Beyond the karate chop pillow problem: I recently was having a meal with a very easy going, low maintenance, friend when she surprised me by saying that there were two things in the world that she absolutely can't stand eating. "Really? What are they?" I inquired. "Capers and Anchovies." She said promptly. I realized that though I loved these two things, there was no amount of pushing or prodding that was going to change this for her. It was visceral, from childhood and somewhere deep in her bones.
This got me to thinking. Many, many people have a food issue like this, so do they also have any deeper domestic design issues like this too?
Last week we DID a post on design trends that people dislike, this is different.
For my daughter, the feeling of a scratchy wool blanket is the worst thing in the world and she can't abide it for even a second. I LOVE a thick scratchy wool blanket while napping on the sofa in winter.
For myself, I could easily think of three things that make my skin crawl:
1. Bare light bulbs
2. Artwork off kilter, hung too high and/or at all different heights
3. Thick cat and/or dog hair in a room
These are things that might not bother most people, but when I walk into a room, they trigger great discomfort on a visceral level (also, I'm allergic to dust and pet hair, when there's too much of it). It's very hard for me not to adjust the lighting in these cases or to adjust the artwork. I can be quite annoying when I do.
In a way, these are good things to know about yourself - and your partner or spouse - and though they can change over your lifetime, they are probably best worked around, rather than trying to change.
So, my question today is, what are the things you find in people's homes that you simply can't digest, no matter how hard you try??
(Image: Maxwell Gillingham Ryan)
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I can't deal with fake art from KMart or a furniture shop that has no meaning to the owner beyond "it matches the sofa and drapes."
dark walls and white trim...
Vertical blinds - don't care how practical they are. Eww.
Knotty pine wall panelling.
I have an extremely strong sense of smell, so the smell in a room affects me greatly and before I even look at it. I often smell something "bad" when no one else does. The biggest offenders are food smells and mildew.
I can tolerate almost anything else. There is nothing design related that I can't stand for a short period of time, although I think some homes just have a sad, depressing feel that makes me want to get out quickly.
How is this one different from the post on karate chopped pillows?
Bad paint jobs... especially lack of prep IE: no caulking or hole filling!
Overhead lights, whether you can see the bulb or not! Most of them cast horrible light and unless very well tempered by up lighting from lamps or other sources, give me a splitting headache.
Bare light bulbs and furniture in a room with no cohesiveness.
Amen to Cottage David's comment about bad paint jobs! Caulking is a modern invention that forgives so much and sandpaper can work miracles. And as CakeGirl has a strong sense of smell, I am sensitive to the tactile experience; clean smooth surfaces make a difference to sticky and rough.
I have the hardest time resisting rearranging furniture that prevents flow or is unpleasing to the eye. If things are place against the wall, I immediately want to pull them off it. I normally spend the rest of the night in bed rearranging the room in my head!
A dirty kitchen, especially if the host is feeding me. I had a friend whose kitchen was so disgustingly dirty I couldn't deal with it. Her idea of washing dishes was to rinse them in cold water and food was never stored properly. When I would go to her house, I would wash my own glass, fill it with wine and hope the alcohol killed off any nasty food born illnesses.
Decorating with shot glasses, fancy looking bottles of booze or beer decore. No one over the age of 27 should have a shot glass collection on display.
Cluster frames filled with pictures of your sorority sisters doing shots and attending each others' weddings.
Giant overstuffed sofas that take over the entire living room.
Basically, I hate any decorating "style" which hasn't evolved beyond a person's college years.
Too many small scatter rugs in a room: in addition to the dangerous slickness, they're visual clutter.
Painted - peeling wallpaper.
Fogged up windows.
I have always hated the feel of nylons, off kilter pictures and liver.
Oh.........and I really dislike mismatched kitchen/dining room chairs.
Lighting! I instantly notice when a place is too brightly lit, or not well thought out. I can't wait to get out of there.
Clutter and mess. My mom always said to pick up everything off the ground and I've found that to be the best advice. A shirt draped on a chair is better than it lying on the floor.
I love the artwork in the room pictured along with this article-simple strands of yarn. Can you offer more information please?
Vinyl siding. Is there anything more unattractive than vinyl siding.
1. Smoky smells
2. Strong pet odors
3. Fake fragrance
and (I swear I have non-olfactory pet peeves also!)...
4. Loads of fake flowers or plants
5. Uncomfortable furniture, no matter how beautiful
6. Scratchy or uncomfortable textiles. I will take the ugliest, comfiest throw any day of the week over something beautiful and rough.
Plastic!
Clutter: where do I put my glass ? Where can I sit ?
I'm also feeling uncomfortable when all chairs and sofas point to the TV. It's harder to talk and I don't feel at home. In my own home I don't have a tv (hello computers), but it only bothers me in other people's homes when we are forced to look at it when I want to look at the other guests.
Nothing bothers me too much anyone. I find we can always change our attitudes....especially something like the way someone else lives.
*anymore
Exactly what Chrisat said.
Also:
colors that clash -- just because your drapes, the main color in your couch, and your artwork is all in the color-spectrum of "red" does NOT mean they all go together.
And I realize I'm a bad person for this, but I HATE clashing patterns. Just because it's the trendy-cool thing to mix stripes and plaids and spots and paisley doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. It looks clumsy now and is going to look badly dated in 6 months.
knotty pine furniture. that ugly green paint that bachelors seem to love. Speaking of bachelors, they seem to love black leather couches, too. Sorry guys. Grown women who decorate just for women. yuk. you know, too girly. (i see a lot of that o n this site. sorry love AT. but i do). furniture that's too matchy matchy. Brass fixtures. Too much victorian or midcentury modern (and i love a little midcentury modern). Furniture that looks like you just grabbed it from the street. (ok, glad you dumpster dived, but please clean it up. fix it. make it nice). Homes that are decorated with family photos. a few ok. But really? And area rugs that are too small. My biggest pet peeve, wall to wall carpet..Oh one more thing. Granite countertops. Eeeeekkkkk. Sorry, you asked and now i am venting. Lunch time is over. Great post.
Really? Even bare Edison bulbs?
I have a a cronic illness; one that bright light causes me severe pain. So bare light bulbs besides the lack of design really bothers me. (my eyes)
On the other hand since I read constantly when I visit someone for a few days I take my own reading light; because lol, the other thing that bothers me is lack of proper lightin..as in all ceiling light and no lamps. If it is someone I know I find out what they like and buy them a table lamp.
Last one: Dirty, musty curtains. When I happen on a place like that; I stay 20 minutes; and poltley leave.
Some of the remarks though maybe not intended to sound that way...sound snoby; especially if the person who bought the art; lights; paint; trim; matching furniture from a big box store. If the owner thinks it is lovely and that is all they can afford good for them. I am just visiting. Many of us who love this blog; do not live in big cities where cheap unique used furnitire stores abound. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" I am not sure who said it originally; but my Mom said it all of the time when I was growing up.
PS: I have a degree in design. So yes some things I find unpleasing to the eye, but for the above reasons; I don't really let it get to me; unless I am physically uncomfortable. No offense meant to anyone; but I remember when I was younger and had my first place...lol what an eyesore it was; but I was thrilled with it!
I'm not sure I'm getting the premise here - how is someone's dislike of capers comparable to a dislike of "thick cat and/or dog hair in a room"? Is someone having piles of cat hair on the floor an issue of taste? I don't think anyone "likes" it.
Oh man there are so many things....overhead lighting, a dirty kitchen....
But thanks lizzykewl for adding a rational voice to this.
The things that drive me crazy only do so in my own space. How someone else lives is their business. If it's a true reflection of how they are, it means I either have to deal with that part of them or it indicates real differences that mean they are not going to be close to me. I think of it like I think of the way someone dresses. I have my own preferences but I don't impose them on others. If someone asks, or if I think it's crucial to help them in some way, I'll give my opinion.
I think if it "bothers" me it's more my problem than anyone else's.
people that generally think that they can "decorate" their space, and know nothing about proper flow of furniture or relationship of the different living areas, color or anything related with interior design, and think they have done an amazing job. So many people need professional help and they dont know it....
I am not a fan of " collections. " Like some who collects pigs and everything has to have a pig in it someway some how. Lol
I also do not like full rooms decorated from say page 23 of any catalog- or furnishing bought all the same year.
Treeless front yards. And while I am at it concrete duck statues wearing raincoats. Any thing nautical - plain yuck. I concur with thick granite - not a fan.
It bugs me when someone moves into a house and they will not make an effort to freshen up the kitchen even though they hate it. They would rather wait 10 years until they have the budget to gut it rather then paint the cabinets and walls and spray paint the ugly fake brass early american light fixture.
There are SO many things I can't stand, but paint painted over the edges of tiles over the years to where they end up being about a half-inch over them? Inexcusable. I don't care whether it's a rental or owned. What can you do? If you can't stand paint stripper, use nail polish remover, and only do a little bit at a time.
Toilet paper that goes under, not over. I will change it in someone else's house. It's a sickness.
badly applied wallpaper where it does not line up. I've tried telling my parents to ask me before they make this mistake again!
I'm with you on the artwork hung too high. I also dislike when people use framed snapshots and those cheesy family portraits as art. Also I firmly believe and was taught in design school that art should be purchased because it speaks to the dwellers soul, not because it matches the drapes. Thomas Kincaid was therefore labeled as a huge no-no for a well designed space.
I also dislike:
~an overload of knick knacks or other visual clutter
~ "suites" of furniture, matching lamps, etc..
~furniture that is not in proportion to the size of the room or to other pieces in the room
~"formal" rooms that are never used
~Toilet seat covers and those special rugs that surround the toilet base
~Toothbrush holders and their matching counterpoints (basically anything matchy matchy drives me nuts)
~Use of dim, unflattering overhead lighting
~Huge televisions as a focal point
counterparts*
A dark red dining room. yuck!
A friend makes a coffee but the cup is dirty, not stained, but poorly washed, you know, dried drips of coffee on the outer cup. Yeeuchh. Then my eyes grow large and I start examining my surroundings for only God knows what. I can't imagine my expression. And if I'm out and the tables are sticky, and sometimes the lighting reveals just how poorly a table has been washed, I get all disgusted and agitated, looking around everywhere, making a fuss, asking "Where's a clean table? Is there one clean table in this place", examining cutlery, checking seats, making complaints to my family, possibly to staff. I go weird.
What's worse, the unsightly cups and eateries or my response? I get all weird just thinking about it. Where's the health inspector???? It's taking hold again.
1. The smell of cat pee...in the morning or any other time.
2. Sticky, nasty outdoor doorknobs (NO one remembers to clean those).
3. Dirty windows
Commenting on the theoretical design faux pas (rather than commenting on friends homes)
I am a plant lover, and good with them, so the fake plant thing is a "design allergie". Others include, but are not limited to:
- area rugs over carpet
- vinyl anything (blinds, etc) if you have to have them, frame with fabric drapings
- Ive noticed everyone (on apartment therapy) seems to be doing the "decorate with books" thing. I am over it! Piles of books on the floor, even if color coordinated, is ...over.
- I dont think dirtyness is a design element, so Ill skip that one, but since I have 4 cats and one long-haired dog, I am looking for removal options...any suggestions?
- dark forest green carpeting over wood.
- neon beer/liquor signs, shot glass, beer glass collections used to decorate
- bed/mattress on the floor
- cinderblock tables and book cases
- old painted wicker furniture that is flaking
- super girlie, lacy with flowery wall paper, and lace doily-style table coverings
- linoleum floors anywhere
- popcorn ceilings
- electronics everywhere
- zero art on the walls (even stock photography of something common is better than nothing!!!!!)
Just thought of another... Popcorn ceilings.
Stucco and wood paneling.
Beige.
Glass blocks...i rejected a few houses in our search because of them..there are much better ways to get light into a space
I love that this post came after the last post debate on depersonalized space. This is all very personal stuff.
Popcorn ceilings & other texturized paints -- they seem to exist solely to camouflage bad ceiling installations. They're virtually impossible to match back up when the ceiling needs a small repair. (Roof leaks, foot-through-attic-floor, careless furniture mover, etc.)
Bad overhead lighting. It makes me feel physically uncomfortable and tense.
So many of these peeves resonate with me, from paneling to vertical blinds to pet fur (I have three dogs!). And the dirty kitchen--ugh!
But here's a thought: for every pet peeve, try to find something you're grateful for--like, for example, the fact that you have a place to call home.
- the burgundy/hunter green/black colour combo so dear to many Canadians (especially when accompanied by knotty pine)
- misaligned wallpaper or drapes
- a few days' worth of dishes in the kitchen sink
- bad paint job
- hair! I absolutely hate hair on the bathroom vanity, IN THE SINK, in combs or brushes
- and I have to say, I do hate the artwork in Maxwell's apartment and summer house. What's with those amoeba-like shapes?
Giant flat-screen TVs anywhere.
Smells: old stuffiness, like no fresh air has gotten in for a really long time, mildew, and past food cooking odors (which also applies to clothing--I hate wearing clothes that smell like food).
Drinking glasses that smell, even slightly. Dirty kitchen sink. Strong pet smells.
Ceiling lights cause immediate depression. Also bad is light that is too dim if you are expected to read something.
Plants that are very dusty, even real plants.
Just about everything else is a matter of personal taste, and not an issue when visiting friends and family.
flat-screen televisions hung over the fireplace.
i also dislike rugs or curtains that are wrinkly or still have fold lines...
Bad furniture flow really bothers me. I can understand that not everybody can afford to replace outdated furniture, or whatever, but you can at least arrange it so it works in that room. Same with art (or "art") hung too high. I also hate mini blinds and vertical blinds. I understand why they are used in rental apartments, but they drive me crazy in homes.
Another thing I don't like family portraits hanging all over the house. Don't they live with those people? Why do they need to look at their photos on the wall too? Maybe I'll feel differently when my kids have left home and I'm a grandparent, but now, I just don't get it. Even then, I think I'd limit them to the den or something.
Wow, you guys are so judge-y. I have a big, beautiful display of family photos in my living room and can't imagine any of my friends scoffing at it. Most aren't snapshots, but I can't imagine anything being wrong with choosing to punctuate your home with happy memories over meaningless art, even if it's attractive.
Also, some people can't afford "professional help," and others simply don't want it.
1. Cigarette smoke
2. Vertical blinds
3. Cat box odor
4. Inadequate light, unless it's a seduction
5. That awful etched glass, with bright fake brass
6. "mellow yellow." Please flush when you have company coming.
Brightly painted rooms -like, really bright. Color is great, but TOO much color turns my stomach and feels claustrophobic. I'd rather see fun colors introduced through art, textiles, accessories, etc.
Photos or posters put up with tape or tacks. It screams 'dorm room'. Buy a cheap frame, at least. Renters can use those removable adhesive hooks if nails aren't allowed.
Cat litter boxes in the house.
Everything else is negotiable, but not feral-cat-pee-and-poop.
People who are critical of other peoples spaces!
1. any hue of red paint on walls. especially in the kitchen/dining room.
2. bad paint jobs.
3. unopened windows with super dark curtains drawn closed.
4. stinky yankee candles.
5. when the charm or character of a space is ignored and/or cluttered.
6. all seating focused around the television.
7. vertical blinds
8. curtains hung flush with the top of the window. that curtain rod needs to be at least 6 inches above the window!
9. when potential for a beautiful space is unseen.
10. BIGGEST PET PIEVE OF ALL TIME - miscellaneous things/ knick-knacks/ small kitchen appliances lined up all along the kitchen counters. oh, and a counter top dish drying rack. i hate those! put your dishes away!
Throws with howling wolves on them. Or kittens. Or hearts. Commemorative plates. Old-fashioned floral chintz.
Stale air, laundry odor
Bachelor pad decor of framed star wars posters.
Red & black.
'50s diner.
Flames.
"Thick cat or dog hair" is NOT a "Design" problem.
large knick-knack collections
outdated, dusty flower arrangements
fake ficus trees
too much clutter
lots of stuff on the floor
that foresty hunter green color that was everywhere in the 90s : )
Bright overhead lighting! I can barely stand to stay in the room, my mind is wandering off wondering if I saw any lamps on the way in so I can just bring them in and turn off the horrible overhead!!!!!!!!!!
There are lots of things I don't care for, but the things that make me want to go home are:
- dirty, messy interiors
- bare lights bulbs; overhead lights
- Early American style furniture
- over decoration by a decorator - no personal touches
- dog chewed furniture
CLUTTER! Especially on counter tops and dining tables and Especially when I've been invited over for dinner... and then the host is offended that I would like to move a stack of magazines, or CD's or whatever crap they have on the table (and usually there for months) so I can have a place to put my plate...I don't know how people can function like this all the time (but yet, I guess they do...)
drop ceilings, wood paneling, popcorn ceilings, ceiling fans, overhead flourescent lighting, country crafty decorating, anything colonial, concrete paver blocks, fake exterior window shutters, non-stripped wood trim that gets re-painted so often that the paint accumulates like pancake batter, people who buy cheap plastic Chinese crap from Home Depot and erroneously apply it to historic homes made from real materials and then get a self please attitude of accomplishment sort of like a baby who just filled their diaper. Go the extra mile and do the real thing, use real wood windows, real stone, etc.
Those of you with long, passionate "allergies" - do you get out much?
Aside from general filthiness, if other people are happy with the way they have decorated their home and do not wish to change it, I don't see why we should judge them for it. Perhaps there is something in your home that you love that drives everyone else crazy. Would you change it? Of course not.
Wall decals and any object with the words "live - laugh - love" on it.
#1 is always going to be overhead lighting. imo, it should only be used when cleaning.
vertical blinds in general, or those awful white mini-blinds.
curtains that are too short.
scratchy blankets.
floor fans (and before anyone takes offense, i live in a building with only window a/c as an option. if you have a large enough window unit, you do not need hideous floor fans strewn about your place to circulate the air).
whole sets of furniture (i.e. couch, loveseat, coffee/end tables that were purchased from a weekend ad).
dirty bathrooms (absolutely hate when people use the gross disc toilet bowl cleaner that makes the water blue...just clean your toilet often and you wouldn't have to hide it with bright blue water).
Dirty baseboards and though not related to desig, but using the word myself incorrectly. People today use it far too often thinking that the word "me" is too lowly to be used and sounds uneducated. The problem is that "me" would be the correct and proper word to use. (ie. You can email John or myself if you have any questions.) AHHHHH
Cats on counters and kitchen tables.
Dirty bathrooms.
Dirty kitchen sinks (dirty dishes in said sinks, especially cooking pots full of dirty water).
Dirty installed carpet.
Cockroaches anywhere.
Neighbors. (It's complicated.)
...and kitty litter boxes (and that smell). I see or smell that and I want out.
Plastic plants, furniture covers (ones that look like you threw a blanket over your sofa), bare light bulbs, paneling, and the dreaded popcorn ceiling.
The hunter green-navy-burgandy color combo.
All these comments are why I don't invite people over.
Cold-spectrum lighting. Reminds me of the sad fluorescent basement tube lighting of my youth.
Clutter.
My in-law's house drives me nuts everytime we visit. They live in a big house for just 2 people, it's got to be at least 2000 sqft. However, it is absolutely packed to the gills with stuff. I don't know how 2 people could have so much stuff. The bedroom we stay in when visiting, while I'm glad they have it, is so full of furniture and knicknacks you actually have to cut sideways through most of it. And forget trying to set something down on a dresser or nightstand, every square inch of flat surface is already spoken for by photographs, random decorations, lamps, doilies, clocks, etc. They do not have the luxury of a basement or attic, but still, a 4 bedroom house shouldn't look like that with only 2 people.
It makes me itch.
It's easier to understand where my husband's chronic messiness comes from now.
This is the same post as the karate-chop pillow post. Perhaps we should refrain from judging others so harshly. Reading this site sometimes makes me not want to have peple over for fear my home is coming up short and, if people here are to be believed, this reflects on me as a person. I definitely wouldn't have Maxwell over -- he just admitted he wouldn't be able to enjoy himself if any art were hung improperly -- and that he might even take it upon himself to make uninvited adjustments. To me, that is the height of rudeness. Live and let live or suffer in silence. If your opinion is requested, give it with love and respect, not by being "allergic" to a friend's decor. Yuck to the whole tone here.
People really hate overhead lighting and bare bulbs. Well, I'm not eating dinner in 100 watts of light and I can't have 4 table lamps in one room, so chandelier it is!
@Griffin, I agree. Then again, based on some of the very negative comments here, these guests wouldn't be any fun to have over anyway - that in my book is a win win.
I hate seeing the new energy efficient curly light bulbs sticking up above the shade on a chandelier. They are just ugly. Don't do it!
I can get over design elements that are not my style (ex.my sister loves leopard, I detest it - I still enjoy visiting her) but I have a really hard time relaxing in a messy home (some pet hair on the couch? totally fine. dishes in the sink? no problem. A litter box that hasn't been cleaned all week? Can't handle it).
It really doesn't matter if it's the other person's home. We all have different taste that make us happy. My sister hates my athromorphic art; I love it. I plaster pictures everywhere. It makes me happy.
But I must agree with the post of a dirty kitchen AND bathroom. I once dropped off a co-worker and asked if I could use her bathroon. Her livingroom was a mess but so what but when I saw that the toliet had a BLACK ring around it, I 'HELD IT' until I go home. EWWWWWW. You don't need to be anal about it, but people please...at least clean your toilets.
lizzykewl, I agree. How incredibly fortunate we are to have shelter over our heads, friends who invite us into their homes and the luxury to choose and buy items for our homes.
I must be missing something because there are a lot of bare bulb criticisms. Do people really hang bare bulbs? I must be hanging out with a different light fixture circle.
A lot of these seem to be more directed toward the homeowners themselves rather than on the homes (i.e. I don't like slobs and people with bad taste). What is with all the relentless judging here lately anyhow? It's not like people are living their entire lives just for the benefit of other people they may come in contact with at some point, and if they were, everyone would find that annoying as well.
@Anusha73:
people that generally think that they can "decorate" their space, and know nothing about proper flow of furniture or relationship of the different living areas, color or anything related with interior design, and think they have done an amazing job. So many people need professional help and they dont know it....
Scratch my previous design allergy of "clutter," I'd like to change it to "people like you." Unbelievable.
hunter douglas (or similar) honeycomb blinds. They are expensive, high quality and...an eyesore! Go for bamboo blinds or fabric roman shades instead, giving the opportunity for another pattern or texture in the space.
I am laughing very hard at the people who say "design is about your SOUL!" and, in the same comment, "why do you need pictures of your children and family?" Maybe the contents of some people's souls are expressed more through personal connections and memories than the right shade of gray?
There are very few design elements that invariably drive me up the wall; although there are many I dislike, there's usually a way to make almost anything work sometimes But I tend to dislike (1) white walls with pale wood borders -- always looks cheap to me -- (2) tile flooring outside of kitchens, bathrooms, entryways and beach houses, and (3) metal banisters/guardrails for stairs. That thin black metal that sometimes gets used = YUCK.
@griffin-- I am guilty of so many things that would make the perfectionists here turn inside out in frustration (dog hair, brass, clutter, dirty windows, granite counters, and so much more), but I scrub the bathrooms, kitchen, and floors when I have people over, and I vacuum the dog hair scrupulously. So I feel I can be honest about my visceral reaction to certain types of dirt that make my skin crawl when I encounter them in the homes of others.
The cat thing is deeper than that. I'm allergic to the little stinkers, and years of hanging around with dogs has made me part canine, I think.
@Duane Hill - I think they must mean fixtures that show bare bulbs. Like this: http://www.cb2.com/firefly-pendant-lamp/f5281
To me, that might be a bulb and clear glass, but it's not just a bare bulb. There are definitely people who don't like it ... but the judgment I'm seeing is a touch ridiculous.
I don't really care how other people want to decorate their homes or if it's not perfectly clean or organised, our house isn't perfect either. What really confuses me is when there are no towels in a bathroom. I just want to be able to dry my hands after washing them.
I think I get the idea of this post (what bothers you enough to want to make adjustments, not simply go "I find this unattractive") but the conversation is quicikly devolving.
Sure, there's a lot of things we don't like. I think only an unevenly hung picture might be something I would want to nudge a little -- the rest are all matters of taste (even if I would never have a knotty pine kitchen with apple green walls and a collection of three thousand duck knockknacks, maybe they really appreciate those things for reasons I don't know, and applying my "less is more" principle as a matter of restraint or calling it 'better' is a judgment I'm not willing to make. I need to remember that although I'm soothed by more minimal spaces, some people find many possessions prominently displayed to be a reassuring thing, even though I react the opposite way and want to see clean lines and empty spaces in my own place.
*knickknacks
I really dislike flat screen TVs mounted above a fireplace. Each item needs to be on a separate wall - or (ideally!) in separate rooms!
- Poufy anything
- Cheap things that have a lot of detailing so that they will look more "fancy"
- Ikat print (actual woven ikat is awesome though)
- Kitchens that are themed around a farm animal (chicken, cow, duck)
- Totally square totally brick single family houses that look like municipal buildings
- Really dark rooms (either through poorly done predominant dark colors or through insufficient lighting)
- Wallpaper borders
- Sponge stenciling
- Painted over ceramic or stone surfaces
- Toilet seat covers, especially squishy vinyl ones
- Maroon or mustard yellow tiles, solid tiles with a stripe of patterned tiles, 4"x4" tiles in general, painted over tiles, tiles that are mostly all the same color but occasionally a random one is another color, obvious grout accidents on tiles especially around the bases of toilets, it's hard to even imagine anything this awful but alpine green tiles would probably be my nightmare scenario
- Toilets or bathtubs that aren't ivory or white
- Fiberglass bathtubs and shower stalls with a lot of "helpful shaping" on them
- Kitchen sinks that don't have a freakish capacity for never ever splashing onto your stomach when you do dishes
- Crappy cabinet doors (peeling, won't shut right, wobbly ass hardware)
- Messed up formica (bubbling, peeling, etc) or "wood print" formica
- Contact paper, although I am holding out for the designer that can make some that isn't totally sickening
- Everything in a room being square/rectangular/right-angled
- All switchplates in a room must match -- none of this crap where one is beige with scrolls, one is brown with columns, one is smooth and white plastic, and one is white enameled metal, one is wood with a curvy "country style" edge
- Tons of stuffed animals when you don't have kids living with you
- "Country style"
- "Lodge style"
- Anything quaint
This is by no means an exhaustive list for me but I have to take some deep breaths and read Dwell for a while now. Haha no but actually.
Shtuff everywhere, piles of mail on the kitchen counter, bug carcasses anywhere, bad smells, grimy switch plates, filthy bathroom, pet hair rolling and piling under furniture, dirty kitchen sink, grandma's sofa with original cover, deep tufted anything.
what i really dislike the most is people who read design blogs recreate the exact images in their own home with no personal preferences, it used to be that all images were styled by a decorator now they are styled by design blogs, be an individual, live your own style, even if what you create is awful it is yours!
I dont think you can judge popcorn ceilings or drop ceiling, etc. that might not be a design choice that someone made- just what came with the house and is too expensive to fix.
however, i hate rooms stuffed with furniture. I also dont like people who complain about a lack of storage, but then have tons of knick knacks and clutter!!
I hate it when people try to pass off Braque as a Picasso.
- over head lighting
- clutter
- dust
- cat litter stench
- pet stench
- cigarette stench
- dead plants
- dirty toilet/sink/counter
- wall to wall carpet (especially when it's in need of vacuuming)
- dense floral patterns
- ceiling fans positioned over down lights (the strobe effect has brought me to nausea)
- leather couches
- posters
- linoleum floors
- stale air
- air "fresheners"
I hate 'fat' furniture. I'm talking like overstuffed pillow top reclining pit couch crap. GOD. HATE.
@PI, I see. I don't have a problem with the fixtures that expose the bulb as long as the bulb is an artisan bulb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P85vZpYF3Yg
I hate a tangled web of exposed wires!
poor lighting! my best friend has bare lightbulb overhead lighting with no lamps in his place. i avoid going over there because it makes me feel like i'm in a frat house or an institution. that and the lack of music makes for a joyless experience.
other than that, lack of flow, wires hanging out, things you can trip on, clutter, and a dirty kitchen are the worst.
and things like rugs or wall art from ikea with asymmetrical, "arty" blobs on them. dislike.
I find a lot of design styles are not to my taste. Some are fugly! Some I find just boring. But there isn't a design element or style that I'm allergic to. Some things in a home I do find disconcerting.
I to straighten other people's crooked art. Hell, I straighten crooked art at the doctor's office. It must be doing something inside my head as I can't not do it.
Messes in other people's houses don't bother me as long as I have somewhere to sit. Messy is different than dirty. I can eat at a messy house. I can't even take a glass of water at a dirty house. Again not exactly a design thing but an uncomfortable get under your skin thing.
Wall to wall carpet, especially in bathrooms (not uncommon in the UK).
To vertical blinds, overhead lighting, wall-to-wall carpeting, popcorn ceilings and flat-screen TV's mounted above fireplaces, I would like to add those cheap plastic insert thingys that are meant to give single-pane windows a multi-paned effect. Who do they think they're kidding?
- Red paint on walls -- it makes me think of a brothel.
- Piles of crap in corners.
- Plastic furniture -- I'm looking at you, Phillipe Starck!
- Stuff (rooms, fancy crystal, etc.) only used for "special occasions."
- tab-tob curtains
- place settings used as perma-decor on dining tables
- red walls
- rugs over carpet
- tiled countertops
Some of you have visceral reactions to what you think are bad design . I have visceral reactions to some of your comments.
It seems that many of you haven't considered that people might not have the means to change all the "bad design" you hate?
It's one thing to say, "I don't like that throw pillow" and a whole other to say, "your metal railings are terrible." Well, unless you want to give them $1,000 to overhaul the railings that are perfectly functional and keep people from toppling down the stairs, maybe you should think about not having such a visceral reaction.
I don't really like my railings, either, but I don't need judgmental people telling me that. They're my railings to hate, not yours.
Plenty of people have no idea what's in good taste. If they knew better, plenty of them would do better. Or so I think. Unless they're just rebels at heart. I don't care what they do. I pay attention to my own spaces, try to learn. Sometimes you can learn a lot from a bad example.
You can cut and paste most of these answers onto "karate chop" post. I don't think the question is "what don't you like?" but "what do you find intolerable to be around?" If you literally cannot be in a home with granite countertops, that would be a very strange phobia.
People who are judgmental about other people's design choices...
"I hate it when people try to pass off Braque as a Picasso."
Awesome!!!
My karate chopping list includes flat design compositions using the same matchy-matchy (rather than coordinating) 2 or 3 colors with all walls, accessories and fabrics; the impersonal off-the-rack look ie "Domino (mag) Effect" that stinks of a newly bought elephant or (zebra rug) in the room; furniture pushed up against the perimeter of rooms for "space".
Rattan and toilet lid covers! Eeech!
The scalloped screen door used to be my pet hate, but now the vinyl fence has taken precedence.
Harsh overhead lighting. Makes me crazy.Please, buy lamps people!
Pet beds in the kitchen. That is disgusting.
@Tamarind, Agreed! :)
Yet, even saying that.. filthy carpet with food plates and pizza boxes stacked on it. I walked into a home like this when I was buying something off of craigslist, once. I don't expect people to be neat freaks and super hygienic and I know not everyone can afford to decorate their homes. But outside of a frat house, what's the excuse for appalling dirt and letting trash pile up?
One word: Murals.
Excessive pillows of all shapes and sizes on a bed, all neatly placed and looking so totally fake and regimental. Whose design formula was this and where do they go at night?
This post is so similar to the other one, but what the heck who doesnt love a good whinge?!
What I really REALLY can't bear is glasses that look dirty even if they're not. I simply cannot drink out of a glass with watermarks, I end up rewashing and hand drying glasses every time I use one. I'm so anal about it that, for example, if Im drinking a glass of wine, I must wipe the rim after every sip (with my thumb which is probably not very hygienic ironically).
The funny thing about this post is that it just shows that eveyone is SO different. I love brass! I love some overhead lighting! We should celebrate our different tastes, because how boring would it be if everyone like the same thing?
Plastic anything.
Wow. I'm shocked at how a posting like this generates SO MANY RESPONSES! I'd be curious for AT to do a similar post regarding the opposite - what design trends/elements do you love? I wonder if it would get so many passionate responses.
My top design 'allergies':
Red. It's over. Move on.
Those 'collage' frames that have one giant mat with a zillion holes cut in it. Ikea has a really offensive one where all the holes are lined up and spaced out evenly. Please, PLEASE take the time to give each picture its own frame and hang them separately.
Thomas effing Kincade, whether it 'means something' to the owner or not.
Cheesy posed studio portraits, especially with more than one person in them. More allergy points if they're in color; then everyone's clothes are either clashing (bad) or matching (AWFUL).
Collectible porcelain stuff. Lladro, Precious Moments, all that crap Lennox makes, Hummels... you get the idea.
Anything pink (moreso if it's fluffy, or something like a toolbox that just shouldn't BE pink). I have two little girls, and I have the decency to keep their pink crap out of the common areas. I wish others would do the same.
TVs too big for the viewing space. The ideal distance from TV to couch is supposedly 3.5 times the diagonal screen length. This formula works pretty well in real life. Keep it in mind when buying your next TV.
Wall-mounted TVs. I don't care if it saves space. If you don't live in a hospital or a bar, there's no excuse.
Buddha art. No matter how hard it tries to look mystical and Asian and mysteriously cool, it is never able to cover up the fact that its owners are always A) non-Asians, B) non-Buddhists, and C) not cool, but trying really hard.
Now mind you, most of my family and friends are guilty of at least two of these offenses (though none own anything Kincade - me being an artist, that would be a dealbreaker). I adore them anyway, and treasure the time I spend with them in their homes. I just try really hard to get them to come to mine instead =)
Stucco.
The comments are funny, and it's easy to form a distorted view. I don't think people are really that judgmental, otherwise we would never have any visitors to our messy, cluttered, pet-filled home. I can easily overlook any decorating crimes if someone is welcoming, and offers me food and drink as soon as I step through the door. Otherwise, I feel uneasy and do not want to stay, however stylish the surroundings may be.
Wow ... lots of hate here. Come on people, let's learn to all get along. :D
For me, I just dislike overstuffed and oversized couches and chairs. The reason for that is simple: if I sit in them too long my back hurts. If other people have them and enjoy them: more power to them! I just can't sit in them.
A "Laundry" sign in a laundry room. Just in case you didn't know what you were supposed to do there.
Wow, I don't understand why people are getting so upset about the comments on this post. We are all entitled to our opinions. People are allowed to love family portraits on walls, and people are allowed to hate them. People can love mini blinds, and people can hate them. It's not a personal attack!
And for what it's worth, I read several comments about people hating hunter green. One of my couches is hunter green. Though not a fan of the color in general, I happen to love this particular hunter green couch, and I think it's perfect for the room it's in. People can hate it though, I don't mind. I'm not sad that everybody is bashing the color of my couch and complaining that I don't have $1,000 to spend on a new couch. Who cares what a bunch of random AT commenters who haven't seen your house think of elements of it? If you love it, that's all that counts.
This post is hilarious! Well, we look at other peoples "designs", this is a way to criticize without criticizing directly and hurting someone's feelings (directly).
I hate with a passion vertical blinds!
And cat smells should be #1. I had a neighbor, who, whenever I would visit her, I would come home congested! And I love cats, but that smell/congestion was just too much. But then she also kept a filthy place .And I won't get a cat til i find a fool proof way to keep them off the kitchen table. The thought of it makes me nauseous! (sp?) I get chills when I see photos of them posing on the top of the dinner table!!
I know that's not a "design" thing, but, hey, I'm venting.........
I suppose I would offend many with my "silk" plants, but they work for me. I have no green thumb, they look great, and I even dust them occaisionally! lol Real plants would die of thirst, as I don't even water myself enough. I grew up in N.J/Philadelphia area where the water was nasty and/or chlorine tasting! So silk plants save the day!
I don't like dark rooms, painted that way or because of closed curtains.
(Other people's)clutter. I stopped visiting a friend because you actually had to inch your way through her house. How can people live like that? I guess that's not design either, just lousy housekeeping.
Oh I forgot something- I hate formal living rooms that are never used. it boggles my mind to pay for a larger home, and then not USE the space. Maybe its because I live in 400 sq ft. hahah
Studio portraits. My husband's childhood home is full of them.
Itchy clothing! Since practically birth, my mom joked with me if it had any kind of itchiness to it (even if it was indiscernible to her) I refused to wear it. She got me an angora sweater as a girl- I almost burst into tears scratching my arms! If it has even 1% wool or animal hair, my skin is crawling. I'd freeze before I covered up with a wool blanket. Sp everything in my house, especially around my son now, is soft. Like, crazy soft. It may not be the prettiest, but its the comfiest :)
Design wise:
-any solid colored laquered things, esp furniture
-ANYTHING wood "honey oak" color (if you know the name, you know what I mean)
-any swedish styled furniture (that beech wood, Ikea looking style)
VixVax, I doubt it. People trip over themselves to proclaim what they dislike.This post and its comments amuse me.
I'm with the smelly crew. I can't stand any kind of excess scent in a room or house. - whether it's cat pee or too many flowers or strong perfume. I just can't stay in there if the smell overwhelms.
Carpet. Dark green or chocolate brown paint.
I'm always surprised when people dislike ALL overhead lighting. Some overhead lighting can be pretty bad, especially those single fixtures in outdated rentals, but what's so terrible about overhead lighting with soft/warm light bulbs and a dimmer?
dog hair, fogged up windows, pet smells...these are hardly "design" elements. just saying.
Only one thing really squicks me out in other people's homes: 2nd-hand upholstered furniture or mattresses. I never used to give a damn. (Well okay, I DID cringe at 2nd-hand mattresses, but I used to cheer on people's cool sofa/chair finds). But nowadays, I have a seriously unhinged paranoia of bedbugs!
Wow. I'm apparently one of those people that needs professional help and didn't even know it. We have a chandelier above our dining room table and other overhead lights, and I have a pet cat who uses a litter box. I'm sure there are other things significantly wrong with my house, too.
Carpeting - it never is really clean
What's with all the dislike of family photos?
Animals (cats especially) in the house. If you are fooling yourself into thinking they don't climb on kitchen countertops and range tops etc you need to set up a motion activated camera. YUK!
People that smoke in their house. Dirty habit, take it outside out of respect for your guests if nothing else.
Uneven anything. I was having new windows installed and the carpenter had one set in and ready to secure. I walked in and I could tell it was crooked. He insisted it was level with the floor and ceiling line, measurement wise. I asked him to put a level on it and I was correct, uneven. He redid it!
Sink full of dirty dishes. Ewww!
Too much stuff and nowhere to focus on.
These days I feel like I hate EVERYTHING! Pretty sure I'm suffering from design/decor overload/burn-out. I swear, I feel like every blog I read, every catalog and magazine that comes I'm like "Elch!! I hate it ALL!" Seriously over so many things these days.
We have two dogs and plenty of hair we live with in private but I'm SUPER ANAL about a pet hair free home when we have guests. That and a super clean bathroom. If someone I don't know all that well stops by or my husband invites someone and we haven't cleaned? I freak-the-fuck-out big-time.
For all the hunter green haters, word from the color forecasters that I know claim that hunter green and burgundy will be big next year. No joke. :D
Okay...
Overhead lighting, odors of any kind, be it bacon, bachelors or bloodhounds. Corral(or firing squad)furniture placement, fake plants/flowers(always dusty). Anything handcrafted(Laurie, I'm being polite here)in the 80s and 90s, art hung(too high/ crooked/crowded/from Ross). Gigantic television screens(especially over the fireplace). Fussy, over-the-top chintz rooms(can't tell the bed from the wall from the wingback from the drapes). Messy beds(that are supposedly made, seen here on AT). Avon bottle collections, anything from the Franklin Mint(how are they still even in business?!) Holstein/southwest(except in Santa Fe)/kountry, especially in the kitchen. Can you say goose dishware? Crocheted anything. And let's not omit poor, dear departed Thomas Kinkade.
Phew, that was cathartic...thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
I don't understand the disdain for indoor pets, Pidgie. There are many indoor pets that aren't allowed to roam the house. Guinea pigs, birds, rabbits, etc. By "animals" you must mean dogs and cats, but pets are part of people's families. Accept they might often do what they do (climb) and train them as best you can that they're not allowed to do so. And clean a lot.
1.) People with smaller than average living rooms, crammed with large furniture. A friend of mine has two full-sized sofas in hers, along with a couple of overstuffed chairs and ottomans, and a full-size dining room table.
2.) Too much clutter! Too many clothes; a different friend has actually turned one of her two bathrooms into a closet, with excess clothing hanging on the shower rod.
I'm hoping neither of these people reads AT posts!
Man bathrooms with sticky floors. I think that pretty much trumps an exposed light bulb. That and dirty counters. I have gone as far as cleaning the counters when the host leaves the room.
Once I was at an artist friend's house and his dog brought me a dead, petrified rat. I. ALMOST. DIED. I turned white, started shaking and ran out the door. I felt bad for being rude, but c'mon. Ewwwww!!!
I love it! Just read some of the other posts; the one below is funny. I happen to have lived in a rental apartment for YEARS with dirty beige wall-to-wall carpeting, and I LOVED being able to put rugs on top to hid the carpeting. I like tab-top curtains as well, and used to leave cups & saucers on a small table in my living room. (I don't do it anymore, but this made me laugh). It's definitely true that we all have different tastes!
"- tab-tob curtains
- place settings used as perma-decor on dining tables
- red walls
- rugs over carpet
- tiled countertops"
I understand what you're getting at here- but I think more care should have been taken with the title of this post. When you describe a friend really disliking a food and comparing that with an allergy- it's pretty insensitive to people who have very real, serious food allergies. Something to think about for next time! Thanks!
If a friend's place is CLEAN with minimal amounts of clutter (nothing wrong with a stack of mail on a console table, or a jacket over the back of a chair), then I don't really care what their design choices are. Not to say I don't judge, but it happens in silence. A family member or friend's design choices have no direct affect on me, unless (again) I'm forced to be somewhere that's dirty or smelly.
If you're inviting guests over, worry more about making sure the bathroom is clean and that there are comfortable places to sit, and less about whether you have too much art on the walls or whether someone is judging your choice of accent lighting.
Florescent lights, lace doilies and wine bottles with price stickers still on them (on the table at a dinner party).
I do think it's kind of funny that whenever AT has one of these posts asking people about various pet peeves, we always have so many people who are offended by the responses. It's an internet blog, people. Why be offended by the opinion of some random person you don't know anything about?
Well, I just thought of something to add, an exterior design element that I can't stand like that woman can't stand capers...I can't stand homes with exterior brick on the front facade and vinyl siding on the sides and back. To me, that is the cheapest of the cheap. Everyone knows that brick = quality, at least, that's what's meant to be conveyed. So when throughout the 90s and today houses are built this way it's as if the owner or contractor is saying "oh look! I'm a home made out of brick! So nice and quality" and then you see the side and it's like "just kidding." I don't know, go all vinyl or go all brick, it bothers me that a contractor tries to pass off a house as "quality" that way. THAT WAY (disclaimer, not saying the home isn't quality, it just says "I'm trying too hard.") In my opinion, I just find it bothersome and that's what this article is about.
Pidgie, my cat doesn't try to jump on my counter when I'm home, but if he jumps on my countertop or range top while I'm out and unable to shoo him off, I don't really care. I place all my food and utensils on a chopping block or plate. And the range top matters even less. I don't know about you, but all my food is cooked in pots and pans.
I hate:
Checkered floors. Ugh.
Orange.
I dislike:
Bad proportions and alignments.
Word art like eat/sleep/love - but 'poo' might just win me over.
Rooms that are too "busy".
A complete lack of continuity/coherence in a room.
Too much colour.
Collections of old clocks, typewriters, suitcases, antlers and whatever is trendy right now.
Books 'casually' disposed on every available surface.
@Happysparke: I'm neither Asian nor purely Buddhist but I am a Pantheist. I have not only Buddha, but Ganesh, a few Inuit shamans, a couple Christian shrines, various figures that have to do more with superstition and luck than faith, a mandala, a few Sanskrit items.
Does that make me tacky?
I'm on the bare bulb train. Talk about a migraine! I also can't stand when people use overly fragrant candles/incense/Scentsy type stuff. Literally a pain in the head.
1. beautiful furniture covered in dust (drives me nuts in my own home)
2. awkward and squishy toilet seat covers
3. too little or too much/big stuff in a room (my eye likes some space!)
@Dogshouse, there is a long history of using fine brick or stone on the front of the home and cheaper materials on the side and back. Typically if you were in an area that used brick, the good stuff went on the front and utility or fire brick went on the sidewalls.
What I don't like is when brick or stone veneer is used on the second floor and not on the first. In my head I'm thinking "I love that new fangled weightless brick just hovering up there."
White walls. White kitchens. The current obsession with everything white white white.
Good god, you all would die if you came to my house!
Oh!!! And cats on ANY surface where food is prepped or consumed. I saw one house tour here that actually made me nauseous. I don't care how much you love your cat, we all know what they use their paws for.
1. Grime and filth buildup.
2. Housepets... unless they will habitually and conscientiously wipe their own asses, stay off the furniture, and limit their 'private business' to a designated/remote poo-poo spot. ('No thank you' to garden parties on the lawn-cum-sewer.)
3. Unpleasant smells... tobacco smoke especially, which makes my eyes burn. Incense, patchouli oil, lavender, and eucalyptus are high on the list, too, but only for aesthetic reasons.
Lol at those of you who think cats, dogs, and litter boxes don't belong in the house. I feel really sorry for you guys. And I'm sure my cats jump on the counter, but it's pretty easy to wipe down a counter before you prepare food. Wiping down a counter is totally worth having them in my life!
1. Overhead lighting
2. Wall to wall carpeting
3. Stucco
4. Formica, granite, wood, tile, fabric
5. Smells, textures
6. Floors
7. Walls
8. Roofs
I have to say this (and the recent one) are on the best threads. I am truly enjoying all the comments. It doesn't bother me if I have something that other people cannot stand.
@Duane, thanks for the colour forecast (re hunter green and burgundy). I am sure you have it from reliable sources - and it's fine by me. I will just pretend they are in vogue on another planet. :-)
Red walls
Rural and rueful,
Lol I think you miss the point they were trying to make. They're talking about mass produce Buddha statues and the like and sold someplace like at Urban Outfitters or Crate and Barrel for 50 bucks because it looks artsy or whatever when in reality, it's a religious figure. If you have them like you do, clearly for a symbolic or religious purpose, go on with your bad self. The poster was saying that's who SHOULD. You don't see them decorating with crucifixes or Menorahs in catalogs and pictures but you sure as heck will see some Buddhas. Its in bad taste when you think about it.
Thankfully this doesn't qualify as domestic design - but nothing makes my skin crawl like sheets hanging in a window
Well, isn't someone's pet animal also a member of their own family and therefore the someone is entitled to have their pet animal anywhere they like? Although, my Fiance's sister hated her dogs inside her own home and complained incessantly about cleaning after them. She wanted to get rid of one of the two dogs but no one was game to take him. I would've loved to have taken that dog, but I hate her and wouldn't do her any favors.
Anyway, I don't like rooms decorated and not used, Formal Lounge, Formal Dining, Guest Bedroom etc. Are they just for status/show? Use it or lose it. When there is not enough space to build new housing, for the multitude of people who desperately need it, why are there so many careless home designs?
This is going off on a tangent, but more than I hate any specific design element, I hate people looking for specific design elements on HGTV shows. They are:
1. Single people with no children buying 4 bedroom houses that complain that closets are too small. Hello. You have FOUR BEDROOMS.
2. People buying houses with a half a million dollar budget that reject a great place because their dining furniture won't fit. A new dining table will cost you LESS THAN A THOUSAND DOLLARS. Instead, just buy the less desirable $500,000 house.
3. Couples that need separate sinks, especially when the house has more than one bathroom. First of all, what do you people do in there that you both need an hour at your own personal sink to get ready? Second of all, the McMansion you are looking at has 4 other bathrooms.
4. People whose children need their own bedrooms, plus a living room, plus a family room, AND a playroom because they need a place to hide the toys. I would argue that what they really need is someone to teach their kids to clean up after themselves.
5. People who ask, "but where is the TV going to go?"
6. And finally, people that want older houses with charm that complain that they don't contain any or all of the above features (large closets, double sinks, playrooms, etc.) Just buy a McMansion and put us all out of our misery.
fluorescent light, anywhere, but especially overhead . . . the horror!
Banana Mish Mash, I laughed out loud :).
@lunawhite: you knew of a dog that was hated by its owner, you liked the dog and would have loved to have taken it in but would not do so because you "hated" the owner and wouldn't do her any favors?
WHAT?
You have ruined my day with that one.
@ Esterogen : I know what you use your hands for!
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except for beige nylon carpet. And Keep Calm & Carry On posters.
Rooms that are unused except for entertaining.
I grew up in a home where the nicest, brightest, most pleasant space in the house was "off limits" because it was decorated too expensively for us to be able to use it on a regular basis. What a waste!
::virtual wince:: well my new apartment, into which I move Friday has...wall to wall carpeting, overhead lighting, and some GHASTLY bathroom fittings (the tub and the toilet are...MUSTARD)...my parents (beautiful, Shaker-built, 1820 farmhouse) house has red walls in the front hall/book room1 (book room 2 is the living room), and it looks LOVELY. I LOVE edison bulbs exposed, as my own design aesthetic tends to hover somewhere between Marie Antoinette (pink, teal, white, gold) and Steampunk (my phrenology head, fossil collection, and mummified rat)...
Design allergy? MATCHING FURNITURE. In my family, furniture "happens" to you. You get it bequeathed to you, or shoved at you. That's why i have a swan-neck table, and about 3 bureaus. Matching furniture just looks terribly unfinished to me.
I have chemical sensitivity and cannot be around artificial fragrance, among other things. Cheap candles and "air fresheners" give me an instant headache and nausea. Same goes for most perfumes. A place I worked at went fragrance free at the supervisor's request to accommodate this, which I really appreciated. Most people I visit know this about me and are very gracious. Another visceral reaction... I simply cannot sit with my back to an entrance. It creeps me out. I have to be able to see who is coming and going.
Beige walls. Its like you've given in to boring.
Yes, it would be awfully nice if people would start using "me" when it's appropriate! My biggest pet peeve of all time and even the most educated people screw it up.
I simply can't bring myself to commenting on other people's spaces. I don't live there. THEY do. If they're happy with it, that's all that matters. If it's too much for you, make your excuses and leave. If they ask me advice or an opinion, I'll give it in a positive fashion. That hideous ceramic lamp that makes you cringe might have belonged to their grandmother and makes them smile when they see it.
For me personally? Cold spectrum flourescent lighting. That sickly green colour washing over everything... *shudders*.
I have a cat and she has full run over everything. She was an abused animal so I want her to be happy in *OUR* home. Yes, she walks on the counters. Her food and water bowl are on the end of one. So what? Before I cook, I give the place a quick wipe down with antibacterial wipes. The carpets get vacuumed regularly so there's little pet odor.
See the family pictures? My mom's studio portrait has pride of place over the fireplace. She was a classy broad and that photo makes me smile. (Yes, classy broad. She was larger than life and lived it fully.) That pic of me and my dad? The only one I have of him. The one of my sister and me as kids in the snow? We had a full day of sledding, and we were gloriously insane from happiness that day. The one of me with a "WTF" face under the Eiffel Tower? My BF (to yank my chain) suggested we walk back to our hotel after a full day of sightseeing. "Are you friggin' kidding me?" *snap*
Feel free to poke fun at my saying on the kitchen wall. Point and giggle at my family pics. Scream with self righteous horror at my cat strolling on the kitchen counter. That's OK. 'Cause when you leave, I'LL be the one saying under my breath "thank fuque they're gone!"
I'm planning on moving soon and two things I cannot stand are full mirrored closets and fluorescent lighting in a kitchen - or really anywhere for that matter!
GIRLSFURNITURE, what is it with fluorescent lighting in kitchens? Every single one of my rental kitchens has had it, even the ones with everything else right. Thankfully, my next rental kitchen (finally!) doesn't have it. It has older (i.e. bulkier, less fashionable) track lighting. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess -- I'm just so happy it's warm and inviting light.
As I'm reading through this thread, and wondering where it went wrong, I realize that two questions were asked rather than one: what things in the homes of others cause a visceral, negative reaction, and what design choices in the homes of others do you detest (have an "allergy to")?
Very negative either way, n'est ce pas? Because we are talking about the homes of others.
Just a thought.
those glade things that squirt freshener at you when you walk by. ewwww
Overhead lighting of any kind.
Bare bulbs of any kind.
Fluorescent lighting.
Pouffy, fat leather furniture.
Wall to wall carpet, especially when it is stained or shagpile.
Unpainted or faux knotty pine panelling.
Brick veneer.
Shaggy toilet lid covers/bathroom rug sets.
Ruffled curtains.
Squishy toilet seats.
Beige and tan.
Ceiling fans with lights.
Sets of matching furniture (especially lounge and bedroom).
Cheap, hollow doors with bright faux brass hardware.
Oh, yeah, and also popcorn ceilings. . .
I should also add that I don't care if other folks have this stuff--and some of my favorite people in the world do have this stuff--I just don't want it in my house, if I can avoid it.
Totally agree with the visible tangled wires...I'm moving into a different workspace that has this issue and I have to fix it or I'll go nuts looking at day in and day out. Totally want a laptop and wireless router so I can ditch the desktop altogether in the new space. Design allergies that are holdovers from my childhood are metallic wallpaper and shag carpet. You can try to fool yourself and call it "frize" if you want to, but if you can lose Legos in it, it's shag!
Add me to the vertical blinds list. Also, those sofas and chairs with the pillow things on the arms. They're like detached cushions that wrap over the arms but then they're really attached. I see them on a lot of leather furniture. Don't like them. They look frumpy and hard to design around.
Popcorn ceilings- the person who invented them should be shot. Unfortunately, they're in every room of my house.
Bathroom tiles that are made of many pieces of smaller tiles, each surrounded by it's own personal, hard to clean grout lines.
Melamine cabinet doors.
Kitchens with really dark, traditional cabinetry. It sucks the vitality out of a room.
Lamps, I HATE floor lamps
Well, first off, none of you are ever invited to my home!!! ;^) (I'm sure there is something there for everyone to hate, although I happen to love it and think it works very well for us.)
But I digress.
I guess I'm in the "your house, your rules" camp, although I suppose if conditions were REALLY awful (strong pet stench, hoarder tendencies, dangerous flooring) I'd refuse to be there. Basically, the things I "can't stand" are personal taste things that I can tolerate as long as I don't have to live with them in MY house.
So, if I were house hunting, these are some things that would either be deal-breakers or things I'd change IMMEDIATELY. Trying to stick with decor only, not cleanliness or other peripheral things...
Pink anything, but especially bathrooms or carpets. (I prefer bathroom fixtures to be white and fairly new and eco-friendly, low flow, et al.)
Wallpaper (with a teensy number of exceptions) particularly sports themes designs! (One house we did look at had hockey themed bedroom paper. OMG!)
Anything broken, cracked, or not well maintained (especially flooring, cabinets, etc.)
Z-brick. (That's fake brick veneer, in case nobody else remembers it...)
Heavily textured paint jobs.
Faux paint finishes, especially sponge paint.
Colonial detailing, except maybe crown molding and a very few other things.
Any "shabby-chic" built-ins.
Glass brick. (I can do other things to prevent people from watching me shower, I don't need that annoying distortion...)
Shag carpeting.
etc.
The thing that bugs me about threads like these is not the posts that say, "I hate x, y, and z" but rather those that say or strongly imply, "What is WRONG with people who have x?" The former express preferences, the latter make moral judgments...about paint color? Miniblinds? Bare lightbulbs? Get over yourselves.
Cockroaches.
Also, a cuckoo clock that sprayed air freshener every fifteen minutes.
And cooked beets, while we're on the subject.
All you people who can't stand how your friend's furniture is ARRANGED are mean.
It's interesting reading... I have lots of things which I despise in my own space (grey wall-to-wall carpeting, stupid terra cotta tiled entry, too much dark wood, lack of lamps/windows, mess!) that other peoples spaces don't freak me out in any way.
Not that I mightn't have a mental sneer at the fake flowers, crappy generic artwork, or yucky brown brown brown decor, or other (to me) tacky or rubbishy decorating, clutter and so on. And on.
The only thing that really bugs me is when there's little to no attempt made to improve your space!
That said, I have 101 things in my own house which are imperfect and in a state of stagnant improvement.
Dirtiness really really bothers me. I know that not everyone can keep a perfect clean home but I can't stand it when someone doesn't at least keep their guest bathroom clean. especially the toilet and sink area. It's just gross.
I also can't stand dirty, unsanitary kitchens and when furniture is dirty and the homeowners seem to wonder why i don't want to sit. It doesn't have to be perfect but don't have people over if you can't keep your house clean.
When it comes to style and decor i try not to get annoyed but i can't help it
Here are some of my personal pet peeves:
1. When it comes to decor I get annoyed when people all have the same stuff and there is no personal style.
2. When people try to use liquor, beer, wine bottles, and shot glasses as decor. Unless you live in a frat house this is not ok.
3. TV's that are much too large for the space and that are the focal point of the room.
4. Anything that says Live Laugh Love or other instructions about how I should live my life
5. Spaces that are so impersonal that it looks like a hotel or model home.
6. When every surface is covered with knick knacks and other clutter. Piles of clutter in corners on the floor and on surfaces.
And if we're posting about pet grammar peeves, my biggest one is the use of a double "would have" + past participle:
"If I would have seen him yesterday, I would have given it to him then." <-----Wrong!!!
"If I HAD seen him yesterday, I would have given it to him then." <-----------Right!!!
This seems like a relatively recent development to me; I don't remember hearing this years back. Hate it! However, I don't wonder what is WRONG with people who say it.
I live in an apartment, and cannot change much about it, so the three things that stick out right now are:
-those ugly Victorian-esque type combo ceiling fan/lights...usually in brass or gold
-Faux wood cabinets and cupboards
-Apartment carpeting--that shaggy, nasty, dirty, medium brown, dust collecting dirt magnet! I have two cats, so you can imagine how much time I spend vacuuming. Horrible.
and another 3 for extra credit:
-Knotty pine anything
-popcorn ceilings
-those overstuffed, fugly 70s/80s style sofas...usually covered in some type of gnarly flowers or plaid....yeah, like this: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kpbl2urTps1qzihrpo1_400.jpg *shudder*
Like someone said:
treeless front yard.
@BANANA MISH MASH - I caught myself laughing out loud.
If one is poor, does not have any money, this kind of comment is of no importance. Commenting on AT is silly, anyway, and indicates privilege.
However, 99% of those who can somewhat afford to decorate do no have any taste or, more accurately, any style.
The light switches in our rooms are at different heights, but only off by a few inches. I'm not normally OCD, but why couldn't the electrician have taken a minute to install them at the same height? And why couldn't the carpenter have mitered the woodwork more carefully? And why couldn't the person leveling the concrete in the basement have "smoothed out the big wrinkles"? To me it indicates a lack of pride in their jobs or a need for greed by their bosses.
Giant mutant marshmallow black leather couches and overhead hag lighting.
Fake plants. Even the nice ones. If you don't want the real thing, just do without it. (In my opinion, of course:)
Mindless trendiness. Plastic toys.
Maxwell, please consider a followup question: What are the things you find in people's homes that you simply love??
everything posted..some I thought only I hated..'couldn't abide'. BUT THAT HUNTER GREEN AND BURGANDY 'comeback; just betttttttttttttah be a big fat liiiiieeee..'huntergreen..huntergreen..huntergreen....was all I ever heard back thennnnnnnnn..from 'decorating friends'. I need THERAPY all right....right NOW!
Oops. I just realized that there was a recent post about what we covet in others' homes. Cancel my question above.
There are a lot of design choices I don't like, but only clutter and filth make me truly uncomfortable. I have a really hard time relaxing at someone's home if it's really messy or dirty. I've definitely left parties early and avoided going to some people's homes because of my aversion.
Oh, and cabinet doors that won't quite close correctly. It's really all I can do not to look for a tool to fix them.
There's a floor lamp that I despise -- I think it's called a "torchiere" and it's in every single "House Hunters" episode I've ever seen. Skinny, black, about 6 feet high with sort of a wide cone-shaped dish holding a bare bulb pointed at the ceiling. Ugliest thing I've ever seen, yet everyone seems to have one.
And those 80's builder-grade beige laminate kitchen cabinets with the honey oak strip running along the edges. I made a U-turn out of every apartment I saw them in when I was house hunting.
I have "design allergies" and my husband has different design allergies. So, these are the things about OUR living space that one of the other is allergic to. You can play the Guess Who Hates What game.
White walls 10 years after the builder painted them that color.
bad faux finishes
action figurines as decor
wires and game systems in view
pictures hung too high
floral wreaths on the front door
floral china patterns
elaborate handle patterns on flatware
poufy/overstuffed couches
Luckily, we both have a great tolerance for:
Books as decor
ungraded schoolwork used as kindling. :-)
This post is seriously cracking me up!
Green carpet
Bar stool seating
Sliding glass doors
Candles just there for decoration with dust on them
Stuff that is plastic but made to look like other materials
Animal Prints
Too many unused small kitchen appliances sitting out
Spice racks
Wall hanging w/ school pictures of the kid from EVERY year of school in a clock pattern
Disney kids crap laying all over the house
Seconal couches that have built in recliners on each end
Furniture sets of any kind.
American Primitive stars. UGH!
Lots of remote controls laying around
Signs like "My kids used to run this house, but then I got a dog".
Hear, hear @Griffin & @Duane Hill. Get over yourselves, people. Sheesh.
" . . .was taught in design school that art should be purchased because it speaks to the dwellers soul, not because it matches the drapes. Thomas Kincaid was therefore labeled as a huge no-no for a well designed space."
Far be it from me to defend Thomas Kincaid paintings but those two sentences contradict each other. Some people like those paintings, maybe they DO speak to their souls.
As for cat litter boxes, well, guess what, cat owners don't particularly like them either. Hardly a decor choice!
I think the one thing I have an irrational hatred for are ceiling fans. Hate, hate, hate them. All of them.
I forgot! Seashell shaped sinks!
I don't know why I get such a kick out of this thread, but it is just so entertaining to see that everyone is an individual with their own personal likes/dislikes. Once I started listing the viscerals, I realized I had never verbalized any of this before. It was quite the list! The really great part was scrolling down and seeing some of my favorites disparaged(ORANGE), beautiful rugs on boring carpeting, popcorn(kidding!)
I loved Rose123, who is never having anyone over again, and Lulu32, whose rant on Househunters was spot on.
Design geeks are a breed apart. My friends think I am probably not human because you could bounce a dime on my bed(made everyday), but my 12 year old truck is always covered in dust, with a filthy windshield, and dirt and gravel on the floor and the bed, because I'm always hauling plants and furniture(did I mention all the scratches on the paint?) I could not care less about this as long as I keep the oil changed. I've dated guys that parked so far from the restaurant/theater/store to keep their precious vehicle from getting dinged, but back at the house, sticky bathroom floors and pouffy leather couches with head oil stains were A-OK. And guess who they call when their new beer pong table won't fit in the back of their Mustang/BMW/Escalade?
Keep those comments coming, folks!
i'm glad i am not the only one who hates ugly, harsh lighting! also wall-to-wall carpet. not a big fan. we turned down a great apartment last year because i just wasn't "feeling it," and although there was other stuff about it that was outdated, i realized the #1 dealbreaker was the wall-to-wall carpet. could. not. handle it. (especially when practically every other place in the neighborhood has decent-to-nice hardwood flooring! hello!)
i have SO enjoyed this post! i've been laughing my butte off reading each and every comment! thank you all for such great entertainment.
I try not to be down on anyone else's home or taste or decorating - one person's trash is another's treasure after all, but there is one thing that I just cannot abide! Cats on kitchen or dining tables or on kitchen counters. It makes me want to vom-vom. Actually that reminds me, I haven't seen a house tour featuring a cat on a table for a while now. Keep up the good work AT! Oh, wait. . . crooked pictures on walls. All my friends know that if anything on their walls is out by a millimetre, they can rely on my eagle eye to notice it immediately - and fix it for them.
* Giant screen TVs that dominate the living room, & all the furniture placed in the "worship the flickering god" position.
* Slippery leather couches. Leather couches. Who can relax on the skin of a dead cow anyway? Well, not me. Especially if they are slippery. Yuck.
* Humungous coffee tables, covered with junk, that take up all the floor space so I fall over trying to get to & from the couch.
* Glass tables. No. Smudge Magnets.
* Furniture that is "just for show". When you're not looking I put my feet up on them. Bwahahahaaaa!
* Lampshades that still have the factory cellophane on them. What?! Why?!
* All the furniture up against the wall like folding chairs at a middle school dance.
* Shag. Anything. Carpet, pillows, furniture, your husband's chest... Shag. No. Never.
* Stained, cracked squishy plastic toilet seats. Good grief! I'll buy you a new toilet seat for your birthday. Just don't make me sit on that scratchy cracked squishy thing ever again! (Unless it wants to buy me dinner first.)
* Freaky crotchet skirt toilet paper doll/holder things. What are they all about anyway with their beady little eyes staring at me while I'm putting antibiotic cream on my scratched backside from your cracked toilet seat... Shoo.
* Fancy "for show" soaps shaped like things you'd never actually rub on your body. And while I'm at it- fancy hand towels that are just "for show".
* "Plug-In" air fresheners. Air fresheners in general. And I especially don't like the spray can of air freshener that you keep on the back of your toilet so that everyone knows that your bathroom is smelly after you use it. Just stash that can under the sink or something. I don't want to see it or know about it.
* What everyone else put on their lists.
I have to stop now! I'm stressed out thinking about all this! LOL!
This is an awful idea for a post! After reading only a few comments, I vow to never be a negative energy design snob again. Really people, get a real life & quit sticking your noses in other peoples homes unless they ask you to ( or pay you ).
Just thinking about this makes me uneasy:
1. "Smoked" brown glass coffee tables and side tables
2. "Tuscan" style, i.e. hunter green and burgundy, fake grape leaves...
3. Lazy boys in general, but especially leather ones, with big cup holders or worse yet, sectional leather lazyboys!
Totally hearing Jillian Ruth. I also hate when whatever is on the wall is placed badly... like a few tiny pictures making a large expanse of wall look lonelier and all the more "renter beige".
Wood that has been re-painted so many times that it's become sticky.
When people don't take the time to remove wall plates before painting.
Oversized furniture in a small space.
Popcorn ceilings.
Squishy toilet seats.
Taxidermy of any kind.
Capers look like gerbil droppings. Your friend must have had gerbil pets in her youth, as did I.
adelaidean, i love your comment :) :) mostly because you found a way to make your picky obsessiveness endearing :)
in general, these comments cracked me up.
i just need good light. i appreciate so many design elements, but if pretty things are in a house with bad natural light, it's for naught. my house is smallish, only 1750 sq feet but it was built in two stories in an almost perfect square with an open floorplan so that every single room has big windows on at least two sides. it makes me so happy. so many mcmansions are built for size, but often have relatively poor lighting. and homes built in the 90s often have big walls with tiny windows, poor things.
QUOTE: So, my question today is, what are the things you find in people's homes that you simply can't digest, no matter how hard you try??
Sticking to the topic...I'd have to say *themes* with one notable exception: a themed room which is obviously a collection acquired over time and which expresses the owner's [curator's] eccentricity. I could spend hours in such a place listening to the tales attached to each piece...even if the pieces themselves are of no interest to me. Memories are priceless and the ultimate expression of good taste.
In such a place, I might not even notice the dirty dishes in the sink, the tacky family photors on the boring beige walls, the popcorn ceiling, the cat on the counter, the dog hair on the overstuffed burgandy & green plaid overstuffed couch, the hideous wall-to-wall carpeting that has seen better days, the hair in the lavatory or the ring-round-the-toilet. Perhaps I have no design sense at all, all....or.... perhaps I just prefer 'homes' over 'houses'.
Home is where the heart is.
.
I think bare light bulbs are nice if it is a design statement and the light bulb is nice. Non of those energy saving light bulbs please.
*photos*
omit one *overstuffed*
(and excuse any other typos - life's too short)
I, too, hate most of the things being mentioned here repeatedly. I have to say, though, I am surprised so many people dislike red walls. I don't like them either, and would never paint a room red, but I thought I was alone in that.
@Banana mish mash: Best laugh of the day. Thank you for that!
It's nice to know that I am not alone in this world. It makes me happy to know that there are other people out there who arrange furniture in their heads instead of counting sheep. People who can appreciate my desire to re-decorate the homes of my friends,family members and strangers ( sometimes I "glance" at garden level windows when I am on the sidewalk). However as neurotic and obsessed as I am with design, I am as grateful to all of the people with the the popcorn ceilings, red walls, bare lightbulbs, mattresses that were on the floor and uncovered, mini-blinds, cat boxes, plastic fruit, plastic furniture and off kilter wall art. They fed me when I had no food, loved me when I was alone and gave me a home when I had none. Because in the end, it isn't what's in the home that is important, it's what is in the heart. (sniff, sniff) Roaches and those stupid "Keep Calm" posters are however, the exception to what I just wrote.
happysparkle - no excuse for wall-mounting the tv? how about to stop it from flying across the room during an earthquake?
Everything stark white and beige and no color!
That rough, oatmeal carpet
When everything is too matchy-matchy and formal
I feel I must describe the most oddly decorated room I've ever been in. It was a bathroom whose owner apparently couldn't settle on just one theme because there were hunting scenes, butterflies around the mirror, lighthouses, little plastic sea animals, fake ivy, sea shells, animal skulls, and model race cars. I couldn't believe my eyes.
TAXIDERMY
Wow. Just...wow.
Over-sized wedding photos as the central focus of the living room (or any room, for that matter)
Yes. This!---Those 'collage' frames that have one giant mat with a zillion holes cut in it. Ikea has a really offensive one where all the holes are lined up and spaced out evenly. Please, PLEASE take the time to give each picture its own frame and hang them separately.
And bad overhead lighting.
Currently in my home I have many of the aforementioned allergy inducing items:
mini-blinds
ceiling fans
knotty pine
vinyl siding
nonfunctional shutters...
because what I am allergic to is home-improvement debt.
So we're talking design stuff that makes your teeth hurt here, not just stuff that I hate? I think what my friend like is their problem. I just visit and can go home again.
Style trends are always annoying once everyone thinks this is the 'right way' we should look.
Anyway... I just hate textured sheet rock walls and ceilings. After the struggle to learn to make good seams. the time and effort for a plasterer to make smooth walls in old homes, the texture fad just screams lazy or careless to me. And this stuff cannot be dusted or washed, so walls become dingy fast. Oh. I guess it is part of a trend to do imitations of some old or real thing. I guess what I hate is the fake-ness of it.
fake dropped ceilings
fake wood paneling
family photos on walls (a few small photos on dresser, tables, desk ok)
theme rooms (tuscan, unicorns, shabby chic) unless it's Don Drapers' apartment on Mad Men...
I don't have the energy to read all 250 comments to see if anyone else has already said this, and I'm hoping that someone at AT actually reads all the comments (sorry interns), but I what I really dislike are posts like these. I hope that AT does not continue posting them on a regular basis. They're filled with such contempt for others and snobbery, and it really turns me off.
@ Haydevs: Your bathroom description just reminded me of the worst offenders of all-
People who have an over abundance of lawn knick knacks: The Gnomes, the Miniature Lighthouses, the Miniature Wishing Wells, the Miniature Water Wheels, the Life Size White Lawn Geese (dressed up for every occasion), the Wee Wooden Bridges Going Over the Wee Streams of Rocks, the Whirligigs of Every Shape, Size, Description and Disney Character, Glass Dragonflies on Sticks, the Scottie Dog Statues, the Freaky Cherub Kids with the Maniacal Grins Riding Teeter Totters, Over Sized Ceramic Squirrels/Frogs/Turtles/Kittens/Bunnies (sometimes these things are bigger than the Freaky Cherub Kids!), American Flag Waving Virgin Marys in Up Turned Bathtubs.... I need a drink.
I don't care what other people do in their own home and how they decorate it. They live there, I don't, and if they're happy with what they have, it's not my place to "viscerally cannot stand" whatever is there. I don't like dark colors, kitchen islands, recessed lighting, granite countertops and carpets of any type, but if it makes other people happy at their place, so be it. And if these people are my friends, I love them to pieces and whatever is in their home makes them happy so it makes me happy for them.
This is off the hook! I hate zombie sofas and pedophile knit rugs.
1. Vertical blinds---they just make my skin crawl.
2. Fluorescent lighting---in the kitchen it is bad but in the bathroom---frightening!
3. Leather sectional sofas that recline.
4. Living/bedroom "sets" where everything matches.
5. Squishy toilet seats---they just don't feel clean---ever.
6. Badly hung art.
7. Wall to wall carpet in the bathroom----a total mold-fest.
8. Tons of fake plants or flowers---you can get away with one or two MAYBE. Anymore and you are just fooling yourself.
9. Cold, modern design with no personality or wood used to warm it up.
10. Lots of small throw rugs---dangerous and breaks up a space too much.
11. Houses re-modeled with cheap windows and doors.
12. Houses that look like Polly Pocket and My Little Pony painted them. Save your "special" colors for the inside.
13. People that just let their front yards die and make no effort.
14. People that purchase a modern home then decorate it Country French.
15. People that collect one item----let's say clowns---and then have them in every room, every nook and cranny. Nightmare.
Anyone else read these comments and get a paranoid feeling that you are afraid to have anyone over to your house ever again?
Any guest who straightened my pictures, moved my furniture, or inspected my dishes would be out the door on his tasteful tuchas.
Dirty bathrooms.
250+ comments. That's a lot of hating.
Oops, just remembered I once ended a relationship due to a plaid couch and some oak furniture. I guess I'm no model of tolerance.
haters gonna hate
@ Lindee- Did you say "clowns"? ! ? AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUN!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!
Remember to have a little compassion, people. I happened to move, get married and change jobs all within a month. During the weeks of chaos, stress and anxiety I had a friend who desperately needed to crash on my couch because of hard times. I later found out that she was frequently complaining to our mutual friends about the fact that our floors were not getting cleaned thoroughly enough during that period of time. She stayed with us for two months and never thought that we were so stressed that we did not have time to vacuum or even had the decency to pitch in. Meanwhile while she drank through our wine entire collection and watched movies on our couch. She and I are no longer friends.
I've lived in LA for almost 10 years and almost never had a TV in that time - certainly not one that was the center of a room. And now, I live in a rad 1920s apartment with a pretty small galley- like living room and I have a HUGE flat screen TV that my best friend gave me for my birthday. And the TV is super fancy/new and yes, I like to watch my recorded Laker's games and Game of Thrones episodes on it but it is really weird to me and I don't like it. Because of the shape of the living room, its definitely the focal point of the place which is not awesome to me. So I'm living inside of my own design allergy.
Achoo!
Aside from that, wall to wall carpeting in the bathroom (as I think one other person mentioned) makes me REALLY uncomfortable. Like, I'll walk in and just walk out without peeing no matter how bad I have to go.
No, there isn't a particular design or decor choice that I am "allergic" to.
People are so unkind. I love my home and like to think I'm fairly design savvy, but it's kind of a hobby and it's how I choose to prioritize my time/money. A lot of people have more important things on their mind. Seriously. Like almost anything else is more important. When I am in other people's homes I am focused on the company, not the decor. Imagine that someone is kind enough to invite you in as their guest and you "fix" the art on their walls? Shame on you.
blech.
270 responses to a post that filches from another previously anemic post. what do not liking capers and/or anchovies have to do with not "being able to abide by" bare light bulbs, or your perception of "inappropriately" hung artwork? good god, did you kick them (your friends) out of your house, or concoct this story for you paycheck? or were you having too much fun over the weekend not doing your job, unintentionally missing your opportunity to post your response stuff that doesn't really matter?
it's just an (another) unoriginal post...riding on the tails of the actually fun, but incredibly offensive to many, "karate-chop post;" about which i refuse to hyperlink (unlike above paid(?) employee and the drove of lemmings whom responded).
seriously, apartment therapy, you have become...lame. i miss your savvy and inspirational ideas about actual small-space living...created by people actually engaged in small space living. you have gone from a useful resource to a commercial sellout. boo.
may you all "curate" yourselves into oblivion!
and...bring on the grammar police! no contact lenses included in this astigmatic (look it up if you need help; mine is pretty severe) production. goodbye and, well, good bye. may your own creativity strike you some day.
Cheap plastic floor tile (especially when it has a multi-decade patina of grime), ugly colors (especially dusty rose), mildew, nicotine stains, dirty houses, taxidermy/antlers/other dead things, and carpet in the bathroom.
I can handle pretty much everything else.
oh, in case i forgot, f you all judge - mental design folk. like the rolling stones sang, "i used to love you, but it's all over now."
(enter...most likely to be deleted comment)
still fighting the astigmatism! someone save me and bring me life-saving lasik eye surgery now!
wee! this is fun!
Surprised that so many people would be offended if someone straightened their crooked pictures! Would you also be offended if someone told you there was spinach caught in your teeth?
I had this moment where I tried to imagine how to decorate my home without anything that was listed as a complaint on here. I just laughed. I decided my peeve is people who bother to be irritated about other peoples homes.
I have not cringed or grinned so much in a long time. For what it's worth, here is my list:
too many pillows on beds.
picture frames on walls without any pictures in them.
art hanging to high.
word art .
taxidermy
a look that's straight out of a catalogue.
overdesigned rooms.
everything matching.
mats around toilets
Just in case someone is picky - too high
Cats with feeding bowls on a kitchen counter!
If homes are a reflection of who their inhabitants are or aspire to, then they are a work in progress and can't be perfect. Sometimes I come into a home that I am grateful I don't have to live in and share their owner's life, sometimes I come into a home I wish I could adopt some of its flair and want to be friends with its owner.
And as dirt is unhealthy it doesn't count as an allergen, so I don't have any allergies, food or design-related. It's just that I don't like some things and wouldn't have them at my home or in my kitchen. Also I can't have too much of the same, even if I like it, e.g. after a day of cookie-baking I need a spicy curry, after a day spent in a modern minimalist surrounding I like to go to a cozy restaurant.
The only thing I always have the urge to change is toilet-paper hung the wrong way. I fix it, I don't run away with rashes.
From looking over the comments there seems to be some confusion between design choices and preferences and unhygienic / packrat tendencies.
We live in France and have recently sold our apartment in Paris to buy a house on the Channel shore and we will be renting a pied-à-terre in Paris so we have looked at a LOT of houses to buy and apartments to rent. This being said, what I abhor and will not tolerate in a rental property are the same things that I can change in the house we bought.
1. Wallpaper, especially vinyl, textured, or flocked wallpaper. France is the home of ugly wallpaper and I have more than had my share of removing it.
2. Wall to wall carpeting and since my mom slipped on a throw rug and broke her hip, I've decided not to take chances on those either.
I can live with white walls and white and beige linoleum flooring in the rental apartment, (both are clean and cared for) and I will replace the bare bulb currently in the kitchen with a proper light fixture.
On the other hand, we are paying to have a professional remove the years of accumulated wallpaper on the walls of the house we have bought and I will personally remove the linoleum tacked onto the steps of the staircase...but I will keep the black and white checkerboard marble floor in the living room and decorate accordingly.
Slip-covered chairs and mismatched dining chairs.
San Pellegrino water bottles on bar carts/kitchen tops in fancy houses featured in US blogs.
Wow, @Littlehomemaker, threatening physical violence! Too much! That is really taking things to the next level. I should certainly never have friends who couldn't laugh at and enjoy my perfectionist foibles. They certainly aren't offended enough to threaten me with harm. It is no joking matter, I wouldn't mind an apology!
SHEILAMD - I agree about the number of pillows. I need two at most, so what would happen with the other 6 on display?
BETTY33 - What is a 'pedophile knit rug'?
LULU32 - My exact sentiments right there.
RURAL AND RUEFUL - I like the dog, yes. But the fact the dog is still there to cause her continued distress gives me great pleasure. She is a truly wicked person who is banned from my young family.
I don't know about everywhere else, in Australia we call them Cottage Cheese Ceilings. I loathe this ceiling treatment, it literally makes my skin crawl.
Eames molded armchairs. Look like kids furniture.
Bananas. Try even a bite & I'd gag and tear up. Banana bread; give me the whole loaf. Go figure.
Family pictures should be relegated to the bedroom or album. Period.
Torchiers and massive overstuffed vinyl couch/recliner combo's. Buddah statues and other religious stuff. Shabby cheap- (the more correct name for the stuff). Little bits of knicknack crap on windowsills.
Anything from animation; Disney especially. Quilts, pillows, collections of old lady crap/furniture that could have come from the 18 or 19 forties. Too many real homes now are solely about comfort and clutter now; good taste & design be d*mned. Stepping outside a bit, 80% (being generous here) of stuff in thrift/antique shops should be hauled to the dump.
As for the OP & pet hair; loath having the allergy vs the animal and shedding unless it's on eating areas.
@jemmahall the tv conundrum!
Moved my big wide flat screen tv to hubbies office and downsized, quite small then it bought a whole new series of problems! Tinny tiny sound, do I feel like buying speakers and setting the, up? Well I'm just renting so NO!
I'd love the space to have a tv free lounge but nope. Still trying to juggle my space sontv not focus of design. Ugh.
Hey ppl don't take it personally and get hourly Tory its funny to have a harmless online whinge ;)
I often fall asleep mentally rearranging my furniture - but haven't got the spare headspace to rearrange anyone else's!
And I can't resist extended mental tangents renovating our stupid (but sheltering and warm) home.
Ugh sorry all sorts of mistakes and typos lol. Going to blame auto correct. Just squint one eye and go with least offensive guess.
I live in Maine. I am allergic to the Moose and Bear School of decorating.
Also I don't understand houses with no books. Or almost worse, books arranged by color. Does ANYbody actually read anymore? :)
I can't stand a room that is staged to look beautiful but the function of it is completely overlooked. Sometimes you can tell by looking at a picture that no one would ever sit in the chairs, set their drink on the end table, or be able to sit and eat at the dining room table due to the placement of the furniture, the heights of the furniture, or the style (and expense) of the furniture. I have to be able to picture how a room is actually lived in for it to be attractive. That being said, sometimes form should not completely give way to function as in the case of couches or chairs with built-in cup holders [*SHIVER*].
All this makes me think of that Lowe's ad where the smart young chick takes a sledge hammer to the vintage pink bathroom and ends up in bliss with all new stuff from Lowe's bath department. Some of us applaud her - "out with the old, in with the new"! Some question her pedestrian taste. And some, like me, are horrified at the desecration and declare we will boycott Lowe's over it.
Beige. I hate beige, and any room done in beige-y neutrals. Boring!
Heavy cigarette smoke and residue is about the only thing that is going to put me off someone's home. There are plenty of things that other people like and place in their home that I would not put in mine, but I won't break out in hives from it.
So- this whole site is called Apartment THERAPY. Therapy: "treatment of physical, mental, or behavioral problems that is meant to cure or rehabilitate somebody." And the way I see it, occasional venting, and having a "safe" place to do it in, about design/decorating styles IS therapeutic!!! So, to all the people who are upset that people like me freak out when they come to your home and are subjected to cracked plastic squishy toilet seats, or you are upset that other people lose it when they see knotty pine or clowns or your cat on the kitchen counter or red painted walls or... you missed the whole point of the story! This thread opened a whole line of therapeutic opportunities to vent it out of our systems. Yeah, it's better to say it here than to say it to someone's face "Hey Joe/Mary, totally dig your beautiful Miami beach house, but why the heck do you have to cover every available inch of space with shag wall to wall? Just asking." You WANT to say it, but you can't. Or else you'll never be invited to that condo on the beach ever again! LOL! But, really, you are dying to know why! WHY is there a dining room table size flat screen TV on the wall NEXT to the picture window framing that gorgeous sunset? WHY? And what's up with those stinky candles shaped like fruit? Arrgghhh. See, I feel better. THERAPY!!!! AND we get to maintain our friendship because you will never know how I feel about those "cute" wooden signs telling me to Laugh Love and all that. And I still love you! And your lake side rustic cabin hideaway with the stuffed moose head on the wall over the stone fireplace with the bear skin rug.... but that elk horn chandelier? I mean. C'mon!
where to begin???
Old houses renovated beyond recognition, wood paneling, vinyl siding, vinyl flooring, laminate flooring, popcorn walls/ceilings, drop ceilings, fluorescent lighting, carpet..
Matching suites of furniture:
Maybe you can have it in your home, I can't, severely allergic. However, if you're going to mix it up, proportion is key - off proportion is a major goof - no matter how cute the chair I don't want to feel like I'm sitting as a child would and looking up at you as the parent.
Poorly patched walls as a background for good design:
The foundation for good design must be in proper nick. I'm just itching to get in there and fix it, spackle is Not for patching holes because it shrinks, use drywall mud and it comes in the same small containers (and never use toothpaste! it attracts ants).
Cheaply framed posters of famous art:
And I bet you know the ubiquitous images I'm thinking of!
There are a lot of trends and designs I don't prefer, but I am fine with different tastes. What feels like an allergy (and I really don't know why) is overhead lighting. My body immediately feels uncomfortable. Just a couple of cheap lamps will cure the feeling. My best friend has the opposite "allergy" and turns on all of the overhead lights that came with my house when she enters a room. I have now taken out all of my overhead lightbulbs. We both laugh about it, but cringe in each other's homes.
I am not a fan of wallpaper borders, placed half way up a wall to create a faux dado rail.
And I don't particularly like UPVC windows from the 90s. Lots of them were very ugly in my opinion.
A house with no books, magazines or newspapers and the tv, like a god, as the focal point of the living room.
Anything renovated/fixed halfassed from being lazy.
Like when my sister decided to re-stain my mother’s dining room floor. She stained around the large oval rug instead of rolling it up and moving it.
Now there's light wood in the center of the room and dark streaks around the edges. Seeing that is rage inducing.
.
From disliking a food that many people commonly dislike (anchovies), to disliking something that you're allergic to, to complaining about popcorn ceilings and slip-covered chairs?
I don't get this post. It really lacks focus.
I think my biggest pet peeve right now are these "What do you hate?" posts!!!
Enough already. How about a little positivity? How about "What You do Love???"
These pet peeve posts are a huge turnoff. I go to AT for a little stress relief and inspiration. Not to listen to a 300 people whine and complain about something that has absolutely no effect on them whatsoever, like books on a bookshelf. Gasp!
'and the tv, like a god, as the focal point of the living room'
The above quote made me laugh. I've said the same thing dozens of times.
@ecuadoriana1: OMFG that was hilarious!!
Something that gives me the chills is to see a dirty wall, especially around light switches. What's up with that?!
@Mister B: if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen/internet. The rebuttle to your comment was hilarious, take your owning with a little grace.
Smoking in your home. Gross. Who does that? It smells awful and I can't bring my kids to your house. Eww.
I hate hunter green.
and plaid sofas, chairs
lots of cutesy clutter from homegoods LLBean type stores
rooms too full of furniture, rugs, throws, pillows, heavy drapes covering the windows --suffocation...
dog and cat hair --unclean dog beds, more than one beanbag dogbed in a room.
rawhide chews strewn on floor.
otherwise I don't mind how things are decorated -- I visit because I love the people who live in the house. The elderly always say yes when I offer to tidy up their house, but decor is theirs to live with. I don't care for large doll or gnome collections. When I was a kid I liked looking at collections and photo albums, but that has kind of worn off, unless very old photos /collections.
be careful when wanting to wash a grimy wall-- I once cleaned a spot on lady's wall near the stove when I was waiting for the kettle to boil....and it was SO noticeably cleaner than the rest of the kitchen, I had to do the entire room and ceiling. still it was worth doing for her, she was too old to do it herself, and couldn't afford a cleaner. it frustrated her to not be able to keep her rooms clean. very sad, because she was a clean stylish person and loved her apartment so much.
Hunter green, golf themed motivational posters, wait- all motivational posters, Thomas Kinkade, and dead animals hung on the wall
1) Floor and table decorations that serve no purpose and aren't original art. I'm talking about half of the stuff at Pier 1 Imports--a jar of wicker balls, a wire stand with fake ivy, you get the picture. Dust collector.
2)Too much artwork with written statements. Only one statement poster per house, please.
3)Agree with the alcohol themed decorations (bottles, shot glasses). Blech.
4) Trim/accents with different colors of neutrals. I'm currently fixing this in my home, but our previous owner didn't mind having a beige light switch next to cream trim and below a white plug-in. Our house is 800 square feet, and 3 "whites" in one 8x8 room is awful.
5) All beige. Even all white is better. But all beige reminds me of mid-90s suburbia.
oh yes, and too many throw pillows on the couch and plates on the walls. In my mother-in-laws home, she has 48 plates for decoration in the den, and 10 throw pillows for one couch, she also has other seasonal plates and extra throw pillows in storage.
@FIZZFIZZ -- someone who puts down another person for displaying object of faith or spirituality? That about sums up this sour, sour thread. It's depressing to know how much anger you all have.
Bad move, Maxwell. You did this once and it was sort of funny because it was not directed at others (what "trends" bother you in general). You did it again, though, asking people to take aim at other people's homes--homes *they are invited into as guests". It's mean spirited and rather childish.
I had a teacher in high school who played a mean but instructive trick on the class. She asked everyone to write on a piece of paper what they disliked about someone else in the class. Obeying the instruction, most of us did so. After sorting through the pile of nastiness, the teacher read several of the anon" insults aloud, omitting the name of the target of the barb (many of them were obvious, though, as the class was small). She then read the one positive comment in the group,, which was something about the writer not disliking anyone or anything about anyone in the class. She identified the writer (so much for anonymity...teachers know your writing). I knew the girl well and knew she was not incapable of being as negative as the rest of us. But she knew enough to keep it to herself.
The teacher lit into us big time, as she should have. It was a mean, manipulative thing to do to kids, but I still remember it.
Please don't play this trick again.
Hoonuit wrote:
"I don't have the energy to read all 250 comments to see if anyone else has already said this, and I'm hoping that someone at AT actually reads all the comments (sorry interns), but I what I really dislike are posts like these. I hope that AT does not continue posting them on a regular basis. They're filled with such contempt for others and snobbery, and it really turns me off."
Seconded.
This is the kind of thing that's a fun conversation with < 6 friends who all like each other, but in a place like this turns into a negative hatefest immediately.
The internet is not short of a*holes telling everyone else they're wrong. Number of comments doesn't mean "ooh, popular thread" either - anymore than multiple dog pee stains means a lamp-post is "popular."
I hate rows and rows of pillows on beds. One or 2 pillows per person is enough and there's nothing more annoying than having to remove a dozen pillows of various sizes and shapes before one can rest one's weary head. And the four layers of decorative blankets and throws.
Then one has to try and remake the bed in the morning (if one is a good guest).
Also abhor the huge black flatscreen televisions- they ruin the lines of most rooms.
On a visceral level I cannnnnnooottt stand Army green rooms with bad light, torchiere's (EWWWWW) and vast green lawns (the waste! the Waste!)
These comments are indeed a sad turnoff.
I'll let people come into my home - and if they say bad things about it, it reflects more on their manners than my house.
I don't like these things, so I don't have them in my house. Unless I'm in physical danger, I don't let them bother me when I'm elsewhere -- to each his/her own.
1. The accouterments of children, such as plastic toys, sippy cups, and televisions tuned to the Disney Channel
2. Reptiles and rodents
3. Light-colored oak furniture or cabinets
@MESOSAVVY I have to assume that comment was carefully constructed as satire ... otherwise, great representative comment for a bunch of completely out of touch loons. Do you all really find yourselves needing to escape a space because the curtains are hung too low, or the furniture "flow" is all wrong. MY GOD.
EJBRAMMER , thats why we comment here and not in peoples houses. This site is all about a celebration of style and substance. But to appreciate the great we should also sometimes pay attention to the crap, in fun and for interest sakes.
I think it would be hillarious to have a reality show where designers chose 5 of the above elements and "Make it WORK!" Hee heee....
I'll take:
TV as god as the center of the room
Rodents ( i would totally use those transparent colorful tube connected kits from the 70s)
Pine Paneling
Eames molded armchairs
Crooked pictures on walls - (I'm gonna have to use this one at my place!)
I went to a party recently where I admit, the thoughts going through my head after using the bathroom were um, critical. There were also grease-encrusted knick-knacks in the kitchen and at best, a wafer-thin veneer of cleanliness and a massive overlay of clutter elsewhere. Well, of course days later, when a group of people who had attended were together, the conversation turned - first gently, then with a vengeance, to the house and homeowner. The dirt in that house was nothing compared to how dirty I felt during that conversation. Seriously people I felt ashamed. How foolish of that person to believe that his kindness and hospitality were more important than the state of his house. Ugh.
Clean is the ultimate luxury. But working full time, having a house full of kids, it's tough. This is more class-bashing than style critique.
Having said that, I am coming to truly hate hate hate Scandinavian or Modern when it is slavishly adhered to. God. Oh, and two-toned walls. Haaate.
Hunter green and burgundy is coming back? What's next: mauve and baby blue? Thought those were entombed deep below the surface of the earth... I'm not a big fan of white walls and light oak trim. The trim takes on a life of its own, outlining every window and door. Fake ivy covering the tops of kitchen cabinets makes me shudder. Silks? They never are, are they? Drieds? They're dead. And full of dust. Wreaths inside the house, especially over the bed (see "Drieds" above). Wallpaper borders. Flies. Cutesy signs, although I'm hanging onto my one sign, in my home office: "There will be no working during drinking hours."
There are a lot of things mentioned in the post above that I don't particularly like, but I don't dislike any of them enough to have any kind of visceral reaction to them. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU - your posts make me feel like a laid-back, easy-going, non-OCD, happy go lucky - normal - person who doesn't get hung up on minutiae. This really is therapy!
BTW - I am NOT making this up: there is a person in my family who has a bright red accent wall in the living room, with a worn out huge hunter green leather couch in front of it (totally scratched because the dog sleeps on it), a coffee table covered in stuff, plastic toys in piles to one side, no proper lighting in the room whatsoever, plaid curtains, family pictures on the wall (in random spots and in those funky frames with the cutouts), and to top it all off - a maroon lazy boy chair (the color totally clashes with the red accent wall). Oh, and the huge flat screen TV is the focal point, on a TV stand that is too small and too high, and always on. You all have hives yet?
Television over the mantel.
wicker. Hell is furnished with wicker.
also- the chalkboard paint on everything- it's such a cute idea...but it also sets my teeth on edge! what if someone just came up and caught their nails on it? or a fork? or a squeaky piece of chalk?!
It's not really so much a design thing, but what gets the hair on my arms rising is the feeling of the underside of a bowl made from earthenware that has nog been properly finished e.g. still has a rough edge (the kind that, when pushed over a wooden table, would leave the table scratched.
Downright horror!
Throw pillows.
My husband and I live in a plain, tiny, white aluminum-sided house with an ugly black metal railing and a crooked front sidewalk. We put laminate floors in the kitchen to cover the disgusting vinyl flooring and hope to pull up the the carpet in the rest of the house and refinish the hardwood floors someday. We have a few crappy pieces of furniture mixed in with some awesome ones since we can't afford to buy or make everything we want right now. We are slowly transforming our plain little house into a comfy, welcoming place and I would hope our guests aren't secretly judging us the whole entire time they're here.
No, it's not our dream house and there are tons of things we would change if we had the time and money. But the mortgage payment is less than most rent, we have a yard big enough for a huge veggie garden, and the space for my husband to work on our home improvements/furniture building. Life isn't an HGTV show. Creating a perfect home for yourself is a rewarding process that happens over many years, at least for most of us who have to be creative and budget for good design and improvements since we don't have unlimited funds.
You know, I participated in this post yesterday - commented on a few trendy design elements that bug me. But now, in retrospect, I wish I hadn't. This post is such a heap of negativity. We have different tastes and styles. Asking "What are your favorite design elements?" would be much more useful to everyone, and much more uplifting.
I was set up on a blind date once and invited to his house for cocktails with friends. As he was giving me a brief tour of his home, I noticed that there were no books anywhere.
There was no second date.
Anything faux-aged makes me want to barf. There are VERY rare exceptions, but honestly, about one in a million attempts at making things look older actually make something that doesn't look like absolute shit, and I just don't get why people keep trying when it is almost always a failure. Same with new things that try to look antique, but really just look very cheap and mass-produced (you know, this kind of thing). Trying to go for an antique look with a bunch of cheap plastic tat is just baffling to me. If you want a vintage look, find vintage stuff, and if you're too lazy to hunt down second-hand goods or just want new "vintage" stuff, at least find things made with even a scrap of good taste and have a classic look without trying (and failing) to look like something they aren't.
So many many things I hate. A lot of these things are in my rental house right now so does that save me from sounding too judge-y?: popcorn ceilings. Vinal blinds (they are always, always filthy.) A million family portraits (I have mine in one small spot from which they cannot be allowed to stray.) Drawers hanging open. Cabinet doors that don't shut. BUGS. Clocks that aren't set to the right time. The TV constantly on. Inspirational words. Piles of junk mail. Kitchy stuff. Furniture shoved against the walls. The AC when it is only 78 degrees outside. Fake flowers.
The most common thing that would make me cut my visit short is cigarette smoke.
Wall to wall carpet. Heavy drapes that aren't easy to launder.
I smell mould, mildew, fungal stuff, so anything that traps makes me uncomfortable, but after taking up carpet in a house, the amount of dirt was more than I could imagine. And imagined a lot!
I'm a renter, and I go to the higher end of budget to avoid carpet. I also pay to have it cleaned twice, yes, twice, before move in if I can't get a carpet free home.
I'd rather deal with moldy bathrooms. I can keep that at bay.
Florescent lighting is the worst. I was put in a residential school with hundreds of bare florescent tube lights shining upon us from 5AM to 10PM. Harshest light to wake up or to got to sleep. I grew up in India where quite a few have solid teak hardwood furniture that is custom built and hand polished meticulously, marbles and granites of all kinds and colors, all that bathing in the ugliest blue hue of the florescent nightmare. I forced my mom to change all to warm lights yet she won't allow me to change the kitchen.
I am an Indian myself and am bewildered that some of my closest friends, family and all others can't stand warm lights???WHAAAT? I simply have not met an Indian(among a few thousand) who likes warm light, I am not stereotyping/alienating/generalizing my own kind but it is just the raw fact.
I would hope that most people do not expect everyone whose home they visit to conform to their specific tastes and quirks. After all it's not your home. And if the company is good who notices if the pictures are a little crooked or the curtains are hung too high.
However this is a design site and people here are interested in good design and housekeeping.
harsh lighting
"air fresheners" or scented candles (they give me a headache)
I am so tired of red rooms, but I suppose they are still popular
granite counters (they aren't as exciting as you think they are)
This is an outside thing and it drives me nuts because we the people have to suffer with it. People who install their fencing INSIDE OUT. We don't want to look at your fencing seams!
Oh, and I just got married, and realized my husband is "that guy." The one who leaves the shades/blinds all off kilter. I have to go behind him and straighten them out. I guess I'm more anal than I realized.
@gails1375 - I thought I was the only one that re-arranged furniture in my head. Awesome.
I love this! I abhor curtains hung on the window frame. Dirty, scummy soap dishes. Clutter . Food stuffs left out in the kitchen like bags of chips, bread, etc... I can't stand food on top of the fridge either. Nasty kitchen appliances that have seen better days left out on the counter - a horrible "Fry Daddy" for example. Burner covers...ugh. Terry dish towels with any type of motif - apples, roosters, red peppers, etc... Taxidermy...period. Old bird's nest. Dried flowers. Dirty bathrooms and the dirty bath rugs. Resin flower pots - really, resin anything. Kid's photos everywhere and kids toys taking over the house - and, I do have grown kids and a grandson so I love kids! Weird smells. Dead plants. A lone picture on a big wall.
mold, dead plants, dusty plants, excessive floral scents, pets on tables and counters, faux flowers and greenery all over the place
This will sound ridiculous, but...I HATE THOSE DAMNED FRENCH AND ENGLISH COLONIAL MONKEYS! I want to smash every creepy monkey I see. Why?! Why must they haunt me so???????????
Oh...I really can't stand sheer window curtains in any other color than white or ivory. I don't think this post is snotty or judgmental...it is just a fun way to vent about stuff we don't like. I am certainly not going to write someone off if they have red sheer curtains! Someone above mentioned disliking old typewriters - I collect old typewriters - hey, each to their own!
My biggest peeves:
•if I see one more "keep calm" poster or knock off I will truly not just ew, but puke
•manufactured oil paintings
•inspired words on a wall "live, love, blah blah blah"
•matching furniture
•pink or purple girl rooms, canopies, etc.
•manufactured distressed furniture
man, that kinda felt good
One design thing that annoys me is when there are too many mirrors in a room that is not a bathroom! I know that mirrors can be a way to make a dark room seem lighter or a small room seem larger. But I don't like constantly catching a glimpse of myself as I walk around a room. I find it disconcerting!
Oh, this is so fun. If all these "dislikes" really bother you then go to the "Gallery wall done right" post!
I agree with the hunter green, burgundy and navy combo. My dear friend still does this. (But don't worry she is still my friend LOL and I actually plant my butt in that ugly chair all the time!)
Overly ornate and floral. Actually, any floral print.
Too many family portraits, I'm getting dangerously close to having too many right now.
PS, I love a karate chopped pillow.
I had no idea that so many people had such strong disdain for family photos hung on wall and displayed everywhere.
They don't really bother me except when they are on every surface. Especially on kitchen countertops next to the stove (though i don't like non-cooking related items on the counter at all) And when they are in the bathroom. I don't need pictures of your family looking at me while i'm trying to use the bathroom!
Can't believe there is another thread allowing people to turn their nose up at people they deem design challenged. I don't ask for approval from anyone, other than the family members that live with me, when I hang a picture, or make a purchase for my home. I don't care what others think because they aren't paying my mortgage. When I visit someone I go to see the people that live there. I don't go to see if they have original art or wall to wall carpet. I don't want friends who love my stuff, just friends who care about me. I have fun looking at what other people do with their homes on AT, but I won't bother with AT if it becomes a platform for judging people. There are more important things to be "allergic" to than design!
Home design does not bother me, I have a live and let live approach. However, my former in laws (and ex) gave me three major non-design but in the home hatreds. 1) cigarette butts and ash trays everywhere; 2) porn everywhere, to the point that your children will not bring their children into your home; 3) animal waste on the floor inside the home (not like "in a litterbox" that is fine but on the living room or dining room floor).
YES! uneven shades and curtains. Personal care items like nail clippers on the coffee table or dirty balled-up socks left about the house after a Dirty Balled-Up Sock War or
used paper towel stuffed down the couch. ... no WAIT thats my house.
Visible dust on furniture, furniture set flush against walls or side by side furniture rather then some kind of arrangement, "state fair chic" (pictures of the twin towers, gold metal frames of panthers or unicorns---aak!)
@Mella, I agree with your sentiments 100%. This is why I stopped inviting people over as so many are too judgemental.
Dudes. You would all die of aesthetic shock if you entered the semi-furnished house I currently rent (it was what I could afford while on hiatus from work to care for my infant son). I think it literally contains every allergy thing listed here... maybe thats why my "snobby high horse" list was so freakin' long! As I type this, I grind my teeth and stare at the living room wallpapered in hunter green damask and decorated with not one but three taxidermy ducks. Behind me looms a three foot by four foot realistic original oil painting of a dark dirty barn crowded shoulder to shoulder with fuchsia hogs (at least 18 faces are shown, but the hogs go on forever onto the darkness of the endless barn). This is my reality! I'll still invite anyone over. Maybe you AT folks can help me find a way to embrace these stomach churning elements -- after all, it's this kind of stuff that leads me to this website, thinking, "maybe I can find a way to make it work on AT!"
I'm seriously mystified by those who are like "I would never be so shallow as to not like something in someone's house and if anyone ever didn't like my house I would never speak to them again or I would physically hurt them, and knowing that this happens somewhere (far away, possibly in another country) makes me want to stop talking to people forever." Yikes, crazy! I am glad I don't know anyone who is totally unable to maintain a friendship that includes at one point a mild form of conflict over likability of a material item.
@ Aaron Kllcat TheHappyCollective: I think your idea about having a reality show called "Make it WORK!" ("where designers chose 5 of the above elements") is hilarious! I would actually GO to a friend's house and watch THEIR over size TV just to see a show like that!!! Brilliant concept. We should pair it with MY reality show idea called "Extreme Minimalist" (which I wrote about on the Hoarders thread), where people try to outdo each other living with the most extremest of minimalism, though from the outside the house looks "normal"- Inside, people are dining by ear wax candles & sitting on wooden crates that, when later mounted on skateboards, double as the family car.
I want to see your design team "Make it WORK!" with:
1. Velvet paintings (especially the rhinestone tear eyed Elvis & Jesus)
2. Cracked Plastic Squishy Toilet Seat (yeah, I'm sickly obsessed)
3. Obligatory Wooden Beam Down Center of Room (& the faker the wood the better!)
4. Lamps that are WAY too large for the tables (MUST still have factory cellophane on shades).
5. Primary color wall paint.
I feel so validated. I, too, hate pictures hung at different heights (ok, a gallery wall done well gets a pass). I also hate tons of family pictures (like another commenter, I have a designated spot for my wedding photos, and they'll probably be pared down as time passes). AND CLUTTER MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM. Clutter includes knick-knacks, collections, cutesy picture frames (zomg i had a roommate who covered the common areas with pics of her fam and friends), "inspirational" things, cheesy art.
Oh, and beach themes can so easily and so quickly go wrong. Don't do it, people. Do not even think about putting flip flops, in any form, on your walls.
My list :
1. I cant stand homes full Clutter -which means old/antique brass "this and that" displayed so tackily that most people would trip on it, or it gathers dust anyway
2. Under disciplined kids -which means things are never picked up after they finish playing and so on
3. Flashy door knobs, flashy accessories
4. Plastic plants and plastic flowers. if you cant afford fresh flowers dont have tacky ones that gather dust... There are so many Indoor plants that are easy maintenance, opt for those!
5. Dirty Kitchens. I dont even drink water if someone's home smells
6. Pet odours/hair
7. Baby odours - add to that guests who are new parents who come over to other people's houses and dont know how to dispose off diapers..yikes!
8. Huge bulky furniture.
9. Low lights esp during daylight. Cant stand homes with a stuffy smell as a result of not having windows open(yes in India we can afford to have windows open most of the year)
10. Curtains that have waves on top. I think its suitable only for theatre and looks tacky in homes.
Who acts like this in other people's homes?
My design allergy is people who can't appreciate 'good' design without filtering it through their own tastes.That's a lack of critical thinking I can't abide..What inspires such people?Better question is ...would you actually take their design advise,much less hire them?I would hope not.If you need a 'designer' of this type...chances are you also need an architect,engineer and both fine and commercial artists.Money helps too.Actually,the list of design professionals you desperately need is endless.Fortunately.most people know exactly what they don't like and good design allows them to be inspired to enjoy what they do like.Makes the design world go 'round and 'round.
Renovation and decoration are not the same things.Cleanliness and animal husbandry are not design elements.Minimalism is classic design theory and should be functional.Minimalism should never be reduced to a theme.Dumbed down minimalism is bad design.Just because you like it doesn't mean it's good.Always look at design with a critical and educated eye.You'll be very surprised what you do like.I've seen some very frou frou,but good minimalism on AT.The minimalists hated it.
Most self proclaimed minimalists at AT are using minimalism like it's a theme.Ah-choo....my design allergy is acting up.
I would also like to vote for this being the last post of this type. There really isn't much that is new or original being said than the first time.
Lol @eucadoriana1
I think this blog sums it up nicely:
http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/
Most of these dislikes are not design elements, and I think the question was phrased to elicit the maximum number of responses. I have many things in my home that might make Maxwell's skin crawl - cats, a HUGE tv screen, and lots of things (or clutter, as AT would call it). The cats do shed, but because we have hard flooring, the fur can be vacuumed with minimal effort on a daily basis - GOOD DESIGN. Our TV does not dominate the mostly open-plan space because we thought to put it on one side of a dividing wall so some family members can enjoy gaming and home cinema at the same time that others read or chat - GOOD DESIGN. We didn't think of utilising the dividing wall for extra storage, and as a result, there is more 'clutter' than necessary on show - BAD DESIGN. Please can we just have examples of good design on a budget, not posts that berate people's chosen lifestyle?
I should also add, not posts that berate people's lack of time, design know-how, and financial resources.
Dirty bathrooms, toilet seats ...........Eew . Dirty Cutlery, coffee stained cups and spoons
DIRTY KITCHENS. Dirty bathrooms. Sticky furniture or covered in a layer of dust. When you open the cutlery drawer and it's all sticky inside. Bad smells coming from the kitchen, meaning the residents don't take out the garbage and/or don't wash the dishes. I really hate to see a pile of dirty dishes, There's something so gross about it that I don't think I look at people the same way I did before. One thing is to be poor, another is to be dirty. Most of my cringe things are these kind of stuff and go ahead and hate me, but unmade beds. I really think it shows people are not neat and clean. It's not worth it looking like you've just walked out a fashion show if your house is dirty. Forget class. But on design terms, I really hate walls as green as a lettuce, and just too screamy colors on basic paint. If you're going with fuschia for your walls, choose a nice wallpaper with satin finishing or something, don't just throw a can of paint at it. I don't like a room where all the furniture matches and where the upholstery of the sofas matches the chairs
I hate a futuristic look, like too many plastic going on. Bare lightbulbs also make me nervous, like some people said. They're just harsh and not pretty at all. And I do like an industrial look, it just has to have some beauty to it, in terms of good fabrics and finishings. No one likes to live in a actual factory
Oh and clothes/ toys all over the floors. Excuse me but my mother worked all day and she had no help whatsoever while we were little and she never left the house in the morning with unmade beds, dirty dishes on the sink and stuff on the floor. There are some things that just never go out of style
Another votes for wedding photos in the living room. Ugh.
symmetry. i can not stand symmetry.
broken plastic blinds- throw them in the TRASH!!! they cost 50¢. here- I have extra curtains somewhere- you obviously don't care if your windows don't look nice so who cares if they match.
fake plastic dusty plants. throw them in the trash next to your broken blinds.
la-z-boy furniture makes me gag a little bit. i go with looks over comfort. they have comfortable chairs and whatnot at ikea- and it's cheaper and you can replace the Doritos stained cover for even cheaper. throw it in the trash.
any furniture that looks like belongs in a van- you know- those sofa's with built in cup holders (cup holders in your sofa?!!?) and big carpeted speakers. THROW IT IN THE TRASH!!!
The question is - What are the things you find in people's homes that you simply can't digest, no matter how hard you try?? It could be re-phrased as What would you not have in your own home? It'd still bring the same reaction by commenters.
I don't understand why people are so upset about this comment thread as it is asking us for our personal opinion of what we don't like in other people's homes. I would rather comment here than to my friend, my mother, my sister, my workmate etc. At least then I'd still be invited to their homes. I still have these people over even though our lounge room has baby portraits and we have a religious statue there. It's not like they would say, Why do you have those two things here? You know I'm deeply offended by that holy family statue, can you please remove it? To which I would say, Sorry but no. My faith is part of who I am. We can somewhere else, like a Cafe if you would like.
Oh except my mother, she always goes around my house and checks every room and makes a comment..... because that is what most mothers do, right? I hope.
@ Lunawhite: You nailed it. And I don't mean in a crooked, off center, too high off the floor, cracked the plaster sort of way! I agree- this is a good opportunity to vent- we all need that occasionally. Anyone who is freaking out because they are offended that someone, like me, would say here on a blog that stained, cracked, squishy plastic toilet seats gives them the heebeejeebees (see, there I go again, I can't seem to let this issue go!) obviously lives in a world where everything & everyone is soft & fluffy & no boats ever get rocked & we all agree on everything & no one ever complains about anything... sounds lovely. But doesn't exist. We all need to vent occasionally, even about seemingly innocuous things like wall paper & taxidermy. Heck, that's what keeps thousands of therapists in business! Not to mention personal decorators, organizers, interior designers, life coaches, et al.
Now, your mother. Yes, that's what mothers do! Why? Because they teach us patience & tongue biting. Your mother says "What's up with all the velvet rhinestone tear eyed Elvis & Jesus paintings? Now, you should try decorating more like your sister. She subscribes to all the latest home decor magazines, keeps them prominently displayed on her over size glass coffee table. Maybe you should take a look through them for some ideas..." You roll your eyes & bite your tongue, & remember this next time you're at a friend's house & you have the urge to say "Darleen! Why on earth must you decorate your entire kitchen with OWLS?! Owl clock, owl fridge magnets, owl towels, owl canisters, ....?!" See, mom unintentionally teaches us decorum!!!
Homemade crafty crap. Fake flowers/plants. Nic Nacs EVERYWHERE!
Oh, man. I hate a lot of stuff. I could go on and on. But when I see it in other people's homes, I add it to my mental list of things I won't do in my own (future) home and then go on enjoying the company of the person I obviously like enough to spend my spare time with. And I hope my friends do the same when they come over to my place -- how boring if we all liked the same stuff!
My current apartment has a lot of demons (ugly cabinets, unattractive carpet, terrible light fixtures -- the list goes on-- did I mention it's a basement?) but I have neither the finances nor the inclination to kill myself "fixing" what is actually still in very good shape. Instead I try to work with it, personalize the rest of the space and keep collecting pieces and ideas that I love and want to incorporate into a home I'm really ready to invest in. And good thing I can't do that yet -- I can't even tell you how many things formerly of my "Hate" list, that I've since seen done WELL and it's totally changed my mind. Nevermind that it seems to me that the homes that *must be perfect* immediately are the ones that usually end up looking fake or matchy or staged, because it was done all at once. I think the best homes are the ones that are personal and developed over time -- even if that means leaving the ugly fixtures until you find ones you love.
I'm pretty sure that 99% of the people commenting on this thread, if invited to my home, wouldn't ACTUALLY think less of me for the terrible orangey "oak" cabinets in my kitchen -- they'd just be reminded that they're never going to put them in their own house. And trust me, neither will I.
Pleased to see I'm not the only one who hates beige.
There is an extensive list of stuff that I could list but like a lot of people have pointed out...that is just my taste over someone elses.
Things I cannot stand are the obvious dirty house (Seriously why invite people over? Isn't that embarassing?). The strong smell of pets (that smell that you can tell they've not vacuumed the pet hair or cleaned the litter box). And weird family photos. I personally see nothing wrong with having family photos up around the house but the weird ones are just...well weird. I'm talking anything that involved bare pregnant bellies or a family all dressed up as the same thing. Just no.
Narcissistic, arrogant, self centered people.
Curtains hung from pretty much the ceiling down - we don't live in hotels, so stop acting like it!
omg i could only get through a hundred of these! hilarious. You guys have named everything under the sun, so I have noting NOTHING to add!
One person said "Country style", "Lodge style" or Anything quaint.. You guys are bananas!
I would love to see someone try and decorate by avoiding EVERY SINGLE what not to do listed here!
OMG just read the guy who ended everything with "THROW THEM IN THE TRASH"
Cracking up at my desk, lol.
I didn't realize that I am quite sensitive to a lot of things. Scent is one, and the height of things. I just got a new smaller safe at work that was put on top of an existing bigger safe...so the height for the safe went from 4 feet and a few inches to 6 feet+ now. I feel very uncomfortable now in my office. If only I had a say, I would of done it differently.
The lights at work bother me, the flourescent ones.
I like stuff from IKEA but some people set up their own place like it was from an IKEA showroom with no creativity whatsoever. I have a few things that I bought from IKEA but people don't know it's bought from there because I mix it up with other stuff and I am creative about it.
I never really thought about it in *other* people's homes, but in all the apartments I've lived in I've had to put up with some awful stuff... like plastic venetian shades and peel&stick kitchen/bathroom tile, and needlessly complicated shower faucets!
I have to agree about the fake/soulless art and inspirational word art (on walls, on photo frames etc), I hate it. Ditto for "pumpkin spice" candles and strong-smelling air fresheners.
Ecuadoriana1 - Oh no, not the Sister-to-Sister comparison! LOL. I couldn't stop laughing because I have three.
HERE goes!!
1. Leather recliners
2. Velvet sofas with gold or wooden ornate frames
3. All shades of yellow/ orange/ maroon wood.
4. Clutter/ knick knacks
5. Wall paper borders
6. Girly pink bedrooms even if its for li'l girls.
7. Carpeted bathrooms.
8. ALL kinds of smells.
9.Carved furniture
10.Elaborate curtains...YUK.
11.Fake flowers
12. Brass knick knacks
13.Over sized family photographs and too many of them.
14.Contrived/ catalogue-ish interiors.
15.have to mention here that the tumblr page suggetsed above ( FYNCT) took care of a lot of the hilarious stuff.( ceramic owls, owl prints, antlers, taxidermy, signs that say EAT, CHEW, POO etc..)
17.Animal print and the typical decor that goes hand in hand..(too much glass/ brass/ velvet/ shaggy rugs and orchids.
18. Mindless OTT midcentury modern.
19.Tapestry wall hangings, murals.
20.Balck and white chequered floors esp teemed with white painted woodwork/ panelling in its vicinity( can picture pink orchids too)
21. MATCHING fabric, furniture...(ARGOS furniture)
22. Fake 'antiques'.
23. 'Art' like the kind u see in ikea...big swirls and sploshes of typically lurid/ dark colours.(coffee brown, orange, red and yellow seem to be the dominant ones)
24. Plastic.
:))))))
that felt good.
1. stained carpeting
2. dirty kitchen towels hanging in kitchen (it isn't hard to change for company!)
3. pet odors/air fresheners to cover them
4. ceiling borders featuring grapes, billiards, characters etc... molding isn't expensive!
5. a one bath home is fine, but organize your crap so i don't have to guess which container has handsoap among piles of product
6. inadequate places to put down a cup of coffee or a cocktail whether caused by clutter, or lack of tables in general
7. faux flowers and plants
8. bed-in-a-bag, am i the first one to say this???????
9. wall art hung too high, usually it is.
10. thanksgiving crap at easter, christmas crap for july 4th etc.
11. empty bottles on top of fridge or elsewhere
12. shot glass collections and alcohol-related clutter. have a home bar, use a home bar. those dust filled relics of how cool you thought you were in college, NO.
13. generic art with words and quotes.... seriously, they have even spilled over to FACEBOOK
14. tech wirey messes
15. beige. brown (unless it is actual wood). burgundy. gag
16. anything hung with a thumbtack. I literally broke up with a guy because he continuously complained that I didn't allow him to hang his band posters with them the week he moved in. I bought him frames. He wanted thumb tacks. it is just ThumbTacky
17. Furniture to "decorate" already tight hallway or stairway
18. taxidermy
19. fish tanks that no longer have fish in them, but stay there filled with stuff or stacked with clutter. It isn't supposed to be furniture. It is someone's home!
20. Baby crap everywhere. Sure, you have a baby. But do you need EVERY POSSIBLE TOY/SWING/BOUNCER/playmat etc.... the stuff you accumulate, even for a new addition, should FIT in your space without obstructing it's purpose.
Candles with petroleum-based scents (looking at you Yankee Candle).
If one should not put family pictures in one's own home.... Where, pray tell, should one put them? Shove them in a box and hide them in the basement? Or perhaps just stop taking them all together. We wouldn't want to offend anyone with our narcissistic love of our families.
After I laughed @Banana mish mash, I started thinking about a couple of exterior trends I never liked in single-family homes: the shake-shingle roofing demanded by HOAs in middle and upper-class neighborhoods back in the late 80s/ early 90s, and lately, brick and stone mixed together across the front facade of new-built homes. At least this latest trend isn't a major fire hazard!
See, this is why I never have company, but, that being said -- I want to play.
Now, in general, this is not what I hate in other people's home, but, as my husband and I are looking for a new house - we don't like;
Houses without a separate entry
"Open Plan" living (I like to have my kitchen separate from the rest of house, give me a kitchen door and I am happy, what's with the fascination with everything being in one room?)
Those bowl sinks that have no counter space around them, where do you set a glass of water, and how hard are they to clean?
Wall to wall carpeting
1 plug in to a room although sometimes in older homes, what's to be done?
Windows that don't open
Sliding glass doors
WALLPAPER
In other people's homes, I hate too tiny side tables, esp when they offer me tea or coffee
Toooooo many pictures all over the walls, like wall to wall pics of the kids, grandkids, etc in every single room. Creeps me out. (M-I-L I am looking at you)
People's dogs that stare at me, lol
I for one am humbled by this thread... it looks like my cat-poop (aka environment friendly) "Keep Calm and Look At B**ches ####s!" avocado-painted centrepiece won't be making me the income I'd hoped on e-Bay, any time soon...
... we're still okay with plastic handled cutlery from the discount store though - right?
Oh my goodness...I am reading most of these and I am LMAO!!!..
Okay..okay..my turn...
1. I don't know who said Suede and leather (together) chairs/couches/sectionals were a good idea..UGH...tsk....Ewww!!!!!
2. Boarders (half wallpaper)... Ewwww!!!
3. Big huge walls, and the smallest painting,mirror (etc) that could be found... on them.
4. @JENNSANC...you are so right!!!! Homemade crafty crap is..just not right!
5. Every thing else everybody has said...sigh...
Oh yeah...and wood paneling- knotty pine especially...Sigh...who's idea was that, really?!?!?!?!? Who said, you know..it's better to panel a room...smh...that just floors me...
Rooms that are all closed up, blinds down, curtains drawn, especially if it is daylight and there are lights on.
Fake smells.
Fustiness, no fresh air: however my husband claims I was born in a tent so he would probably say cold and draughty rooms.
Bright lights.
Television on.
Show-off rooms.
"Rooms that are all closed up, blinds down, curtains drawn, especially if it is daylight and there are lights on."
Sparkling before 4pm = crazy b***hes gonna chase me...
Pony-skin or zebra=skin rugs. I have the same reaction as if the people had skinned a dalmatian for a rug.
"Corporate" art, the generic kind that looks as if it came out of a catalog, by the pound: line drawings of wine bottles, some kind of plant material in a vase, fuzzy prints of landscapes. (This mostly happens in hotels. Panera Bread shops are another example.
Geometrical objects in a bowl on your coffee table. I know your decorator picked them out.
Rooms with no books. (One friend actually told me it was tacky to have books in the living room. Why? Because someone might think you read?)
No guest towels in the bathroom. Do you really want me to dry my hands on your bath towel? Ugh.
Those silly raised glass sinks in the shape of bowls with nowhere to put the soap.
I agree with the under-the-roll toilet paper, but some people feel just as strongly that it is the only way, so I leave it alone.
Okay, so knowing full well I am in the 400's, I am commenting anyway.
Negativity is part of life; I think it's ok on a post like this, rather than on a real person's house tour. That's just mean spirited. It doesn't make you a bad person to not like certain things. I doubt that any of the people here would head over to someone's house and say, "Dude, your blinds are hideous, your cat stinks, and I hate your hunter green countertops." The inanimate objects are not going to get personally offended.
That said, I can't stand a dirty microwave. I got rid of mine because I felt like it was never clean enough.
Also, a TV in every room/more TVs than people. I like TV, too, but there is more to life.
This is a little off subject, but when I see someone texting while they drive, I get ridiculously angry; it's a visceral thing.
1. fake anything (flowers, fruit, etc.)
2. generic artwork (like the first commentor mentioned)
3. Overuse of themes or a specific element (for instance my mother has recently discovered wall decals and it horrifies me every time I come over)
Cigarette smoke. I really REALLY hate it! I'd rather move table or cough loudly or make nasty faces when people start smoking near me.
And rooms that smell of cigarette smoke too!! Ugggh!!!!!!!!
and LOL @wendym1
suede/leather on the same couch literally offends me, and I find it so odd that something so trivial evokes such a reaction from me.
My 1979 ranch has vertical blinds, popcorn ceilings, bad lighting, ceiling fans, a slow toilet, and crooked light switches. Judge me.
At least I don't have a "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster.
LIZZYKEWL, I completely agree.
At first, I was semi-interested to read what others find annoying, but as I read 10 or 20, I realized that no one's taste is going to fit everyone else's. What annoys one person is exactly what another person is drawn to.
My tiny house came with a pink tub, bad tub surround, ugly bathroom vinyl and vanity, faux granite kitchen counters, battered sink, painted paneling, laminate flooring and a celotex ceiling in the living area. Sliding glass doors lead to the back deck, which hasn't fallen into the lake just yet. I have some seventies knotty pine in a chevron pattern, parquet, plywood patches with a strange trapdoor, and there's a questionable sleeping loft. The ceiling lights and fans are heinous. While I work on one project, the rest of the house tends to go to hell. I have dishes in the sink, clutter on the counters (oh look, an empty wine bottle, and is that a lone triscuit?), laundry spilling out of the hamper, and an unmade bed. I'm sure the cats walk around on the table when I'm not looking. If I forget to open the windows, it smells Not Quite Fresh, for good reason. I don't have time to worry about it.
Most of us don't live the way we would like. We live the way we must, for as long as we must.
Good to get that off my chest . . . I don't like carpet, it's only clean for the first week. I dislike matching suites of furniture and letter art. I don't like displays of Stuff on every flat surface. Wallpaper borders are an abomination. I can't stand foundation plantings, and tulips shouldn't march in formation, like little soldiers. I don't mind any of these things in other people's homes.
Fake window sashing.
@ Jenny Does It- Yes, the dirty microwave oven! Yuck!!! Never can understand why people who wash off their stove tops can not seem to understand that one must wash out the microwave as well. That's even MORE important than washing the stove top. Whenever I go to someone's house & they offer me tea, they always put the cup of water in the microwave to heat (ugh!) and as soon as I see all that food splattered all over the inside I cringe! Inevitably, the hot water comes out smelling like the dirty microwave! Why? Because the condensation of steam that boils off the water goes up to the ceiling of the microwave and absorbs the smells of the splattered food and then rains back down into the cup (not literally rains, obviously). It's the same principle as water evaporating, turning into clouds, which produces rain, which replenish the earth. At least if your stove top is dirty the food on the stove doesn't crawl up into the pot when you're cooking (at least I hope not! Yikes!). I'm a bit obsessive maybe about cleaning my microwave. I wipe it down with vinegar & water every night as part of kitchen clean up routine. My food never smells or tastes funny. My microwave is 15 years old & still looks brand new. And even though my microwave is odor/food splatter-free- I NEVER boil water in there. That's what a cute kettle with a whistle is for!!! I also agree with you about the TV thing, Can never complain about that enough. And the talking/texting on cell phone when driving- oh don't get me started! Only been in 2 accidents in my life & both involved the other driver on their cell phone- one ran a stop sign & slammed me, the other, 2 years later, ran a red light & slammed me. That one hospitalized me. I love my cell phone, use it for my work, so grateful for the technology. But there is NO phone call so important that it is worth dying for, or killing someone else for, from talking/texting while driving (let the person leave a message!). What if you are talking to a loved one & you crash & die. Is that how you want them to remember you? What if you kill the other person & go to prison, where your kids will have to visit you knowing that you killed someone else's kid?! When I see people driving like that, or driving like maniacs, I just feel so sorry for them. They must not have anyone in their life who would mourn their passing. If you just stop & think for one minute about the ones you'd be leaving behind you'd strive to be a better & more attentive driver. OK, I'm done my tirade. Thanks, Jenny Does It, for bringing these up. (Hang Up the Phone and Drive!)
ugh. i would never want to hang out with about 99% of you. relax. get outside for a bit. take in some fresh air. smile. laugh. EAT PRAY LOVE. just kidding, but sheesh... those comments seriously bummed me out.
I promise, one last thing: A rug on top of another rug. I just don't get it.
My design allergy is fake wood paneling ... I'm from Baltimore, and it is all over here!
Oh, and the guilty souls who can't just have fun with a post like this, so they try to shame us all with their little digs. Get over yourselves and have some fun. It's human to be put off by things and have fun with that fact. My treasure is your trash. The rest of us get that.
As I mature, I realize it's the company and not their home I care about. I'd rather be in a shabby comfortable house hanging out with a friend than in a pristine and picturesque house where the people make me uncomfortable. Who cares about their aesthetic?
read through a lot, but not all of these. Perhaps the question should be, "what are your pet peeves in environments that are actually making an *attempt* at being 'decorated'?" The spaces of people who simply don't care should be out of the running...I think the subtext of much of this discussion is about class and taste. I think it's okay to be a snob...I can be a snob about things aesthetic, certainly...but do we hold everyone else to this? Cleanliness has nothing to do with design. Personally, I love people who are comfortable being messy because they're BUSY whether it's a job or reading "50 Shades of Gray" feeding your soul and mind are more important than a clean countertop...laziness is another thing.
My design allergies?
victorian settees with ripped silk damask upholstery that looks like a victim of a deranged cat
midcentury modern benches used as coffee tables in front of said victorian settees
evidence of children in the living area. if you must reproduce, please the evidence.
unmatching thrift store plates. Trying too hard to not try too hard.
jelly jars as glassware. please give me a drink in a real glass.
Oh, wait...this is my single-mom with a two-year old apartment. Oops.
please *hide* the evidence
: )
I like a lot of the dislikes *RUNS*
Two words: nailhead trim.
WOW. I consider myself blessed that I could not ever be so judgmental of anybody else's HOME. I'm happy they are happy. It is they're HOME, not mine. I am a gracious guest.
Crap, "their home"
Babies. And butterflies. Hate 'em.
All I can say about this is...WOW! I'm a former designer. I'm now a pre-med student cleaning homes to get through school. I would never judge my friends, clients or anyone's home in these ways. Not everyone creates their homes around aesthetic pleasure. Many people create homes based on necessity. Some people are too busy with jobs, family, etc., and have more important things going on in their lives then to worry about what others think. Many of the comments here only provide a strong reminder as to why I got out of the design biz in the first place. What happened to tolerance; love and kindness toward others?
Clutter on the kitchen table, piles of dirty dishes in the sink, dirty bathrooms, clothing thrown everywhere, mail piled as high as the ceiling, dirty kitchen appliances, no soap in the bathroom