Three pet peeves. Ok, I have a few more but how about just three tonight? A client of mine had remarked today she saw a house on the MLS that she thought maybe I had done…she loved the modern look. Flattered but unsure what house she might be describing, I sat down and searched in the MLS over 500K.  Didn’t find the house but did find a big headache and a few pet peeves. I am wondering who designed these features, floorplans and faux pas’.? What do you think? Still like plant shelves?

Peeve #1: Plants belong in the garden. Or at least in a pot in your living room. At a level where you do not have to strain your neck to see. Ah, you say. These are fake plants. Really? WHO originated this horrid idea? I always thought it was a south Florida thing but apparently not as a quick MLS in your own neighborhood will verify.

Plants are not meant to be high and mighty except in a forest. Get rid of them and if possible ditch the shelf look too.

Attack of foilage will spoil any appetite ( at least the hood duct box is painted same as wall but still could be better ( see next peeve)
Looks like you might find a few critters in this garden and I do NOT think this is what is meant by “going green” ….
Nope. Not in the bath either. Lots of plants hanging around is no substitution for good design. This bathroom could have been much nicer without the shrubs.

Peeve #2:

Hood venting. Listen to me on this one. It never fails to amaze me how many plans come across my desk that have zero attention paid to how the hood will duct to the outside AND most importantly how it will affect the kitchen design. I abhor the box motif in these shots. This is what happens when it is not thought completely through at the BEGINNING of the job. You will not see this on my website. I advise the client at the outset that we will be dealing with this issue sooner rather than later. Using a wood hood and taking IT all the way up to ceiling if venting through the ceiling. Or, an exposed chimney stack and letting it be architectural. Anything but the dreaded box!

Cladding it in the same wood like this does NOT make it go away. In fact, it is even more obvious here than if it had been painted the same color as the walls. Just bad or probably, No design advice.
Same issue here….why?

Peeve #3: Tray ceilings gone wrong. Very wrong. And a couple of random examples of just really weird ceiling transitions. Who allows this to happen? Don’t get me wrong…a well done tray detail can look great but I have talked many clients out of trays gone crazy..in every bedroom, multi layered trays that overwhelm the floor plan and trays like one of these that are not properly scaled.

Totally unnecessary and why spend the money? Spend it on dealing with your hood transition instead! For pete’s sake!
Scale all wrong. So is sofa but that is another post. Remember these are all over 500k. No Habitat for Humanity homes here. This simply does not work and looks like a mistake not a design detail.
What do you call this architectural element? And what realtor thought this was a good angle to show the kitchen? File this under “just plain weird”
Ok, so the arch…is….going where? Anyone got a protractor? I may have to use this again for peeve 4 next week…really bad trim transitions!

So what do you think? Are some of these design details just overlooked? Or do people not look above their line of sight when designing a space?