A Small Rant About the Overspending Obsession of HGTV Renovation Shows

A budget exists and can actually work, I promise.

Photo by Spacejoy on Unsplash

I’ve a giant pet peeve…well, true to my grumpy old man persona, I have about a million giant pet peeves. Here’s the one I’m fired up about today: why does every single renovation show on HGTV spend more money than they really need to? Like Holmes exclusively buying the most expensive materials for your home when there are just as good, and cheaper, options out there. Or, Jillian Harris spending a disgusting amount of money on furniture when she could be giving those people that must-have powder room.

I’ve been back on the HGTV train (the perfect show to have in the background while a baby crawls and screams and giggles all day) and have been watching a lot of Love it or List it lately. And, I’ve noticed a trend. Every time they open up the house to make these huge changes to design, something goes wrong. The roof needs fixing, the plumbing needs replacing, the old electric panel can’t handle any new technology thrown its way. That’s all normal when it comes to older homes needing an update, and honestly, the homeowners freaking out about it need to chill. Did they buy a home knowing absolutely nothing about it? Do they not understand what goes on underneath their walls and that making sure a house is structurally sound is far more important than flashy wallpaper or paint colours?

Obviously not. It’s a terrifying truth about homeowners, and one I was made aware of time and time again when I worked in real estate. People buy homes and know absolutely dick all about them. They know absolutely nothing about how to keep them updated, or what to do if a fuse blows, or if they have plumbing issues. They blissfully ignore the problem, hoping it’ll go away, or call in someone to repair it (ain’t no shame), then flip out when it costs money. They’re often confused when an older home needs updating and don’t understand how something they spent so much money on could cost even more money. Like homeowners haven’t been talking about how much houses cost to maintain since the beginning of time.

Anyways, I digress.

Every time they open up these homes, there’s a problem. They’re often older homes and haven’t had any upkeep over the years —…