If you've ever watched an HGTV show like Fixer Upper, Flip or Flop, or Property Brothers, you've probably seen the trends in design that come and go throughout the years.
Some of them look absolutely stunning but end up being inefficient, expensive, and sometimes down right useless.
The trends are a flash in the pan in the fast paced home buying market because people find out how terrible they really are in practice. We went to Reddit to find out exactly which ones were the worst.
Redditor wazzel2u asked:
"What is a terrible trend found in new home design?"
These are honestly just laughable.
Going in the open.
"Open concept bathrooms."
"I don't need to see you taking a dump from my bed."
- 02K30C1
"My dad has a huge bathroom that's open concept and has high ceilings, like the toilet is surrounded by nothing for a solid six to ten feet in all directions but the one where it's backed against the wall. I don't know why but there is some deeply buried primal instinct that comes out when I use that bathroom, I feel panicked. Like my lizard brain is screaming, 'Don't sh*t out in the open you're going to get eaten by a bear.' I hate it. It's unnatural."
- mandy_skittles
"A someone who lives in Alaska this fear is not unsubstantiated. Its also a reason to carry around deterrent like a high power firearm in to the bathroom... which comes out handy too when the bear steals the poop knife."
- Traumatized-Educator
"And In contrast, vanity and bathtub open to the bedroom, but the toilet is in a tiny stall that isn't even big enough to put an extra roll of TP in."
- helena_handbasketyyc
Hollow doors.
"Hollow interior doors that don't keep sound out from within the house and hallways - especially hollow bedroom doors when you're trying to sleep."
- Back2Bach
"I just purchased another home and one of the first things I did before making an offer was 'door inspection.' Having solid exterior AND interior doors is important to me. I would say it's more of a builder cost cutting measure rather than a trend though."
- TickTacWhat
"You know, this kind of thing perplexes me. So often I find people make changes to up the value that I think are ugly or irrelevant, but a serious QoL upgrade like good doors gets ignored? I don't understand people's home priorities man."
- Qadim3311
"As an appraiser, we look at the overall general condition and quality of a home. Things like doors and windows certainly don't go unnoticed, however, there's no real difference to the average buyer between types of doors. People mainly look at what condition they're in and are they functional."
"Now, if we're talking high end homes, then the quality of finishes really matter, including building materials. I've started adding solid doors as a personal preference as well, but I'm doing it for my own comfort, not for added value."
- Purposefulpurple
Storage is a must.
"Lack of storage space. Just bought a new home and didn't realize how little space there was. We have one storage closet upstairs. That's it."
- A_Bit_Off_Kilter
"It's so weird - I grew up in a place with snow - so these were critical and in every home (even new construction as of 6 years ago) but I live in warm climate now and have no use for it - since we don't need to shed layers and snow covered boots - so they don't have those here. Never really gave thought to it until you said that."
- cantwaitforthis
"Absolutely this! The house I just moved out of had zero storage aside from bedroom closets. It was something we didn’t notice when purchasing, but sure did when moving in. Luckily the house I’ll be moving into very soon has a good deal of storage space."
- Annhl8rX
"One of the 'games' I play when watching house hunters is 'where do you keep the vacuum cleaner?'"
- tjdux
Mullet houses.
"Go to a high end gated community development ($800k - 2M price points in my area) front of the homes is beautiful stone, brick, etc., but on the back every house has cheap ugly vinyl siding all the same color as far as the eye can see. I never understood this since you actually spend time in the back yard not the front."
- MisterSolid
"Mullet houses. Business in front. Vinyl in the back."
- Express_Simple9726
"It's obviously a cost saving measure. Typical on McMansions where they want to sell you as much house as they can without spending too much building it."
- PD216ohio
The TV is too high.
"I really don't like the fireplace design where you are intended to put your TV over it. A TV is way too high when over the fireplace."
- 0rangePolarBear
"This is why I don't like fireplaces in general. Most people who don't live in areas where fireplaces are functional don't even use their them more than once a year. Despite this, if your living room has a fireplace, it pretty much determines the layout of the whole room with almost no flexibility."
"Every TV I've seen mounted over a mantle has made my neck hurt just seeing it for the first time, but it would look stupid to put a couch in front of it, so basically there's no good options if you have a fireplace."
- Revenge_of_the_Khaki
The bedroom is not big enough.
"Bedrooms that are only juuuuust big enough for a double or queen bed and a nightstand."
- makovince
"But they use that extra space upstairs for a 'loft' that no one is going to f*cking use."
"My house was built in 2006 and has what can only be described as a 'proto-loft.' The upstairs bedrooms are still a decent size, but there is what was described in the real estate listing as a 'nook' that’s just big enough to fit a couple of chairs that will never feel the warmth of a human a**."
- b-minus
Too many rooflines.
"I don't like it when they have like ten different rooflines that are only a foot or two deep. Are they hoping it looks like an older house that's had many add-ons done?"
- LeonardGhostal
"My brother's house has this and my god the leaking and drainage problems it has! His siding is rotting away from it."
- Coconut-bird
"One thing it does is hide shoddy workmanship. It's a lot harder to see that the framing isn't straight or the cheap materials are sagging if there are no flat surfaces more than 10-12 feet long."
- katlian
People Explain Activities They've Added To Their Post-Pandemic Bucket List | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
While we've all been cooped up for the better part of two years, many of us have been dreaming up exciting plans for the future. Maybe it's finally time to s...Cookie-cutter layouts.
"The grotesque housing developments of the same like 4 models and 3 colors with no trees. Not to mention the houses are built like sh*t. The terribly inefficient road layout with a million cul de sacs."
- Individual-Text-1805
"Cookie-cuttervilles."
- valkyriespice
"Exactly. They're all the same and all soulless. There's a liminality to them. Something about them is so creepy and completely unnatural."
- Individual-Text-1805
The barn door trend.
"Barn doors are so stupid. It's a heavier, more expensive, harder to open door. And then it still has a public bathroom-style gap that eliminates actual privacy."
- mywifemademegetthis
"We had one of these for the bathroom door in our freaking hotel room one time. Guess what happened when someone took a shower? The ENTIRE room filled up with steam and felt like a rainforest."
- neko_brand
"They're fine for a closet, but it's horrible for something like a bathroom because of the gap. Give me a pocket door over a barn door any day."
- s404064
A garage made for two... kind of.
"Garages that fit two medium sized cars with about one inch to spare."
- kryppla
"...in Texas where nobody owns medium sized cars"
- havereddit
"I tell people we have a one and seven-eighths car garage."
- west-egg
Never enough secret doors.
"The lack of secret bookshelf doors. I mean, who designs their custom home and does not Include a bookshelf secret door? People design houses for a reason, and that reason should be secret doors."
- foxsable
"Heck yes! This is my plan: we're planning on doing an addition in a few years, and I'm totally including a secret bookshelf door to my office and other cool hide-a-ways. I want some whimsy and adventure in my life and I freaking love escape rooms!"
- kc2sunshine
More room for washing up.
"Most sinks are absolutely terrible. Looking better is nice, but not at the expense of hitting your hand on the bowl every time you wash your hands."
- zed910
"The sink in the utility room at my grandparents house was amazing. Grandad was like 6'4 in his prime, with a crazy wingspan. He said when they added that part of the house (utility room and attached greenhouse, it's dope as all hell tbh) he bought the deepest sink he could find so he would have room to actually wash his entire forearms after gardening. It's like a restaurant sink. It's magnificent."
- lovelylayout
The affordability.
"Not being able to afford one."
- NotSoGreatOldOne
"This bothers the hell out of me."
"My parents bought their home for 2x what my father earned annually, in a good suburb of the state's capitol. His salary wasn't particularly high or anything, pretty average for its time."
"Where can I buy a house for 2x my annual salary? Literally nowhere in the country. Not even the sh*ttiest, most desolate and remote places have a house I can buy for that price range."
- Richard_D_Glover
"My parents asked me and my husband the other day why we hadn’t bought a home yet. When I said we couldn’t afford one they point to our combined salary of $75k and said we should be able to afford a lovely house in a nice neighborhood, maybe even some land. They went on to explain that they had bought their first house (in the 80’s) for $70k and that it had been a very nice 3 bedroom home with a little land. I tried explaining that where I live falling apart crack-dens are being listed upwards of $150k. They just kept saying we weren’t looking hard enough. The older generations are just soooo out of touch these days."
- MrWhite_Sucks
"My dad and I had this discussion last night. His dad bought his 5 bedroom house for 1.5x his yearly salary. My dad bought his 4 bedroom house for 6x his yearly salary. For me to (maybe) buy a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom apartment in the same city I will have to pay 22x of my yearly salary."
- wanderingsteph
Words are not meant for walls.
"Live laugh love."
- patronsaintofshinies
"OMG. WORDS do not belong on walls! It's like somebody went to Michael's crafts and decorated their home. EAT. 'Kitchen'. 'Wash your hands'. Any iteration of 'In this house....'. I loathe that trend."
- Whats4dinner
White on white on white on...
"All white, white carpet, white furniture, white f*cking shiplap."
- Defcheze
"I blame Joanna Gaines for all the shiplap. I don't think I've seen a single house they've done that doesn't have it."
- nachobitxh
"The shiplap has to be done right or it doesn’t hold up over time. We looked at a house with ship lap and you could see every knot in the wood through the white paint. It would have driven me nuts. The floors were really dark and we could see every scratch and ding in them."
- librachick104
Open shelves.
"I don't know if it's new new, but it drives me crazy when people replace cabinetry with open shelves."
"Don't people understand dust? Bugs ring a bell? Pet hair? Speaking of pets, how do you keep your cats from messing around with that setup?"
- lyan-cat
"Where the f do you cram all the crap that lives on your counter, when company comes unexpectedly? Cabinet doors, people!"
- UsernameObscured
"CA here, earthquakes. Do you enjoy suddenly having a pile of broken glass?"
- OurLadyOfTheChickens
Whether it's open concept bathrooms or a lack of storage, there's a lot that goes into finding a home that is functional and fashionable.
If you're looking into your next home, really take a good look at what you're getting into. Is it functional? Or is it just a bad trend.
Want to "know" more?
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.