Fixer Upper

Like many of the other reviews, I DO like the show, but I want to echo some of the comments.

I have no problem with their personalities; Chip jokes around but he knows what he's doing. Joanna is a bit serious, but has design talent. Their clients are all hetro couples, unlike other HGTV programs. Their apparent strict rules about life styles makes the program stick out as not being typical of HGTV's mission.

On the design side, I find that taking down walls and creating a typically fashionable great room look is boring as hell. Does everyone in Waco want the same style? Why must all brick be painted? Why is there typically a lack of color and style flair? Perhaps they select clients with the same style aesthetic as the Gaines have. Who knows? Other HGTV shows like Property Brothers and House Hunters VARY the type of people looking for properties, as well as VARY the style of the clients. "Fixer Upper" does not.

Finally, I understand that none of the furnishings remain with the clients, unlike "Property Brothers", where the clients often use some of their old furniture.

This show is entertaining for the first few times you watch it. Then after while you realize that these two are one trick ponies.

They certainly seem like wonderful people and they are very talented. The houses they renovate are done beautifully. But the problem here is that, like the Property Brothers, everything they do looks alike.

They love shabby chic. They love beige and gray and taupe. Looking at one of the houses they do is like looking at a black and white or sepia photo.

I would be impressed if they could show a little range. If they could do something other than shabby chic/country and if they could use some color in their houses.

The hosts are entertaining enough and they at least have some chemistry as a couple. I prefer watching this show to Flip or Flop.

The problem is every house is given the exact same treatment. They do find plenty of actually cool houses in their area, some of which are very old. They throw the word character around, and then proceed to strip the character out of every home they find, unless that character is hardwood floors. They bust down all the interior walls to make room for the massive, trendy, all-white kitchen with the white cabinets and the marble counters and the bin pulls. If there's wood trim, they paint it white. If there's brick, they paint it white. White, white white. Gray, gray, gray. Everything ends up looking like their own house.

What really annoys me most is when some unforeseen cost comes up, and they ask their clients for more money to fix it. It never occurs to them to accommodate the new problem within the budget, or to leave a cushion in the budget for unexpected costs, or to compromise on some of the renovations. Or, god forbid, to *not* gut a kitchen full of perfectly functional cabinets. A lot of the houses they fix are actually move in ready, and they do a ton of unnecessary work. They could save money by keeping some of the stuff in the house and working with it. But it's like there's a rule that the client's money has to be used up totally. If the client is willing to give them 100k, then by god they will come up with a renovation plan that costs 100k.

Great show! They do awesome work, the banter is fun, the reruns are watchable.

The Harp house was incredible!! Most people would never have seen the potential in that house!!

I don't get the complaints of a one trick pony, each house is unique with its own set of problems.

It's a renovation show that isn't dry and boring! Chip reminds me of the guys I grew up knowing in our family woodworking business. It's fun to see the kids. It's fun to see their house. It's fun to see the client's response. I love how they stick to their community and invite people to the farm.

It's a fun show!

There is always this hype of buying a home. Those feelings you get when you get to find a place to call your own. This show allows you to live that dream of a new home over and over again. It's fun to see what home they choose, what choices they have to make down the road, how much they end up paying for renovations, it is all just a feel good show.

Per the other review I got to rebuttal against it. The owners of Magnolia have a style. They like their style and stick with it. If you watch 3 or more of the shows you will realize what they like to do so I won't spoil the feeling for you all. The thing is if I were to see a different style in every home they did I would think they had more then one person pulling the strings on how the renovation goes. Since there seems to be a running theme of every home they renovate, it shows that they are truly the ones running their company and not doing it for the TV show. Its like an artist. you might see different styles during the early career of an artist but they always tend to stick to a style... at least for a while. That is exactly what is happening on this show. A style has been chosen and made better till its generally excepted by most clients. The style they use is really an amazing setup. In the end the home buyers get to chose what is in their house and it just seems like these two know how to make the house look good for any type of style you put into it.

As for requests I wish I could get a "1 year later" view. Also I would like a low down on the portions of the house that were not renovated and how the home owners spiced those portions up to make it livable in those other areas. Maybe they could do some shows on "we went back to this clients house a couple months later and renovated the rest of the house and this is how it went...". I would also like a low down on how much the client would have to spend for the staging if they want it...

All in all just a feel good show. Fun to see the issues they come across and get to know their crew as people. Not a lot of "how to" or DIY in it...those are other shows. This show is more just about the drama of the whole thing.