The Property Brothers Point Out a Huge Eyesore Nearly Every Home Has—and How To Hide It
HGTV
Property brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott know that kitchens and primary suites often garner the most attention during a renovation. But on the latest “Brother vs. Brother,” they prove that it’s those extra spaces that can truly make or break whether a home makes a lasting impression.
On the episode “Extra Spaces Showdown,” the Scott brothers redesign the extra bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry space.
“The final spaces of the house are key,” Jonathan explains. “It’s one thing to make kitchens and main suites look phenomenal, but bringing the extra rooms to the next level takes a lot of hard work and creativity.”
Their efforts will be judged by Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson of “Married to Real Estate,” who know plenty about boosting a home’s bottom line as the winners of Season 3’s “Rock the Block.”
As the property brothers go all out to outdo each other, they deliver some clever ways to make these oft-forgotten rooms unforgettable. Here are the lessons they taught us this week.
You can’t call any old room a ‘bedroom’
Adding another bedroom from the top downHGTV
“In my oceanside house, I’m turning my extra room into a den,” says Jonathan. “But I want it to double as a bedroom, because a fourth bedroom in the listing will get more bedrooms and higher bids than a three-bedroom listing.”
That makes sense, and as we all know by now, to qualify as a bedroom, a room must have a closet and a window. But that’s not all; it must have insulation, too—which is not always a given throughout the house.
“This room used to be an enclosed porch, so it’s not properly insulated,” Jonathan says of his new den. “For it to be used as any kind of a legal living space, we need to insulate it and run HVAC, too.”
It’s a lot of work, but in his mind, well worth it to have fourth-bedroom bragging rights.
Wallpaper adds instant personality
A distinctive denHGTV
Extra rooms are an opportunity to go bold with color and design—and Jonathan achieves this added pizzazz easily with wallpaper.
“We have to give every room its own vibe,” says Jonathan. “So that when the judges, or the buyers, walk in, they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah! Look at the potential in this place!'”
He puts wallpaper up in all the extra rooms, including the ceilings. No surface is left uncolored, and the effects are eye-popping. But is it too much? That’s for the judges to decide.
A pop-up TV can hide anywhere
A TV screen that rolls up from a console at the touch of a buttonHGTV
TVs are a huge yet common eyesore, whether they’re sitting on a dresser or hanging on a wall. But these days, they don’t have to be.
Jonathan proves this as he installs a TV screen inside a console table.
“It looks just like a console table. You press a button, and a TV rolls out,” he explains. “It gives you this amazing 65-inch screen.” Then, it disappears once you’re done.
“This TV from the future will blow everyone away who walks in here,” guarantees Jonathan. “This is going to be how we beat Drew.”
Make sure the plumbing aligns with a new tub
Jonathan laments getting the wrong-sized tub.HGTV
For one of his bathrooms, Jonathan buys a new tub, which he later discovers is too short for the space. So he goes online and finds another tub that’s longer, but also wider.
“The problem is, the plumbing is not centered anymore,” he says. “In my haste to find a new tub that was the right length, I forgot to specify the right width. Now the existing plumbing doesn’t line up with the drain on the new tub. It’s a rookie mistake, and now I am in a jam.”
After much hassle and many calls, he finally finds the right-sized tub. All this runaround could have been avoided if he had simply measured better in the first place.
An office is more valuable than a closet
One closet and a converted office alcoveHGTV
Meanwhile, over at Drew’s house, he’s surveying a bedroom with two huge closets. Does he really need them both?
“I would not take a closet away from this house if I didn’t think we already had enough closet space elsewhere,” he explains. Seeing as there’s plenty of storage, he decides to turn one of the closets into a tiny office, noting that this makes more sense from both a function and value perspective.
“What’s going to be more impressive for our judges: two big closets in this bedroom, or turning one of them into a workstation?” he asks.
The judges agree.
“Everybody is working from home right now,” says Sherrod. “It’s just a reality, so you’ve got to have a home office or at least something that’s dedicated as a work closet. This is a cloffice—a closet office.”
Which property brother wins this round?
Both brothers are able to stick to their $75,000 budgets, but which makeover is better?
Although the judges appreciate Drew’s bold color moves, it seems he almost went a little too far.
“For this competition, he went whimsy, and we just saw whimsy is flimsy,” gloats Jonathan.
Jackson and Sherrod vote for Jonathan’s oceanside home design. (That very cool roll-up TV might have had a little something to do with it, too.)
The score is now Drew with 3, Jonathan 2. But the ultimate winner will be decided next week, when they finish the exterior. Stay tuned!
The post The Property Brothers Point Out a Huge Eyesore Nearly Every Home Has—and How To Hide It appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
