Don't renovators have any taste?

[goo**spew]

I am currently searching for a home - a traditional Victorian or Edwardian/Federation style that has been sensitively renovated and restored - an oxymoron if ever I heard one!

Why is it, there are so many beautiful old frontages for sale and then when you click through the photos, the first four are lovely, showing well maintained high ceilings and fireplaces, plaster cornices et al and then you click on the kitchen and there is this laminate open plan monstrocity with horrendous halogen lighting, faux granite worktops and units that look like they were put together by Ikea?

Why on earth don't these homeowners or developers consider the original property and simply build an extension that mirrors the front? Fake Victorian fireplaces and imitation antique lighting cost less than this modern nonsense and as for open plan... sheesh, I understand we no longer want cramped living rooms and lean-to kitchens but why don't the designers take the sensibly sized front rooms as a guide, instead of building an air-plane hanger sized living, eating area that in some cases completely gobbles into the garden leaving a strip of grass the size of a nature strip and a view of the back fence a meter from your patio doors? With all that room, you would think the developers could at least do away with those horrible stainless steel features and fridges and washing machines that should be hidden behind wooden doors. And as for the outer extension, at least clad it in wood or reclaimed bricks - enough with the grey render that makes it look like a public toilet block. (*waves to she_ele*) What on earth will future generations think of the designs of this early millenium?

The worst offenders are the bathrooms. For goodness sake, buy a copper bath and use imitation old tiling and butler sink basins, anything other than those horrid purple glass bowls that stick up from white plastic shelves. You don't have to be an expert in the era of your home. Five minutes of googling will give you exact ideas on what design road to take. 

Personally I love old blue stone/sand stone houses but I have yet to see someone take an old house and restore it to its former glory without adding plasma tv's attached to walls, ducted heating and generic carpeting over beautiful floorboards when a nice persian rug would do the job far more effectively. Don't people realise the 21st century is ugly? You bought an old house - Keep it that way!

In all my searching I have only found one place that has not been renovated as described above and that's because they have an original verandah scaling the entire perimeter of the property. And they obviously know what they have as it's priced at least half a million over what it is worth.

Surely someone out there shares my disdain for the current slap-it-up extensions?

[lakeland27]

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@lakeland27 wrote:

hit back with a snappy retort regarding climate change gooey.

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Aw.. shucks, I knew you wouldn't be able to answer the question. Deflecting enquiries you don't want to answer is so lower middle class...

If the homes in Shakespeare Grove are in your opinion the antithesis of good taste - that must mean the fibro dumps in any state's western suburbs must be the summit of taste for you? Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww

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 any robin boyds on the market ? they appeal to me. i like warehouses , deconsecrated churches, water towers .. gasometers

caves , pole-frames and tree houses.  the odd office building and civic hall catches my eye too.

[the_great_she_elephant]

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@buzzlightyearsgirlfriend wrote:

Sounds like someone's Granny's been into the Fruity Lexia at the Cup luncheon today...

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Well judging by your photo, I would say Fruity Lexia, plus half the lunch buffet under the largest marquis!

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OMG! You mean you knew Buzz was photographing your antics and you didn't try to stop her?But then agin maybe you were beyond it by that stage. Buzz any chance of posting that photo? 

[goo**spew]

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@lakeland27 wrote:

okay you win. i like mcmansions. and i'll give my description of good taste. good taste is pandering to the value judgements of those you admire, the people you would see as peers.  I remember my mother saying her sisters taste was appalling, but today if i were to sell my mothers family heirloom furniture and aunties teak and  tretchikov prints, the price differences would be negligible .

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LOL, good taste is not "pandering to the value judgements of those you admire" (rather clunky writing, did you come up with that yourself?) but what one instinctively finds beautiful and attractive, which has nothing to do with what friends prefer. Of course, there are standards of beauty that count and those that don't. 😉

[lakeland27]

in years to come caves will be sought after. with ever hotter summers, a visit to coober pedy will confirm that a cave is a sensible dwelling in this climate.

[buzzlightyearsgirlfriend]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

OMG! You mean you knew Buzz was photographing your antics and you didn't try to stop her?But then agin maybe you were beyond it by that stage. Buzz any chance of posting that photo? 

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I deleted it. But, there are some things one just can't simply unsee...

[lakeland27]

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@lakeland27 wrote:

okay you win. i like mcmansions. and i'll give my description of good taste. good taste is pandering to the value judgements of those you admire, the people you would see as peers.  I remember my mother saying her sisters taste was appalling, but today if i were to sell my mothers family heirloom furniture and aunties teak and  tretchikov prints, the price differences would be negligible .

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LOL, good taste is not "pandering to the value judgements of those you admire" (rather clunky writing, did you come up with that yourself?) but what one instinctively finds beautiful and attractive, which has nothing to do with what friends prefer. Of course, there are standards of beauty that count and those that don't. 😉

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the writing style may be clunky,  but the idea is sound enough. i suggest you read some period opinions of antoni gaudi's flats. then, compare them to contemporary descriptions.

[buzzlightyearsgirlfriend]

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@buzzlightyearsgirlfriend wrote:

Sounds like someone's Granny's been into the Fruity Lexia at the Cup luncheon today...

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Well judging by your photo, I would say Fruity Lexia, plus half the lunch buffet under the largest marquis!

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Welcome to the Internet, 'round here we call those little pictures A V A T A R S.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+is+an+Internet+avatar%3F

[goo**spew]

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@lakeland27 wrote:

in years to come caves will be sought after. with ever hotter summers, a visit to coober pedy will confirm that a cave is a sensible dwelling in this climate.

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A visit to Coober Pedy would make anyone want to live in a cave

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

That would be a long way for you to ride your skateboard......

Good Luck!!

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

Coper Pedy would be long way ...... don't forget to pack some spare wheels......

And if at first you don't succeed....try.....try.....again....