I bet they said Kirkstone -- it's from the UK and the first time I heard about it was on This Old House when they redid Dickie Silva's house (it burned down).

found the website

Here is a link that might be useful: Kirkstone

ooooooooh. okay. that makes sense! how is it possible i have watched these forums like a hawk for years and have never heard of this? you learn something new every day. thanks ladies! (she hangs her head in shame) i feel like a bit of an idiot!

kate, there are plenty of occasions where HGTV IS irritating. They make many mistakes, gloss over things, and think that paint over wood makes for great furniture!

I watch it now only to laugh at the million shows on it that have the same format. Host + designer + hot carpenters + clueless homeowner + $ = WOW, that looks really cheap...and we did it in only one day...

The only show on it that is high quality is Candice Olsen's divine design.

totally agree about candice. i can't believe they can't come up with smarter, high end shows.

I used to love watching the Kenneth Brown episodes. I thought he created top notch stuff.

I've never watched it and I probably never will.

Yeah, I especially like how they paint that furniture/kitchen cabinet doors OUTSIDE (wind/dust)and then install them before the paint has had a chance to dry. Sometimes they show closeups on the wall paint that is really messy where it meets the ceiling, doors and baseboards. Do they ever prime first? Do they ever wait for the first coat to dry before putting on the next coat? And the worst: NOBODY EVER HAS PAINT MESS ON THEIR CLOTHES.

I hate that on many of the shows they say, "For more information go to HGTV.com." Well, guess what? There is no additional information. Most of the time there is no information at all, if you can find the series or episode. Especially the newer series. Some of the old ones used to have info but that is now gone. The newer series never had any additional info there.

I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't keep telling us to check their website....

right woodswell. candice installed these great clear glass pendants in a kitchen remodel yesterday. i scoured that website. not a word. no mention of all.

I know there's an entire thread somewhere here on HGTV's "Spice Up Your Kitchen". After working now on my kitchen remodel for 7 months, I just like to watch that show and laugh. But I almost always feel sorry for the homeowner's because they only get 2 choices and NEITHER is ever just right. I always wonder too if the homeowner gets the labor free which might compensate for the less than perfect kitchen choices?

I saw a unique backsplash used on an episode of Designed to Sell and went looking for the info online - nada. I posted a question on the message boards and there were several others looking for info on the same backsplash.

We finally DID get an answer (Erin Adams Luna tile), but they must have gotten a really good discount on the tile. The tile sells for $100-$160/sq ft. I'd like to know how a TV show with a budget of $2000 per re-make can buy backsplash tile for that much money. It was not a huge kitchen, but it also wasn't itty bitty. No wonder they didn't post any info on where they got the backsplash!

Here is a link that might be useful: This is the tile they used...

I agree! I find HGTV kitchen makeovers irritating now that I've gone through it myself - they make it seem like you can pick out your granite one day and have it installed the next!!

Also, I would LOVE To have Candace Olsen do my house! She has great taste.

The prob. with most of these porn shows is time, OK and money. Most have a shooting schedule of one week tops. Some of you debate which bar stool to get for over a month, and that's just not possible on these shows. Even the grandaddy TOH has constraints. Over months of shooting schedule the producers have to weigh filmability, const. schedule, and owner needs into what's going to be commercially viable for them. You want a complete self contained one hour show for 5 grand, and it's just not practical to shop for days in London/Paris/NYC, choose that one of a kinder and wait for delivery, and wait agian while the hottie carpenter figures out how to get the darn thing out of the box let alone put it in. This also doesn't show off the spiffy orange saw and nailer or Behr paint that the shows' underwriters want to peddle. A lot of that stuff is donated under the auspices of advertising. You guys are now on this little ol board talking Kirkstone and Luna tile and it didn't cost them a dime. It's a bit like having a national shjowroom without the monthly overhead.

bellerus:

you wrote "I'd like to know how a TV show with a budget of $2000 per re-make can buy backsplash tile for that much money...."

My guess is that the tile was "donated - gratis or
at a substantial discount" by the
supplier and/or manufacturer to get a "plug" on the
individual episode and show the product
in use and installed... this happens all the time
with just about ANY building product from A to Z....

if people want to spend $100 to $160 per square foot on
their kitchen backsplash for their own home - that does not
make it onto a TV Show..... God Bless 'em I say!!!!

kevin

The one that drives me most nuts is "Hidden Potential", as the estimates for the work needed to make the home look the way the "architect" shows that it could look once the interior is totally redesigned are WAY under reality....which is why you never get to see the finished product, I'm sure.

Also, the $2000 dollar budget on "Design To Sell" never includes the cost of all that labor....

I am an HGTV junkie. (Use to be a 'Law & Order' junkie.) I love Candice Olson too. She always does plenty of custom built-ins - and you can never have too muchs storage.

I spent an hour trying to find something on the website which I saw on Cool Tools. Their search engine is TERRIBLE. I finally found it going show by show (it was this blow-torch thingy that can "sand" away granite, leaving a smooth finish. Not that I'd ever be in a position to buy one, but I thought "How awesome to have a tool that you could take a solid piece of granite and quickly and easily scour away a sink into it, then a drain hole!!!"

Anyway, they really need to improve their website, especially since they keep hawking it on their shows!

Carla in Sac

One of my favourite shows on HGTV Canada is Design Inc, featuring a Canadian design firm led by Sarah Richardson. I guess you guys don't get it in the US?? Take It Outside and Designer Guys 2 are two other Canadian shows they are great from a production standpoint, and features high-quality transformations (no half-done Trading Spaces type of rooms).

Although this is on TLC (I think)....I used to rather like seeing "Trading Places"....but if I ever came home and saw straw pasted on my walls, all H--- would break out...TV or no TV.

ROTFLMAO, phoggie! I remember the straw!!! If I went on trading spaces and got that designer, I would say, nope, not gonne do it! and walk away! I never did like her!

Full disclosure: I have never seen HGTV, so I can't comment at all there.

But I DO love TOH episodes. I really like how they care about craftsmanship--you get to see what's behind the walls, how they're doing things, what tools they use, WHY they're doing things, all kinds of informative tutorials.

My favorite moment was when they were discussing removing a balcony door that they had just installed, and turning it back into a window. Apparently when the homeowner saw how the balcony railing would affect his view from inside, he decided he didn't want that balcony after all. No mention of how much that change of mind might cost, but it really did bring home the reality of remodeling. Sometimes you think you have it all worked out, but it's not until you see it all put together that you realize another choice might have been better.

ok. so i hate hgtv. why am i watching??
it's like a train wreck!

And do you ever wonder where they get the bedding and linens on those Design to Sell shows? They show some wonderful stuff and then when they tell what they spent it's like twenty bucks for the curtains and sixty bucks for the bedspread.....gee, what sales are they going to?