Home makeover television is a favorite genre of programming among many TV viewers.
DIY and home improvement shows such as those that are on HGTV inspire homeowners or house flippers to come up with brilliant ideas to dramatically alter their homes.
But not everyone has the means to make their vision come to fruition. But, hey, we can all dream.
Speaking of which, Redditor Butterflies_Books asked strangers online to channel their desires into a hypothetical and asked:
"If you had enough money to build your dream house, what's a strange room/feature you'd include?"
These Redditors want more than an aesthetic change. They want a lifestyle change.
Purrrfect Plans
"Cat walks. Between rooms. For my cat."
– ThinkMouse3
Wet Theater
"An indoor swimming pool in the underground floor with a synced screen on all four sides and normal + underwater sound system. I love swimming. I love watching movies and series."
– Meins447
Bringing The Outdoors Indoors
"I want a freshwater pond in a central location inside the house."
– DoctorSneak
Liquid Dreamz
"An indoor swimming pool - with a lazy river. I LOVE swimming but I f'king hate public pools. I have a recurring dream where I have a house with a lazy river in it. I love those dreams."
– [deleted]
It gets really specific.
Siesta All The Time
"I want an outdoor area dedicated to taco night. It’s gonna have a meat smoker, and a tequila bar, and pepper plants, and a huge grill and an awesome speaker system and it will be fiesta themed and amazing!"
– DreyaNova
Middle-Earth Food Storage
"I want a hobbit pantry."
"Earthy, timber-stone decor that is climate controlled to be a perfect storage area for wheels of cheese, sausage links and beer."
– Shangiskhan
Aquarium Study
"It's not that strange, but I think an irrationally large number of decisions in my life have been motivated by the desire to eventually have a study with high ceilings and floor to ceiling bookshelves so I can have one of those ladder things that sits against the shelf and have it be justified."
"I would add an octopus tank but I think they live like two years tops and having to bury a pet biennelly seems depressing."
"Edit: people keep suggesting I eat the octopuses."
"I'm not going to eat my pets."
"As a former fish monger, please do not eat seafood that has died of old age. Not gonna taste good."
– Nrussg
Again, we can dream.
No More Solicitors
"A moat. No one has a moat anymore. Do you not want to talk to people? Pull up the draw bridge!!!! And in the winter you have your own personal skating rink!!"
– Hardlynotpoor
Tropical Oasis
"I really want one of those natural bathrooms, that looks like you just walked into a jungle, everything is stone and steam and plants and sounds of a water fall."
"Or one of those open stair cases where the back wall is completely glass and there’s a leafy garden under the stairs."
"Basically just a tropical oasis for plants."
– YEEyourlastHAW
Bringing Nature In
"I saw a cool house online yesterday that had an indoor greenhouse and I am here for that."
– [deleted]
Calgon Take Me Away
"Absolutely a secret beautiful bathroom just for me. I don’t know what it is but I just really value bathroom time and the luxury of getting washed and relaxing and getting ready in a big beautiful marble bathroom. But nobody else can use it. Like the secret bathroom in B99."
– cats_rule_on_mars
I've always dreamed of owning a house that has an interior Japanese tranquility garden. As in, rock garden.
There's nothing to maintain and all you have to do is gaze out into the contained courtyard and meditate.
It would be the perfect space from where peaceful energy would flow. The house's heart.
What's your dream home addition?
People Break Down What Would Make Up The 'American Nightmare' Rather Than The 'American Dream'
People often say they came to America to pursue the American Dream.
But what is the American Dream? The ideal can be described as a life granting everyone freedom to achieve success with few obstacles in order to carve a life out for themselves and start a family.
To some, the American Dream is simply epitomized by its culture of baseball, hot dogs, and backyard BBQs.
But what would be the antithesis to the notion that "all men are created equal?
Strangers online shared their analysis when Redditor amountgood asked:
"If there’s an American dream, what’s the American nightmare?"
The thread began with sarcasm.
Why Cody Rhodes?
"Cody Rhodes is a professional wrestler known as the American Nightmare. He's the son of the late, great Dusty Rhodes, who was the American Dream."
– familyman121712
How Tuneful
"The American nightmare is a song by ice nine kills."
– EarthWillOvercome
And then Redditors mentioned their worst-case scenarios.
No White Picket Fences
"Honestly, for me ending up homeless."
– NoticeWhenUAreHappy
Unforeseen Setbacks
"For me it's getting a serious illness that prevents working, losing everything, being unable to provide for my family, and having to be taken care of by them."
– LividLager
When Dad Got Sick
"This was my Mom and dad's situation. My dad started developing ALS symptoms in his early 60's, by the time he turned 63 he could barely walk/talk let alone work. So he really lost the last high earning years of his life unfortunately."
"Compound that with 24/7 nursing 'heavy' care and my mom would have burnt through most of their savings if not ended bankrupt - had I not quit working and moved home to help her. Luckily she is a licensed RN so medically he was in better hands compared to a lot of other people suffering from it. She just couldn't move a 180 pound 6' 1" man like I could."
– Tler126
Roadblocks To A Healthy Life
"Yep! Can't afford a house, had to get married to get health insurance, if I miscarry, I might have to wait until I'm literally dying of sepsis before I can get medical treatment and if everything goes well, my baby is still full of microplastics :( The future is terrifying."
– listlessthe
Comparisons to the present were inevitable.
Our Current State
"What America is becoming right now."
– favnh2011
A New Reality
"Current America. -An American."
– TTdriver
We Grieve
"Agreed. What we are right now is pretty f'king terrible. Obviously things can get worse, but it feels like that the worst is inevitable. An absolute nightmare for sure."
– BleedingTeal
Dream Vs. Reality
"The American dream occurs when you are asleep. The American nightmare occurs when you are awake."
– cedriks
People analyzed the concept of what makes the American Nightmare.
At Second Glance...
"Ironically, the American nightmare is exactly the same as the American dream, just different perspectives."
– jcbasse
"The American dream is a marketing concept to sell you crap as you attempt to keep up with your peers. I have nicer rental properties than the little apartment I rent for myself. It’s about priorities."
"Where I live, the bike you ride is more impressive than the car you drive."
– Backyouropinion
It Doesn't Apply To Marginalized People
"American dream: prosperous 1950’s style suburbs and social mores."
"American nightmare: exactly the same, but you’re black. (Or a woman, or gay, or trans, or neuro-divergent in any way etc)"
– Charlie_Mouse
The Sitcom Life
"The same thing for someone else. For every person who dreams of a Leave it to Beaver lifestyle that's another person's Purgatory. The true American Dream is simply having the ability to live life as you so choose if that's a Sitcom life then hell live it. If that's in the middle of the city hitting the coffee shop and bakery every morning then do it."
"But too many people mistake their dream for everyone else's."
– jackfaire
Speaking Of Sitcoms
I can't personally say what constitutes the antithesis of the American Dream, but I can say when I realized the so-called "Dream" only applied exclusively to a demographic that was different from mine.
My earliest notion of the American Dream was life depicted on a TV show called The Brady Bunch. (Sadly, we're in an era where people have never even heard of this once-popular American sitcom).
It took me a long time to realize I had been internalizing my resentment of the show for not representing characters that looked like me and having storylines relating to other cultures.
I'm still nostalgic about the show's more inconsequential moments with the family–like settling arguments with a potato sack race or banding together and running through an amusement park to deliver the correct blueprints for the dad's high-stakes business meeting.
But as a youngster, I couldn't help but compare my situation to the perfect White family and realize I would never have that.
To me, that was an American nightmare in a sense. Not being able to attain the unattainable.
But it took me a while to realize I'm so grateful to have had the best of both worlds–of being raised in a country that offered me opportunities leading to a sustainable career in the entertainment industry AND having a background with a rich culture and loving family that shaped me into the proud person I have become.
The Brady's can never take that away from me.
However, I'd still love to be invited over to their house and brush Marsha's hair or have a jam session with Greg up in the attic.
In an ideal world anyway.
An astronaut. A veterinarian. A pro sports player.
These are things you hear so often as career aspirations when you're in first grade. Little by little, as time goes on, those primary dreams fade.
But even as adulthood comes and takes us by surprise, most of us know exactly what we would rather be doing at any given instance. It might not be our career now, but it could be one day.
Or else not, but it's still nice to think about it.
Redditor akotosinato asked:
"What is your dream job?"
Here were some of those answers.
PhD In Mad Science
"Mad scientist. I wanna engineer tissues for things like organ transplantation and improved cancer treatment. Giant robot can come later, but I married an ME, so that's on track."
"I'm applying for my PhD. Wish me luck, I'm terrified."-Jeru1226
The Dream Had A Price Tag
"I spent nearly two years working as a scientific diver in the Great Barrier Reef. Projects ranged from coral diversity expeditions, remote sensing and crown of thorns control."
"The people I worked with her amazing and I got paid to 'live the dream.'"
"But the big things were the time I spent away from home, the pay isn't as good as people think (welcome to the environmental industry) and after awhile it takes a toll on your body. It was some of the best times of my professional career but it does come at a cost."-newagesaltyseadog
Liminality
"Not knowing it is absolutely fine. You don't have to know. It can make you want to experiment more and gain more experience and go through different life adventurers that you would have missed out on, had you chosen a specific path."
"If you're OK with what you have, I think you're doing awesome! Keep it up."-Fahi12
Can you see yourself holding down any of these jobs?
Mama Coffee
"My dream job would be a coffee house with lots of nice books around that people can read, but I can't stand coffee and I'm terrible at reading, so it's a pretty silly dream job. There's just something about the aesthetic of it all that appeals to me."-The_Blip
"Sounds like you'd be selling the coffee and books instead of drinking and reading, so that doesn't sound very silly to me at all."-EnthusiasticWaffles
Sexy Librarian Or Just Librarian
"Being a librarian or a bookstore employee, assisting with research, and writing articles."-brkh47
"I'm a corporate librarian! I think a lot of people see it as selling your soul but the money is great, the jobs are stable, and I work with really cool materials and advise on campus museum walks :)"-mmphotos25
Ohhh *Pit Crew*
"I wanna be an F1 Engineer!"
"So far, I'm on my way to the goal by nearly finishing my degree in mechanical engineering and now I'm applying to graduate schemes at McLaren, Williams and some smaller supplier teams!"
I"'ve spent 6 years preparing for this sh*t so it better be worth it dammit!"-cannedrex2406
How Would You Dress For This Job
"Wandering hobo that parents tell their kids to avoid but they don't listen and so he guides them in saving their town from an ancient evil with awesome king fu lessons and occasionally wise yet comedic banter."
"He also can fly with his beard like ice king."-GodDamnRight-
Do you see any jobs on this list that you wish you knew about before growing up and making another choice?
Hey AI, Why?
"As a CS nerd who thoroughly enjoys playing chess, Chess.com had this job opening that looked like sooo much fun."
"Essentially, we have algorithms/models that are absolutely incredible at playing chess - world champion grand master chess players have been broadly considered inferior to the best computers since ~2006."
"The thing is these models 'learn' (improve their likelihood of winning) in such a way that, even though they make the correct decisions, they have no way of conveying (or perhaps we have no way of properly comprehending) the reason for a given decision."
"Sure, we can generally study their behavior and make inferences but those still come down to educated guesses."
"Anyways, Chess.com wanted to pay someone to mess around with their opponent AI and research ways of explaining a given decision it made. I don't have the Ph.D. that job would require but damn if it doesn't sound fun :)"-ArriePotter
I Do Not Dream Of Labor
"To be more specific for me, being financially free. It doesn't mean I wake up without a purpose. It means I don't have to keep working a job that pays well that I'm no longer interested in doing."
"I get to do things like helping people out, improving my community, etc. Like figuring out a new lease on life instead of planning to work everyday for the next 30 years just so I can retire semi comfortably."-terdferguson
The Ultimate Hangout
"Running a combo of a winery, brewery and coffeeshop at a beautiful location with easy hiking trails and fire pits outside, plus a built in movie theater with laying around room and a room for playing board games, pool, skiball, some arcade games, etc."
"Also dogs are allowed and encouraged. There'd be snacks sold and some vendors could have trucks outside."-Elliejq88
So, our dreams haven't quite left us yet, even if the world (and life in general) has truly done its best to mess us up.
Dreams always prevail.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
People Explain Which Strange Features They'd Love To Build Into Their Dream House
It's quite common for children to discuss their dream houses. They conjure fantastic images of all-powerful gadgets, rooms dedicated to desserts, and houses high in the clouds or down at ocean's bottom.
And yet, adults seem to equally prone to dreaming. But their imagined palaces illustrate a clear change in priorities since those earlier years.
A recent Reddit thread asked people to describe their ideal household features and designs.
The resulting list was a wide-ranging list of pragmatic solutions to problems as well as plenty of absurd investments in comfort and leisure.
Butterflies_Books asked, "If you had enough money to build your dream house, what's a strange room/feature you'd include?"
Greenrooms. Greenrooms Everywhere.
"I really want one of those natural bathrooms, that looks like you just walked into a jungle, everything is stone and steam and plants and sounds of a water fall."
"Or one of those open stair cases where the back wall is completely glass and there's a leafy garden under the stairs."
"Basically just a tropical oasis for plants."
Middle Earth Snacks
"I want a hobbit pantry."
"Earthy, timber-stone decor that is climate controlled to be a perfect storage area for wheels of cheese, sausage links and beer."
-- Shangiskhan
Goal-Setting Imagery
"It's not that strange, but I think an irrationally large number of decisions in my life have been motivated by the desire to eventually have a study with high ceilings and floor to ceiling bookshelves so I can have one of those ladder things that sits against the shelf and have it be justified."
"I would add an octopus tank but I think they live like two years tops and having to bury a pet biennelly seems depressing."
-- Nrussg
Controlled Falling
"a trap door at the entrance that drops you into the ball pit." -- perfruit_mix
"When I was remodeling my kitchen years ago, I realized my bedroom closet was directly above one of the kitchen pantries. I wanted to build a fireman's pole in my closet so that after changing I could just slide down the pole and then walk out of the kitchen pantry, like, ta-da!"
"I thought it was brilliant. My wife did not. Didn't happen." -- fletchlivz
The Comfiest
"A bed room. A room that is just a giant bed second or third story of the house surrounded by windows with a glass ceiling/skylights." -- 4RichNot2BPoor
"Have a balcony overlooking the bed room to jump onto the bed from" -- randomly_generated87
"Once google maps satellite images start becoming more detailed people are going to see you doing your kinky sh** through your ceiling." -- PuggerHugger123
Outside Inside
"A cylindrical atrium at the center, that goes from natural rock and water features at the bottom, with spiral staircases and steps around the outside that lead to a glass roomed sun deck with a hut that overlooks the entire thing."
For the Invading Ships, Of Course
"I'd definitely install an observatory on top of a spire." -- Tardigrade7point0
"This is 100% what I'd do. My house would be located far away, in a dark sky region. Have all of the lights in the house be smart lights, so I can turn them all off with a single click." -- OSUfan88
"This is my plan. I'm going to custom-build an enormous telescope for it" -- TaskerTunnelSnake
Bring 'Em Back!
"A moat. No one has a moat anymore. Do you not want to talk to people? Pull up the draw bridge!!!! And in the winter you have your own personal skating rink!!" -- Hardlynotpoor
"100% would turn into a lazy river in the summer" -- Magicallypeanut
"Except standing water makes for excellent mosquito breeding grounds. I want a moat, but I also don't want to pay for it in blood." -- ShadyLibidine
Preparing for Cleanup
"Professional kitchen. Hoods, stainless steel everything, floors on a 1° slant and one whole wall is a drain, the works." -- easyroscoe
"A friend of mine has something similar to this, except the whole room slants toward the island where the drain is located in the tiled toe kick."
"He can soak his floor and mop everything into the drain, hit a button to have whatever was in there chewed up via some sort of mulcher. If you didn't know it was there, it just looks like a nice kitchen with some professional appliances." -- not_charles_grodin
PB & J Otter, Anyone?
"Slides. Slides all over the house to get you from any room down to the living room or den." -- hausomad
"We got a VRBO once with a slide. Which the kids loved until we noticed the connections between slide segments were ripping the seats of their pants."
"Worst. Meltdown. Ever." -- jcrewjr
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
We can all agree sleep is great, right? It goes third, chocolate cake. Second, watching your child succeed at anything. First, sleep. So when something wakes you up from a deep slumber it can ruin the rest of your day. When that 'something' turns out to be terrifying, well, that can ruin your life.
Reddit user, u/Hoostolf, wanted people to dig deep into their thoughts and share: