Quit Your Bellyaching Already

I've been watching the HGTV's Bang For Your Buck for the last few months. A designer and a realtor take 3 rooms in homes in one geographic area that have been remodeled for the same amount of money and critique what homeowners have done well and what they would have changed to make the rooms more appealing to potential home buyers in the future. Then they evaluate the rooms to see which buyers, if they were to sell their house today, got the biggest return on their investment, or "bang for their buck." Except they always say "Let's see who got the biggest bang for your buck," which is grammatically incorrect if they're trying to say "Let's see which homeowners got the biggest bang for their buck," but they say it that way to work in the name of the show. Which bugs me.

I'd like to do some remodeling in our kitchen and bathrooms one day, and wouldn't mind turning our kitchen, dining room and living room into a great room area in my if-we-had-a-sudden-influx-of-disposable-income-and-wanted-to-use-it-in-remodeling dreams. So it's been good to watch the show and pick up tips on what brings the highest return on investments and what things are seen as cheap or too owner-specific to be appealing to most people.

For example, things that are positives for kitchens are:

• A pot filler faucet over the stove
• Granite countertops; poured concrete is also considered high-quality and appealing to most
• Spending money on your flooring and not scrimping there, because buyers will notice; also, if you have wood flooring in an adjacent area and want it in the kitchen, make sure it matches, even if it means new flooring in the other area, too
• Adequate counter workspace on both sides of the stove
• Stainless steel appliances
• A classic design style, as opposed to anything trendy or with permanent fixtures that draw too much attention to themselves, like a brightly colored tile backsplash
  

For bathrooms, some things they recommend are:

• Again, no skimping on the flooring
• Make sure you include a roomy tub in a master suite bathroom
• A good-sized shower

In general, they give advice like "don't overimprove for your neighborhood" and "make sure the style of your remodeling fits with the rest of the home." Some of what they say is common sense advice, but it's good to get actual examples of what they're saying, and I like seeing what design choices homeowners have made.

One thing I don't like, however, is how defensive some of them get when their choices are being critiqued. It seems that you should be prepared for some criticism when you agree to be on a show like this. It's rare for someone to make all the right choices in design, and even if the designer and realtor don't care for a particular choice (or several) in a room, if the owners like it and it works for them, great.

Some of the people seem to understand that and say pretty much just that. Others get snippy and extremely defensive, and end up looking like jerks on national TV. I'm sure they're told "Don't hold back, just give us your responses to what you're hearing." But most people have the sense to moderate themselves a little, even if they're upset, when they know they have a camera in their face.

One man got so nasty and rude in his retorts to the video evaluation he was watching that he started mocking how the agent pronounced things with her British accent. I actually deleted that episode because I didn't want to watch any more of him. Most don't go that far, but I can tell that some are getting really uptight about the feedback they're receiving. It always gets me when people expect to just have everything be candy and roses and have praise showered upon them for their brilliant design sense and their obvious perfection.

If you're that much of a baby about constructive criticism, here's a suggestion: don't agree to be on a show where they're going to give you an honest appraisal of what's going to sell and then be upset when they point out things that won't appeal to everyone.