I've Been Watching Home Tours on YouTube

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I’ve been watching home tours on YouTube. Lots and lots of home tours. I’ve seen so many now that I’m down to the videos made by real people. Regular people? I mean non-celebrities.

Turns out 20 million gets ya a pretty decent place to hang your hat. The savvy socialite could make due with half that amount.

New Yorkers have a specific style; LA types do too. Then there’s the hotel-size French chateaux (the plural of chateau) that serve as weekend places of single male interior designers- also plural. I’ve seen a few of those.

Then there’s the apartment tours, by which I mean rentals. Problem solving is a whole different game when gutting the place and bringing in a famous interior designer is not an option. YouTube is loaded with young couples new to the endeavor of creating a home.

Over the last few months I’ve been putting together my current place, and it's pretty much done now. If I were to show it off, now would be a good time. Maybe.

Truth is, I’m nervous about the reaction people would have to my work. My reaction to some of the places I’ve seen are best not shared with the proud creators who did put themselves out there. They are the brave ones.

The decorator in me wants to reach out and offer advice. I must resist. Anything other than flattery gets one blocked on social media. And I’ve taken some flack for doing actual remodelling of a place someone else owns. Call it an expensive hobby. Some people smoke crack, some replace cabinets and lay vinyl-plank floors.

For 27 years I had one subscriber on my “channel.” My late partner, Bob is the one I was always eager to share my work with. Seemed like every time I got a place done, or nearly done, I’d get bored, start looking around, and end up finding the next adventure. Bob was amazingly patient and agreeable.

My favorite type of place, what I’m really drawn to, is the place with no redeeming qualities. The sort of sad place everyone immediately passes over. Even my current place; when I was touring it, I used terms like “dreary” and made a few retching gestures. Five minutes later I was arranging down payment and moving date.

I trust my abilities. I see myself as capable and even talented. The YouTube crowd seems to have great confidence, even more so than me. They put themselves out there for the world to see. I admire that. Especially when neither they nor I have $20-million dollars to work with.

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