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Syndicate
Staying In with HGTV
HGTV got a plug last night on NBC’s season premiere of “The Office,” when Pam, in New York for three months to take design classes, tells Jim back in Scranton, PA about her evening plans in the big city: staying in to watch HGTV.
I think that was supposed to make Pam look pathetic. But if you’ve ever watched that channel, you know how addictive it is. You start watching it, and all of a sudden, you’ve watched three shows before you even know the first one ended. When I used to work there, I was shocked by how many people wrote in to say how the network had changed their lives. Yes, that’s the language they used.
So, I’m going to take this opportunity to indulge myself once more. I went to the site for the first time in a while, and it looks like the 2009 Dream Home – in Sonoma, CA – is already getting a lot of traffic.
And just like the “Today” show’s wedding series, people now get to vote on certain elements that will be a part of the home. Last year, they voted on the bedroom design for the Dream Home in Islamorada, FL. Now, you can vote on your favorite outdoor table setting.
Another favorite section is Rate My Space, where people send in pictures of rooms they decorated themselves, and open themselves up to a raft of comments – both swooning and skeptical – from readers. In June, I wrote about one woman from the DC area whose DIY decorating skills had hundreds of people raving.
Check out these two beauties on the section’s “top-rated.”
You can also go to the site’s Designer’s Portfolio, where you can peruse rooms decorated by the professionals to get a sense of what your own style is.
At least two local designers are featured in the portfolio: Andreas Charalambous of FORMA Design and Rouzita Vahhabaghai of Ita Design, both of whom are known for their contemporary styles.
But whether you skew Old World, traditional, or transitional, there’s a room in this section for you. And I haven’t even started in on the TV shows. So I won’t blame you if you decide to do like Pam Beesly and stay in to watch HGTV.