You Need to Know!

TV shows depicting $2000 room makeovers in 48 hours are just that – shows for TV not real life!

These incrediblly popular reality home-improvement shows are providing viewers with wonderful ideas for redoing their homes through the use of interesting new paint colours and the revamping of furniture, etc. They are useful for showing how a room can be transformed by adding crown moulding or changing window treatments. Reality home-improvement shows are great, however, viewers need to understand that this is not reality. These shows depict an accelerated pace that would require that absolutely everything has been thoroughly planned in advance and meticulously organized and that all of the materials have been prepurchased and are waiting on-site before the 48 hours kick in. Remember too that the $2,000 budget covers materials only – that likely were purchased with big discounts or via donations -- and that the very expensive fees, salaries and services of the on-site decorators, the highly skilled carpenters, the supervisors and coordinators, the delivery services, rental equipment, the professional shoppers is all part of a vast network of people and companies that are not being paid out of that money.

We have become a culture of immediate gratification and shows such as these help feed that. They create false expectations of what is possible for contractors and especially do-it-yourselfers to accomplish Don’t get me wrong – these shows have their value as long as they are watched for their ideas with the understanding that with some creativity and know how and of course money a plain room can take on a new life! I would strongly advise homeowners to enjoy these shows for their entertainment value and for the lessons they provide on how colors interact or how a simple bookcase or the rearrangement of some furniture can make a huge difference in a room's flow. But don't take these shows as a glimpse of reality and don't expect that you or your contractor can perform the same feats of magic without a very extensive -- and very expensive -- infrastructure to back you up.