The Ugly Truth About Binge-Watching HGTV
It’s hard not to start second-guessing everything about your house when you watch HGTV non-stop. The popular design channel offers a constant flow of renovations, DIY flips, and real estate hype that’s pretty addictive to home enthusiasts. But trying to replicate everything you see on HGTV can lead you down a dark and stormy path if you’re not careful.
Binge-watching HGTV could make you feel worse about your home because it constantly shows people renovating, flipping houses, and buying the latest features. The shows often downplay how expensive remodeling can be and make house-hunting seem easier than it is. These unrealistic depictions can make you second-guess the choices you make regarding your home.
If you love to zone out and watch Celebrity IOU or Married to Real Estate, go for it. But if you suddenly start breaking down walls, going into debt at Home Depot, or crying about your kitchen, take a break. Watching HGTV can be a fun way to pass the time, but only if you recognize the truth behind the channel.
Why Does Watching HGTV Make You Feel Bad About Your House?
It’s important to realize that first and foremost, HGTV is a form of entertainment. The channel strives to develop appealing shows and content that entice. The finished products pull viewers in and keep them coming back for more.
Fancy renovations, fast-talking agents, and snarky quips combined with fun before-and-after shots are undoubtedly irresistible. (Especially if you love anything house-related.)
But when your love for HGTV leads you to be unhappy in your home, it’s worth investigating why.
The Social Media Effect
On the surface, the easiest way to think about some people’s over-the-top reactions to HGTV is to compare it to social media. Think about when you look at Instagram reels and see influencers your age jetting off to Europe or buying the latest Louis Vuitton bag.
If you don’t pay much attention to these things, then binge-watching HGTV likely doesn’t affect you too much. However, if you’re asking yourself what you’re doing wrong, take a step back.
The answer is simple. It’s because the vast majority of what you’re seeing on social media is not real. For example, a lot of influencers rent a private jet for an hour to take a quick photo shoot so they can pretend that they traveled to Europe or some other exotic destination.
HGTV may not be faking you out with private jets, but still, not everything on television is always as it seems. Yes, they are really renovating houses and showcasing various house flips and other experiences. But these things are likely played up a lot for entertainment value.
Plus, the footage is edited before making its way into your living room, so you aren’t seeing the whole picture. Therefore, here are a few things to stay aware of when you’re watching HGTV so you can keep your feet on the ground.
The Focus Is Often On Resale
You’ll hear a lot of designers on the shows talk about what buyers are looking for. Even when renovating, they remind homeowners to think about when they go to sell the house.
However, what if you’re not planning to sell your home in the next five years, or ever? Don’t be afraid to make choices that speak to you, even if they aren’t part of the mainstream.
You Start Trying To Create An Insta-Ready Home
A downfall of watching HGTV excessively is you can easily fall into the comparison trap and try to keep up with the Joneses. A study by Bucknell University discovered that many people renovated their homes based more on media influence than their own preferences.
If you want to make a few changes in your home, choose things you love. Don’t pick pieces and colors only because it’s what everyone else is doing on HGTV.
The Shows Make It Seem Like Everybody Renovates All The Time
When you watch any number of renovation shows, you might start to wonder why you can’t redo your kitchen or bathroom. How does everyone have these big budgets to remodel their houses?
Well, keep in mind that you’re seeing the final choice. In other words, there are countless homeowners that want to renovate. Many of them apply to HGTV, and ultimately, a few get chosen to appear on the shows.
But if you’re watching HGTV every day, you’re seeing all of these people redo their homes. You might start to wonder why you haven’t moved forward with your renovation plans.
However, many people live with their homes as-is for a long time. They renovate bits and pieces over time as they save and get sidetracked by busy schedules.
HGTV Gives An Accelerated Version Of The House-Hunting Process
If you’re ready to buy a home, you may have an unrealistic expectation of the process if your only experience is real estate shows. For example, the show House Hunters is real but doesn’t show an entirely accurate depiction of the house-hunting process.
It’s not like they’re purposely trying to trick watchers. The practical reason is they have to speed up the process to fit it into the show’s timeline. But in real life, searching for the right house takes time.
Some buyers look at 8 or more houses before finding one. However, the TV show makes it seem like buyers only see three houses before finding one they fall in love with.
You Might Bite Off More Than You Can Chew In Your Home
Perhaps one of the most dangerous parts of consuming so much HGTV is that you get in over your head with projects. Picture this: You watch another episode of Fixer to Fabulous and finally, you can’t take your old kitchen cabinets any longer. You suddenly think, “If they can do it, I can do it.”
You grab a sledgehammer or a crowbar and start knocking out the cabinets. Or maybe you start slapping some paint on them to give them a new look. Before you know it, you realize you started making changes without any real planning or forethought, and now you’re in a predicament.
Once again, remember, you’re seeing everything condensed down into a 30-minute or hour-long television show. They make it look so easy, but these different projects have specific processes to follow to do them well. It’s important to take the time to research and plan what projects you can do (and the ones better left to the pros). Then, you can approach the tasks the right way and do them well.
You End Up Getting Expensive Features You Don’t Really Need
There’s no denying that plenty of the after-shots of the homes on HGTV look incredible. But after you see a few reveals, and watch designers make different choices, you get an itch to add features to your home.
Think about it. Before your HGTV obsession, did you ever think you needed a pot filler, a pop-up exhaust fan in your kitchen, or a hidden cooktop under your stone countertop? Now, these things seem like must-haves because all of the shows make it seem like everyone has them.
However, more likely, they’re including them in homes because they need to showcase a sponsor or certain product. In the average home, you likely wouldn’t find many of these extravagant features.
Should You Stop Watching HGTV?
If you love HGTV, enjoy it. It’s worth saying you don’t need to cancel your HGTV Go subscription or kick your TV when Down Home Fab starts playing. However, you should pay attention to how you respond to the shows you watch.
If you take them with a grain of salt and realize a lot of it is done for the benefit of the camera and not real life, you’re safe. But if you fall into the trap of believing everything you see on HGTV is 100 percent realistic, you could have a problem.
Instead, remind yourself you don’t have to copy-paste the designs you see on the show. Use your favorite HGTV shows as a way to inspire and motivate you to turn your home into something you love.
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Stacy Randall is a wife, mother, and freelance writer from NOLA that has always had a love for DIY projects, home organization, and making spaces beautiful. Together with her husband, she has been spending the last several years lovingly renovating her grandparent's former home, making it their own and learning a lot about life along the way.
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