I'm for any show that utilizes real-world solutions - not cheap junk stapled together for the camera. And not faux outrage at 'dated' appliances, just because they are white. If they still work - use them.

Myles of Style is quite possibly the WORST home makeover show of them all.

Her "style" (which she apparently has "myles" of) is tacky, cheap, and annoying.

Jump below to vote for your favorite

These kinds of errors are so common on this site, and so irritating! I am curious about what people think of some of the lesser-known shows.

I like devine design because of the quality of materials, furniture and design that is used. As a designer I am outraged by the number of shows that claim to be about 'interior design' when they are just cheap ugly decorating shows. Terrible!

Divine Design is the only one worth checking out. Keneth Brown's was good too but is no longer being filmed.

To me, they are all about the same. With that said, I vote for Divine Design because Chico is the man. Plain and simple.

I vote for Sarah Richardson, Canada's, Design, Inc. I like her other shows as well. Sarah's House (season 1 and 2). Unfortunately, HGTV U.S. only carried Season one of Design Inc. Luckily, this year Fine Living is broadcasting the second season. Here's hoping for season three, four and hopefully five!!

I like Divine Design, Color Splash, and Design on a Dime.

Mission: Organization, it's the only useful one.

You didn't list my favorite-- The Stagers. Now those people have taste and style--and a warehouse of art and furniture to pick from. The funny thing is that their staging jobs--which are for show only--usually look more lived in and inviting than the garbage the other shows come up with.

What about "Clean House" on Style? I know they have a tendency to be a bit cheesy with the dialog but I think it's a great show in helping some truly needy people understand about hording and the benefit of a well designed home.

what about find your style!?!?! karen mc aloon is my idol.
for serious. the best.

While, not a home makeover show per se, I tend to watch "Small Space, Big Style" because it focuses on small spaces (duh), and how real people solve the problems that come with living in tight urban apartments.

For the record, Trading Spaces is a scourge upon the earth.

Divine Design. Vern Yip's deserving design is good too as is Color Splash. Agreed that Myles of Style is generally pretty horrible. However, disagree with shlacking's comment. I'm a designer too and not everyone can be designer or hire one and since taste is personal I choose not to be insulted. Rather, glad that at least some design is trickling down to the masses and inspiring people to DIY.

My new favorite show is "Renovation Realities" on the DIY Network. After watching a few of those episodes, I'm thinking, "If those people are doing THOSE big ass projects DIY, I have no excuse not to try to tackle the easier projects of building a retaining wall and deck in my backyard."

This show is incredibly instructive, although some of the power tool accidents are hard to watch.

I also enjoy Design Divine and Kenneth Brown's Redesign.

I tend to dislike those design shows that involve doing a makeover in under 24 or 48 hours, or under 500 or 1000 dollars. The end results often look cheap and/or tacky.

yes beezus! i too loved find your style but its not anymore :( it wasnt cheapo decorating... karen mcaloon actually did teach homeowners how to put rooms together, buy pieces that worked, arrange furniture, hang art, use lighting etc....

since thats not an option i choose divine design. her rooms always look great to me.

I personally love Sell This House! on A&E. Technically it's a staging show, not a design show, but here's why I like it:
1. Roger is bold with his color choices (I love color too) and is always coming up with great ideas for using color to enhance architectural details or make certain details (like ugly carpet) fade into the background.
2. The furniture arrangement is actually really useful to watch. Watching someone move furniture around a room (especially when you get to compare/contrast the same furniture in the same space) is helpful. It's amazing what moving around the pieces you already have can do.
3. It's cheap. They rarely spend more than $500 and usually don't do any carpentry work or other building. Although most of us aren't going to make faux-bookcases out of cardboard boxes, so many of the tips they have are applicable to everyone.

I think Candace Olson is okay - but to me her stuff looked over-designed. It looks more like a catalog than a home and it also looks REALLY expensive.

Divine Design is far better than any other. I've never seen a room I didn't like from Candice. I would trade my husband to have her come to my house. ;)

i really enjoy thom filica's dress my next - though it doesn't air here in Toronto any more...

glad to see some canadian productions made the list (design inc. & divine design). for those of you who enjoy design inc. hopefully you'll get to catch her (somewhat) spin-off sarah's house - it's pretty great.

also love another relatively new canadian show - pure design. has a focus on being 'green' by repurposing, refinishing, and buying sustainable products/items. can see some great pics on hgtv's canadian website.

Design Remix, with Karen McAloon, although she's gone on to Find Your Style. I loved the premise of using what you have plus the magic of paint.

another vote for design inc. and sarah's house!

COLOR SPLASH!

myles of style is booooring

Color Splash, the ideas are within reach. Divine Design when I really want to dream big! And yes, Chico is the man.

I think all the shows have cheesy dialogue. In terms of the design solutions: Divine Design, reDesign, Design on a Dime, Deserving Design. I like Find York Style, Dress My Nest, and neat -- my favorite of the organizating space shows.

I second Sarah's House, which isn't in the list, and also the person who suggested the home staging shows.

Neither are tacky like Trading Spaces (ugh) and other superspeed/supercheap decor shows.

Extreme Home Makeover has good bits when they're not being melodramatic, but please, enough with the theme rooms! I don't care what reaction they fake for the camera, no 17-year-old wants a primary-coloured theme room.

I really love Color Splash, especially because it's all SF Bay area homes.

Basically all the Canadian ones are the best. Candice can do no wrong.

I vote for Candice, but we must acknowledge that she obviously has the budget and the time to do all that.

Also love Kenneth Brown, and sometimes Design on a Dime does something I can use.

Kenneth Brown come back! ReDesign was the best.

"Sarah's House" is wonderful, and I still really like "Small Space Big Style".

For low-cost cheerful portable solutions, an old Canadian show called "Home to Go" is still my favorite. I also love "neat", which seems to have been dropped, alas.

Colin and Justin win my vote hands down!

Colour Splash!!

much more exciting and entertaining than some of the other shows out there.

Sarah's House/Design Inc are my favorites. Sarah's assistant Tommy needs his own show too!

I like "This Old House" but I suppose it's not a "design" show.

Most, if not all, of HGTV Canadian design shows (ie Sarah's House) can be found online if you google HGTV Canada. We don't have a TV but I still get to indulge in watching my favourite design shows.

I have to admit my favorite is "My Parents' House"...good design, but probably more for the comedic banter than anything else! every time i see it, i am convinced i will submit my parents' cheesy, mirror-tiled, orange-carpeted "wreck" room to that show!

Candice (Divine Design) rocks. All the rest are a distant second...

I miss the Debbie Travis' show (not her painted finish show, but the surprise makeover one) and the Peter Fallico show... Design To Go??

(Lord, can't remember ANYTHING tonight! And didn't even GO to Happy Hour!!)

Also used to really love This Small Space.

I do like Design Inc but since Sarah got "famous" she scares me a little.

But Candace is the Queen, hands down.

I vote for Design Inc. It's Canadian and I really like Sarah Richardson's style.

I voted for Sarah Richardson, but I agree with patrick (the other one) about Debbie Travis. I wish she was still on.

Candace seems to be the only one on HGTV with any taste...
I voted for Thom, I like his quirky designs!

I haven't seen most of the listed shows above, but I second the vote for "Clean House". I think the designer (Mark Brunetz?) is actually really good for the job. Not particularly innovative or anything, but not super cheap and trendy either.

Of the options listed Divine Design has my vote. Otherwise, I third/fourth Find Your Style! It's the only show I make a point of turning on the tele for. I love that Karen isn't judgemental and explains the pros/cons of various design decisions.

prettypractical.blogspot.com

I hope HGTV and TLC sees this poll! That show staple where-in they give a "designer" $1000.00 to "transform" spaces is AWFUL!!! Invariably you get three matching mirrors on a wall (or three matching vases or three matching SOMETHING), painted stripes on walls, little miniscule "display boxes" on huge walls, tiny little votives all over, poorly recovered/slipcovered furniture and painted chest of drawers. Divine Design is about the only show on HGTV that gives Design an ounce of respect. Just like Food Network they seek to make PERSONALITIES instead of GOOD PROGRAMS. UNWATCHABLE!

Of the list above, I like Divine Design and Design, Inc. the best. I am not crazy about design shows on t.v. (thank goodness for the internet) though I see HGTV as having tremendous unrealized potential. I guess they are trying to be "accessible" and "relevant" to very broad audiences, but in doing this, I think they fail to convey good and useful information about design. I think their audences are far more sophisticated than they think....

I like the designs on Divine Design, but Candice can get a little grating. Something in her on-air persona rubs me the wrong way. I've been known to Tivo it and then skip sections where she's trying to be funny.

I've only seen Genevieve once, I think it's new, but I like her tone and warmth a lot. It's not design, but I love "National Open House" where they tour houses/apartments in different price ranges in 3 different cities. Likewise, House Hunters is my staple flip something on to watch.

Several of those shows on the poll have been off the air for awhile. Get Colour! has been gone for about two years. It was an interesting way to interpret the color wheel within your style, but the host and handyman bickered quite a bit. Dear Genevieve<i/> is too new. Not sure when it started but I've already missed two episodes. Monday @ 8pm? Like the struggle btw Chuck and Sarah Connor Chronicles isn't hard enough...

One great show that's been gone awhile was Home to Go with Peter Fallico. A Canuck show about making temporary changes to your rental. Great practical advice right down to a styrofoam mantle. They made the most of some dank, dark squats. Amazing.

Most of the shows have issues and most of the ones featuring professional designers are gone. Divine Design is great, but I don't dig her style. A Candice Olson room is very distinctive, right down to the tech. Like 'em but don't want to live in any of 'em. Thom Fillicia's a pro and he does wonders, but the actual items put into the places come from retailers we all know. West Elm, Brocade Home, Urban Outfitters... Maybe it's me but it seemed the last season featured a lot of rooms done all from a sponsoring retailer. Who does that?

Myles of Style is hit or miss. Generally I enjoy the vibe of her rooms. Color Splash is fabulous! David Bromstad is all about a wow factor and you gotta love what he does.

The most interesting show was Karen McAloon's defunct Find Your Style. She taught the audience by practice. "Your rug is too small." Solution: the homeowners bought the same rug in a bigger size. Karen taught people how to lay the foundation and then put on the next layer and the next. Bam! She gave it the ol' pizzazz.

There was a poll on HGTV to bring that show back. They had some nerve cancelling it. Those people are worse than SciFi Channel. Hook you and then replace the good shows with endless airings of House Hunters and Designed to Sell. Sell to who?

design on a dime

I'll throw out a nod for Color Splash.

None of the above.

I don't like the HGTV shows very much, that I can recall... I tend to watch DIY more. I finished watching the series where they redid a bathroom in Arts and Crafts, and it was really good. Historic preservationists like period design! ;)

divine design is all well & good, but i won't see a budget like that in my lifetime. it's not difficult to make a place look fabulous when your budget is limitless! but candice olson is freakishly tall, and it amuses me so. i love it when they have some soliloquy opening when she's walking the length of a room talking about what's she going to do to it and she has to walk really weird because she'd naturally cross the room in 2 seconds with her grasshopper legs but she needs to draw out the walk-and-talk. it's like this exaggerated walking-in-place-cowboy-shuffle walk. but i do love me some chico. dear lord, i'm got some sort of syntax disease this evening, don't i?

ps - hildi on trading spaces, though, is tops. at least from a omg-she-didn't!/jerry-springeresque standpoint. remember the hay bale wallpaper room? the artificial flower wall in the bathroom? that woman is CRAZY.

none of them. i only watch for the hum, eye candy...can you say chad lopez.

kiwi - I totally agree about Pure Design. I think Samantha Pynn is great. Go Canada!

I didn't vote because I haven't seen them all. But I do loooooove Sarah Richardson. When faced with a design dilemma of my own, I ask myself "What would Sarah do?"

my vote goes for Design Inc. (& Sarah's House) although Home to Go/Stay is a close second as well

I think the only one worth watching is Divine Design - however, even Candice is starting to get a little boring as she only uses her own products: her fabric line, her wallpaper line, her furniture line (if I see that chaise one more time...), and of course all her countertops are from Caesarstone as she is their spokesmodel...

I used to love Design Guys---the one with two Canadian guys.
I love modern, sleek, cool tone design than colorful feminine design.
The show ended long ago...I am still in search for a show like that.

Home to Go with Peter Fallico was the best show HGTV ever aired - of course they got rid of it.

Love Candice Olson, though. Her style isn't my style, but I've liked pretty much each and every project I've seen on her show. Which means it has to be fundamentally pretty good.

Design on a Dime is pure hit and miss (mostly miss). Most of the time I think to myself they could make better use of their "thousand dollar budget" on Craigslist . . .

I agree that Peter Fallico on HGTV Canada was the most helpful design host ever. He specialized in rentals and small, starter spaces... Bring him back!

I also enjoyed watching British design shows on BBC Canada on my mom's satellite over the holiday. The shows were very euro-styled.

Candice (Divine Design) is my favorite, hands down. I not only love nearly everything she does, I also enjoy watching them have fun doing it.

While her budget and time constraints are greater than most shows, I'm still able to get a lot of ideas which I can scale to my own budget.

^Time allotments, not time constraints!

HGTV's Design on a Dime is the best one out there.

oops! I like DOD for the ideas and they have to get creative on a budget. That said I cancelled my cable because there's nothing on tv. ever. i hate hate hate house hunter type crap and i'm a realtor. i guess i don't want to see my job on TV! thanks everyone for the reminders of peter fallico and karen macaloon. and thanks gem for letting us know you can watch some online! and of course small space big style is how i found AT :) too bad there aren't new episodes.

Divine Design, Design, Inc., Generation Renovation (not on anymore), Small Space Big Style, Debbie Travis, ReDesign. The rest of the shows on HGTV are crap. If I have to see another episode of House Hunters or My House is Worth What? (or one of the million variations of either show)..... I used to be an HGTV addict, now I just DVR the 3 or 4 shows I like.

Wow, I thought I was the only Divine Design fan, I had no idea it was so popular! I feel like it's one of the only shows that is about interior design in the real world, and not design/decorating just for the sake of a TV show.

Design Guys were so great! I miss them.

Am I the only one that feels that Myles of Style is not her design, but she is merely a host. Why, why America did you vote for her?

Also, I watch some of these make-over shows and watch them paint and I cringe! They drop paint and get it on the ceilings, and generally do a 1/2 as*ed job. I would not want most of them in my home giving me a cheap makeover.

I don't think we get ANY of these on Lifestyle in Australia!

My favourite is the British Changing Rooms. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is fantastic, and I adore some of the designs! (Especially Oliver Heath's.) A little overreliant on MDF, but what're you going to do with two days and 750 quid?

I also quite like - the also British - Grand Designs. There's some cool stuff there. It's more focused on architecture than interiors, but damn, some of them are cool!

I, too, am a designer by profession (commercial, not residential) and I get so annoyed at many of the shows on now. People always ask me "so if you're a designer, don't you just LOVE _________?" I don't watch a lot of design shows. In fact, many of the shows are really annoying and don't portray actual interior design. The few shows I did like aren't on any more, I don't think. There was this one that I don't remember the name of, but they take stuff you already have and redesign your space. There was also this one really random one that came on A&E and it was called Blind Design. The desiger guy was actually blind and used his clients preferences for color through the other senses like smell or touch. It was quite interesting.

I always will DESPISE Trading Spaces. That's all I have to say about that. I used to like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but now, I don't. All they do is tear down (in some cases a perfectly fine) house to rebuild a new, ridiculously large one. Then, don't let one of the kids mention they like dolphins or racecars. Ty goes into a building frenzy trying to build lifesize papier mache dolphins or roll in real car tires or something silly like that. Then when they "move that bus", you can compare the new house with the others in the neighborhood, and it just looks strange.

I may be the only one, but I am in love with This Old House and it's lesser known spin off Ask This Old House.

I have only seen Dear Genevieve once as well but loved the episode. I also like Clean House. Both shows are about improving people's lives and Clean House inspires me to purge and keep my own hording instinct under control.

Shoutout to Canadian design! I LOVE "Divine Design." The cheesy jokes and forced delivery are so quintessentially Canadian.

Divine Design is wonderful, but I cannot afford what Candace Olson does. Design on a Dime comes much closer to matching my budget.

Especially in the current economic climate.

I voted for Divine Design because its timeless, tasteful and rich without being too much.

I will say, however, that I like Myles of Style for her inexpensive way to pull of expensive ideas.

Since I was forced to choose one of many, I picked "Divine Design" however I also was a loyal fan of "Kenneth Brown's Redesign", and Sarah Richardson's "Design Inc." and "House". These shows seem to realistically present the issues of the design process and their projects are creative and high quality.

Even though it is not really a design show, I've been watching "This Old House" almost since its inception. TOH and "Holmes on Homes" (How Not to Build or Renovate) really teach the public how to build and renovate correctly whether you're doing the work yourself or keeping an eye on your contractor. I think these shows, especially Holmes, are an important reality check on overly ambitious and sometimes reckless design shows. Any show that operates on the premise that a room or space can be transformed in several hours gives the public completely unrealistic expectations, and risks influencing people to initiate home improvement projects well over their abilities to complete.

Mission Organization provides useful tips that I've actually used in my house. The products they recommend can often be expensive, but you can usually find cheaper alternatives.

Divine Design is awesome (though I wish they provided the budgets, which all seem high end), I've watched it since the beginning. Candace Olsen clearly listens to her clients. And the show's funny! Designs are classic, elegant, a bit mod, yet totally liveable. Yay for Canadian pragmatism! Too many design shows try to be trendy or cool and seem to discount that people actually have to live in the space. House Beautiful is another Canadian show that is good but lacks Olsen's charisma. Spice Up My Kitchen is another a good show (though their budgeting seems a bit wonky but at least they DO give you the dollar amounts!!). Also like Designed to Sell b/c you can really see the difference in the before/after and it's all for under $2000. Gotta love that.

In the past, I LOVED the Australian show, "The Block," a competition between couples to redesign decrepit apartments in a Bondi Beach building, after which each apt was auctioned off and the highest bid was the winning couple. Developed into a U.S. show that fizzled. The British show, Changing Rooms, was also fantastic. The American version was terrible--not sure if it's our poor American taste, but for some reason when they develop U.S. versions of foreign shows, the designs (and shows) are often awful.

I wish HGTV would stream more of their shows online a la Hulu.com (best web tv), since my computer is now my TV.

I loved watching This Small Space and Home to Go way back when. I love, love, love SSBS (recorded every episode, I think). I like most anything Sarah Richardson does, Karen McAloon's Find Your Style, and I have seen all of the new Dear Genevieve shows and surprisingly love it. I also like Designed to Sell, but only the one with Lisa LaPorta/Clive Pearce.

What I don't like most about decorating shows is that I have seen it already. If I see another Ikea/West Elm/Pier 1 room, I'll scream.

I have been a huge fan of This Old House since I was a kid, and also Bob Vila's Home Again and Hometime. God...those 3 shows comprised most of my Saturday mornings as a teenager!

Color Splash is still the best... but there are too many re-runs!

Hasn't Dear Genevieve only been on for two weeks or so? Regardless, my husband and I agreed after seeing 2 or 3 episodes that it's going to be our new favorite.

I enjoy HGTV and watch some of the listed shows regularly, as my time permits.

I think the "design on the cheap" shows are interesting -- sometimes the results are really nice, and most people I know can't afford the high end stuff which might be inspirational but not practical. (I mean, I can see Architectural Digest magazine any time but I can't implement anything from there.) Even when they flop, you can usually see some improvement from the "before".

Last weekend I had Jackie Davis, a regular redesigner from "Decorating Cents" gave a program at my library. She's really nice in person, and we are thinking about maybe hiring her to do some consulting for updating the library building itself.

Of the on screen designers, the only ones I would allow to design for me are Vern Yip (but no candles, Vern!) or Candace Olsen. Maybe Sarah Richardson. Many of the others do good work but not my taste.

Oh, I liked Freestyle, too. It was about showing people how to do better with what they have. Bringing out the random stuff, rearranging the furniture and creating a comfy home without being overwhelmed by options. It was a realistic, effective option for people who don't have much money or who have transitional lifestyles.

it seems that all the better shows are filmed in Canada... hummm...
We love Debbie Travis and miss her shows, Candace has been repeating her light blue/dark wood color palate way too much these past few seasons (tasteful but unimaginative). I really enjoyed the original Changing Rooms on BBC America, FAR better than Trading Spaces. oh, and let's not forget 2 more gems How Not to Decorate and for gardening Home Front with Diarmuid Gavin.

I used to watch Divine Design, but while her colour palettes are gorgeous, they are usually repeated (browns and blues anyone?). Love Sarah Richardson's Design Inc. Her rooms are always beautiful.

I also love Clean House - the results are always dramatic, the budget small, and it inspires me to declutter...

Divine Design does end up with a much higher quality product (though generally not to my taste at all), but it's hardly fair to compare a $20,000 budget project with a $1-2,000 project...

Design on a Dime, Designed to sell, and Dear Genvieve, in that order.

Get over Nate Berkus already!

Design on a Dime!!!! There are 3 versions of the show for HGTV, how could that be left off the list?

Find Your Style! Love it.

Sarah Richardson-anything is just fine by me. And it kills me that Find Your Style is no more. Great show, I'll really miss Karen McAloon.

Design Inc. - Sarah Richardson is the real deal

Design, Inc. and Sarah's House

Design Inc - Sarah Richardson is the best. I try to watch other shows on HGTV Canada. but they are all boring and talk to much instead of showing. Like Sarah does. I can't wait for season 3, 4 and maybe 5 of Sarah's House. It's the best now that there are no new seasons of Design Inc. The third was the last.

Candice rocks.

Candace Olson is very talented unlike the rest of HGTV, but it's like she has ONE color palette and thats it. It's brown and blue. Thats it.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MAXWELL'S
**SMALL SPACE, BIG STYLE**??

Designer Guys!!!
Canada's best.

Of the shows listed I'd go with Divine Design. However, I think one of my favorite shows is still Find Your Style. I wish Karen would come over to my place and give me a hand.

I confess to watching Constance Ramos' "Color Correction" just to see what hideous design she'll come up with next.

I enjoy Color Splash. It's creative and they seem to have a lot of fun with their projects. It's also in San Francisco, so I get really excited when I recognize places.

FreeStyle! The only one that I record...and lots of people in their 30s with small homes and apartments.

Y'all like Pure Design? Really? I had such high hopes for it but I have to say I find it's a sham. Nearly everything they source comes from Elte (nice place to shop if you have deep pockets). They toot the eco and sustainability horn but in actual fact that usual means they threw down a cork floor or jute rug and bought some organic cotton bedding. I wish these shows would divulge how much they spent redecorating.

I TiVo 2: Small Space/Big Style and Find your Style, both on HGTV.

I think the linked article was totally bogus--Divine Design was a low budget show?--but I can agree with most folks above: Divine Design is gorgeous, and I thought Freestyle and Find Your Style were great concepts (liked Design Remix too).

One show I didn't see mentioned, but which made for interesting tv, if not the most skilled design, was Picture This (Fine Living, I think). The premise was, each half of a couple had tearsheets of a dream room, and they'd give the tearsheets to the other, and the other had to a) figure out what it was that their partner liked from the tearsheets (no explanations allowed) and b) execute it.

I only caught a couple of episodes, but I remember one in particular, where the husband wanted a Napa dining room and the wife wanted a Moroccan inspired guest room/study. Each did an amazing job. Less impressive was the episode where the husband took the tearsheet to the store and bought everything in the picture.

Oh and Deserving Design does nice work but it's all the same rearrangement of Ikea as far as I can tell. Although the episode where the family had to basically tear their house down because of mold--that reveal was incredible television. The husband's reaction was amazing (Extreme Makeover being so overrehearsed as to be unbelievable).

Two words - DAVID BROMSTEAD

OMG love him... Color Splash on HGTV is the best!!!

Sarah's House - HGTV Canada

Design Inc. was the greatest.
Sarah's House is literally one of my favourite shows. 30 Rock and Oprah included! She and Tommy are hilarious.

Sarah's Cottage will start in the spring and will feature her own personal cottage in the Muskokas. That should be AMAZING! Can't wait.

patrick (the other one) said she's scary now - What ever do you mean?! I am in love with her!

sarah richardson's rooms have great color and look totally livable. candace olson's rooms are a bit over designed and flashy for my taste.

Love "Divine Design", but every room she does costs an absolute fortune! I think "Designed to Sell" is much more helpful for the average person.