HGTV...so *easy apparently a caveman can do it!

This logo has been a part of television as long as I can remember being in design school. Everyone associates HGTV as some spectacular bedazzling show that takes someones ideas and in a weekend, or few days comes up with this awesome concept and VOILA! You have this crazy awesome room. Don't even think about functionality or whether or not it fits the program statement for the project. As long as it looks pretty, is well maintained and has all the bells and whistles associated with decor and decoration, then eh no biggie. YOU CAN ALL ACHIEVE THIS IF YOU ONLY BELIEVE !!

Such false hope and false advertising. I beg to differ about the whole yeah I believe that because I saw it on TV I am capable of creating this dream...this vision in my head and it will work! There is a lot more than just decoration. Picking out fabric and paint colors is just a small part of Interior DESIGN. The media is partly to blame for the misconstrudness of what we as Interior Designers do. I feel that it is our duty to inform the public of our actual job description and not leave it up to HGTV or any other media to make us seem insignificant in this world.

I happened to be watching HGTV this past week and there was a show called Designed to Sell. Basically there was this couple who wasn't sure why their home wasn't selling. It was a beautiful home with all the necessities needed to sell the home, but yet they were concerned as to what was wrong with their home. The "design team" from this show came into the house and started tearing the house apart, There were a few problem areas that could definitely be taken care of. There was a room with a deep blue wall that needed repainting, there were old pieces of furniture that could be renovated by slipcovers or getting small fabric makeovers. Throw Rugs could be removed, etc. MINOR details that were easily replaceable. Tell me how this design team spent $2,000 on this house. "renovating" the space. WHAT??

I was soo annoyed with the structure. They bought all new lights, paint, new furniture, new drapery, new cabinets, new EVERYTHING! Which was not necessary. My favorite part of the house, a fireplace with an aesthetically pleasing brick wall was COVERED UP by white paint. The designer claimed that this would make the fireplace a "focal point." Instead, the fireplace faded into the background because the walls were the same exact color as the fireplace and the only way you would know that the fireplace was there was if there were logs burning. I highly disliked that decision to take away the fireplace brick wall. This made me feel so appaled as a designer. They weren't using a design or creative aspect to make the space better. They covered up all the good design in the space.

The general public loves this and shows like this and takes those ideas that they see on HGTV and makes it seem as if oh I can buy some paint and make a fireplace and make a room look better because so-and-so from Blah-de-blah says a lil bit o paint fixes everything. There is no research behind these decisions. They are chosen because it looks good and that is not reason to
make major life decisions such as creating a fireplace in a home. Lots of research needs to be conducted as well as knowing building codes in a home or even a commercial space before you can go ahead and design anything. Plus, the general public is not knowledgable of the behind the scenes work such as the schematic planning, the code reviews, the floorplan and the revisions that must be submitted just to name a few.

I would say that having HGTV around has given more attention to the field of Interior Design. But instead of standing around clueless to the reputation we are given, we can take this oopportunity to educate the public about the correct definition on Interior Design and why Interior Design is "not so easy a caveman can do it!" (Unless of course that caveman was educated and knew exactly what was going on!)