apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

After reading all the comments last week I saw the show again. My only comment is that the "experts" are not needed at all. They say nothing and it's a waste of time (and I'm sure money) to have them on there. I just find their presence on the show totally unnecessary and annoying. Whoever said that last week, I AGREE!

OK - I'm really hoping Walt is referring to the designer commentor on the SSBS named Libby.

I'm with Anne -- if the experts said something other than, "It's a great space," they might be useful. Of course, I'm immediately partial to the experts whose other work I like (the magazine guy -- the one where you make funky things out of junk), but that's more an "ooh, ooh, that's HIM!" reaction than because he's saying anything much.

I don't find the spaces/tips on SSBS very useful. Actually, the people who post on SSBS do a lot better than most commentators on design shows.

I absolutely LOVED the apartment pictured in the second photo. It was a tiny one-bedroom in Manhattan, owned by a couple who just had a baby. When painting their walls they left a white border around every single wall--something I've never seen before. The look is very clean and graphic and soothing. It's something I plan to copy when I (eventually) redo my home office space. :)

I like the show a lot. The breakneck speed that it's paced at is almost hard to follow, but I really enjoy it, and as I've said before, I really like the way they relate the floorplans into the segments, so you do have a chance to get your bearings much better than on most shows.

PLUS... it's fun to see some of the contestants from past AT contests on it!

I agree. Ditch the experts and Libby please clear your throat.

....I gotta get a new AT name....

New names for Libby:

Libby (not the annoying designer)
Libby (not on HGTV... yet)
Libby (small space, yes; big mouth, no)

Does anyone know where I can get reasonably nice-looking wooden boxes like the ones in the second photo? Also, I'd like for them to be reasonably inexpensive, say less than $40 each.

Target has one designed by Thomas O'Brien box, but I haven't seen it in person: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_10/602-4472994-8485466?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000AAEWWW
It looks nice in the picture, but it's made of MDF, so I'm a bit leery.

Thanks.

Carmen, I'm with you on that fantastic apartment. I loved the white borders and am planning to do the same. And thanks, Maxwell, for posting a photo of the vertical Lack bookcase. Filing that one away for future use, as well.

Libby:

Yep, it's you. Sorry, I shouldn't have made a personal attack. Please accept my apologies. Exuberant, then. Please, you work in the design field- as I said in my prior post- tell us more about what a particular feature makes the space more useful, or other ways to apply the concept. I guess this is what I am looking for from the commentary. I am not wild about the talking heads at all- as some other prior posters stated. To be frank, I'm not wild about Maurice for the same reasons. However, my statements about Kenneth Brown and Design on a Dime still stand.

On the other hand, SSBS does a better job than any other show I have seen so far on HGTV at providing what I described, above. I have not seen a number of shows on the other networks such as Fine Living. Hat's off for not being just another redecorating show. I find myself only watching this show and Debbie Travis' Face Lift these days- everyone else looks the same (cheap and tacky, or expense and often tacky).

The sliding blue glass door was an absolute knock-out.

More episodes, please.

Walt

I love this show--in my top 2 (Dwell being the other one).

I have an HGTV conspiracy theory about the talking heads: the talking heads provide the leads to the small spaces for the show, and then they get to blab on the show, and get advertising for their businesses. Max, is this wrong?

This is one show I record. I like the fact that the spaces are finished (by that I mean, being lived in and having arrived at a certain point). Sometimes the talking heads give good information. Our own Maxwell is clearly the winner in this regard. I like Libby. Yes, she's enthusiastic but I think, given the wide range of taste that has been shown, the enthusiasm is contagious.

The two main problems with the show are the way it's presented, and the complete lack of info. First, for a show with "style" in it's name, it completely lacks it. It's shot poorly, and the editing is horrible. Using those stupid effects makes it look like public access.(not a knock at public access) Second, the episode where the bed raises up into the ceiling seemed like a great space solution. How did she do it? Where did she get the lift? Oh wait a second, they don't give us any information. Also, it's not that the comments are stupid, it's the questions they ask that are stupid to get those responses. Blame the producers. It's just bad producing.

I LOVE the show. The talking heads are dispensable--at least with the comments that are being shown now. For example, with all respect, I'll provide an alternative for a comment Maxwell made on the show with the walls painted and left with white borders. Instead of saying (and I'm paraphrasing) "It reminds me of a stage set," Maxwell could have explained WHY the optical illusion works, as I still don't understand the concept.

I'd like to see the show with a slower pace (two apartments per show at most) and a lot more attention to detail. Also, demonstrations on how to achieve some of the more replicable concepts would be great.

BTW, they featured an apartment shared by two sisters, each of whom had a separate living/sleeping space. I would LOVE to recreate that in my place, but I needed to see the apartment in far more detail to think this through. Is this something I could do without major work? I'd LOVE to do this; my husband and I seem to be on top of each other all the time.

I've said it before but I agree with Curtis. The fast pace (though it seems slower these days) works for me. For example, the interlocking rooms in last weeks show that Terry mentioned? All I needed was the 3D floorplan (in fact 2D would be fine also) and the DVR pause and I know how to recreate it. OK, so I have been know to open up walls, "move" doorways to build bigger built in closets from metal studs and drywall, etc. but that's why I am more into the ideas than the way they were accomplished. Other more hardcore construction shows do that for me. Once you have seen a house being built a bazillion times from the foundation, through framing, through plumbing, electrical and drywall, you get a pretty good idea of how things are built.

So I would start watching DIY shows like This Old House, possibly Holmes on Homes, Gimme Shelter if they repeat it, etc. to get a good idea of construction in general and then enjoy shows like SSBS for what they are trying to be which are essentially ideas shows.

Of course, someone is going to ask how I would do the descending bed and my answer is I don't know for sure but I know it would involve getting the right lift machinary with the four pully system, bracing the ceiling area to hold the weight of the bed as it comes down and to hold the machinary, standard electrical work, constructing any supports that are not furniture. I could do some myself but would hire a contracting firm to do all of it. So even though I would have a pretty good idea of how the set up would be constructed, I may as well show the contractors that I trust the clip and let them get on with it.

BTW, what's wrong with MDF? I love MDF. It is easy to cut, gives a very smooth finish, is nice and dense and strong. The only downsides I can thing of are the very fine particles of dust created when you saw through it, the weight, and the extra care that you must take when screwing into it to ensure the screws hold. Now particle board is another matter entirely.

This is one of my favorite shows. I especially loved of the very first shows - the NYC apartment where the young couple with their newborn lived in about 350 square feet. I, too, wish there would be more new episodes. Still, I really think the show is great.

I'm with The explosive mr kim. How did they get that bed to raise and lower? This is what prompted me to come to this site, by the way- I'll google later. I don't watch HGTV as a rule, unlike my wife, but I do just love this show. We live in a 600ft house, drive a Sprint, have a laptop and basically, I'm drawn to anything that's small, efficient and practical.

Dale, I'm with you! I live in a 900sf apt, downsized from an 1800sf house so I like seeing anything to do with maximizing efficiency and style in tight quarters! I enjoy this show.