I’ll go first: One of the things I find incredibly irritating about HGTV shows like House Hunters is when the potential homebuyers comment on the ugly paint color in a room—as if they can’t just repaint it! But when it comes to the network’s many home renovation shows, viewers have an even longer list of grievances that they’re airing out in a new Reddit thread. They say some kitchen choices are a “maintenance nightmare” while an open floor plan is like living “in an airplane hangar.” Read on for the top seven most annoying trends.
RELATED: HGTV Fans Are Fed Up: “I Miss When They Actually Showed How to Decorate.”
1. Open kitchen shelving
Open shelving in the kitchen lends a place to display cookbooks, fancy glassware, decorative plates, and more. But HGTV fans thinks it’s completely impractical.
“Open shelving in kitchen (dust? Clutter?),” wrote one Redditor. “I [have] stuff stacked on top of my kitchen cabinets and when I take it down it’s covered in greasy dust,” agreed another, as an example.
2. Kitchen island sinks and stoves
Many Reddit commenters dislike kitchen islands in general, but even those who don’t mind them, do take issue when they include a sink or a stove.
“Sinks in the island drive me crazy. The sink should be under a window,” asserted one HGTV fan.
“What sink has no soaps, sponges, scrubbers, wet or dirty dishes around it? Who wants dish water splashing on your pancakes while you’re eating at your breakfast bar?” exclaimed another.
Moving on, yet another commenter said, “I hate stoves in islands. Stoves get hot and a lot of the time there is steam or sauce that can splash out. Cooking is messy. I just find it so impractical.”
“There is a reason backsplashes exist,” agreed someone else.
The creator of the Reddit thread made a good point: “The massive cooktop on the island doesn’t have any ventilation, no hood in sight. (Downdraft systems look nice but only pretend to work.).”
RELATED: HGTV Viewers Blast “Absolutely Disgusting” Behavior on “House Hunters.”
3. Banquettes built into islands
Speaking of kitchen islands… HGTV viewers also strongly dislike “the newish trend of a banquette built into the back of the island, so that those seated are facing away from the kitchen.”
Someone else commented that if said island has a sink, those sitting at the banquette could very well get splashed.
For the same reasons, the Redditors also take issue with the “attached lower ‘table island’ thing.” One said, “I hate the lower table island, and the two tier islands are so awful.”
4. Porous kitchen counter and backsplash materials
If you’re going to cook in your kitchen (which we assume you are!), you’re going to accumulate a decent amount of grease and grime that needs to be wiped down—which is exactly why HGTV fans take issue with some of the porous materials being used on counters and backsplashes.
“Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of porous surfaces as backsplashes, mostly the stone type stuff and it’s terrible. Anyone who would even consider putting that in a kitchen or thinks it’s ok obviously never cooks or cleans,” wrote one person.
“These people must never bake. Rolling out dough and kneading flour on anything but a smooth slick surface is a nightmare,” someone said in response.
A third person agreed their pet peeve is “backsplashes made from stone that isn’t easily wiped down (limestone, brick, etc), especially behind the range.”
“Stone backsplash……imagine spaghetti sauce splashing just once. It would never get clean,” yet someone else chimed in.
“Butcher block counters can pretty, but a maintenance nightmare,” said a Redditor in reference to another popular material used on HGTV shows.
5. Open-concept showers
The hotel trend of open-concept showers (read: those without walls/doors) is not sitting right with these HGTV fans.
“Water splashes all over the floor! The room is cold! Why?!” complained one Redditor.
“Yessss. It had never occurred to me how impractical they are until we stayed in an Airbnb on a trip that had one,” agreed someone else. “It was awful! I was freezing! And no amount of making the water hotter helped.”
RELATED: HGTV Fans React to Tarek and Christina’s New Show: “The Most Real Thing I’ve Seen.”
6. Completely open floor plans
An open floor plan is definitely one of those love-it-or-hate home features but for HGTV fans, it seems they’re in the latter camp.
“This open floor plan looks awesome and big, but there’s something special about having dedicated separated sections for different rooms, instead of having kitchen, dining, living all in one ‘room,'” shared one Redditor.
“Completely open concept all the time is not a fun environment for most people. It’s much better (and more interesting) to have a home with structure and life,” agreed another.
Yet another commenter took an even more serious stance: “Have an eat in kitchen if you want to talk while your cooking. The cook should be focusing on their (sometimes dangerous) task at hand.”
Finally, someone quipped, “You might as well live in an airplane hangar.”
7. Gray “wood” floors
LVP (luxury vinyl plank) is a lot cheaper than real hardwood floors, but HGTV fans still think it’s a big faux pas.
“While no one wants 5 different flooring options through a space, please give me a tiled kitchen and bath. Enough with the LVP everywhere! Hardwoods and tile 4Life!” exclaimed one Redditor.
A couple others specifically called out the gray “wood” LVP floors that they commonly see on renovation shows.
