HGTV Spring Thread 2024

Previous thread here

I just started watching Houses with History. The show has a great concept. But the host, Mike Lemieux, seriously grates on me. Going after old houses, highlighting old features and techniques is quite interesting. I'm just not sure I can deal with Lemieux high or just high-on-life delivery. He comes across to me like either being on drugs or a little bit manic. It feels off to me. It would be all fine if the director told him to tone it down. But if this animated delivery is part of the show I might be out soon.

My future ex-husband in some kind of home improvement magazine.......

Oh... I forgot about this new thread. I'm here!

Okay, I just finished watching season 1 of "Restored" (only 40 more seasons to go...) and watched the first episode of season 2. First, I do like the series but I'm not as excited about it as I was with "Houses With Histories". I guess I just don't like the houses and their styles.

Second, it was obvious to me that there had to be a new producer/director for season 2/episode 1 from season one and... whoever that was directed from a homoerotic view. This was the episode where the two men (never referred to as a couple) bought a house together. Well... (and maybe it was the editing) it was testosterone all over the place! Lots of camera butt shots of Brett, Brandon, and others, when they would bend over. Of course, more than usual shots of Brandon ogling eyes towards Brett. I guess every man in the episode had a pierced ear(s) excluding to two stars (B&B). Then the female gender (who normally have short scenes to begin with) had even shorter (to almost non-existent) scenes.

I guess they wanted to try something new?

R4 will have to rewatch!

[quote][R4] will have to rewatch!

Yasss honey, and someone had to say something because even the stencil guy butched up in episode 2 and 3 (I'm on episode 5 now). But those girls were certainly enjoying one another in that episode.

There was one episode in either this very last season or maybe one before it with a handsome husband with grayish hair and I swear, he and Brett were about to tear off each others clothes and flipfuck each other several times. The vibe was just overwhelming. Poor little wife was invisible.

[quote]There was one episode in either this very last season or maybe one before it with a handsome husband with grayish hair and I swear, he and Brett were about to tear off each others clothes and flipfuck each other several times.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for that one! I'm just on season 3 (35 more seasons to go) episode one. This is the one with the lesbian couple... rather two women bought a house together, and the IML demotion crew. I mean... every man of that crew had a handlebar mustache? C'mon now....

Brett was QUITE comfortable with that crew too! So comfortable that I could easily envision him in leather. gear. He became much more interesting to me...

WELP! Back to watching!

[quote]demotion

*demolition

I couldn't resist. An homage to "you know who"...

(Image from: Recycled, Restored, Re-purposed, Reused)

Gurl! Who wakes up in the morning and thinks " if if I dye my hair a very dark unnatural shade of brunette, get a perm and wear matching ashade of lipstick and blouse I will look hot despite my age". Honey that ship sailed with the Lusitania and it didn't return either.

[quote]There was one episode in either this very last season or maybe one before it with a handsome husband with grayish hair and I swear, he and Brett were about to tear off each others clothes and flipfuck each other several times.

YES! I just saw it! Poor wifey was so into her house and agonizing over it that she totally missed the flirtations by her husband (who is VERY handsome!) and the salivaing Brett. Mmph...

But I'm sure this was just the product of editing...

Yeah, that grayish husband......hot as fuck. I usually don't drool over the clients but something about him just did it for me. I'll have to see if I can get a screenshot.

[quote]I usually don't drool over the clients but something about him just did it for me.

HE WAS HOT!!!

Okay, I'm caught up with the Brett series. I'm trying to catch up with the rest of you...

The budgets towards the latter part of the series seemed much more realistic but (and I'm sure it's me) where are people getting $150K-$300K for renovations? I mean... there was one episode where a couple had just bought a house a year ago but then saw the historic house for sale and so they bought that one and gave Brett a $300K budget! My point is that the later seasons and episodes just did not seem relatable for the average person to me.

Towards the end his obsession with the ice box theme became just as bad Jean Stoffer's obsession with the coffee bar. It became tiring.

I was so shocked that so many of these residences had only one bathroom! That's something that is unthinkable to me but then I remembered that 2 or more bathrooms in a standard residence really didn't become a thing until the late 50's.

I fell in love with stenciling and will now incorporate it into my own space.

Overall very good renos but the one that sticks out in my mind was the couple who had lived in their house for 30 years, raised their kids, and for the very first time could invest in their house that they loved. The wife/mother was just so genuinely moved by the transformation of her space (it was like a dream come true) that I even teared up as she cried. It was as if she was seeing a dream come true before she dies. Beautiful. Just beautiful!

R15 I think a lot of these renos are funded with HELOCs and as the average house price and equity's gone up, especially in the last few years, I think some of these larger houses had a lot of equity to borrow from.

But yeah, I think most average homes valued between 100K-300K (if not lower) wouldn't have the capacity to do that.

What were we thinking...

Miami, Florida. Circa 1971.

Here's my Aunt Josephine on her new couch. She had it covered in plastic to protect it. I told her that was ridiculous because people stick to it in the summer when it's hot. She threw a shoe at me.

I'm surprised Aunt Josephine was allowed in the living room.

"Renovation Impossible"

Big hands, big feet... OH, MY!

WHAT A DADDY BEAR!

Not a great shot but....here's the husband from Restored (as mentioned at r13)

touch him, Brett!

^That's him!

(but I'm sure it was just the editing...)

My Lottery Dream Home S15/EP17 - was on tonight - Don't know what these two lesbian sisters (Kathy and Peg) are flying on but there is no property on Lake Mendota worth 5M. This is not Malibu for god's sake. The first property was already on House Hunters a couple of years ago, I believe, and now it's back on the market for a lot less. The property she ended up with was very impressive but I just can't see paying that price to live in Madison. Nice city but how about a place in Milwaukee or Chicago?

And I'd like to know what stock she bought that had an eight figure ROI.

R22 Could it be a Maple Bluff property? (That's the only place I can think of that I know is richy-rich in that area, but I've never been to anything there.)

And, also, too, while we're in the neighborhood of 'My Lottery Dream Home', could I just observe again that David Bromstad is looking and behaving more and more like a buffoon?

I guess he's buffooning all the way to the Bank, but David, you're beyond parody now.

We're often irresponsibly throwing around psychiatric diagnoses, so I'll do it again - I think he has some serious mental issues. And not just because of the festival of tattoos. I'd say what a waste of an attractive man with an attractive body but I would be discounting his bubbly personality.

David Bromstead is Daddy Bear Russell Holmes' favorite designer and show...

Is that supposed to be surprising?

Or a ringing endorsement?

R24 IIRC it was closer to Shorewood Hills.

Okay, the most recent Small Town Potential - the one with the two lesbians - is called Honeymoon House Hunt, I think.

The husband is a short little guy but nice and muscled. An ass that won't quit!

Interesting - Magnolia had on a show with TWO HOMOSEXUALS! "Northwest by Design"

So it's a design firm with two MARY!s running it, and they showed the one guy's husband, as well.

I didn't think Magnolia did the homosex stuff.

They don't own Magnolia outright.

[quote]HBO has gained the Gaineses. Per Variety, Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines's Magnolia Network will now be overseen by HBO. Magnolia, the lifestyle brand home to a bunch of modern-farmhouse aesthetic content (and, okay, some non-Gaines shows too), is jointly owned by the couple and Discovery.

I suspect it might not have been their choice.

[quote] and they showed the one guy's husband, as well.

He married well! But Adam... that cabinetmaker in that episode was HOT! Why wasn't he the one constructing the cabinets I did not catch...

Okay... NO MONEY was mentioned anywhere (as the couple (the wife had a great head of hair) overlooked their tennis courts) and this project was major construction! I did not get a sense of environmental design but more of a sense of interior design. I agree that the house needed space needed more light but wouldn't light color paint accomplish the same thing rather than rip out floors and ceilings and replace with lighter woods that were painted white? I can say that I only really liked the porch construction and the accordion window which really opened the view.

Beautiful scenery. Beautiful views. However, the episode was haphazard and disjointed for me. I'll have to see more episodes.

I'm watching "Mind For Design" now and I've seen this guy so, Brian Patrick Flynn, somewhere else before. I've never seen this show though

Brian Patrick Flynn - He does the HGTV Dream Home shtick. He's a designer and presenter. Interesting looking - probably considered good looking - I'm sure he thinks he's a star - but there is something vaguely creepy about him.

Thanks, R33. I agree with you too that there is just "something" about him that isn't sitting right with me. I don't recall where I've seen him previously but the film career and self-taught blah, blah, is familiar to me.

I don’t understand the financial thesis with shows like Fixer Upper. The buyer has a budget of say $300,000. They find a hovel for $150,000 and then sink another $150,000 into it. So now they own the most expensive house in the neighborhood. How is that good financial planning? Unless everyone else in the neighborhood puts that kind of money into fixing up their homes, they are never going to recoup the money that they put into it.

All I know about Brian Patrick Flynn is that the homes he designs for those HGTV giveaways are atrocious.

However, I tend to believe he's forced to throw literally every fucking thing a sponsor wants to appear in that house, as it's the only thing that explains 17 different tiles and 8 different wallpapers all in the same room, etc.

[quote] But Adam... that cabinetmaker in that episode was HOT! Why wasn't he the one constructing the cabinets I did not catch...

Okay, he was the cabinet maker. Adam DiPaola is the Project Manager...and another "family" member

I dated a guy that looked a lot like Steve Hoedemaker years ago.

He was reserved and shy, until we got to the bedroom and then.....one of the more sizable slabs of sizemeat I've ever experienced!

^Hmm... I'm not ready to commit just yet. I do know that I am NOT impressed by his house, that client's house, nor his design(s). Did anyone else notice that the hallways in his own house were rather narrow? These are not large and/or broad-shouldered guys either. At some points it felt like a hallway on a cruise ship.

I liked the client's house well enough, for being a weirdly constructed McMansion.

But yeah, I kinda liked Steve and husband's kitchen more before than after! LOL

[quote]However, I tend to believe he's forced to throw literally every fucking thing a sponsor wants to appear in that house, as it's the only thing that explains 17 different tiles and 8 different wallpapers all in the same room, etc.

I did learn something new from his show. I had no idea that you could reglaze tiles and tubs a differnt color. Thinking about it, it does make sense but I have never seen and/or heard of anyone doing that before.

[quote]How much does it cost to Reglaze a bathtub a different color? Reglazing is the process of applying a glazing substance that becomes the very top layer of your tub. Your tub is sanded, chips are filled in, and a new surface coating is applied. The cost of bathtub reglazing averages between $280 and $600 for the typical homeowner.

[quote]Is it cheaper to Reglaze tile or replace? For most practical homeowners, ceramic tile resurfacing is really the better option because it costs less and you don't need to demolish the tiled area. In terms of aesthetics, you can revert to the original color of the ceramic or you can change it to a different look or color without ever changing the tiles.

With this Brian Patrick Flynn, I'm not impressed. Not impressed at all. However, that is true with a number of these designers that I have see thus far. I'm missing why a number of people could not do these interior improvements themselves? Just a few subscriptions to some interior magazines for a few years and watching home shows as such, would arm most with good skills and taste to be very creative. I mean... over-the-top excitement about putting wallpaper in a closet? Really?

[quote] why a number of people could not do these interior improvements themselves? Just a few subscriptions to some interior magazines for a few years and watching home shows as such, would arm most with good skills and taste to be very creative.

That sounds like a tall order for the average straight guy (and even for many gays).

HGTV has shown several instances of reglazing a tub or a sink - I think it's relatively inexpensive.

But not as many tile reglazing - I think the gays on Bargain Block did it once.

The lesbians (Small Town Potential) had a cute bearded guy this week, Patrick, who falls into the "does his wife know she married a gay man?"

I’m wondering if the remodeling jobs in the hillbilly towns need permits and inspections. Where I live in the Northeast you can barely do anything to your property without a permit.

^That's actually an interesting question because many of the permits and inspections needed can make a project cost prohibitive. I definitely believe in the inspections but in another thought, this is just a means for revenue generation.

Loved watching Ben and Josh dancing wearing the Chippendales wood bow ties they made for each other on Home Town. And the little kiss? What went on back in their college dorm room? And, yes, Josh is cuter than Erin.

[quote] Loved watching Ben and Josh dancing wearing the Chippendales wood bow ties they made for each other on Home Town. And the little kiss?

WAIT WHAT???

I love Josh. He is the kind of guy that does it for me. One of my types. Those little dudes are often packing nicely and animals in bed!

R48. New episode last night. I swear Ben knows he has a fan club out there.