Surprise home makeover - or surprise "House of Horror"?

Mostly people love surprises, and especially surprise parties.
Yet, when it comes to home decorating it seems that people sometimes have vastly different ideals and standards of "beauty".

I think the reason most homes stick to fairly bland, tried and tested banality, is simply to keep the peace between partners.

Nowadays we have a lot of reality shows that can inspire people, but sometimes they inspire them to go down the wrong path.
We're not all born to be interior decorators, and even reality shows have caused problems for families who had home makeovers for television.
Some didn't really like the results, and were stuck with color schemes they considered as comparable to vomit.
Others lost their homes, which suddenly had higher mortgages and taxation, and some were left with incomplete makeovers.

This doesn't only happen on television shows.

I can think of a house where the retired husband decided to rip out the carpets and tile the floors.
The wife actually hates it, and thinks it looks like an office block.
The slightest sound in the loo now echoes thunderously through the house.
To fix the situation, the husband has now proposed buying a huge plant in a ceramic pot to put in the hallway.
Nobody quite knows how this will work practically, but he's clearly a man with a vision that only he can comprehend.

Here's a kitchen makeover that wasn't much appreciated.
I get what the woman is saying here.
Why did he get two of everything?
He did a makeover for $60 000, but yet he didn't change the light-bulb?
On the other hand, she could be a bit more tolerant.
The ice-maker isn't bad.
He clearly put a lot of effort into his endeavor, and maybe it's the thought that counts?

Who's the meanie here, the wife or the husband?
What about the snickering friends - perhaps they could have been more forthright sooner?
I'm not sure it would have helped though, since some people are very single-minded.

a reply to: halfoldman

So sad. Most men don't know about kitchens but he was trying. And she can't contain her disappointment. Needed a little coordination. Kinda seemed it was like he thought she might want but he didn't really ask.

This is what happens when a man tries to design a new kitchen why the woman is out. I don't care if she gives you detailed directions, it's not gonna be right when she comes home. It usually takes a woman a few attempts just to get the paint right. He should have known better. This one is blunt, i really don't think it came as much of a surprise.


Funny though... "This is stupid"

Go fix up the garage if you're so driven, but stay the hell out of the kitchen. He shoulda just gave her the 60,000 and told her to go to town, then even if she didn't like the outcome she would have had to pretend and everyone would have been much happier.

a reply to: liveandlearn
Yeah, I think there was some serious miscommunication going on here.

He probably meant well, but rather than sending the partner on a holiday they should have done the makeover together.

It's also often true though that one partner is thinking more financially and how to increase the property value, and how to spare the other partner from the stress of ripping everything out and refurnishing it.
Redecorating can be stressful, and some people are quite phobic about it.

WOW he makes all the effort and tries really hard to give her what she obviously always said she wanted and thats how she reacts?? i agree with what their friends and family were saying what a B, i got the impression it was staged though.. but if that is her real reaction then wow, some people are so ungrateful........ !

a reply to: halfoldman

Wow I feel so bad for him. He was so excited and seems to have done all that work, spent all that money for her. Some women don't like anyone in their kitchen so maybe she was territorial or felt she didn't have any say. Maybe she was in shock. Regardless she was very harsh and ugly about the whole thing. Then on the other hand the husband almost seemed to be bragging. Who knows but if it were me I would have sucked it up: wall colours can always be changed, as can the light.

Poor guy. And to do that to him in front of everyone? Nasty.

I think she's an ungrateful (fill it in however you please).

I don't give a shat if he painted it black and had nothing but candles for lighting and new appliances... He thought enough about her to put forth the effort of remodeling the kitchen (obviously in ways he had heard her talk about before) and surprising her with it.

She needs a damn attitude remodel. She has no clue how many wives would love a husband who thought half as much about them to even put forth an effort to make them happy.

I can only imagine what kind of (fill it in however you please part deux) person she is when the camera isn't rolling and family isn't around. To act that way in front of all of it says to me that she must throw some good fits when it's just him and her. She could have at least faked it until everyone was gone and the camera was off.

Hell, she could have just faked it for the next 15 years and then remodeled again.

Ungrateful, spoiled, and thoughtless is MO. nobody wants to live with someone who appreciates nothing... especially effort.

Pardon me while I go and cook on my 1970's harvest gold stove where the oven heats up to whatever the hell it feels like on any given day.

My husband is a certified marriage counselor. He was listening while I was watching. He said she was the ungrateful one, I agree. She didn't appreciate all the effort he went to.

She could have later quietly suggested, when everyone was gone, and at least a week had past, that they repaint.
Also, she could have suggested after everyone left to return the second stove for another appliance, like a freezer or 2nd fridge or whatever, or more cabinets and counter. She should have done the same with the other things she didn't like. She was horrid to embarrass him in front of everyone when he had worked so hard to please her.

Epic fail on the wife's part. She publicly humiliated her husband and trashed him when he tried so darn hard to make her happy. I say what a house of horrors that wife is.

This is clearly a couple with marriage problems that could lead to divorce the way she treated him. Pointing out the light bulb was so unnecessary and downright cruel.

This wasn't funny to me, it was the sign of an impending divorce or a truly dysfunctional family. As a former Psy professor I think the woman appears to have a narcissistic personality disorder to be so cruel and self centered.

What an ungrateful witch. I'd use a different word if not for moderators.

He should've put two treadmills in that kitchen instead of stoves.