A short HGTV rant - granite

Well, this is it folks. Now, don't get me wrong. I know that trends in housing decor and such change as the years go by; one only need look to the (in my mind) terrible, terrible practice of black and white kitchen tile from decades now long past for an example.

Stepping back for a moment, in fact, I know it's safe to say that pretty much everything goes through trends everywhere, constantly. It's why the "emo" kids of my high school years are becoming replaced by "hipsters" and in a few years, some other "unlikeable" group will come along next.

But this isn't about that; this is strictly about housing trends that I have noticed from watching copious amount of HGTV.

Once upon a time (about, let's see - 3 years at the most), granite counter tops were IT. They were what sold the kitchen to annoying buyers who would say things like "Oh, all of those appliances will need to be replaced" simply because the appliances were black instead of stainless steel. The buyer would then say, "But since I'll save so much money not having to upgrade the  counter tops to granite,  I think I can manage."

Decorating shows would give hints and tips for how to obtain your granite counter tops for less; use granite tiles with no grout line! Negotiate on scrap granite!

And then as granite has saturated the upper end market and been brought to the mid grade market through tile and scrap, a new call has emerged from those who can afford it all. Now it is simply not enough to have the granite. Now it must be an elite granite.

On HGTV I have seen design shows ding the homeowners for using "builder grade" granite. (I guess that's now considered the McDonald's burger meat of the design world?) Now buyers will come in and lament about how the counter tops they see are all granite. They want something different.  They want the previous owners to guess exactly what color granite they like best and use that.

I guess maybe I'm just slow on the uptake. I never had a chance to obtain coveted granite counters and with my complete lack of internet fame for the next year and a half, I will certainly never have enough money to get granite. Probably by the time I do, it will be some new, ridiculously expensive material. And people will look at my sad, pitiful kitchen and comment about how the appliances don't match and that the counter tops are so 2010. And it will hurt.

I have more HGTV rants and you'll probably hear them... or have heard them... (for example, do stainless steel appliances really cook better? I feel like the majority of people who HAVE to have stainless steel probably don't even cook all that often) but that's all for now.