
It all began when my older sister told me to watch Love It or List It. She loves the HGTV and DIY channels, and has a long list of shows she regularly follows on them. I thought Iād give the show a chance since Iāve always liked real estate. My Mom and I have moved four times, and each time I loved meeting with the agent to walk through houses for sale. There is just something so cool about going inside different homes, seeing different layouts and designs, judging if you like them or not, what you would change if you lived there. I did already like watching House Hunters for this reason, especially if they were in a nice location, but after finally watching Love It or List It, Iāve become a little too carried away.
My Mom and I watch recorded episodes constantly. Our DVR is filled with it. Because of this show Iāve officially discovered that Iām obsessed with home renovation. The end product never disappoints, and I have a huge grin on my face the whole time Iām watching the reactions of the owners (bonus points if one of them cries, or the husband overuses an adjective like beautiful or stunning). If youāre not familiar with the show, Hilary is a designer that renovates problem areas in the current home, while David is a realtor who looks for upgraded homes. So pretty much this show offers the best of both worlds in real estate. You get to look inside different houses while watching an entire renovation take place (the higher the budget, the better the episode).
But after watching a little too much Love It or List It —Ā and thanks to more of my sisterās prompting — I started to include Property Brothers in my DVR. Now Iām obsessed with that, too. Although Hilaryās work is always impressive, Jonathan Scott (the contractor twin) always has incredible visions and can transform a whole house himself without all the drama of running into problems one after another.
As a result from watching so many episodes of these shows, I think Iām a full blown expert. I have listened to so many discussions regarding all of the design details, I believe I know it all. Once after the bar, I was at my boyfriendās house and we were sitting out on his porch. His house isnāt the most functional for five people, and after pointing this out, I started to see the project through Jonathanās (slightly drunk) eyes.
āIf you took that wall down between the kitchen and the living room, it would create a flowing open concept and give you so much more space. Youād have great sight lines ā it would be so much better for entertaining. You should also update that bathroom, get a wall-to-wall stand up shower rather than the tub you never use. That little hallway between the kitchen and the door to the porch? Just open that up completely ā it would make the kitchen bigger and provide an easier passageway to outside. You could put some beautiful French doors in to allow a lot of natural light.ā I was going on and on. I could just picture how beautiful everything would turn out, just how Hilaryās and Jonathanās projects always do.
āBut of course, youād have to worry about any problems you might run into with an older house like this. Some of those walls may be supporting walls, and putting in beams would be really expensive. And the wood underneath the doorway coming out to the porch is rotting a bit. Could definitely be some extra costs there.ā
He just nodded. āUh, yeah. Well, I donāt think we have the money right now to do that entire renovation.ā
āJust saying! It would definitely make the house worth more when you sell it. And it would function so much better than it does now.ā
My boyfriend wasnāt the only one to hear all of my new knowledge in renovation. I see my best friendās house with new eyes after watching the shows so much. Her father renovated their entire house by himself about seven years ago. I always knew it looked amazing, he really did an outstanding job on his own, but now I know what I am really looking at, the type of work heās really done. Recently when she had some our friends over to drink and hang out, I heard myself actually comment out loud on the impressive āen suiteā he included off the master bedroom, and how well he coordinated the granite counter tops with the backsplash in the kitchen. Apparently I was with the wrong crowd.
In both shows, Iāve become the third wheel, the third person making judgements and chiming in my opinions.
ā$40,000? Theyāre crazy if they expect Hilary to do everything with that budget,ā Iād remark to my Mom while shaking my head along with Hilary. āIf they want the kitchen and bathroom they need at least $80,000. Theyāre being so unrealistic.ā
Iāve begun to make plans for renovating my home with my Mom as well ā even though everything I think we should do would add up to about $200,000 that we donāt exactly have.
I donāt understand my obsession with these shows. Maybe after moving so much, I love the idea of starting over and finding a perfect place to live. However, I would personally be horrible at those jobs, even though they may fascinate me to no end. If only I had vision like Hilary or Jonathan, I would love to remodel and flip homes. But Iād be awful at making any final decisions. I wouldnāt be able to agree on the finishes for cabinets, the tiles, the hardware. I would second guess, regret my decision right after making it, question the color schemes I chose.
āShould I have kept that wall there?ā Iād ask my versions of contractor Eddie or construction head Fergus. āIs a three piece washroom worth the expense of extra plumbing on this floor, or should we focus more on the space for the eat-in kitchen? Crap, I knew I shouldāve gone more neutral with the wall colors.ā