I Don't Get It.
Wherein Our
Heroine Boggles.
This will surprise nobody, but I just do
not understand some people.
Occasionally, I watch some of
the "lifestyle" programming on BBC. There is, of course, "Changing Rooms" (the
original program that spawned "Trading Spaces"). I am always astonished at the
people who make strong, yet bland, pronouncements of what they want in their
rooms. You want pale, cool colors? You hate deep red or hot pink? You have
specific things you really want done and specific things you don't want touched?
Did you
watch
the show before you signed up? Because even a designer who wants to do what you
want done is going to surprise you, Mr. or Ms. Specific. These are often the
same people who walk into their newly done-up room and exclaim in horror, "It's
so different!" Er - what did they
expect?
For an even greater
taste of unreality, there is a show called "House Doctor" that takes a house
that is up for sale but not selling, and brings in a designer to make the space
more attractive for buyers. There are three types of homeowner on this show:
the lazy git, the oblivious, and the theme-park operator. The lazy git has
usually started a DIY project and left it in mid-stream. The oblivious cannot
understand what is wrong with orange shag carpet or a bit of dirt. The
theme-park operator is usually a person of obsessive interests who thinks that a
viewer who can't see beyond the owner's favorites - taxidermy, funeral masks
from New Guinea, the color pink - is hopelessly lacking in
imagination.
Usually, most of
those homeowners come around to the notion that paler, more neutral walls,
setting the rooms as they were intended (no more housing the ferrets in what is
supposed to be a dining room), and tidying up is a good idea. But occasionally
there is someone who is absolutely livid that the space must be "stripped of
personality," which is code for "put my stuff away." They want so badly to
place their stamp on the space that they forget the fact that they are trying to
rid themselves of the space in the first place. And that is what I truly do not
understand. I can understand not being able to see your space the way others
do. Familiarity may not breed contempt, but it does breed a certain sort of
blindness. But to insist that the home stay firmly stamped with your
overwhelming personality or interests while you are trying to sell it to someone
else when it is painfully obvious from the lack of interest in the house that
this strategy is not working? I don't get it.
Posted: Wednesday - January 05, 2005 at 07:35 AM
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