She hated it!

A disgruntled homeowner tells what she *really* thought of her experience on TS.

From the March 30th episode: the purple fireplace, with the sitting area above it, in Las Vegas? Remember?

Clearly, anyone who invites Paige Page and any of these Interior Design school dropouts into their homes, where they live!, gets what they deserve.

If you ain't got Vern, you got trouble.

http://discovery.infopop.net/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=6941912904&f=6801993295&m=4701985926

It's me, Samm, the homeowner.

To clear things up...despite our positive reactions on camera, Kenny and I HATED the room! The reveal is just so overwhelming and we're just nice people at heart, so I guess our true reactions didn't come out! Needless to say, we've just about finished re-redoing the room.

From a design standpoint, we didn't understand most of Gen's decisions in our room. The room is open to the rest of our house, and she really needed to take that into consideration when choosing her color palette. As many of you posted, the colors in our home are warm; she chose a very cold grey and purples. Regardless of whether we liked the purple or not (we did NOT), it simply did not work with the rest of the house.

Amy Wynn's wood work was great; it's the only element of the room which still exists (after a few alterations). We definitely wanted that TV cubby enclosed...but why was it stained so dark? The rest of the wood in the adjoining room is a warm oak, and clearly visible from Gen's room. The two openings (one for the fireplace, one for the TV) were of completely different sizes and the TV door was on a hinge that only opened half way. If we had changed the hinge, the door would have swung into the hallway and hung into the walkway by about a foot and a half. The opening they created was also only about a third of the size of the cubby itself, and simply not planned out well at all.

The slipcovers on the couches (which I had previously reupholstered myself) were the disgusting, store-bought, elastic-bunched-up-arm things you find at K-Mart. On top of that, they weren't even put on well...they were sloppy and loose.

The "treatment" of the pot shelves...I don't know what to say. Plastic wheat grass (right into the garbage) and poorly painted terra cotta pots (likewise, garbage)? How many years of school did Gen go through to come up with that? I know some of you liked them, but the hanging grape lights were actually made of plastic beads and were dwarfed by the scale of the room (you're welcome to dig through our...you guessed it, garbage).

Another note about the lights..the grape lights and the little uplights on the pot shelves actually ended in a jumble of cords just out of sight of the cameras. The outlet they plugged into? Oh, it was around the corner in the bathroom. But really, the door only had to be left open 1 or 2 inches, so I guess that wasn't reallt THAT big a deal.

The arrangement of the couches looked alright on camera, but didn't work in reality. The sofa and loveseat were at right angles to each other, but their arms were overlapping to fit into the room (a pet peave of mine). Even with this attempt at accomodation, the loveseat still hung off the inlaid carpet and jutted out onto the tile floor on one corner.

The piece of furniture with the drawers which Gen put beneath the wall of photocopies (by the way, my degree is in fine art with an emphasis on PHOTOGRAPHY) was actually the bottom half of our CD cabinet. The top half of the cabinet, which stands about 12" tall, was on the floor in the corner between the couch and the loveseat. Its unfinished back faced into our dining area...a lovely touch!

The stained glass windows...also a failed attempt. The idea itself wasn't all that bad, but the techniques was poorly executed. The paint in the diamonds was splotchy and uneven, and those three square windows happen to be the only windows in our home through which our neighbors can see us.

Overall, we had a blast doing the show with Vern. He is truly a great designer and loves what he does. He takes pride in his work, and really is the consumate perfectionist you see on TV.

In contrast, I think that above all else, we were disappointed by the lack of professionalism we saw in Gen's room. Aside from our opinion of the room, so much of what she did was done halfway, poorly planned, and just...bad.

Sorry, Gen. I really think you missed the mark on this one.

• RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,Loree, 07:45 PM, 04-07-03
  • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,toddE, 11:23 AM, 04-22-03
    • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,Survivorerist, 06:32 PM, 04-26-03
      • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,Bebo, 08:51 AM, 04-28-03
• RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,AZ_Leo, 10:39 AM, 04-28-03
• RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,msherow, 02:01 PM, 05-19-03
  • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,carencey, 10:57 PM, 05-19-03
    • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,Coconut, 10:32 AM, 05-20-03
    • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,Bebo, 11:07 AM, 05-20-03
      • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,AZ_Leo, 11:51 AM, 05-20-03
    • I *heart* Vern too,mtopaz, 07:31 PM, 06-05-03
• RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,Mon Cherie, 03:43 AM, 05-20-03
• Hildi never sticks around for the reveals,AZ_Leo, 11:47 AM, 05-28-03
• RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,cqvenus, 04:04 PM, 06-03-03
  • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,AZ_Leo, 06:10 PM, 06-03-03
    • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,cqvenus, 08:53 AM, 06-04-03
  • RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,cornjob, 12:18 PM, 06-19-03
• RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,SaphireLady, 00:52 AM, 06-04-03
• RE: Trading Spaces:When Homeowners Strike Back,cornjob, 01:17 PM, 06-19-03

I would never let these people in my house. The show is fun to watch for a laugh. But the work always looks rather cheap. You can pick up ideas to try with nicer wood or more expensive stuff. But they only have a small budget and it shows. I always think that if we could see the paint jobs, etc. up close we would think 'tacky tacky'. But on TV they can hide alot with camera angles.

The woman quoted here wasn't really very positive during the reveal, either. She was clearly disappointed. Too bad for her, says I. What was she expecting?
Of course the low budget shows. The furniture limitations on a $1000 budget are laughable, considering that any half-decent sofa alone costs at least that much.

>>>The furniture limitations on a $1000 budget are laughable, considering that any half-decent sofa alone costs at least that much.<<<

They do a lot of the shopping at Salvation Army and other used furniture stores, and do a lot of reupholstering though, no?

(Another IceCat original )

do a lot of reupholstering

Yup, and I've been grossed out by a lot of the fabrics chosen.

Bebo says...919 beats 205 - I am your American Idol and the Baroness of Babedom.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of happy vs unhappy homeowners by designer. I would guess there is a wide gap between the percentage of happy people who had Vern do their room as opposed to the percentage of happy people who had Hildi (assuming there were any).

I'm surprised this show is still on the air. I have yet to see an episode whereby the outcome is good.

Trading Spaces is the worst decorating show on TV. That's why it's not on HGTV. Decorating Cents has a budget of only $500 per episode and they do a much better job.

The only trading spaces designer who would ever be allowed in the door of my house is Vern.

The only trading spaces designer who would ever be allowed in the door of my house is Vern.

Yes, indeed. 100% with you.

Fashioned by the sentient gray hands of IceCat

Yup. Every time I see a room I like, it turns out to be a Vern one. I haven't seen any of his that have made me turn my nose up and gag.

Bebo says...919 beats 205 - I am your American Idol and the Baroness of Babedom.

He did have one failure early on. It used a twin bed for a sofa (and looked it).

LAST EDITED ON 06-05-03 AT 07:32 PM (EST)

Vern does some wonderful makeovers - did you see what he did in Andy (actor guy)'s kitchen - it looked incredible when he was through. By contrast, Gen did a really dismal job on the other homeowner's office and you could tell she was seriously disappointed. I like most of the makeovers by the southern lady - she usually has really nice fabrics and nothing too extreme.

Mmmm Topaz