Housing trends you dislike?

[bethbuchall]

It's definitely a situation of "your mileage may vary!" This is a very standard sort of layout in my neck of the woods. Almost every single house built here from 1970 onwards has a garage that faces the front of the street and is at the front of the house.

Back in the day when we first moved to AZ, we saw a couple of houses with garages that opened to a back alley. We hated that. Also vetoed houses with ANY back alley, where you were required to leave your trash bins out in the alley way on trash day. Those alleys were popular with transients, burglars, weeds, rattlesnakes, etc., etc.

I agree on that back alley concept. I’ve never actually seen it, but it’s not appealing to me. As I said, I can’t quite put into words about the difference between a garage on the front of the house and a garage that seems to be the whole house, but it seems that the newer ones are trending toward looking like all garage vs. a house with a garage. I do like my driveway at the front of my house and my attached garage.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We have also run into the weird effect where if the dimmer switch is turned low, but not all the way down, when you turn the lights on, they don't actually turn on. You have to push the dimmer switch to full power to get the lights powered on and then turn them back down.

I'm certainly not an electrician, but I think that particular issue is due to the dimmer switch itself, not the bulbs. We have the same problem in my bedroom, which was built at a different time than the rest of the house, but not in any of the other rooms.

I bought some 3000K bulbs from Feit Electric. They are decent enough for the kids room and the office.

Even 3000K is too cool for me. We have them in my bathroom and I feel like I'm in a hospital. 2700K is my sweet spot.

Annoyingly, our cans require Par30 bulbs (short neck floods) which are so much harder to find. The ones you pictured would extend out of the cans about an inch. I mistakingly purchased those once and had to return them.

I swear I'm not working on commission from GE.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

We just moved into a 90 year old home in a historic district. We went from having an open kitchen/family room to very defined rooms with doors, I love it! As for the garage, we have an attached one (in the back, can't see it from the road) but there is no direct access to the house from it! So weird! We either go out the big garage door and just around the corner into the kitchen, or out the back garage door onto the patio and then into the side door of the house. Now, it's literally 2-3 feet that you're outside, but still annoying when it's raining and hauling in groceries! Since our neighborhood is on the National Historic Registry, we have guidelines to stay in to keep the aesthetic as close to original as possible, like no chain link, etc. There are some astonishingly beautiful homes here, all built between 1880-1940.

To answer the OP, I don't know other than I'm not fond of the generic decor everyone buys from Hobby Lobby, etc. Most of our decor was bought on trips, by local artists.

I would move into an old home as you have any day over a newer home. Give me an old fashion Thomas Kincaid 3 story home and I would cry with joy!!!

 

[tvguy]

I used to go into work at 3am and it seems as if that is the time that everyone is out doing their nefarious deeds. LOL I have interrupted many illegal activities, from car break ins, to illegal dumping, just by driving by them while going to work. The amount of construction workers that dump their construction trash into open dumpsters, like the ones by restaurants or shopping centers, is shocking.

I can't tell you how many times I had to call 911 from my cell phone in the 32 years I've had it on my way to work at some odd hour.

 

[Sinder]

our 4x4 with a plow works fine-fits easily in a small shed or the garage, several neighbors have plows affixed to the front of their vehicles to keep their property/common multi mile non county maintained roads plowed-all of which can fit in garages. no one out here is using shops professionally unless they are breaking the law (not zoned for it), mowing? 10 plus acres is fine with a pull behind dr mower (again-fits in a small shed or garage). not a single shop in my neck of the woods has a full lift in it for vehicle maintenance-this is not rural as in 'home farm' or anything that remotely needs large equipment. minimum 10 acre parcels, largely landscaped with all custom or spec built homes. abandoned heated chicken coops and greenhouses dot the landscape from newbie efforts to 'get back to nature' that are quickly foiled when they realize the cost of maintaining chickens vs. their actual need for eggs (can't give them away-we liken them to growing zucchini in california but you can't doorbell dash leave them on your neighbor's porch ) and that greenhouses take allot more work than just planting and picking.

if people want to spend their money on a shop that's fine. this thread is about housing trends i dislike. i would prefer to see pine trees and more moose and deer vs. ugly waste of space metal shops so it's a trend i dislike.

Actually your post was more about the kind of people you don't like rather than the home trend you don't.

My dh can't wait to move out of the suburbs to a rural location to put up a huge shop.
I can't wait either, then I'll be able to use my attached garage for my car instead of all his stuff.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

As far as I'm concerned, the center hall colonial has not been improved upon in 300 years.

 

[tcufrog]

I've lived in homes with back entry garages and alleys, side entry garages, and front garages. I prefer side entry garages. You don't see the garage from the street but you don't have to back out into narrow alleys.

 

[tvguy]

I've lived in homes with back entry garages and alleys, side entry garages, and front garages. I prefer side entry garages. You don't see the garage from the street but you don't have to back out into narrow alleys.

Where the garage is really isn't a big issue with me, but for me it is a nice option to be able to get into the garage without going outside the house.

 

[GAN]

I'm certainly not an electrician, but I think that particular issue is due to the dimmer switch itself, not the bulbs. We have the same problem in my bedroom, which was built at a different time than the rest of the house, but not in any of the other rooms.


Even 3000K is too cool for me. We have them in my bathroom and I feel like I'm in a hospital. 2700K is my sweet spot.


I swear I'm not working on commission from GE.

View attachment 636839

That is usually a load issue with the dimmer -being too low. Meaning the wattage is reduced to a point where the dimmer thinks there is nothing there to dim. There are workarounds to it, but the best bet to eliminate the issue is to be sure you're using a dimmer made for LED's ...Lutron or Leviton are your best bet.

DLGal ...no idea where you live, but if it's Southern Cal., Walter's Electric should be able to get you those short neck PAR30's no problem.

 

[DLgal]

That is usually a load issue with the dimmer -being too low. Meaning the wattage is reduced to a point where the dimmer thinks there is nothing there to dim. There are workarounds to it, but the best bet to eliminate the issue is to be sure you're using a dimmer made for LED's ...Lutron or Leviton are your best bet.

DLGal ...no idea where you live, but if it's Southern Cal., Walter's Electric should be able to get you those short neck PAR30's no problem.

Our dimmers were definitely not made for LEDs, although the house was built in 2015. That's probably the issue. It's a rental, so I'm not at all motivated to improve it.

 

[barkley]

Actually your post was more about the kind of people you don't like rather than the home trend you don't.

My dh can't wait to move out of the suburbs to a rural location to put up a huge shop.
I can't wait either, then I'll be able to use my attached garage for my car instead of all his stuff.

never said anything against any people-just my opinion on the trends i see. i will just never understand choosing to buy a beautiful natural rural property and then landscaping it so that it looks just like a manicured subdivision/building it up so it looks like a commercial enterprise.

i'll pass on a friendly suggestion-when looking at rural heavily research land use restrictions. we've had some very unhappy new neighbors who have learned after the fact that their dreams of building on their properties are a no go due to local, state and in the case where i live-federal land use restrictions. just b/c there are shops and barns on the adjacent properties doesn't mean the property a person is looking at falls under the same provisions.

 

[DLgal]

I'm certainly not an electrician, but I think that particular issue is due to the dimmer switch itself, not the bulbs. We have the same problem in my bedroom, which was built at a different time than the rest of the house, but not in any of the other rooms.


Even 3000K is too cool for me. We have them in my bathroom and I feel like I'm in a hospital. 2700K is my sweet spot.


I swear I'm not working on commission from GE.

View attachment 636839

My bad, I just checked the bulbs I have and they are 2700k. Good to know these are available in Par30! Thanks!

 

[starry_solo]

I agree about interior sliding barn doors - not a fan of those,. I, also, agree about rooms dominated by grey - walls, floors, furniture all in varying shades.

It isn't really a trend over here, but I notice a lot of American homes don't have fenced in yards and just share open space; that's never appealed to me.

Also, books arranged by colour!

Front or back yards?

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

People who have a bench outside their home

We used to have that

 

[disykat]

We used to have that

I have no idea why any kind of seating on a porch or patio would be considered a "trend."

 

[tcufrog]

Backyards without fences are rare around here. I agree with Robert Frost that "Good fences make good neighbors."

 

[FreeTime]

I dislike the shower only trend. I love my big bathtub with a separate shower. We have been looking at houses and our agent said, “this next house is great. It only have showers!” I told her to next show us one like that again unless she knows we can easily put in a tub. I know there are folks who think baths are gross, so go ahead and blast me.

I also can’t stand it when the wood trim in old houses has been painted. I like the original wood trim, crown molding, chair rails, windows, and railings.

 

[disykat]

We just took out our big tub and put in a big shower, but we still have a bathtub in the other bathroom. I think it's pretty standard to agree every house needs at least one.

 

[VandVsmama]

I dislike the shower only trend. I love my big bathtub with a separate shower. We have been looking at houses and our agent said, “this next house is great. It only have showers!” I told her to next show us one like that again unless she knows we can easily put in a tub. I know there are folks who think baths are gross, so go ahead and blast me.

I also can’t stand it when the wood trim in old houses has been painted. I like the original wood trim, crown molding, chair rails, windows, and railings.

I agree about the mega-shower trend. They are large enough to fit a whole basketball team in there. I recently talked a friend out of getting rid of both tubs in her house…you need at least one tub so your house would appeal to buyers who actually want a tub.

 

[Boopuff]

The fact that the minute you re-decorate/remodel your home is instantly outdated! Hate the gray trend, and if I hear "open concept" one more time.... I also can't stand the bright white kitchen. Looks like a sterile operating room. Another peeve: every child needs their own bedroom and bathroom. Since when can't kids share a room? And who the heck wants to clean 5 or more bathrooms! My final... I live in a desert, yet our HOA *in its infinite wisdom) requires that we have a lawn! Then we have restrictions on watering, it's so dumb! then they turn around and send flyers about zeroscaping but! it's not allowed per the HOA. What the heck!