HGTV is a gentrification masterclass 👀 | Internet Analysis

[@tiffanyferg]

welcome back!! I've watched too much HGTV so now we have to talk about it :-)

[@cbpd89]

Home renovation TV is addicting. 🤣 Actually my favorite was a BBC show called Grand Designs that just follows different people doing interesting home build and renovations. Many episodes take years to make because sometimes that's just how long it took to build the places. Every project is unique, except that without exception it costs at least 20% more than expected and usually much longer.

[@AndreaFlores-eb1zv]

​@@laid07 She doesn't exist for you to find pleasure in her looks. Also she's still beautiful, you're just shallow and sexist

[@Cheyscrochetshop]

I've gotten the donated version of bombas socks from the local food bank. They're great socks!

[@ZhaoYun3154]

@tiffanyferg Are you planning on publishing a survey about the topic of public housing in the US?

[@vvotchme1576]

I'm so happy a white woman said because God knows...😂😂😂

[@evilminionnumber2]

It's interesting how "starting from a garage" is supposed to be a sign of bootstrapping it, but increasingly has become a sign of starting off with a bunch of inherited wealth.

[@rebeccat715]

Right? During that part I was thinking "okay, how'd you get the garage? Whose garage is it?"

[@sircharlesmormont9300]

Right? I sure don't have a garage!

[@Grace-ms7un]

You have to have money to have a garage

[@Aster_Risk]

​@@Grace-ms7unOr at least supportive family or friends with a garage who will let you use it.

[@MiaMizuno]

Exactly😂😂😂 Me now, and also my parents grew up in Appartements, where seperate own garages like small houses are NOT a thing 😂

[@fennwenn3317]

I wish flippers focused on ensuring a livable house than aesthetically whitewashing houses. If I'm buying a house, I can handle the aesthetics myself. What I want is with safe wiring, and working amenities, and a bathroom that's actually equipped to handle water. Half the time though, they end up making it worse.

[@saynay333]

The liveability and safety costs too much money and time. It's easier to slap up new doors and tacky IG wallpaper.

[@missdenisebee]

Honestly, “a bathroom that’s actually equipped to handle water” is EXACTLY what we didn’t get in our own cheaply flipped house. We were first time buyers & absolute idiots😭

[@Ella-g2m]

Me reading this while I have a landlord's special paint job chipping off in my bathroom. The joys of renting. I'm sure I'll get blamed and charged for that one. Despite the fact that they fixed nothing before I moved in from the last tenant--they didn't even clean it.

[@kristinbytes9615]

As someone who bought a 1930s cape, it makes me crazy when they complain about spending money to actually fix shit. My house was structurally in great shape but the second thing we did (after cleaning the shit out of it including removing the carpet so old I could tear it with my hands) was rewire everything then insulated. The only esthetic upgrades the first year was to paint every inch of the place that hadn't been painted in decades. And wet sand by hand then poly the wood floors. Next up all new cooper pipes plus a new toilet and vanity. Still have the original tub and tiles, thought. After the exhausting first year, it was small project after small project including new roof one year and a new tree another. It was 10 years before I upgraded the still small kitchen. It's never done but it is solid.

[@maggiemurphy4092]

When i was looking at houses i loved all of them but they all had structural, electrical, water issues that would be way beyond my ability to do safely myself and would cost thousands to have done. I wish these issues are what flipping shows focused on, anyone can take out carpat and put in subway tile.

[@loganthehennemann1]

As someone who lived through almost the entire decade of the 90s, I can say that HGTV used to be awesome. Before flipping houses became all the rage, it had a lot of really enjoyable home improvement programs.

[@crookedclouds]

loooved watching this old house back in the day

[@ChocoBeauty8]

Design on a Dime was my show.

[@kerryharvey6365]

Indeed. And they had a ton of great garden shows back then. There's really no G left anymore.

[@littlelyndseylou]

I never put together when I stopped enjoying HGTV - I grew up watching a lot of it, often as comforting background noise - but, yeah, it was 100% once the focus became flipping that I tuned out.

[@dcrph5302]

And they had great GARDEN programming! HGTV has totally dropped the GARDEN aspect of the channel.

[@juliadandy6019]

The property brother having his magician stuff stolen and filing for bankruptcy is so Arrested Development, I love it

[@sonia7blue]

I thought he was lying. Maybe he didn't pay his storage bill or maybe had it insured, and claimed it was stolen, or maybe it's just a story for the show, because who would steal that? Normally, I would give people the benefit of the doubt, but they seem so sociopathic, so...

[@gh0stcup]

I could definitely see GOB eventually going into real estate but then ending up in a 'Forget-Me-Now' circle and missing a bunch of appointments

[@BeanieKing]

​​​@@gh0stcup Unfortunately, their creative writing well ran dry after Season 3, so I don't see Mitch Hurwitz doing anything that funny, now.

[@cbpd89]

Repeatedly learning and forgetting that the Property Brothers had wanted to be an actor and a magician is the most relatable thing in the universe.

[@cassiec.4723]

Funnily enough, they did get a chance to act. There’s a show my mom is watching on Netflix called Girls 5eva, and the property brothers make an appearance in one of the episodes.

[@junello8354]

@@cassiec.4723and that arc of that season includes the main characters being signed to the Property Brothers’ record label. How’s that for a media empire?!

[@melissashiels7838]

Thumbs up for admitting to repeatedly learning and forgetting fun facts.

[@tiffanyferg]

Hahahaha this is exactly why I’m not as good at trivia as I think I should be

[@Zectifin]

the number of times I tell my partner a fact and then she said that she told me it before already is too damn high.

[@BryonyClaire]

"Anyone is able to flip" is ruining so many homes and i hate HGTV for popularizing it. We're looking for a home right now and so many bad DIY jobs, faux tiles peeling off, a bad fresh coat of paint and new handles poorly applied to kitchens etc instead of addressing the actual foundational issues of the house, the cracks in the exterior and stuff that should've been fixed. One property had a lot of older features which is all good, but in the bathrooms they tried to fix an issue and instead sealed an area that should never have been which made the wall so wet it literally was able to bend, meaning many thousands needs to be spent on fixing it 🤦🏼‍♀️ I'm all for people making their house a home, i love people customizing stuff! But this flipping stuff? 🤢🤢🤢

[@YaleStewartArt]

i feel this so hard. my wife and i went through the same thing when we were looking for a house. i will never in my life take for granted the good fortune we had that family friends ended up offering us their son's old house to purchase. just knowing we were buying a home that had been well taken care of was absolutely huge

[@Ella-g2m]

This is another layer to why homes are too expensive. Because you reach to the insane mortgage and that's only the start of your troubles. Property tax (goes up every year), utilities (nothing in the US is built to be efficient), then you get to the hidden issues like water damage, messed up foundation, and whatever fun DIY projects the last harebrain left for you to find. Houses need to drop in price by 50% to cover these contingencies. The current prices would be reflective of a perfect case scenario where everything was well maintained, but it wasn't. It never is. it's such a massive ripoff it's unbelievable. Even new homes have corner-cutting contractors leaving little presents for you to scream about and pay tens of thousands of dollars to fix in a few years.

[@savanimay]

You just described the house I'm renting. 😂 Slumlords are buying cheap homes and "flipping" them.

[@_meadow_23]

I believe they (HGTV or DIY) had a show exactly like what we're seeing now. I think it was called "First Time Flippers" or something like that, where these regular people are flipping their own houses with small budgets and supplies from their local Home Depot/Lowes. Sometimes, the renovations turned out relatively okay, but most of the time, it was enough to make your contractor father change the channel. I haven't seen the show in forever, but it almost gave 9 year old me a heart attack

[@twineberry]

The previous owners of my house kept “fixing” it with expanding foam. Almost only expanding foam. The house itself is around 100 years old and not in the best condition, but now with the condition being hidden so they could get away with not fixing the house before selling it

[@TangentialTif]

I’m pretty sure Tarek is one of those “self-made” millionaires that forgets that his dad has money that could rescue him if he got in trouble.

[@mglarson5936]

Tarek also was abusive to his wife, including on set in front of the entire crew 🥲 So glad for her that she divorced him

[@Bonserak23]

As a Architecture student I find HGTV hilarious, Basically they just knock out a wall to open the kitchen to the living room and add an island with a farm sink, paint everything white and gray then play it off as a modern masterpiece.

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

Which is hilarious. The all white trend was rooted in a form of minimalism but farmhouses are all white but super cluttered with target stuff. Completely misses the point

[@cpoller]

@@malaquiasalfaro81I would challenge that assumption, not saying I’m right, just saying i have a different view on it. You are right on the all white and minimalism link, but I think Old Farmhouse has traditionally been like that with everything painted one color (maybe often white). Old farmhouses in my experience (family farm in Iowa, 100 year old, and old farm house around me in TX (mostly 60 years oldish, a few 100 i have seen) are typically all painted. The wood cabinets, railing, wood walls, shelving and sometimes floors would just be painted, over and over again through out the years to hide scratches and flaws. They didnt sand and refinish the wood. Painting thick layer over thick layer was much easier so that they could get back to work. And most of the time they just had one color so it all got done in White or Blue or whatever. White is the base color for all paint, so typically white is cheapest and i would bet that was used a bunch, but i am not positive about that.

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

@@cpoller wow that’s very insightful! I’ve never came across this before

[@cpoller]

That is the most cost effective way to change an entire home. I have an architecture degree and have done flips for people. Money and time are king even in commercial and you wont get to do 90% of your cool ideas (unless you get very good at selling your ideas to people!) and doing things basic is what most people really want (especially home buyers) because they have seen it and know it. They dont want different or special, they want comfort/ aka what they have seen before. Basic appeals to buyers and is cost effective, that is why so many do it. The uniquely designed flips i have been a part of take longer to sell to find the right buyer, and most flippers want to sell quick and move on. You will get some clients that are willing to do something different but those are very few.

[@Bonserak23]

@@cpoller Very well, I want the clients that are brave, not concerned with the safe dafult setting route, Bold. Which you are right, won't be 90% of it, I am aware. I will be here when they need me it's a long game. I will sell hot dogs by the sea shore as free as the air out on this beach until the right commission comes along. If that's what it takes that's just what it takes.

[@Sairahiniel92]

I worked on Love It or List It many years ago, post production. Often they'd film the ending both ways (saying they'll "love it" and saying "list it") and then choose later which version was best. A couple episodes the couple had actually already bought another house, and the realtor would take them through it and they'd all pretend like this was the first time they'd seen it. "Reality TV" is about as real as a Marvel movie lol

[@jspihlman]

This is what I've heard about House Hunters too was that in most cases by the time they filmed, the couple had already chosen one of the houses and bought it and they had them view two more homes for the show and act surprised at the home they already own as if they were seeing it for the first time.

[@t.h.8475]

That's just utterly ridiculous.

[@BeanieKing]

​​​@@t.h.8475 At this point, your surprise at the artificiality of reality TV is more surprising.

[@dynamicdanam3644]

Hilary and her team usually do improve the homes though…. right????

[@bella1rules]

My mom and I watch a lot of HGTV, but we usually complain about the end results and how impractical the white sofa is for the family with kids or how hideous mom thinks the new design trend every show is doing is.

[@franziska9260]

my mom learned the dangers of mixing white sofas and kids VERY swiftly. the smallest things will stain

[@jessicalindly2118]

I love watching with my Dad who’s been a house framer and contractor for decades. He’s always pointing out improperly installed doors and how unenthused the contractors on the shows always seem 🤣

[@DioneDion13]

I'm in the market for new living room furniture and it seems couches only come in cream and gray these days 🥲

[@katiemackcomments]

omg yeah they NEVER think about practicality and it makes me so mad

[@jehanson728]

My favorite “luxury” vinyl plank. There is nothing luxury about vinyl!!

[@hueypautonoman]

"I started from zero in this garage." Bro, if you have a garage, you're not at zero. 😂

[@eattherich9215]

It was his mum's garage. However, the humble bragging came across as fake.

[@hueypautonoman]

@@eattherich9215 I figured as much. I guess when I think of having "nothing," I think of people who are orphans living on the street. Even having a parent who has a garage is an advantage over a good portion of the population. I guess I'm just tired of the bootstap narrative that so many of these guys try to feed us. Every successful person has some degree of help, usually from many people.

[@mparstrikesback]

​@@hueypautonomanAnd the "garage" implies other subtextual clues as well. He has a relationship with his parents good enough to use their garage. He likely has support and isn't going hungry or without water or electricity. At a minimum he has enough support to be working on this side project in a dedicated way. I know there's people with more but there's people with a LOT less too. Poverty-washing a middle class life is so gross.

[@Objectified]

@@mparstrikesback Pretending a middle class life can't and often isn't filled with struggle is so gross. Oh, wait, it's not gross, it's just ignorant AF.

[@tallflguy]

It was his mom garage, he actually did started from the bottom.

[@pandas4evr123197]

In my opinion the best shows on HGTV are the ones where they show a couple (who is clearly on their way toward a messy divorce) searching for a home to buy and complaining about literally every single individual detail of the home. I once saw an episode of House Hunters where the woman didn't want to buy a house because the walls were painted red. That was the only reason. And another episode where a man kept complaining about how the windows of every house they looked at made him feel like he was "on display to the whole neighborhood" and the realtor had to keep pointing out that he could literally just buy some curtains and that would fix his problem. That's the kind of quality content they need to be focusing on.

[@thereal_hannahmontana]

Reminds me of an episode I saw where the husband had really bad knees even after bilateral knee replacements so he physically could not use stairs without massive pain, but his wife was dead set on a multilevel house 💀

[@itsjuliescottyay]

Or there is the one where the woman wanted to buy a house that matched a birdhouse she bought on Etsy.

[@bubblegumblue5304]

even worse when you can tell one of the spouses hat the other and they can't agree on anything, or when there is clearly a house that fits all of their needs but they choice the house that neither of them liked.

[@katie7748]

​@@itsjuliescottyay LOL

[@quietstorm483]

You and them seem like very miserable people.

[@moustik31]

Tarek El Moussa was really like, "yes the 2008 crash hurt and traumatised my family financially, ... which is why I still have enough money to profit from it". A real American hero. 🙄

[@tallflguy]

What’s wrong with making a profit from the 08 crash?

[@moustik31]

@@tallflguy Read the sentence again!

[@tallflguy]

@@moustik31 Yep, so what’s wrong with making a profit?

[@jspihlman]

@@tallflguy they aren't saying there is anything wrong with that. They're pointing out that Tarek portrays it as if they lost it all and had to rent a tiny apartment, yet he somehow had money to buy a house in cash and then flip it for a profit.

[@bepreparedforwhatscoming4975]

@@jspihlmandid you want him to be poor, so he could be more relatable instead? He’s in business for a reason. There’s a reason he’s wealthy and most people aren’t..

[@chelseashurmantine8153]

When people say that a crisis is an “opportunity” omg those people have no soul. It just gives me raised hackles

[@obrotherwhereartliam]

It’s always the most “pious” people.

[@Iquey]

Vultures. Nah , thats an insult to vultures. The flippers are more like screwworm maggots.

[@BrianK-zz4fk]

you just described the government 😂

[@yararivera2909]

After hurican maría in PR wealthy gringo investors called the devistating aftermath a realeatsate blessing

[@hotmess9640]

Can’t beat em join em. Where’s your American spirit?

[@Lily-en2uk]

My best friend lived in an apartment that was madeover for an HGTV reno show and it was an unmitigated disaster, like shitty paint jobs, constantly leaky shower and faucets, drafty windows kind of disaster. I had no idea about the lawsuits against these shows, but they 100% don't surprise me. Amazing vid as always!!!

[@chelseashurmantine8153]

Going from a parrot bathroom to white tiles made me 🤢

[@rebeccat715]

It made me so sad! She said she wanted to keep with the Spanish style, but then did subway tiles?? If they absolutely had to remodel, they could have at least stuck to the original style. And done some color (personally, I'd focus on fixing structural issues and letting the new owners worry about cosmetic changes, but that would probably be boring TV)

[@nailguncrouch1017]

​@@rebeccat715 If I remember right every flip looked exactly the same when they were done.

[@MiaMizuno]

​@@rebeccat715 I have a guess, the Subway tiles were 100% the cheapest Option 😂 At some point, they had too much wishes versus budget.... But I agree, they could have LET THE TILES as they were and save money

[@shannon1248]

House Hunters International is always so funny to watch because the real estate agent is always so annoyed with the unrealistic expectations of the people hunting.

[@ST52655]

Because they have unrealistic expectations, probably from watching HGTV

[@MinutoTerrestre]

It’s all fake 😂 I was in one episode as a “local friend helping the main guy find his apartment” and he was already living in the apartment for months at the time and it was given to him by his job. He didn’t even have to “find it”. They found 3 other free apartment to present as options and then he “chose” the one he was already living in. A joke really

[@thecavalieryouth]

@@MinutoTerrestre But then what the hell was the point?! 😭

[@Objectified]

House Hunters is entirely staged. This is a well-documented thing. Even the couples are rarely actually couples.

[@katie7748]

​@@Objectified Yep. Mind-boggling how many people don't know this.

[@finchfry]

"We want some kind of Spanish tiles" they say, whilst replacing the beautiful Mexican style tile mural with hideous plain white subway tiles, completely ignoring any colorfully patterned Spanish tiles along the way

[@anniewlo]

A smaller metaphor for the larger issue of gentrification- literal whitewashing. #Racism in greige.

[@colinneagle4495]

I love the irony of Tarek disparaging book learning in...his own book.

[@Tiffany-cr9bc]

My cousin was on one of these shows. HgTV renovated their living room and they threw a barn door up wrong. The week after they left, the door fell on my baby cousins face and she required a whole facial reconstruction surgery. They did a shit job and it cost my cousin and her husband a lot of money. It was sad for my cousin cause they were scouted outside of homedepot. They didn't apply for HGTV to come and wreck their home.

[@JeddieMPB]

jesus christ did they talk to a lawyer about getting the medical bills paid?

[@Free-g8r]

That's terrible. Hope the baby was able to recover

[@rhyfeddu]

😳

[@fnzypnts]

Jesus.

[@jesekreanne]

I haven't even seen that much of "Flip or Flop". But the amount of times Tarek would admit ON CAMERA that he had cut a corner on construction quality and Christina would have to be like "UM ACTUALLY WE DIDN'T DO THAT" was fucking hilarious. Not to mention the amount of times they called Tarek's dad to front them huge amounts of money when they encountered an unexpected expense.

[@Free-g8r]

As an Arab we do not claim Tarek El Moussa

[@CyberSecurityFashionDesigner]

@@Free-g8rhaha agreed

[@samrisna5890]

I remember an early episode of Flip or Flop where they wanted to get rid of a pool because it would be too expensive to fix. Which would have been fine, but they just kind of tried to fill it by throwing random junk into it, until an inspector came by and had to inform them that what they were doing was both dangerous and very illegal.

[@msdouglas12100]

That's an old trick!!! My grandma and dad did this to one house they lived in during the 60's. To say I was quietly outraged is an understatement.

[@joelewis1776]

The subway tile/ parrot design choice is a great microcosm for why flipping “culture” is problematic. Nowadays, a lot of people make design choices for their home with the direct intention of making it appealing for a future buyer. This is more understandable in the flipping context, but many people buy a house and ultimately end up living in it for years before actually selling. This results in a significant period of your life basically not living in your own “home” but instead an idealized showroom for future strangers, purely for the purpose of money. It’s really strange if you think about it

[@Free-g8r]

If you buy a property you know you'll outgrow. Then it's good to be mindful of the inevitable resale process. If, say, you're redoing a bathroom and paying $15,000. It's prudent to try to at least recoup that money when it comes time to sell. And not go too niche with the design choices. Which can hurt the value but also make your house take longer to sell. However the problem is taking this too far and doing everything as generically as possible. Also this should not be your mentality in a home you think you'll stay in for the rest of your life.

[@laraantipova389]

I gut and redid my main bathroom and I did use subway tile (which I love) but I put in 2 sinks (his and hers) and I knew at the time I would hate it, but it was better for resale. I have lived here since 2010, and wished that that space was just counter space and not a second sink every day

[@valeriebarboza7694]

yes!!! i literally think about this all the time!!!

[@Ocyla]

@@laraantipova389 I also love subway tile and we did it in our bathroom. But we went from 1 sink to 2 and I really don't know how we ever did just one. We did lose a spot for the cat box though and had to work around that.

[@Mady-lo6qb]

I was binge watching Arvin Haddad who critiques mansions - and I have to say that a number of them are exactly that - idealised showrooms that no one actually wants to live in. And why they stay on the market for so long. lol.

[@alyssa6156]

Another show where it seems like they take their time and actually care about the craftsmanship is Rehab Addict! The host is a preservationist and presents herself as more interested in restoring homes to their original glory and less interested in profit. She was always railing against people who paint over wood trim and would try her best to remove the paint if possible. Also, I always admired Mike Holmes' shows (he got a couple of spinoffs, but I think the original show was Holmes Inspection)- in later seasons he definitely leans into his TV personality, but he started his career as an actual contractor. In the show, he goes to the homes of people who have been scammed by other contractors and fixes their renovations. He would regularly go above and beyond what he originally was called in to fix, because often the source of an issue (leaks, mold, etc) would be much bigger than a simple patch job. He seems genuinely invested in helping these homeowners and was committed to "making it right" (his slogan on the show). Don't know if his shows aired on HGTV because he's based in Canada, but I highly recommend watching an episode or two! It's such a contrast to a lot of the flipping shows on HGTV.

[@lenorepaladino8632]

That mansion she did was gorgeous!

[@starsINSPACE]

Mike Holmes used to air on HGTV in the U.S. His old shows' reruns are on his YT channel now called HomefulTV.

[@jrochest4642]

Holmes on Homes was one of the later versions. I love Mike Holmes, and he's some nice understated eye candy too.

[@vortexlex9002]

Nicole Curtis is my FAVE 🥰 also she's been teasing a new show or season on her IG 👀

[@hannah4204]

Ugh I LOVED Nicole so much!!! Literally she has shaped me and my home taste so much. In a similar vein, the people that run the cheapoldhouses Instagram just had a season of a show air on HGTV that was very much in the same ethos as Nicole's show

[@vcutler4735]

Thank you for calling Magnolia a cult!! I lived in Waco during when their show was a thing and they trashed the real estate market there and also made it hard to get around town on the weekends because of the tourists who descended on the Silos area. They didnt build parking or plan for infrastructure so it made it a pain to get to downtown from the univeristy or leave/get home to the apartments in that area. They were also part of the cult church in town lol (the town is run by both that church and also the baptist university).

[@Maialeen]

Bro what is it with Waco and cults😭

[@vcutler4735]

@@Maialeen I dont know but it's like some sort of cult nexus. It's absolutely bonkers when you're not in one of the cults living there just going like "bro y'all are WEIRD"

[@Maialeen]

I can somewhat imagine. It would just give me such an unsettling feeling. Like a perpetual twilight zone vibe.

[@mrggy]

Thank you for this comment! I’m from Austin and I was always so confused by Fixer Upper. I’m not too familiar with Waco, but my image of it was that there wasn’t a huge market for expensive upmarket properties? I thought it had a really high poverty rate. I was always so confused about who was buying these homes. It makes total sense that the show would end up throwing the local real estate market out of whack

[@oliviabrownvlogs204]

@@mrggyi go to baylor and there is definitely a high rate of poverty!! but i think it’s also because i’ve noticed a lot of my friends family permanently moving to waco with them as well as at least the market near the campus is full of rentals and what not…i think another thing is the proximity to all major cities in texas!! it’s like 1 1/2-2 hours from dallas and austin as well as like 2-3 hours from san antonio and houston!! its very easy to also travel or any of those cities and still live in a smaller city with a good amount of things to do on its own!! i think it is also the faith aspect because a lot of people are called to serve in different areas and so ive seen a lot of people move to waco for a whatever period of time due to their faith. not sure if that helps idk too much about real estate and i’m not a wacoan so idk comparatively how much has changed but yeah!!

[@chrryblssmz]

my favourite British home renovation show is "sort your life out" where basically a team of experts (on cleaning, organisation, building work etc.) and they help a family declutter their home and make the house up for them. it's such a wholesome and sweet show as it is mainly helping low income families, single parents, people who struggle with hoarding etc. and the host Stacey Solomon is the sweetest angel ♡

[@rhyfeddu]

Thanks for the rec 👍🏼

[@Objectified]

There are/have been several similar shows in the U.S.

[@comfyduckpeter]

Kind of like Tidying Up With Marie Kondo

[@isaacizacc]

The best part of that show is that they literally take out everything first, they put it all in a warehouse in sections based on rooms and who's stuff it is and the family sort it. So much easier to make decisions away from the actual home sometimes

[@elinat2414]

This is such a classic example of a hyper capitalist business model 1. Create a percieved problem - make people feel that their perfectly servicable interiors are unacceptable. 2. Sell solution. 3. Profit. I have no issues providing nifty solutions for actual needs or issues. I love my diswasher and cordless vacuum. But man, when something totally normal like a lived-in house is framed as a problem. It really gets to me.

[@celinepa8246]

Even more so if the "unacceptable interior" has once been chosen by the owner themself persumably based on their personal taste.

[@callist1990]

Here on KZbin, there’s a channel called The Second Empire Strikes Back who has been restoring an older house for 100+ episodes (and isn’t done yet!) - as someone who grew tired of both the lack of ethics in flipping and the greige sameness of every single home flipped, it’s really nice seeing the years-long restoration born of love and respect. The guy who runs it learns techniques and researches a whole lot during, which is really refreshing.

[@mdipeace]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm not familiar with that channel. We bought an older home that was trashed. It's going to be at least 100+ episodes before we're done. It takes time and skill acquisition to do it right. Weekend flips are not a thing.

[@olive6858]

i also have vivid memories of chip and joanna getting divorced!!!!! and no one knows what im talking about!! you are literally the first person i've heard of sharing this experience. i have such vivid memories of hearing that they got divorced a few years ago and being so sad bc they were the focus of my old HGTV obsession with my mom, but apparently they've never even been separated?? like i swear i remember hearing about them shading each other in the press too, it was crazy!!! im so glad im not alone!

[@toyaJM]

I believe that they did and the church they belong to had them work things out and take a break from their show. I think they had lawyers scrub it from the internet.

[@sassycatenthusiast]

I never even watched HGTV or their show and I *swear* they divorced as well! Like I vividly remember it getting super bitter too 👀

[@JMF1109]

There was DEFINITELY buzz on the internet about their marriage being in trouble! I have a clear memory of seeing crap on Facebook about it.

[@_TinyHyeju_]

No ur right cuz I remember seeing those magazines/tabloid papers at the supermarket one day AND IT WAS A BIG HEADLINE ON IT! Me and my mom even talked about it together too so I definitely remember news reporting on this

[@YaleStewartArt]

i, too, will throw my hat in the ring saying i recall hearing that back in the day

[@vcutler4735]

Also thank you for pointing out how lame it was that they didnt go for the colorful parrot tiles because that two toned colorful tile is like SUCH a SoCal thing, its a charm point! So much better than bleh grey linoleum and white subway tile.

[@bloomnights]

Watching these shows being from a lower middle class (and sometimes broke) living in a small mining city in South America and having no context was absolutely bizarre. The money amount, the sizes of these houses, etc, was so impossible to imagine for me, these shows felt like a fever dream.

[@katie7748]

I'm from a major metropolitan area of the Upper Midwest, and grew up below, at, and just above the poverty level despite living in a nice neighborhood and in fairly decent-sized house.....and yeah...same here.

[@llamasugar5478]

Same here. I grew up in Midwest USA in what is now called a “tiny house.” I’m actually horrified by the excess of, well, everything about these shows.

[@lllSASlll]

This is why i still watch This Old House. Wholesome, practical, realistic, educational.

[@bobbert1945]

I used to play the drinking game "This Old Souse." It didn't work with Norm, because he never ever made mistakes.

[@nintando]

another internet analysis?? what have we done to deserve such a gift

[@warrenhenning8064]

Home renovations let you immerse yourself in a vicarious fantasy of upward socioeconomic mobility. Everyone on the shows has $150,000 in cash ready to spend, and they are ready to 2x that by investing it into a home that makes them incredibly happy. The contractors show up on time (which is often not what happens in real life), the materials used are wonderful (but still in budget), the work quality is apparently great, the show ends happily every time. The family is stronger at the end, more prosperous, and definitely happier than before. You get to critique their choices and think about what you would have done in their place, experiencing the renovation process vicariously through them even if you're one late paycheck from being on the streets the way millions of people are. They are like conventional murder mysteries where the social fabric of the community is torn but is always mended by the conclusion of each episode. It is no coincidence that home renovation and murder mystery shows are what I watch when I don't want to think about difficult things and I just want to relax.

[@NormaLeeIWood]

Wow, that murder mystery analogy really spoke to me. Knowing people whose real lives were touched by murders, I've seen the in-your-face reality that murders tend to reflect (and then worsen) pre-existing tears in the community, and when the mending happens, it usually takes many years, if not generations. Not that I dislike all murder mysteries (or renovation shows), but that fictional aspect of quick and consistent success and closure is really there in both genres.

[@discocycle]

Wow this is a very interesting analogy

[@csr7080]

That's why I prefer the UK's "Grand Designs". The couple bites off more than they can chew, the weather plays havoc, everything is delayed, they're now living in a caravan next to the building site, the money is running out, oh and she's pregnant with their third kid - all while the presenter is often very critical of their ability to pull it off despite often liking the idea. Still, more often than not there's a happy end, and the most important part: the houses coming out of this are the opposite of the bland run-of-the-mill designs you see everywhere else.

[@Objectified]

@@csr7080 Yes, we have shows like that here as well. You can also find everyday people doing them on social media.

[@feliciaw.9248]

That was a fantastic analogy! Thanks for the epiphany.

[@dunnejos8423]

I loved watching Rehab Addict, It really felt like the opposite of a lot of HGTV shows. Their goal is to restore historical homes and sell them at market value instead of ridiculously inflated prices. I especially loved the episodes where they were restoring Victorian houses and tried to keep every inch of character possible.

[@BeanieKing]

Yeah, that show was great, but Nicole Curtis did maintain the nasty habit of crapping on the previous tenants whenever she came across a design choice she didn't like - which I always found gross.

[@kelcilewis]

I live in Wetumpka, Alabama, where HGTV had their “Home Town Takeover” last year. Let me just say, once all the hype of the newly revitalized downtown area died down, everything went to shit. One of the main businesses that got a makeover aren’t even in business anymore and the community just isn’t coming together to support downtown businesses like they once were. It just sucks and was a total fail in my opinion.

[@Emelia39]

Thanks for commenting because I was wondering about this after seeing the show. They seemed to be giving really bad business advice. In the one in Colorado I stopped watching because they did a makeover for a cafe in a very clearly low income town and a HGTV cooking show host came to help with the menu, but all she did was teach them how to make rosemary chocolate chip scones and then left.

[@BeanieKing]

​@@Emelia39hahaha 🤣🤣🤣

[@BeanieKing]

Reminds me of Bar Rescue, in particular this one episode where the host of the show told this owner in Chicago that he needed a Chicago-style hot dog to make his place stand out more, a food staple you could pick up on street, from any vendor in the city. Maybe your story and this one aren't really all that similar but I just wanted an excuse to shit on shitty TV.

[@tracinha6935]

If I have to see one more barn door on a bathroom I will lose my mind. It is NOT a good door for that room!

[@BeanieKing]

I use a curtain!

[@DaftnPunk]

I am from and raised in Detroit, Michigan which is famous for some of their run down neighborhoods. People criticize how bad these neighborhoods are but do not realized that most of these bad properties are owned by a few people who are purposely not fixing them to buy up the areas. It’s all strategic and my worry as someone who knows the neighborhood is that they want to tear the place down and gentrify the areas, pushing out people who have lived there for ages. Property tax will go up and people won’t be able to afford their homes and then get kicked out and the cycle continues. Not to mention, when you do try to rebuild your house in these areas or try to make progress on them, some companies don’t go out to these places because they don’t think it’s very safe. Which is kinda right. But it’s unfortunate because you want to make sure you have a livable and good looking home but you can’t get people to come out to do that so that cycle continues. It’s literally a damned if you do damned if I don’t

[@vf1923]

There are patches of actual downtown Toronto that are like this, as well. I'm not sure who owns these sites but often people are sitting on literally burned-down or otherwise unliveable property in order (I presume) to wait to get enough contiguous property to build a condo or at least a block of some kind, because that's where the real money is. So there's gaping holes in a line of active shops or houses because people can't wait to knock everything down and build a 40-floor stack of tiny, grey, cardboard boxes that nobody will want to live in long-term.

[@starventure]

Detroit used to have a phenomenon every Halloween called "Devil's night", where gangs of teenagers(usually black) would go to various neighborhoods and commit arson. This tradition got so bad that after a neighborhood suffered blight, no one would rebuild the damaged homes. This explains why when you look at Detroit from the air, you see large tracts of land in the city proper that have gone back to nature. The stigma that resulted from this and other fun-filled incidents over the years has become so bad that attracting development to the city is almost impossible.

[@Ocyla]

@@starventure Well yeah, no one want to live in that mess. People want to live in nice places, places get nice, nice is costly. Nothing new under the sun. Halloween use to be pretty brutal though if you hear my dad tell the story (we're white). According to him it was "I will ruin your home, if you don't give me a treat". Eggs, tping, soap on the windows, etc. Not quite arson, but sounded like domestic terrorism if you hear him tell it. Chicagoland area.

[@ukirichuful]

You know what flipping show I’d watch? One where they’re on a strict budget and have to sell the house at an affordable price (but everything built to code, no shoddy craftsmanship etc). You have to get more creative when there’s more limitations, and that’s so much more interesting to watch than a kitchen with white subway tile, and that gray wood, and essentially making the same house over and over again.

[@alexaburks]

The best home renovation show I’ve watched is Restored. Mostly because he truly embraces the historical architecture, the original builder’s intention, design and blueprints. The results are gorgeous in every way and it really is about RESTORING the beauty that is already there, not just renovating to make it look all the same modern style. It’s so so so good and I really recommend it.

[@ms_913]

In Canada, one of these TV personalities built a housing development called "Holmes Approved Homes" and the work was so bad that brand new houses were condemned and bulldozed.

[@mfitzburger5137]

Ah, Holmes. Truly the Doug Ford of the HGTV extended universe.

[@fnzypnts]

Holy hell.

[@heysaras]

I used to watch a shows and thought they were so good but what happened to him?! How did he let that happen? I can’t just license your name and good results.

[@madisimonne]

I lived in Waco & worked at Magnolia Market as a cashier and the blatant gentrification in the area was actually insane to watch in real time from when I first came to Baylor University in 2018 and left in 2021 I’m so excited to watch this and see your takes about this May I add now I’ve gotten to this part of the video: the amount of people that would still ask about the Branch Davidians as I checked them out was overwhelming LMAO

[@charlottethomas779]

I'm an urban planning student in Canada and gentrification is such a deeply ingrained topic when we discuss the present and future of our cities. It's insanely difficult to discuss because there always has to be an awareness of the classist and discriminatory nature of any "improvement" project. It really all boils back down into our capitalist system and the formation and encouragement of a society that views housing as an investment instead of a consumable good. Leslie Kern writes a lot of literature on this topic and has a book called "Gentrification is Inevitable: and other lies" if anyone is interested in the topic!

[@Inky1313Starlight]

Just seeing the Flip or Flop people's faces still fills me with irritation. When I had cable I hate watched that show probably more than I should have- even now, when I haven't seen it in years, a commercial with Kristina came on while my dad and I were watching tv and my dad made a comment "yeah, your mom hates this lady- I have no idea who she is but apparently she used to be on an HGTV show?" and I realized who it was and I immediately just like "UGH, okay so she and her then-husband who has the personality of a dead fish had a home flipping show and mom and I were actively rooting for them to fail."

[@genericsomething]

I remember watching that show wondering how some people could be so insensitive, while having such bad taste. I also remember that scene where they're talking about the credit cards. I also remember them very briefly mentioning something about a loan from one of their parents in an episode. They're not as self-made as they let on.

[@blairnicollet4861]

HGTV has ruined the design business. Made everyone have unrealistic expectations in terms of timelines and budgets. I spend half of my day explaining how the process works I’m real life.

[@emcatz]

Yep. I’ve also had someone walk by one of my commercial interior design projects and start unsolicitedly bashing it, to then say “I know a lot about design, I watch a lot of HGTV.” Okay girly well I also know a lot about design because I *went to school and got a degree in it*…

[@arodriguez2007]

I don't watch HGTV anymore. People are so concerned about the environment, but are ok with tearing down fully functional kitchens/homes to follow the latest trend. So wasteful.

[@kitty_s23456]

I always cringe when they destroy cabinets which are still useful just because they want the house to be more "modern and stylish". Another pet peeve - painting over bricks!

[@elenakalliste]

I also think the reason why HGTV has perhaps stayed so successful with these very surface level shows is that it’s safe background TV of family TV. My mom keeps HGTV on for hours a day on mute just to have something to look at occasionally, but according to the cable company she’s watching 8 or 10 shows a day.

[@ShannonMakes]

My whole channel is about slowly and sustainably restoring an old Victorian duplex that was about to be torn down, and the number of people that complain about how slow it's going is WILD. We're doing this ourselves, on our own dime, and trying to restore and salvage rather than tear down original features and slap some drywall over it.... and yet some viewers (HGTV fans, perhaps) seem to expect that we'll be tackling a new room every week. Umm, sorry to break it to you, but that's not how real timelines work. There are no minions waiting off screen to jump in and help us, or runners to go get everything we need from the hardware store! (not to mention it was originally constructed as a duplex, converted into a single family home somewhere in the past few decades, and we're turning it back into a duplex in a city that has a marked rental housing shortage, and the # of people who complained or insisted that we keep the entire, GIANT duplex for ourselves (two adults, one tiny dog, no kids) was so surprising to me. What on Earth would I do with all this house? I'm restoring it to the way it used to be, remaining true to it's history AND helping to ease the rental shortage even in the tiniest extent... why is this a bad thing? 😭😭

[@ariwl1]

They've definitely been watching these HGTV shows and never actually had to experience it themselves. Last year we discovered my mother's fridge was leaking water and caused a ton of damage. Had to remove a lot of cabinets and completely dry out the area, then fix a ruined wall and then replace the cabinets and flooring. We could do almost none of the work ourselves. The problem was discovered in July and things didn't get back to normal until NOVEMBER. And that's not counting a cracked counter top that is functional but will likely need to be fixed whenever she decides to sell the home. And her kitchen isn't big either. I can walk across the widest point in two large steps.

[@cassiec.4723]

One show on HGTV I have a soft spot for is Hometown. The couple live in the town they do the renovations for, and genuinely seem to keep the house’s og charm. They also have taken on projects for the community, creating community spaces!

[@garfieldiloveyou]

i love watching Hometown with my mom!!!

[@rhyfeddu]

Ditto. They're trying to encourage people to stay and keep the lifeblood in their town and salvage their beautiful, often historic homes. Really enjoy Erin and Ben's personalities too

[@williamsemily94]

The best ❤

[@abuck2119]

Side note about your sponsors, I work in social services and our local shower truck provides Bombas to the people who utilize it. It made me smile that you get to work for them! A genuinely good company doing genuinely good work.

[@yamihoole]

I remember enjoying HGTV a lot back in the 90s when it was more focused on interior design than real estate & reno. They even had actual gardening shows on. I loved Room by Room, Room for Change, and Design on a Dime

[@chenoda]

🌟✨I used to love HGTV back in the Candice Olson's Divine Design, and Design On A Dime (with Lee, Summer, and Charles) days. There was also a show where the hosts would just come in and rearrange the homeowner's already existing furniture, taking pieces from different parts of the house to bring into whatever room they were rearranging, to show the homeowner the design potential of their furniture, it was brilliant! There was another show where different experts came in (depending on where in the US, or Canada they were that week) and just helped people better organize and utilize the space in their small apartments and houses. I loved those days of HGTV.""✨🌟

[@justinamoniz]

I think another challenge to HGTV currently is the number of KZbin channels dedicated to home renovation or makeovers. I think they feel a lot more realistic, with many focusing on apartment living.

[@jannecapelle_art]

im very embarrassed to admit it took me almost a minute to figure out that those were not real windows behind you. oh my god.

[@Anna-dd4rh]

If it makes you feel better, I didn’t notice until I read this comment 🤷

[@_bibi_s]

my god did it take me long. only when i saw her shadow in it. i was wondering why was the background so dark...

[@melanino]

Oh man the show The Curse is the best satire of HGTV

[@ninblau2095]

yeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss

[@csr7080]

Just watched the trailer, I have to see this. "My homes are reflecting the local community" while showing a fully mirror-finished glass cube house 😂

[@marymillette6595]

I remember at one point there was a HGTV show about restoring old Chicago homes and I always liked that one. The host would point out a unique architectural feature of traditional Chicago homes and focus on the best way to renovate without removing those unique features.

[@faeriesmak]

I remember that one! I also liked that one. They tried to save as many of the original features as they could.

[@marymillette6595]

@@faeriesmak a rare gem amongst the HGTV reno-trash

[@faeriesmak]

@@marymillette6595 I loved that one. It made me feel less bad about having a bunch of interesting features and outdated, imperfect things in our 1883 farmhouse.

[@ophelia3401]

Fun things about Bombas. My child is in residential care and I love it when he comes home wearing Bombas. They really do donate.

[@clowncage]

4:39 - As someone who lives in Waco & has for YEARS, I firmly believe that Chip and Jo heavily contributed to the Air B&B / Flipping culture around here. Downtown Waco is/has been getting gentrified. While I'm thankful that our cultural scene is getting stronger, with more things to do and different varieties of cuisine + local small businesses getting attention, it still causes a lot of problems. We have a lot of tourists that come in to visit Magnolia market which gummed up traffic for a while (particularly when combined with Baylor games) so our main highway near Baylor's stadium got expanded during/before the pandemic to add more lanes and it wasn't finished for a long time so there were just these massive piles of dirt everywhere. Large parts of downtown are also a concrete landscape of tons of parking lots. (And nowhere except downtown is even remotely walkable either). It's just...It's a mess and Chip/Jo are kind of the posterchild of the mess. No local I know actually likes them or their $8 cupcakes.

[@starventure]

You can critique Chip and Jo, but the fact is they saved Waco from its past. Were it not for them, Waco would still be mocked as Wacko, the place where the crazy cult got cooked.

[@gogreen7794]

​@@starventureI will always think of Waco as "Wacko." It's just now the home of Chip and Joanna and their passel of kids because two aren't enough to show off how "Christian" and wholesome they are. Who raised those kids while the parents were out building an empire?

[@oldkingspook]

My grandparents' house got sold to flippers and it breaks my heart to think about all that history for my family completely erased for someone's sad beige get rich quick scheme.

[@zekopas]

ur videos make my days easier. i struggle with depression and moved cities for college 9 months ago and since then ive been much worse than usual. when u upload internet analysis, i listen to it while doing everyday tasks like cleaning or other chores and life becomes easier for a few moments :) edit: one more thing, i think its so cool that ure gonna be a mom! hope pregnancy is going okay.

[@tiffanyferg]

sending you love!! 💛💛💛

[@zetmarple]

i get it. i also had a very hard time after moving cities for college, so much so that in the end i went back to my home city and switched colleges. and actually my life got a lot better and i dont regret it at all! starting college in a far away city is soo much harder and lonelier than youd expect. but i hope things get easier for you soon!

[@zekopas]

@@zetmarple yeah! people makw it seem like such a casual thing but moving out rips ur life apart in a way its good to kniw that im not alone, im glad u made a good decision for yourself :)

[@tiniestmonkey]

movimg away from home can definitely be pretty lonely. I hope you can meet some people around you that make you feel supported and dont be too afraid to reach out to people you know even if they are far away. most people are kind and want to help. wishing you well ❤

[@zekopas]

@@tiniestmonkey youre very kind thank you for the well wishes! thankfully, my gurlfriend is in the same city as me and she supports me when i need it. i do get lonely, as my best friends stayed home, but things are better with her around :)

[@sarbearr4]

As someone who forgets things easily, you really do learn something new every day…. Whether it sticks is a completely different story.

[@dismurrart6648]

I had a neighbor buy a house and because of she scope of work, feared he was a flipper. Plot twist! Hes a public defender who bought a house that was borderline condemned and is a really nice guy.

[@toyaJM]

When I was in third grade I had subscriptions to This Old Home, Better Home & Gardens, and HGTV magazines because I loved home renovation. As an adult when I finally got cable I loved watching home reno shows but I quickly realized the amount of waste, the staging, and the just in general how bad many of these shows actually were.

[@RosaHernandez-uw2ul]

Okay, I'm glad I wasn't the only child really into This Old Home. I used to watch it every weekend lol

[@toyaJM]

@@RosaHernandez-uw2uloh after my cartoon binge and doing chores I watched Tom and Kevin for hours on this Old Home. I really appreciate my mom allowing my indulgences 😂 I can’t fix a thing but when something is broken I usually know about what issue and my design eye I think is pretty great lol

[@faeriesmak]

@@RosaHernandez-uw2ulI am older and This Old House was my jam as a kid in the 80s! Bob Villa was the best!

[@msdouglas12100]

Oh man I loved Bob villa on this old house!

[@bklyn12]

Me too! I also watched Hometime as a kid. It's what started it all for me 😂

[@MadocLarkin]

I think I started my HGTV watching with Flip or Flop, but over time I got tired of Tarek and Christina's sensibilities and bickering. Not surprised to learn Tarek has gotten asuperiority complex from his TV show empire. The one show I do still appreciate is Bargain Block, which takes place in Detroit and has a big focus on dilapidated and "land banked" homes, and often the finished homes get bought by locals who are excited to see reinvestment in their communities. It definitely feels a little more real than the shows where everything is outsourced to contractor teams that get reduced to timeframes in the finished product. Hearing about how all those "opportunities" for Flip or Flop came about, I don't think I can ever watch that show again.

[@lavenderdblasio1578]

1) as a non-american its really interesting to see flipping trends enter global south markets 2) I wonder what the next "farmhouse" trend will be 3) Tarek being married to heather from selling sunset always makes me laugh

[@TheHavnmonkey]

I have always found it bewildering that making a $50-100k profit from flipping a home is so normalized in the US. Like, Its difficult for me to understand the justification for OVERCHARGING by that much money for a home. This is one of the several reasons why home prices are so exorbitantly expensive. If it cost you $30k to renovate a house, you shouldn't desire to sell it for an extra $50k above that cost.

[@ashleyd4563]

I like Rehab Addict, she also appreciates the cool details of historic houses. And she’s always on the frontline of the renovations.

[@TaylorMackenz1e]

oh my GOD the Hearth & Hand stuff being perpetually in 2016 makes soooo much sense now, I thought it was Targets own chronic-millennial thing 😭

[@DeborahThornburg]

Bargain block is pretty good. Its where they upgrade houses that are falling apart in detroit and the guys are super talented

[@WaffleSalad]

I’m so happy you included the crazy vid of the new wife and old wife looking exactly the same🥴

[@sayan9566]

Wow how crazy I’m from south OC as well and we lost our home during 2008 … it’s truly sad because that house is now worth 3x the amount and I miss it so dearly

[@lydschnid61]

My favorite show is Restored - which is a show about a man named Brett in CA who helps families restore their historic homes. He doesn't call it a renovation, but a restoration, where they look into local history documents to learn what the home was like and try to help it return to its original version using historically accurate materials - but also improving usability, for example in the kitchen, with modern elements. He also focuses on finding items for the home like lights, tiles, lamps etc. at salvage stores which I think is super cool!

[@wolfwise1135]

Just spent a bunch of money fixing the horrible DIY bathroom flip in our new home. One bathroom down, 3 more things to fix.

[@AY-ze1fp]

As a born, raised, and residing Orange Countian(?), I am always floored whenever I travel for work/leisure, come back, and realize how callous many people are in Orange County. I was speaking to a neighbor who informed me that Edison and the Water District should raise their prices so people would consume less. I asked her if she'd use less water then. She said: "no, but then other people wouldn't use so much water" and then I answered "well--that's probably because they literally cannot" It's going to be that way with our carbon credits too. A class of people hell bent on not doing their part while people are forced to do more than their fare share. Same in economics with taxation, groceries, etc.

[@megahnw]

HGTV is truly a guilty pleasure

[@darkninjafirefox]

Property brothers, also known as, the show they played in my therapist's waiting area

[@faeriesmak]

…and my kids psych waiting room

[@oliviabrownvlogs204]

and my moms hormone doctor office!! not sure what her title actually was but she used to get these injections for something i forgot what and i would go with her when i was little and that was always on!! i was there for the snacks in her waiting room area but watched the show since not much else was there 😹😹

[@ST52655]

😂 yep

[@clarkwhite998]

@@oliviabrownvlogs204 endocrinologist?

[@Danicalip8]

Favorite show ever…Restored. It’s so amazing! He goes and restores homes to their original glory just like the Houses with History show does. They are my favorite type of shows. So full of history and care to restore these historic homes. I can’t watch any other renovation show now because of Restored. It’s just not the same and generic compared to what he does. I believe it used to be on DIY Network but I just stream the episodes and I believe it was picked up by Magnola Network.

[@AthalieM]

Restored is my favorite too! I was hoping someone would mention it in the comments. Brett doesn't just have charisma but actual knowledge and clear care for regional architecture and community history. I love how every episode includes archival research to learn more about the house and the design style. I think another thing that distinguishes it from many of these hgtv reno shows is that many of the homeowners have lived in the house years, sometimes decades. These are their HOMES, not just houses that represent a profit or 'investment' opportunity.

[@JessTalkingBooks]

Oh! Is that the cowboy guy from California? I loved his show. It was so informative.

[@thepityscene]

yesss my mum and i love restored!

[@TH0KH]

My friend was on Holmes Family Rescue and he had a good experience with it. But. They cut the cat out for being too fat. Showed the built in litter box area they made but never mentioned the poor kitty. they also did get to keep the movie theatre projector/popcorn maker cart, but they gave the popcorn cart away because it was TOO good and they were starting to look like their cat 😂

[@NODE1975]

😂😂😂

[@carolinebarckert495]

One show I really like is Home Town. They seem to really care about their clients and don't rush their renos. My bf and I bought a house a few years ago and I think a lot of our issues with it is bc of the diy aspect of some of these shows lol

[@TheSapphireSprit]

It’s so relatable that you have learned, forgotten and relearned and reforgotten about the Property Brothers.

[@allisarcadia]

"What is the appeal of HGTV?" I get to sit in my living room with my equally judgmental bestie as we critique and boo out all the lifeless beige decor before hopping on Sims 4 and designing actually interesting houses.

[@ariwl1]

I don't play the The Sims but if I did I strongly suspect I'd do nothing but quirky dream homes.

[@caseyw.6550]

Is this a green screen background? I genuinely can't tell. 😅

[@larissa-hemr]

would like to know as well

[@giorgiafletcher9546]

i think it is, the far left of the screen has like wrinkles in the window frames

[@erinkinsella91]

I would also like to know, pretty sure the lighting looks off, she's well lit but the shadows are kinda dark behind her....but is that a dog behind her??

[@hpvamp246]

Definitely is green screen, lighting doesn’t match foreground and background

[@caseyw.6550]

@hpvamp246 ok thanks! I knew it didn't look quite right...the trees never moved. Lol

[@loriegabidel]

God, I miss 90s HGTV. There was such a large variety of programming, and different styles were represented. Plus, you could actually learn something.

[@imanimosley]

my mom & i have been watching HGTV since the 90s and i’m from Raleigh, NC which is now the home of many HGTV shows, mainly Love It or List It. when I was doing my PhD at Duke, i met many people who worked for the show or were consulted for it (including my interior designer cousin) but couldn’t say outright due to NDAs but it was all very clear. HGTV has even had a few of their Dream Home sweepstakes in Raleigh a few times. if you’re aware of the Triangle, it’s gone through a huge boom since the 2010s, especially in the last five years due to Apple and Microsoft announcing hubs in the area and it has led to intense gentrification of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and surrounding cities and towns and you can see HGTV’s effect EVERYWHERE. the network saw the writing on the wall when they set up shop here & it’s been miserable

[@lauramathews3151]

I like the Two Chicks and a Hammer ladies on Good Bones in Indiana. Bc the houses they usually pick would otherwise be torn down, they're reinvesting in neighborhoods whose property values are being dragged down, and the Home Town in Mississippi which are trying to revive their community, and the homes are often mid century builds, or at least 45 yo.

[@danid.9962]

It's been a while since I watched Houses with History, but I remember liking it--with the unique details of the interesting qualities relating to the history of the homes and architecture (Bricks that were used during the time based on stampings and how thick the floor planks could be via British Crown)--making some of the other HGTV shows feel soulless. While watching, I remember wishing that instead of the 25 gut job, reno shows to create the same version of the house, there could be more like that as they seemed to take so much care into the house and community history around them.

[@danid.9962]

I remember watching some shows, maybe the Windy City one, and a family member mentioned the horrible quality of some of the HGTV as she thought it might have been that one, and I thought no way as it seemed to have so much thought and care... We ended up looking it up, and while I don't remember anything about Windy City Rehab, the plethora of complaints about other shows was eye opening

[@amymorketter2954]

i like rehab addict and bargain block - where they actually do help the community

[@kimberlylopez3230]

I really used to love HGTV when it was about decorating on a budget or making your rental seem more like home. Most of my 20s & 30s were taken up by making my small shitty apartment seem cozy because I was able to decorate it with the tips I got from HGTV. My favorite shows were Decorating Cents - they would decorate with a $500 budget, Tresure Makers - they would make decor items with things found in hardware stores or thrift shops (I still have a trough reindeer for Christmas that I made), and design on a dime - decorating with a budget of $1000.00. Come to think of it, now I watch KZbin videos that are like that, I guess that’s why I don't watch HGTV anymore. I've always hated the "flipper" shows or the "major reno" shows, because, if you didn't own your home, it was worthless, and even if you did own your home, if you didn't have the massive budget to renovate it, it was also worthless and made it seem unachievable to make the home you lived in be beautiful.

[@mothmansuperfan7513]

I miss the days when HGTV was Groundbreakers and Curb Appeal. Back when the most important thing in the world is to have at least 1 water feature in the backyard

[@aburns1999]

The show that turned me off from HGTV was House Hunters Renovation. They always wanted to gut the kitchen, and while sometimes I agreed, other times I didn't understand why they would want to go further into debt for a functional kitchen. Then there was always the arbitrary timeline and in the end it was always 'renovated' to look as spicy as a vanilla wafer. This gave the young adults of today this misperception that they needed everything done at once versus living in the house for a while and saving up CASH for renovations. I pretty much quit after watching it one night and thinking that if they pick white subway tiles one more time, I'm done. Sure enough, they turned a 70's kitchen into a boring IKEA kitchen and lost all the charm of the house. Boring.

[@NODE1975]

Right. They also don't truly give themselves time to understand how they'll function in the house or how they want the space of the home to work for them

[@rebeccajesse4604]

Just want to point out, white rodents are incredibly rare in the wild. That rodent showed in the Flip or Flop clip was most likely a pet store rodent that was purchased/used for that clip.

[@FirstnameLastname-uc7rb]

I seriously miss the garden part of HGTV. The whole house flipping stuff is such a pain in the ass. I lived it in 17 different homes as a kid. I swear my parents should have been on a TV show because they could not live in a house they completely gutted. As an adult I appreciate the skills I learned like flooring and drywall. But honestly I have absolutely no ambition to live that life again. Nope I’m one of those extreme Gardner types.

[@Anna-dd4rh]

Highly recommend Your Garden Made Perfect! British show with tons of great gardening tips and insane builds

[@kaylingonzalez9309]

when i was in the process of buying my home i saw SO MANY renovations/bad flip projects

[@von186]

i used to love watching room by room as a kid lmao. my gma would only let me watch things like HGTV and TLC when i was young, so i spent many many hours watching 90's HGTV. i miss the old HGTV

[@carleytrillow]

“I’ll let you guess” is iconic

[@ItBeThatWaySometimes]

This shade of minty green is very pretty on you! ❤hope you and baby are feeling great

[@bumblefriend]

someone i know worked/works for HGTV. noted some unsurprising racist bits about their choice of hosts (shocker). also definitely not building homes to last - instead building them on a due date. example i remember was the 'final walkthrough' has toilets that aren't connected, lights not properly wired, etc. very much profit-driven. and allegedly, the property brothers Just Are Like That.

[@courtneylynn7998]

I have such a love hate relationship with HGTV. If you ever want to get really down and dirty with a particularly awful production I suggestive Renovation Island where a truly awful couple work to renovate an island resort in the Caribbeans. Some truly spectacularly awkward tv when they interact with locals. I’ve been wanting a KZbinr to cover it for forever