Home envy and pride
hchi...@hotmail.com
up," with couple A selling their old home to couple B who then sold
their old home to couple C. Each couple hated the decorating of the
previous owners, even though those owners had spent a lot of effort
and money making their homes into what they thought were showcases.
I guess that the snarky comments and snide remarks about bad taste
were good television for this era of viewers. However, they were at
the same time juvenile and happened to reinforce my thoughts that
building and decorating a home to impress other people makes as much
sense as gilding a barn. Unless you find a cow that appreciates gold
colored beams, you are wasting your efforts.
IMO, having a home that is comfortable and meets the needs of the
occupants is a much saner approach to decorating than spending money
trying to impress guests that may be in the home for a few hours a
year. Skimping on decorator frou frou can be a good way to save money
and time spent cleaning.
Harry, constantly amazed at how callous people can be in judging
others sensibilities.
Vic Smith
It's just lame from my view. Simple materialism.
If your guests require much more than good food, drink and
conversation, don't invite them over.
--Vic
Lou
<hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ot1no39m1skj50t69...@4ax.com...
Thanks - it's been a whole day since I felt a frisson of irony.
hchi...@hotmail.com
<lpogoda...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Harry, constantly amazed at how callous people can be in judging
>> others sensibilities.
>
>Thanks - it's been a whole day since I felt a frisson of irony.
Good catch!
Lou
> <hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ot1no39m1skj50t69...@4ax.com...
> > The other home show I watched last night was on some couples "moving
> > up," with couple A selling their old home to couple B who then sold
> > their old home to couple C. Each couple hated the decorating of the
> > previous owners, even though those owners had spent a lot of effort
> > and money making their homes into what they thought were showcases.
> >
> > I guess that the snarky comments and snide remarks about bad taste
> > were good television for this era of viewers. However, they were at
> > the same time juvenile and happened to reinforce my thoughts that
> > building and decorating a home to impress other people makes as much
> > sense as gilding a barn. Unless you find a cow that appreciates gold
> > colored beams, you are wasting your efforts.
> >
> > IMO, having a home that is comfortable and meets the needs of the
> > occupants is a much saner approach to decorating than spending money
> > trying to impress guests that may be in the home for a few hours a
> > year. Skimping on decorator frou frou can be a good way to save money
> > and time spent cleaning.
> >
I think I saw the same show - a gay couple moving to a horse farm, and an
unmarried straight couple buying the gay couple's city residence. I thought
both couples more than a little profligate, but all the parties were adults
and as such are presumed competent to handle their finances. Not that the
particular episode matters.
I can certainly understand that some people might not like, might actively
dislike, the decorating choices of others, no matter how much it cost, and
want to redo it. There's a house in my neighborhood I feel that way about -
the original owners did it up in psuedo country/early American/colonial.
They were proud of it, you could see it in their eyes, but to me it was
surpassingly ugly, and if I were to move into such a place, I'd be itching
to change it as soon as possible.
How fortunate when stuff like this are our biggest problems.
Anyway, some of this tendency to spend a lot may be inherent human nature,
though it's hard/impossible to determine how much of our behavior is
hard-wired by biology and how much is due to culture.
But some recent research (
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=7A81E74F-E554-39DF-62E0C6F540A3CDF8 )
seems to show that people enjoy wine more when they think it's more
expensive, and it isn't just lip service - MRI scans show increased activity
in brain pleasure centers.
While generalizations can be risky, it's at least possible that what's true
for wine may be true generally, and as a whole we tend to value expensive
things more than inexpensive things, and our pleasure is enhanced simply
because a thing is expensive. And that could include housing. Fortunate
are those who can indulge this particular quirk.
Seerialmom
Don't you get annoyed sometimes at the realtor or potential buyer walk-
thrus where they're constantly saying this or that is "dated"?
WTH...do you have to update your house every 5 years?? If you do
nothing...eventually the style comes back, right?
I kinda wouldn't mind having a skyblue bathtub, toilet and sink ;)
It'd go well with my avocado kitchen appliances.
KarlMarx_MiddleClass_Ipod_HipHop
> The other home show I watched last night was on some couples "moving
> up," with couple A selling their old home to couple B who then sold
> their old home to couple C.
All these reality shows remind me of the old Saturday Night Live
episode parody called "Real Incredible People". The hosts were in awe
of someone who read books.
Cindy Hamilton
Shoot, I have no idea why buyers are so hung up about decor. For the
most part, it's just paint. So re-paint. It's neither expensive nor
difficult.
When I bought my current home, the living room had cottage-cheese
textured
ceiling with glitter on it. That didn't keep me from seeing that the
house itself
was very nice, on a good-sized lot, convenient to my and my husband's
employers.
I was grateful, though, that nobody had ever painted that textured
ceiling.
Made it pretty easy to wet it down and scrape it off.
We also pulled up the ratty pink carpet to expose the red oak flooring
underneath. Sweet!
Cindy Hamilton