Instant Dream Home Review 2022 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
In the first episode, the team renovates the Butiekant home, a small 2-bedrom bungalow that mom Beth-Anne has owned for over 40 years. Space has become a problem, especially now that her daughter Ruby-Beth and her husband Taylor (who is the person who submitted their house for consideration) are about to have a baby. Also, Beth-Anne’s vision has deteriorated to the point where she needs help getting around.
The plan: Lots of new paint inside and out, new furniture, making the dining room a dining room again, a brand-new kitchen that leads to what Nick calls a “sensory garden.” Also, a tiny room will be framed out to make a nursery. A lot of work, right? One thing Erik plans to do is bring in a pre-fab kitchen, complete with pre-installed dishwasher, cabinets, stove and paneling. One problem: If the floor joists can’t hold the load, the floor will collapse. Another problem: When they tried to do a dry run at HQ, the entire thing tipped over and broke up.
Instant Dream Home is designed to be a feel-good show, not one where the design choices are so wacky that viewers key in on how the homeowner will react. The families getting the home renovation are worthy of such an extreme effort; Beth-Anne has been an activist for decades, and more or less raised Ruby-Beth on her own, for instance. The show wants us to see the transformation and how quickly everything is moved out, painted, upgraded and cleaned up.
Sure, it’s fun watching Danielle Brooks’ endless positivity and infectious energy not only pump up the design team but put the homeowners at ease. Some of the banter between members of the design team seems forced, but it’s generally good-natured. Getting a little insight into the planning phase is helpful, and the reveal is always the highlight of any of these kinds of shows.
But after reading about the problems people have had with quick renovation shows that make so many shortcuts that the house is often left in worse shape than when they arrived, we started wondering about whether this makeover is at all in the Buitekant family’s best interests. Beth-Anne has just lost her vision and can barely get around the old version of the house, which she lived in for over 40 years. How in the world is she going to find her way in this newly-remade home? Aren’t they going to get annoyed that none of their old stuff is there?
And that kitchen! We have no faith that the kitchen isn’t attached to the walls using anything more than gum wrappers and twist ties. What’s going to happen when the paneling tears away and falls on Beth-Anne or, god forbid, her new grandchild. We just have no confidence that anything that was done inside or outside the house can stand the test of time. In fact, we would have loved to have seen the next 12 hours as Beth-Anne curses that she can’t find anything in her own house.
The aesthetic choices are typically bland for shows like this, which is a shame. The bungalow was a forest green with purple trim, for instance, and it ended up being painted a grey-green with lighter blue and teal trim. Bleah. All of the furniture comes right out of a Restoration Hardware catalog. That teeny-tiny nursery had some great wallpaper but looks like no one took into account where this baby will sleep when he or she gets any bigger than an infant. The whole thing just felt like planning for TV and not for how the Buitekants live, which kills the feel-good nature of the show.
