In the past year we have:

-Shared 52 posts on how to design and style your home

-Welcomed over 180,000 visitors from 77 countries

-Participated in two House Beautiful magazine’s One Room Challenges

-Helped over 30 families design their spaces, virtually online

-Been nominated as Best New Blog by Domino Magazine

All this in just a year! Whew. To be honest, I always wanted to start a blog but put it off because I thought my writing wasn’t so great and I tend to cuss a bit. Well, my writing still isn’t the best and I may throw in an f word every now and then, but here we are. Thanks for sticking with me! It’s our birthday!

I thought we’d revisit our most popular post of the year. 7 Ways HGTV Is Lying To You. Enjoy!

HGTV lie to us? No way!

I’m certainly not anti-HGTV, but honestly, they create problems for us on a daily basis! Remodeling a home doesn’t take a week, although I wish it did. How does HGTV deceive you?? Let me count the ways.

1 Trends Are Your Friend

Ship lap walls and sliding barn doors are certainly fun, but do you REALLY want them in your house? Like forever? Like forever-ever?  Trends are fun and look great in print, but you might not feel the same way about a sliding barn door in 10 years. The person who buys your home (whenever that is) might not either. My suggestion is have fun with trends via inexpensive, temporary pieces like pillows or artwork. If you love the Farmhouse look that’s hot right now, maybe freshen up your home with a few farmhouse accessories. When you go to sell your house, it won’t scream 2016.

Barn doors are super cool, but will they be dated when you go to sell your house? source

Do you really need this? source

2 Granite Is King

People on HGTV love granite. They say it every 5 minutes. If a home on house Hunters doesn’t have granite, well it’s obviously not the choice. Granite is great, but there are so many more options! Other natural materials like marble and soapstone are AMAZING and look great in a home. Much more solid in color, they distract less than granite. Other solid surfaces like quartz (under various names) hold up well and offer a wide variety of colors that granite just can’t. Although HGTV wants to shove granite down our throats, I say resist! Look around and see what other options there are and you might be surprised.

Isn’t this marble nice? source

Soapstone looks amazing! Bonus, your neighbor doesn’t have it. source

Soapstone for the win! source

3 Renovations Are Quick and Easy

I can’t tell you how many times this belief causes issues. I wish remodels were like a week long, I really do! Sadly, they’re not. If you want something professionally done, not only does it take time, you might even have to wait to get on the list of projects. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s the truth. Remodels (or any home project, really) are labor intensive and messy. They just are. My suggestion is ask for an estimated timeline from your contractor, see if it works for you and then hold them to it.

This didn’t take a week. Project by Evans Construction & Design

This didn’t either. source

More than a week, too. source

4 Everyone Wants An Open Floor Plan

Big, expansive areas with super large rooms that open into one another is what HGTV assumes everyone wants. It’s definitely what’s popular here, in Florida and many markets around the country. They look great and are perfect for entertaining but they have a few drawbacks to them. Not having a quiet area (besides your bedroom) to sit and read a magazine or scroll through Pinterest may come back to bite you when the volume level rises in the evening. Having your Kitchen completely open to your Family Room requires a certain level of cleanliness you may not want. Not to mention, there’s the noise from the sink or dishwasher while your watching your favorite show a few feet away. I love open floor plans and they’re certainly not going anywhere, but there are more options available. A Den/Living Room/Study with doors might be your new best friend.

This is beautiful, but you might want a little quiet time at some point. source

Look, a Kitchen with a door! Before you say no, consider the possibilities. source

5 $1,000 Will Prep Your Home For Resale

You can’t do much for $1,000, there, I said it. Really getting your home ready for resale, for top dollar, requires you to look at the space with a fresh eye. Pretend you don’t live there and see what needs attention. New paint throughout? Trim paint? Landscaping touchup? Actual (costly) repairs of plumbing, electrical, etc? It adds up and takes time. I know HGTV has told us otherwise, but it does.

Not a $1,000 prep for sale. source

6 Open Shelving In Kitchens Is Practical

Open shelving looks great, like amazing, really. Stacked up white plates and bowls on a wood beam with a beautiful backdrop really is picturesque. The bad news is that grease and dust want to join the party! No matter how clean your house is, how often you dust, cooking and living create grease and dust that has to go somewhere. Wiping down counters is easy, but pulling down a stack of bowls to individually wipe them down is time consuming. Most people end up using the same few (top) plates and bowls over and over. The ones underneath just collect. If you have your heart set on open shelving in the Kitchen, my suggestion is to keep it small and locate the area away from the cooktop.

This isn’t going to end well. source

Keeping open shelving away from the stovetop gives you a fighting chance. source

7 Product Placement? Where?

This one is pretty obvious, but it has to be said. That wood flooring looks great and the designer/host probably does really like it, but the company is paying big bucks to have it on the show. Same with the appliances. Same with the car parked in the driveway. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Just keep it in mind when looking for something for yourself.

I love this floor, but just know the company paid to have it here. source

Subtle! source

Well, what do you think? I’d love to hear your comment below!