In with the Old

This is so bad. Where other shows use the process and opinions of the homeowners to voiceover pictures and views of the home, this show focuses only on them. Every single episode quickly scans the finished room, never stopping the camera not even once!!! You never get the full picture of the room from a fixed viewpoint, but they do focus on the homeowners, usually incessantly talking nonstop as if their opinions are so much more important than what they've made.

Even when you google the show, you can't see very many pictures of the finished product. Is it to hide the show so you'll watch it? Well I watched 2 entire hours of non stop droning about feelings and opinions to see a few 10 second pans of the finished home, zooming in on so many little ridiculous details that you never get to see what the homeowner sees everyday. Has to be the worst renovation show ever.

I literally made an IMDB account just to write a review on this show. It passes itself off as a revivalist/restoration home renovation show. But honestly all it does is exhibit obnoxiously pretentious people that basically modernize beautiful historic homes into these ugly Pinterest-esque monstrosities. I love historic homes and vintage/antique things in general and this show is insulting. The only reason I gave this show a rating of 4/10 rather than a 1/10 is because of the beginning of each episode that shows the original state of the featured home and the history behind it. Other than that it just aggravates me.

This will hurt the soul of those who love history and and classic architecture and design. The Pinterest idiots make a big deal about saving original features like natural wood and stone but then completely ruin it by painting it. They remove practical, functional upper kitchen cabinets to put up.. nothing? Bathrooms and kitchens look like they were done in an afternoon with stuff found in the clearance section of Lowe's. Pedestal sinks with no storage. To each his own but why destroy beautiful natural materials and classic architecture and style when you really want your place to look and feel like a 19 year old's first apartment?

Watched this expecting to see old/historic homes being renovated with an eye toward retaining the historic look and feel of the house, similar to This Old House projects. Instead, for example, I see them destroy every bit of charm from a beautiful Cape Cod brick house and turn it into a shame to look at. Typical to a lot of shows, it starts talking about how horrible the shape of the house is and really all you see are a house that needs the trim stripped/painted, new roof, and landscaping cleanup on the outside as well as minor reno on the inside. The example house winds up the host's personal vision of a modernized style-less thing. If you want to see someone retain all the charm of truly old homes, watch Nicole Curtis on Rehab Addict.

I just found this show and see that's it's not even on demand. I hope the powers that be aren't going from the single review before mine to base their decision on whether or not to renew this show. I watch a LOT of these home improvement shows, and honestly this is the second one only that has a couple where I enjoy both of their personalities! I also love the show Home Town. It's difficult to watch shows where people are yelling at each other or are so hard-core that you can't follow how to do a project on your own. I really enjoyed that they explored the history and spoke to the people of the town about the house they were working on. And I really liked their easy-going personalities and they are obvious joy for what they choose to do for a living. Now that this is Magnolia Network, they are probably testing new shows right and left. But this is a keeper!

And BTW, PLEASE bring back at least one landscape show. There are zero on the air!