The “Love It or List It” Zone by Sharon O’Donnell

 Warning:  Watching the TV program “Love It or List It” can be addictive. This is one of the many shows that come on the HGTV network in which homes are renovated — only in this one the featured couple must decide whether to stay in their renovated house by the show’s designer  (with money they themselves put up, so it is a limited amount) or to move into another home that the show’s realtor finds them.  I know that these episodes are probably not all true-to-life and involve some overly dramatic acting — but I’m still addicted.  When I happen to come across the show as I’m flipping through the channels, I immediately go into another zone.  I HAVE to see which house the couple chooses:  their renovated home or a home the realtor shows them.  Will they ‘love it’ and stay in their house or ‘list it’?   Isn’t that what every inquiring mind would like to know?

The problem is that as soon as an episode ends, another one comes on before I can change the channel.  And usually there’s another one.  You can easily waste several hours by watching this show . . . or so I hear.  But the worst side effect about this show is that you will find yourself saying things to your husband like, “Do you think we could knock down this wall in our kitchen to make more of an open space?”  Knocking down a wall always makes such a positive difference on this show.  I’m convinced if we knocked down the wall in between our kitchen and our dining room that it would at big $$ to our home value. That’s what always happens on the show.  Learning a little about design can be a dangerous thing.  My husband is not impressed with my construction suggestions. 

And then there’s designer Hilary and real estate agent David who have a friendly rivalry going on the show.  David comes off as too assertive sometimes, but the main thing that is annoying is how the show makes Hilary out to be the bad guy if the home renovation money given by the house owners does not cover problems they find that are already present in the house; it is not Hilary’s fault, but the couple blames her anyway even though she had nothing to do with the discovery that their pipes were found to be defective and they must get new ones, which means the updating of the master bathroom is no longer in the renovation budget. Some of the female home owners in particular can get a bit angry at poor Hilary.  Personally, I think she does wonders with the houses and would love to have her come and make over mine.  I even find myself sometimes jotting down my ‘must haves’ if I should ever get the chance to work with Hilary.  Here’s my wish list: “Rearrange kitchen so that it flows more easily into family room, enlarge the master bedroom closet, add a laundry room; change the location of the powder room downstairs, enclose part of the back deck, and add storage.”   Perhaps one day I will get the chance to make these changes to my home. In the meantime, I hope I can resist the urge to knock down a wall.  Even though I’m sure Hilary could fix it.

Tags: homes, Love it Or List it, renovations