting in the bedroom, but I love my hardwood floors and area rugs in the rest of the house. I don't mind it in the formal living room because there's not much traffic in there, but the family room for many homes has the most traffic. I love my walk-in closet, which are twice the size at what Lawrence showed, but his house is quite old, so that's actually a nice size for the time the house was built. Pretty much everyone I know has a "man cave", "she shed", rec room, game room or family room where you'll find a place for hobbies, video games, watching sports, bars and tables for drinks, pool tables, poker tables, and more. My brother and his wife have a suite on the lower level of their home. It's called a mother-in-law suite or guest suite as it's basically another house. There's a huge room for storage, a kitchenette, laundry room, living room, (he has a bar and poker table behind the wrap around sofa) bathroom, two bedrooms and a storm room in case of tornadoes. Upstairs is the main house with pretty much the same things, except for two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a door leading from the family room and one leading from the master bedroom to the back wrap around deck, and then downstairs to the covered patio and big backyard with his boats, RV and other big boy toys. The motorcycle and Mustang sleep in the garage, while his Mercedes, his wife's Land Rover, her second car, his pickup and police pickup sleep in the driveway. The holiday decorations live in the attic. It took me forever to figure out how to find my way around that house.😊

[@kathyhill6409]

Omg, 😂😂😂😂 I thought I was going to die from laughter. "Helicopter lights", my friend, that's called a ceiling fan. 😂😂😂❤

[@kathytiedje4767]

Most "Mud Rooms" were once patios that the owner at some point had a room built onto it. It is common for older homes to be built onto over time. Usually, the patios and porches are first to be built into rooms

[@piperbird7193]

We have quite a large mudroom like this in our house, but I've never seen a carpeted one before. It's so you can come in the house and get your muddy, snow covered boots and shoes off and your soggy coats before going into the actual house. In our mud room we also store the feed bins for the chickens, our food dehydrator, a second fridge, ALL the coats, shoes, scarves, gloves, umbrellas, all that stuff. The batteries for a lot of the power tools are plugged in here as well.

[@tomhalla426]

A very nice 1942 Carpenter style house, very well kept or restored quite well. Mud rooms also act as an airlock to keep the heat in.

[@reindeer7752]

I've had 3 houses built. All of them had hardwood floors except in the bedroom. I later removed the carpet from the bedtooms, too. I have dogs with under coats and/or long hair. The house I live in now is an older home that I have been slowly remodeling. The first thing I did was have the carpet removed (living room, hall, 2 bedrooms).

[@richardmartin9565]

A Mud Room that big is also used for storage. In Japan, there's a much smaller area to remove your shoes.

[@bardsparrow]

Not all homes have foyers, but many do. They are usually in the front of the house. A similar room on the back of the house is called a "mud room". The foyer is not just a place to put your shoes or muddy boots... but also things like coats, umbrellas, baby strollers, school backpacks, bicycles, dog leashes.... that kind of stuff. In a mud room there is often a washing machine and dryer, sometimes a dog door for pets to come in or out, and in very rural places like my home, room to put a snow shovel and a stack of firewood. 😊

[@mtngrl5859]

Yes, mudrooms are quite common in the Mid-West & rural locations. Typically there is a piece of furniture where one can hang heavy coats, umbrellas, & pile shoes up. So, one doesn't bring in muddy or dirty feet through rest of home. Due to the layout of this home, he bought an older home. Typically until the mid-1950's all homes had wood flooring through out. In that era, people would have rich rugs (Persian or Oriental type rugs) that one would have in the rooms. From the 1960's until recent times many homes had wall to wall carpeting with the exception of kitchens & bathrooms. Now the trend with newer homes or remodels, to have some wood floors in key areas (dining room, Kitchen, Living area) and bedrooms have some carpeting. There are different types of sustainable wood now (Bamboo) for those concerned with deforestation.

[@o1badmofo763]

Yes, houses in America have alot of windows. The house purchased looks like it was built in the 1950’s (approximately). many small rooms and a lot of different styles of wood.

[@brandonwhybrew3541]

I was thinking 30s-40s but 50s might be right

[@meemo32086]

You can tell the most by the bad layout of the kitchen.

[@norwegianblue2017]

Having larger windows is part of the building code so that you can exit in case of a fire.

[@scoobysnacks]

Mud rooms were fairly common at the front of the house back in the day, especially on farm houses, so that you could come in from working all day on the farm and leave all of your muddy shoes and clothes in that room so you weren't tracking it all over the house. Modern houses usually have the mud room on the side or rear of the house, adjacent to or part of the laundry room, so that the muddy clothes don't ever have to enter the main part of the house. You just take them off in the mud room and throw them in the washing machine. It's basically a second foyer for a side or rear entrance to the house.

[@wonderwoolies]

Our California home, old Victorian, has both a vestibule in front before entering the main door to the home AND a mudroom in the back of the house. The vestibule serves several purposes. It is for relatively clean shoes and coats. Our vestibule is large with tall windows for three of the walls so it as doubles as a cozy sitting area and place for tropical plants. The vestibule is South facing so with the windows closed and the main door to the house open, it "draws heat" to help warm the house in early spring In summer, we open the many windows of that room and it draws in air to help cool the house (which has no air conditioning). The mudroom in the back of the house, is where you can take off muddy/dirty shoes and even clothes after working outside in the garden or barn. The mudroom has a utility sink as well as a clothes washer and dryer so dirty work clothes can go right into them to be cleaned. In various regions of the U.S., mudrooms serve the purpose of keeping the mud/dirt contained to those rooms so they are not tracked all over the house.

[@ionecuff6323]

I ordered and had carpet & padding installed over my Dad's cement tiled floors, so it would be more comfortable for him to walk on and warmer for him in the winter. A year later, I had it all ripped out and new tile put in. For an entire year we kept having all kinds of respiratory problems, from broncitis to pneumonia. I would have the carpet cleaned and shampooed every month, but nothing helped. My Dad was in his early 90s, so maintaining his health was imperative. I was at the house when the people were there to remove the carpet and padding in preparation of installing the new tile. I was shocked to not only see horrific amounts of fine talc like dirt, but also MOLD!!! Seems the carpet padding never dried out completely and allowed BLACK MOLD to grow. NO WONDER WE HAD SO MANY RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS. I will never ever have carpeting in my home again!!!! As for the mud rooms, those are common to have a bench or seat so when people come in from wet, snow, or muddy conditions, they can take off their boots/shoes, jackets, hats, etc, to leave in the mud room so the mud and water are not tracked into the house. There are usually hooks on the wall for you to hang your wet clothes and hats, and a container to hold your umbrella so it can dry. Saves on a lot of work to keep cleaning the floors in the house. I live in the desert, so we don't have a lot of rain, no snow at all, and no mud rooms. I have decided to take my shoes off at the door and leave them there because in the desert we have lots of stickers, the worst being "Goat Head Stickers" (you can Google Goat Head Sticker and see a picture of it). The stickers actually are shaped and look like a goat's head with long horn and long chin sticking out. They also have a small amount of some sort of venom in them that cause pain for hours after removing them from your foot. You never want to step on one on a hard surface! The stickers stick to the soles of your shoes and will fall off in your house! Oh the pain when you step on one. So, now I leave my outside shoes by the door and wear my inside shoes in the house. I hope I explained this in a way so you can understand.

[@BonnieDuritsky]

The rooms with only carpet are called ‘hardwood floors’

[@lizetteolsen3218]

LOL--that is a period house. Not too big, not too small. A family-sized house located in a mature neighborhood. I am always amazed when people outside the States get excited about our homes. Even the exterior area will likely be larger than most people who live outside the States. The flooring in this house is older hardwood. Gorgeous, really. Area rugs protect it in high traffic areas--and they are really gorgeous. I think he will need to work around that kitchen--possibly extending into the mud room. It looks way too cramped for modern appliances. You are so right about that fridge and the trim. He also will learn how to be handy around the house. They would go broke calling a tradesman every time something needed to be looked at.

[@taramahoney2412]

I am from Illinois. Chicago does have a lot of really nice Brownstones. Lawrence house is really beautiful with the hard wood floors. The whole set up is really nice. The only problem is he is living in Cook County. They have really high taxes. It is a little pricey to live there. Chicago really is a very beautiful city though. Glad to see Lawrence is living out his dreams.

[@gabytheonedd2695]

Here in New England (far northeastern US) mudrooms are fairly common. For one thing we get a variety of weather here. So the room comes in handy to take off your outerwear especially if it's wet/muddy and also for changing your shoes/boots. For example, we get "mud season" when all the snow is melting in the spring. We get quite a snow so when it melts it saturates the soil and there's mud everywhere for weeks. So being able to come in through the mudroom, sit down and change out of your muddy boots into a clean pair of shoes before entering the house is very useful. Many mudrooms have a bench or chair to sit for shoe changing and often there are hooks on the wall to hang up clothes that are either outerwear or wet or muddy. Additionally, it is a common place to store things like the snow shovel, bin of de-icer, roof rake, regular rake, and other items that are good to have handy. These rooms are often unheated but you're not there too long and at least you're out of the wet, snowy, or cold weather while you're cleaning yourself up. In regards to the refrigerator size - many people here in the US stock up when going to the grocery store. Lots of folks live a bit of a drive from a supermarket so it's not really convenient to go frequently. So we get a couple weeks worth of food when we do make the trip. Hence the need for a larger refrigerator. And sometimes people also have a separate freezer unit kept elsewhere in the house such as the basement or garage or somewhere. That way any overflow from the refrigerator as well as things that you don't plan to use for a while can be stored there. The carpet thing - carpet is not as popular as it once was. It was trendy a few decades ago, but not as much these days. Now it's not surprising to find wood floors, often with area rugs put down, in US houses.

[@amyfox9659]

My previous house was built in 1908. It had an entrance of the exterior door and interior door. Then a 6 foot by 5 foot space to inner entance door. And then we had an oak stair case in the official "entry"; on left dining area on right was living area. My modern home does not have that. Front door opens to living room. And our 1908 house didnt have room for a modern kitchen. It was built before refrigerators or one of first with all the interior plumbing, a coal doorway at foundation as the hot water heater was bigger than a normal closet and heated the house by coal heated water using radiators. The hot water heater was added later for indoor bathing with hot water. It had a servants staircase and a butlers pantry. Now single I would not need or afford the older house. I have hard wood and tile floors. I use rugs over most living areas. 😅

[@hollyhagelin2451]

It looks like there is an old, built-in shelf along the wall & they haven’t had time to move it & reposition the fridge, but they needed the fridge for food so just plugged it & and they’ll live with it sticking out a bit until they can sort it out. Usually, especially in older houses in colder regions of the US, there is a small enclosed back/side porch, where boots and muddy shoes are removed before coming in the house. If you come in thru the garage, there’s usually an area in the corner near the door to the house that acts as the same - muddy, wet shoes are left there to dry. Older houses have oak floors - very desirable! Area rugs are used.they haven’t furnished yet, so check & see if they show a later video with furniture!!! Ceiling fans - they go in & out of fashion. I love them! That house is a medium size, older house ( probably built in the 1910/20’s ) the style is called 4 square, because the 4 sides are perfect squares - a big box ( think Ralphie’s house in Christmas Story - VERY typical Midwest house )

[@tammyparsons5656]

Helicopter light?! Um we call them ceiling fans. 😊

[@wendyorr4931]

The Mud Room is actually for boots. Muddy boots, rain boots, snow boots, work boots, muddy shoes and also to hang up your rain coat and winter coat if covered in snow or wet, This way you don't leave water marks on your beautiful hardwood floors or track mud or dirt all over them.

[@janfitzgerald3615]

Oh yes, “mud rooms” are common. It’s a place to change out of your outdoor shoes, they usually have a closet or coat racks and a place to put backpacks, etc. Note that there’s a coat rack mounted on the wall behind Lawrence. It’s common to have lots of windows, especially in newer homes, we like our sunlight 😉. Hardwood floors are usually very popular, but it’s common to use large area rugs to keep echoing down, and keep floors warm.

[@lilsammywasapunkrock]

Mud rooms are really for when you are done wirking outside. They are rwally common on old farm houses. You work 365 on a farm, rain snow or shine. Obviously, you do not want the wet muddy boots inside, but you also do not want to leave them outside in the cold. The mud room will have a place to hang a hat, jacket, and probably coveralls, usually a seat/bench to put on and take off boots, and then you slip on slippers or inside shoe's.

[@BalletMum14]

It looks like Lawrence has a mudroom. It is the room where we keep our muddy shoes and snowy shoes, along with other outdoor stuff. It keeps the rest of the house clean.

[@BlackCatsAndCorgis]

That "mud room" is what I would call a 3-season porch. Also, helicopter lights got me cracking up laughing.

[@Newbobdole]

The ‘deal’ with a separate room to take off your shoes coming into the house is because the soil in Illinois (and other parts of America) has a high clay content & you don’t want to track that into the house This is why Chicago doesn’t have a subway system, but instead has an elevated rail system In the southeast (Georgia etc) there’s an incredibly thick clay/mud called “gumbo” which you absolutely don’t want inside the house

[@sharonlahaye5803]

Yes, there’s often a room, called the mud room, to take off your shoes. Many Americans take off their shoes in this room, hang up their coats, and put on slippers to walk in the house.

[@patwalker5133]

Usually, the Mud Room is for coming inside during rain and snow, so you don't track water and mud onto the floors. Especially those beautiful hard wood floors. There is usually a bench or chair to sit down in while taking off your shoes and boot scraper. Also, a shoe or boot rack so you don't trip over the other shoes while trying to get to the rest of the house.

[@user-vl4fx5wf1q]

Not all houses have a mud room. It's to leave your dirty or muddy shoes or boots. That way you don't drag the dirt through your house ! I live in an apartment , no mud room so we leave our shoes just inside our apartment front door on a mat.

[@davehelms1398]

The 'mud room' is an enclosed rear porch, used as a back entrance to the house, if the house has a detached garage, Typicall fully enclosed, but not heated or cooled, used as a transition from the rear yard into the house. Most likely started as an open porch with balcony above, them enclosed into a room later.

[@revgurley]

"Mud rooms," or rooms/spaces to land when you get home. Usually places to put coats, boots, shoes, scarves, etc. You'll find them more in the northern or mountainous states where you regularly bring clumps of snow/ice/mud on your shoes. In the southern states, unless you're way out in the country somewhere, your shoes don't track in dirt much. We do wipe our feet on a "welcome mat" before going in, though.

[@suepall5425]

Now a days in America, having wood floors are considered more of a luxury than wall to wall carpeting because they are quite expensive to install and then usually there are "oriental" rugs placed in the center beneath the furniture. Not all American homes have so many windows, but it's nice if you can get them. Our current home has lovely huge windows in all of the rooms and the house is bright even on rainy days. It is one of my favorite things about our home. We were career military until we retired and so we've lived in many different homes throughout the years.

[@AlystraKriss]

The room you enter in and put shoes, coats, umbrella, etc. is called the mud room in the Pacific Northwest. It’s nice that you can leave muddy boots and outdoor ware in the mud room so you don’t track mud/dirt into the home. It also is secure from the weather and keeps item centrally located.

[@jenniferbarber126]

The room at the end of the house is called "a closed-in porch". Wood Flooring is very popular in the US Midwest.

[@hankhope178]

No, I do not have a shoe room, or what is more commonly called a mud room. Most Americans that I know do not, though the laundry room frequently serves the purpose when it is the pass-thru from the garage to the rest of the house. That's typical of many homes here in Las Vegas, which are commonly 20-30 years old because there was a big growth boom in the 90s. I do NOT wear shoes in the house and have large shoe racks in the garage. My home isn't large but it has lots of windows and awesome natural light, which was a factor in why I chose it. Every room (including 2 bathrooms) has natural light except the laundry room.

[@wandapease-gi8yo]

First for a change!🎂. I looked at many houses before settling on this one. There had to be an entryway to take off coats and shoes before coming into the main room. It Aldo had to have a fireplace, and I now have two, one in the finished basement and one in the living room. My house has many windows with screens so opening them doesn’t invite Insects and raccoons in. I have a fridge that size, but nothing but cold and freezing cold. No water or ice available out in the door. Less things to break down.

[@maureencoyle666]

That ”room” was not designed for leaning your shoes in. It may well have started life as a porch, then it was enclosed to add a bit more space to the house. With furniture it would likely have storage, a place to hang coats, store boots for winter, etc.

[@persephonebonner5733]

The mud room is where you can take off, or switch, shoes and also hang up overcoats, scarves and such. It is really great when it is snowy or rainy outside, so you can leave your wet coats and shoes (sometimes muddy shoes too if it is raining) in that room and thus you do not bring the wet or mud into the house proper.

[@margiemachado4951]

Love my oak hardwood floors. Originally laid in 1941 and beautifully matched when we remodeled and expanded the house. Shiny, gorgeous hardwood.

[@jillkoop5682]

I really love Laurence's house....very quaint and very traditional. I am so happy he became a citizen...awesome! 😊

[@26shedan]

al ot of homes have mudrooms that are an entry from the garage for storage, coats, shoes ect. Also many have the clothes washer and dryer in the same room. Rarely is it just for shoes.

[@lucaskuczek]

Not a mudroom. This is a Midwest home. Some houses here do have mudrooms. They are always completely indoors, heated, with just enough room for a bench and somewhere to hang a few coats. What he has what is locally called a 3 season porch. It is used as a midpoint between for hanging out not really inside or outside. The screened windows keep the bugs out. It's where you hang out drinking beers or playing games on usually old beat up furniture. I've never seen one with any hvac. Sometimes a ceiling fan. Sometimes no power, but usually. Outside walls arent even insulated. You can open windows for a breeze in the summer, close them when chilly. When it's winter, just a pass through. Nobody is leaving snowy/muddy shoes outside to put them on frozen in the winter.

[@cee8mee]

You don't move your fridge. It's part of the apartment. The fridge was probably in the house when they bought it

[@norwegianblue2017]

We moved our fridge because we bought it less than a year before we sold our house and the new buyer didn't care for it. The house we moved into also had a new, slightly smaller fridge, which we moved into the garage. Nothing more American than having two full sized refrigerators.

[@marybethhennessey5528]

This is a very aged home (I am guessing minimum 50 years) but VERY well preserved. It is great for a starter home (like the host mentions, it's their first home purchase and likely well below the average American home price). The classic features are beautiful - like all wood floors, fireplace, etc and those wood floors would cost a fortune to have installed in a new-build. While many prefer carpet for warmth at least in bedrooms, these floors are a serious upgrade and always highlighted when listing a home. The layout of the home is also fairly old school. U.S. Homes built in the past several decades aren't closed off when you walk in. They tend to be open concept vs the narrow hallway when you enter and clearly defined (walled) spaces. It's a lovely home and I hope the couple was happy in it.

[@risalangdon9883]

Lol. An "American" fridge, with French style doors. This American is very thankful to the ingenuity of the French for developing French style doors and windows. They add tremendous beauty and usefulness.

[@NewEarthBlog]

Tell me if I'm wrong, but I think the evolution to mud room was open porch to enclosed porch to mud room, where you take off all your boots, maybe shoes, coats, hats and maybe store some rifles and shot guns. That's my perspective, having grown up on a farm, with woods around. Many porches also ended up with clothes washer and dryer, so now some mudrooms include them. That's handy to remove muddy clothes and throw them in the washer or hamper before entering the rest of the house.

[@ellinganderson5434]

This is an older house. When it was built refrigerators were smaller. If your house was very old there might be a small door for the iceman to deliver ice for your icebox.

[@SarahBroad-kw7fj]

Yes it’s called a mud room because normally find them out in the country side like on farms they’re used for keeping the clothes you wear in the barn and fields out of the house. Some people even put a dryer and washer in their mud room

[@samneedsanap7802]

We call ours a mud room/laundry room. Washer, dryer, utility sink and cabinet. We leave our shoes out there too.

[@elaniarkady7351]

I think they moved the fridge. We had a tiny mud room when i was a kid and we live near Philadelphia. Now we just have a shoe bench, chair and throw carpet specifically for keeping shoes just inside my apartment door. We got tired of wall to wall carpets because the padding under them has to be changed after so many years because it will disintegrate. So i have wood floors, throw rugs for every room in different sizes. My biggest carpet is an 8ft by 10ft rug.

[@lisabarnum2374]

We call it a breeze way or mud room in my area. It’s a nice stop gap from winter cold getting into the main house or the summer heat/humidity

[@timl8302]

I call it a 'mud room' (muddy clothes & boot/shoes.) in some places. Those are called 'ceiling fans'. It moves cool air around. It is based on similar fans in hot weather countries/islands.

[@carolinelawson9981]

I live in New Mexico and we have neither mud rooms nor basements. We do have lots of fireplaces because it gets cold in the winter and early spring. Many houses have patios with a pergola or a covered patio.

[@MisterGarp]

The little extra end room is called a mud room in many places,. It's where you take off your muddy boots and wet coats and leave them in the mud room.

[@Trifler500]

5:00 - He said "in the previous apartment", so not this fridge.

[@karenjayne24]

Many houses do have hardwook floors, and some people actually put carpet over the wood floors which imo, is a shame. Mudrooms are very common in houses, too. All of my houses had hardwood floors and a mudroom - these are especially common in farming and horse related areas. This house is quite old so there is only 1 bathroom. Newer homes tend to have 1 or 2 full bathrooms - a toilet, sink and bathtub or shower and a half bath which is a toilet and a sink. These are used mostly on first floors so people do not have to run upstairs to use the toilet. It also keeps some privacy as guests do not need to go upstairs to your personal space.

[@neutrino78x]

Euopean Reacts, a "mud room" is for places that get "real winter" that is to say, it snows and gets muddy and stuff, so your shoes are really dirty and you want to be able to isolate mud and stuff from the rest of the building. We don't really have this in California, maybe in the mountains. Our climate in the San Francisco Bay Area is similar to Portugal or Spain. It will get around 45 centigrade for a while in summer and doesn't get nearly as cold as the cold parts of Europe. But for example in Yosemite National Park, which is in an inland part of California and quite a bit higher in elevation, it does snow and get muddy and stuff, so you would benefit from a "mud room".🙂

[@allibrown8960]

The now-famous mud room. In his house, that was a porch, and some previous owner closed it in. In Laura Ingalls Wilder books, it's called a lean-to, whch was a place to take off wet or mudy vlothes and shoes before coming into the house. Much cleaner.

[@user-lg1gj3li9j]

It's a mud room Andre, most houses in the northern areas usually use them to leave their wet coats and snowy footage. In the south we usually have a screened in porch as the entry room. Love to Lorence as well as to you Andre'.

[@clydewilson5907]

The cold room can be a mud room or a sun room or a plant room depending on lighting.

[@DanielleLegacy]

I was so surprised how small and jumbled up the kitchen was. But it looks like an older home, so that was common back in the day.

[@Trifler500]

Mud Rooms were especially common for farmers and other people who would have a lot of mud on their shoes when they came in. People who didn't work at a factory or office. They're mostly a holdover from that. I have to say that's a bigger mud room than I'm used to seeing.

[@piratetv1]

That fridge is called a side by side, there's a similar one called a French door. Where there are 2 fridge doors and a freezer drawer below

[@bulat_shams]

Mud rooms are quite common in Russian village houses too

[@Kimberlynoble]

Many homes, especially older homes, have “mud rooms”. It is a room to come in and leave your shoes, boots, and coats.

[@riverboatqueen51]

We had a room connecting the garage to the house, we called a breezeway. Came in handy during the cold Iowa winter as a refrigerator for holiday meals.

[@deltadaze6836]

I don't know what they call that entry room in the mid-west, but in Maine we called it the Mud Room. it can range in size from a small, enclosed porch to, well, his size. So much time weather-wise is snow and then spring mud season, that to get out of the weather and take off parkas and snow boots and hats and gloves, they all end up in this room to dry up before the next foray out into the elements. it's also a catch-all for sleds, tobaggons, skiis, etc.

[@dacrosber]

It’s the same for us here in the Midwest, we call It a mudroom too