Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

So said former Linden Hills resident Santanu Chatterjea about his nightmarish experience with his sewer line. Chatterjea and his wife, Prachee Mukherjee, who have since moved from the neighborhood, werent expecting to find the floor drain in their utility room overspilling several years ago.

Apparently, older homes such as ourshad the outside sewer line hooked up to the basement drain, Santanu Chatterjea said. Add in the backyard beautiful majestic trees, whose gnarly roots broke into the ancient sewer lines, and sewage reflux ensued.

The couple went through several services as they tried to figure out the problem. One of them even snaked a camera into the line as far as he could and showed me a blurry image of a water trickle that confirmed his suspicion drain tile collapse because of root intrusion, Chatterjea said.

They were given two options: a trench-less sewer line repair that wouldnt disturb the yard but would be very expensive, or an elaborate archaeological dig, which would involve digging up the front yard and ripping out the sidewalk, going all the way up to the citys main sewer line under the street. The cost? $25,000.

Needless to say, I was a bit distraught, he said.

Finally, Chatterjea got connected to Ron the Sewer Rat, whose worker came and, for $300, pushed a cutter with blades from the inside of their homes main water line into the sewer drain.

He said the pine trees roots would probably return in a few years and cause the same issue, but that was normal in this part of the town. Hed have to come back.

The main problem is that the older houses use clay tiles as opposed to PVC pipes, said Peter Kroening, a co-owner of Ron the Sewer Rat. The clay tiles, combined with all the old trees with heavy root systems, can spell disaster for your pipes.

Continued here:
The massive expense of a broken sewer line - Southwest Journal

Although lockdown measures are changing next month, its likely youll still be spending a lot of time in your backyard as life wont return to normality just yet.

And if youre thinking of innovative ways to revamp your space, then one mum-of-three and grandmother-of-two has shown how you can get creative with just paint and tile stencils.

Dawn Burton, 54, decided to totally overhaul her 117-year-old yard when she was furloughed due to coronavirus.

The office administrator spent just 123 on materials and transformed took her yard from a drab space to a stunning Pinterest-worthy feature.

Dawn told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk : "I have always followed various home accounts on Instagram and love nothing more than to look at various images online for decorating ideas and DIY.

"I wanted my garden to look different and I had noticed a few people who were stencilling paths and patios.

"I wanted to take the inside outside and at the same time create a space that anyone would love to sit in.

"Lockdown came and for the first couple of weeks I was just baking nearly everyday to keep myself occupied. The weather became brighter and warmer and I thought 'right, now is the time to transform my 117-year-old yard'.

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For Dawn, being on furlough was the ideal opportunity for an intricate project.

I told my family I wanted to transform my yard, but didn't go into detail as I wanted to surprise them," she said.

"I also told a few close friends and shared my ideas with them, and they inspired me to just go for it - they couldn't have been more supportive throughout the whole process."

Dawn used two five litre tins of smooth masonry paint, one black and one white, from B&Q and The Range, which cost 39.98.

She then bought one 750ml tin of Frenchic Al Fresco Dusky Blush from her local stockist Drab to Fab by Janey Home Interiors for 17.95.

Dawn also used Thompsons Patio & Driveway Sealer from Screwfix for 27.99, one Victorian tile stencil from idealstencils.co.uk for 34.99 plus postage, one stipple brush from B&Q for 1.90, and also various makeup and childrens paintbrushes from around the house.

The total cost of all the materials was 122.81.

Dawn explained: To prep, I jet washed the walls and floor. I painted the walls using the smooth black and white masonry paint and gave the floor two coats of smooth black masonry paint.

I then took the edging stencil and went around the wall and across the middle of the yard, stippling the smooth white masonry paint with a brush.

"Once the edging was in place, I measured across the yard to find the top centre point.

"I always remembered the guy who laid my flooring in my kitchen saying 'you start in the middle and work your way out.

"I then measured across the yard in between the two edging stencilled tiles and immediately under the top stencilled edging tile to find the centre point. I marked this with chalk.

"I then placed the top centre point of the main stencil on the middle marked point on the floor.

"I stencilled that tile using the white masonry paint and the Frenchic Al Fresco Dusky Blush, and again stippled this with the brush.

"After stencilling that tile, I did one either side, all the way down, which left the edges on both sides.

"I then went back up to the top right and stencilled all the way down following the pattern, and the same for the left.

Finally I did the remainder at the bottom. After letting it dry for 24 hours, I then applied the patio sealer with a roller on a long handle and went around the edges with a brush.

Dawn said that her top tip is to plan what you want to do and draw a rough sketch on paper. Then measure and work out what size stencil is best suited for the job.

She added: I couldn't be happier or more proud of what I've achieved, especially being the first time I have attempted stencilling.

I wanted to show and inspire people that anyone can achieve something if they really want to do it. I did!

Read the original:
Mum-of-three on furlough transformed her backyard for just over 100 - Manchester Evening News

We are all about the easy bathroom ideas, and we are talking reeeeally easy. So we of course had to share we you our top ways to update your bathroom quickly and easily. It just so happens all these bathroom hacks are really cheap too and you can DIY them in just a weekend.

Keep reading for loads more super easy and super cheap bathroom makeover tips and make sure you check our our bathroom ideas feature too.

(Image credit: Fiona Walker-Arnott)

We think paint is by far the cheapest and easiest way to update any room you can do it yourself in just a weekend and the results are fabulous. You could just freshen up your bathroom with a coat of white paint or you could be bold and try a new colour. For advice on how to paint a room head to our guide.

We love plaster pinks at the moment, they are a nice grown-up take on millennial pink that everyone still seems to love. It's also still quite neutral so is a nice backdrop for prints, house plants and patterned tiles. Our favourite dusty pink is Farrow and Balls Pink Ground.

Take a tour of the rest of this amazing home for plenty more ideas to copy.

(Image credit: Chris Snook)

And don't just think about painting the walls, paint your furniture too! If you have a basin unit that's looking a bit tired, give it a fresh coat of paint. It could be a great way to start a new colour scheme in your bathroom. You can paint your bath too whether it's the bath panel or your whole roll top bath.

If you are after a guide to how to paint furniture, we have a really easy to follow step by step and find the best paint for furniture in our guide too.

(Image credit: Design: Chango & Co)

How cool is this bathroom? We love wallpaper in a bathroom and it works even if you have a small bathroom too because it will blur the edges of the room. Don't just wallpaper the walls either, create a really statement space by wallpapering the ceiling too.

You be aware that wallpaper works best in a bathroom that's well ventilated, and you might want to seal your wallpaper to stop any moisture damage too. If you love the look of this wallpaper, check out Etsy, they have loads of budget-friendly options.

(Image credit: Katie Lee)

We have ranted on about tile stickers many a time, but they seriously are such a quick, cheap and easy way to cover up old bathroom floor tiles. You install them yourself and all the instructions come with the pack so you know exactly what you are doing. B&Q actually make a vinyl tile sticker that looks exactly like the floor tiles above and they are only 16.90 for a pack that covers 1.3m. Bargain.

Etsy also sell loads of tile stickers that would be great for updating splashbacks as well as flooring.

Love this bathroom? Take a browse around the rest of this stunning home for loads more inspiration.

(Image credit: Ikea/Nato Welton)

Maybe all your bathroom need to feel new is a good declutter and the best way to do this is invest in practical but stylish storage. Ikea stock fab bathroom storage that's designed for smaller spaces and is really affordable too. But you don't need to buy pieces of furniture, even just picking out some small storage piece can make such a difference. We are so in love with the Kungsfors net bags! They look fab in any room but are ideal for storing toiletries you need to keep accessible.

For more small bathroom storage ideas, head over to our feature.

(Image credit: George Home)

We LOVE these cow print towels, and guess where they are from? ASDA! Yep, they are super stylish and super cheap prices start from just 4 and a massive bathsheet is only 9.

In fact George at Asda are smashing the affordable bathroom accessories right now, they have loads of cool towels and this textured bath mat looks way more expensive that just 9! Make sure you have a good browse over there for cheap ways to update your space.

(Image credit: Kasia Fiszer)

Bathrooms do tend to be the smallest room in the house, so we are all about expanding the space and creating the illusion of a bigger room. Of course, the easiest way to do this is with mirrors. You might already have a mirror above your sink, but look to the other walls to see if hanging a large mirror would work to bounce more light around the room.

Or if you don't have room for a second mirror, switch out your current one for something larger. We love how this simple HUGE mirror works to stretch the space in this gorgeous, but diddy bathroom.

Our fave place to shop affordable mirrors is Argos plus it's great because you can click and collect on the same day so you don't have to wait to start your bathroom update.

If you love monochrome, make sure you take a tour of the rest of this amazing 1940's home.

(Image credit: Ikea )

Yes, just a stool. You must have seen the Ikea Bekvam stool on Instagram? If you look closely, it's always creeping somewhere in the corner of seemingly every Instagrammer's room. It's not surprising, really, as it's a super versatile piece, looks stylish and is only 20 quid. You can use it as a stool, a step ladder or, as seen here, bathroom storage. It just adds a handy bit of extra surface space for storing toiletries or keeping folded towels. Plus you can soo easily paint it to match your room.

Link:
8 quick and easy bathroom ideas to makeover your space this weekend - Real Homes

We've all been spending a lot more time in our gardens and backyards during lockdown - and one mum has revealed how to transform them without it costing the earth.

Dawn Burton, 54, got creative when she was furloughed from her job as an office administrator, turning the space from drab to fab.

The mum-of-three and grandmother-of-two gave the yard at the back of her house an overhaul using just paint and tile stencils, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Dawn told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk : "I have always followed various home accounts on Instagram and love nothing more than to look at various images online for decorating ideas and DIY.

"I wanted my garden to look different and I had noticed a few people who were stencilling paths and patios.

"I wanted to take the inside outside and at the same time create a space that anyone would love to sit in.

"Lockdown came and for the first couple of weeks I was just baking nearly everyday to keep myself occupied. The weather became brighter and warmer and I thought 'right, now is the time to transform my 117-year-old yard'.

For Dawn, furlough was the ideal opportunity for a home project.

She said: "I told my family I wanted to transform my yard, but didn't go into detail as I wanted to surprise them," she said.

"I also told a few close friends and shared my ideas with them, and they inspired me to just go for it - they couldn't have been more supportive throughout the whole process."

Dawn used two five litre tins of smooth masonry paint, one black and one white, from B&Q and The Range, which cost 39.98.

She then bought one 750ml tin of Frenchic Al Fresco Dusky Blush from her local stockist Drab to Fab by Janey Home Interiors for 17.95.

Dawn also used Thompsons Patio & Driveway Sealer from Screwfix for 27.99, one Victorian tile stencil from idealstencils.co.uk for 34.99 plus postage, one stipple brush from B&Q for 1.90, and also various makeup and childrens paintbrushes from around the house.

The total cost of all the materials was 122.81.

Dawn explained: To prep, I jet washed the walls and floor. I painted the walls using the smooth black and white masonry paint and gave the floor two coats of smooth black masonry paint.

I then took the edging stencil and went around the wall and across the middle of the yard, stippling the smooth white masonry paint with a brush.

"Once the edging was in place, I measured across the yard to find the top centre point.

"I always remembered the guy who laid my flooring in my kitchen saying 'you start in the middle and work your way out.

"I then measured across the yard in between the two edging stencilled tiles and immediately under the top stencilled edging tile to find the centre point. I marked this with chalk.

"I then placed the top centre point of the main stencil on the middle marked point on the floor."

Dawn stencilled this tile using the white masonry paint and the Frenchic Al Fresco Dusky Blush, and again stippled this with the brush.

She said: "After stencilling that tile, I did one either side, all the way down, which left the edges on both sides.

"I then went back up to the top right and stencilled all the way down following the pattern, and the same for the left.

Finally I did the remainder at the bottom. After letting it dry for 24 hours, I then applied the patio sealer with a roller on a long handle and went around the edges with a brush.

If you're inspired by Dawn's project, she advises you to plan what you want to do and draw a rough sketch on paper.

Then you can measure and work out what size stencil is best suited for the job.

She said: I couldn't be happier or more proud of what I've achieved, especially being the first time I have attempted stencilling.

I wanted to show and inspire people that anyone can achieve something if they really want to do it. I did!

Link:
Mum on furlough shows off incredible backyard transformation that cost just 100 - Belfast Live

Another new set this time around is the office of the TBD Group, the investment firm known in season one at the Jammer Group. Last time, Mo Monroe (played by Don Cheadle) was at the helm, but now his former partner Dawn Towner (Regina Hall) has taken over, along with Blair Pfaff (Andrew Rannells) and a team of women. We wanted to lighten it up and make it much more inviting, says Contestabile, who looked to a book called Office Book: Ideas and Designs for Contemporary Work Space by Judy Graf Klein for this set. That meant removing the pencils stuck in the ceiling, cigarettes, and beer cans, first and foremost.

All of the chairs in the TBD Group were from this one place going out of business, says Contestabile.

Colorwise, it was grays and browns and dark greens for season one. For season two we went with pastel pinks, mauves, and light grays, he says. I actually found a swatch book of vintage mini blinds that had a bunch of colors in there, and I went through and picked out the colors of the new TBD Group based on that. It was a funny way to pull colors. They added a pink carpet throughout, a sofa from Galerie Sommerlath in the lounge area, Vintage on Point boomerang sofas in the lobby, repurposed green chairs around a marbleized conference table, some pieces from Casa Victoria Vintage Furniture, and, of course, plants, says Contestabile. They did not exist outside of Dawns office in season one.

Though the show mainly takes place in New York, there's a brief trip to Miami this season, where Dawn (Regina Hall, right) visits Mo (Don Cheadle) at his pink-and-orange hotel room.

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Blairs office was another favorite space for Contestabile. Within the pink and feminine TBD Group, his workspace is outfitted in a palette of red, black, and gray. We had fun thinking Blair would probably make his office aggressively male. You knowjust to compensate.

Blairs office was Mos office in season onewe really redesigned it and rearranged it to make it feel like a new space, says Contestabile.

Each setlike each characteris a colorful representation of both the best and worst aspects of the decade. There's excess to a fault, sure, but as Wilson says, it is a world full of over-the-top, lush, colorful textures, which wouldnt be the worst thing in the world to make a comeback.

Excerpt from:
Black Monday Season Two Takes the 80s Aesthetic to Another Level - Architectural Digest

Last year we had the statement chair, a sleek designer number set apart from our comfy sofas as an expression of our taste in design, and quite incomplete without the essential accompaniment of a footstool.

For 2020, statement-making in interiors has expanded to just about anything we like as long as it draws the eye towards it in the way a fireplace or television dominating a room would typically have done in the past.

Fashion designer Ted Baker's Pearl Grey rug (from 479 at Rugs.ie)

It doesnt necessarily have to be a piece of furniture, nor even something outsize that draws the eye by scale alone. It could be something as simple as an accessory, a lamp, soft furnishings or some occasional furniture; even a cheeky little object picked up on holiday or while rummaging through a second-hand shop.

A little virtual shopping expedition threw up a few in vogue suggestions from the pricey to purse-friendly, but if youre worried about something not working, remember the words of the legendary American interior decorator Bunny Williams: If you love something it will work, that is the only real rule.

Once confined to crusty Scottish baronial piles, tartan is having a moment in interiors, although its hard to envisage translating it into a suitable look for the more modern and sometimes compact home without turning it into the set of Outlander.

Someone who does it with style, however, is Ralph Lauren. Famed for his chic coastal-inspired interiors, his navy blue tartan wool pocket square blanket is a sophisticated take on tartan -99 at http://www.ralphlauren.ie- but if you want drama, Jean Paul Gaultier might just be your man.

Not only does he reference tartan in his couture collections and loves to gad about in a kilt, his furniture collection for Roche Bobois includes sofas and ottomans bedecked in the print (price according to size and fabric).

Floor art Nothing pulls a room together quite like a rug which these days goes beyond traditional pattern to take on an arty finish.

Ted Baker is another example of fashion designer-turned-interior designer, producing a rug collection including the Pearl Grey (from 479 at Rugs.ie). Its an outsize floral with a contemporary painterly quality with just enough plain grey in one corner to site a table off centre.

Speaking of tables, our favourite place to site drinks and newspapers in the living room, and even to raise tired feet, tends to be the coffee table, and hasnt it come a long way from the rectangular shape which has always made it look like a mini-version of the dining table?

Eclectic yet functional design alternatives come in the shape of the covetable Bonaldo Pebble by Mattias Demacker (583 at http://www.lomi.ie) with red and white or white and black finishes combining curvaceous futuristic design with handy storage.

The ongoing love of shady tones sitting between the extremes of black and white means grey is now considered a neutral, so not much scope for making a statement with it. Or so I thought.

Spotting Made.coms Herman three-seater sofa in finch grey cotton, it comes with the surprise of an eye-catching shadowy tonal blot of dark grey on a lighter-hued back cushion (700).This chic black cane and velvet seated chair is from Interiosity (495).

But just as I thought the overexposed statement chair wasnt worth considering here, up pops a beauty made of black cane on a matching wooden frame with grey velvet seat which wouldnt go amiss in a modern home.

So, if youve ever thought cane to be outdated, this one from Interiosity (495) might change your mind.

Cushion soft Adding finishing touches to a room calls for the arrival of soft furnishings, in particular ever-useful cushions. The Foliage design from M&S (30) blends several on-trend colours - yellow, orange and pink but in muted form so they work together and make the necessary statement to draw the eye without being in your face.

IKEA has the large Nabbfly cushion cover (4) offering some tropical fun to brighten up a plain sofa or even a dated one for the summer season.

For a little fun Ikea has this eye-catching banana-shaped ornament (10).

The Scandinavian retailer, noted for its pared-back and streamlined designs, is injecting some fun into accessorising with the vivid yellow Kuperad ornament (10).

Shaped like a bunch of reclining bananas and looking particularly authentic at that, it serves no function other than to attract attention and elicit a comment, if not a laugh.

Read the original here:
How just one item can create a focal point in a room and even spark a conversation - Irish Examiner

When house hunting, in particular among uninhabited homes, it can be challenging for potential buyers to imagine what living in the space would look like. Savvy real estate agents long ago began advising homeowners how to scale down their tchotchkes and personal belongings in order to make a better impression on buyers. And then, in a stroke of genius, they started staging empty homes.

A few paintings here, a sofa and area rug there. It began minimally with just enough furnishings and accessories to stimulate a bit of intrigue. Then came full-blown staging. With todays multi-million-dollar spec homes on the market, the trend has quickly become furnishing to the hilt, including pricey artwork. And now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, home tours are going virtual, which makes staging all the more important to home seekers.

That is the niche that Walker Wright of Walker Wright Abodes hopes to conquer with its recent move to Houston from its home base in Los Angeles, where his firm continues with interior design, staging, and photographic styling. The expansion to Houston was partly motivated by business and partly by the fact that Wrights partner is a native Houstonian.

My portfolio and background from living and working in Los Angeles kept me busy in high-end, high-fashion prop and photo styling, which led me into taking on personal interior design clients, Wright tells PaperCity. I then took those skills and applied them to my advantage in the home-staging world because of the countless hours spent photo styling and working with interiors-photographers in L.A.

I learned and understand the best angles and spacing and proportions etc I know what will look in print and how to portray a homes unique and beautiful features or hide them.

Wrights plan for the Lone Star State is marrying the glam from Los Angeles with the timeless look that Houston shows so well showing beautiful spec houses with high-end design.

While working on a massive project for Cisco Home in Round Top, Wright landed the staging task for 38 Carolane Trail in Bunker Hill. Brookstone Homes built the 6,266-square-foot dwelling thats listed for $3,395,000 with Compass agent Caroline Bean.

In furnishing the public areas of the five-bedroom house, Wright collaborated with his partners mother, decorator Cindy Witmer, whose design store provided accessories and some furnishings. Among the notable brands included in the staging were Cisco Home, Kuhl-Linscomb, Noir, Kelly Wearstler, CWD Studio + Home, and many others, as well as art from Laura Rathe Fine Art.

The natural, casual California theme of the design can be seen in the study, mudroom, game room, upstairs and downstairs utility rooms, climate-controlled wine room, and home office. While theres neither staging nor fancy cars in the garage, we have to mention that there is ample space for three cars.

Read more:
The Secrets of Luxury House Staging Specialists Expand From Los Angeles to Houston - PaperCity Magazine

WORSTOFALL DESIGN

As a kid, I was always told that when I grew up, I should do what I loved. But I was also told that I needed to choose a career path that would actually make money.

Sometimes, especially when youre a kid, those two things dont seem to go together. It can feel that way as an entrepreneur, too. If you love hiking, can you really make that into a profitable business idea?

The good news is that you can find a balance between passion and profitability with practically any business idea even if it doesnt seem like it at first. Heres how you can get it done.

Finding the intersection of love and profit begins in the planning stages. Youll have a hard time making these changes later on! Think things through now so you dont get stuck in a less than ideal situation later.

Start by looking at all the things you love to do. Add to this by making a list of things youre good at, or the things that excite you. Then, take a look at possible related opportunities that you could use to earn money.

Sometimes, these lists will cross over in obvious ways. Maybe you love to paint in your spare time, thanks to talent youve already developed by working as a graphic designer. Other times, these lists wont seem to have much in common. Your mastery of Fortnite probably doesnt seem like a marketable skill, but then again, some people have made millions of dollars this way.

Dig deep and think creatively when looking at the list of your skills, interests and passions. A Google search could help you find ideas and opportunities related to these areas. The right approach can help you turn even a normal hobby into a profitable activity with a workable business model.

Still not sure how to get started? Answer these 33 questions from our Brandshrink about your business and youll be much closer to finding this intersection.

Making a list of your skills, hobbies and passions is a good start, but a jack of all trades rarely makes a lot of money in todays market. Instead of trying to funnel EVERYTHING into a single business and trying to reach a ton of different people, hone in on the ONE idea you are most excited about.

Starting your business idea with a clear focus will make your life infinitely easier. What do you want to do? What do you want to accomplish with your business? This focus informs everything you do even who you talk to, what you say and when or where you say it.

This became especially clear to me during a recent conversation with Moha Ou Said Boughazi, founder and CEO of Top Desert. Our family has a passion for our native culture that of the nomadic Berbers in Morocco. We wanted to help others understand our heritage what makes us a beautiful people, Boughazi explained.

So, when we started offering desert tours, this became a big focus of our trips. We wanted this to be a true, authentic cultural experience. Naturally, that influences what we do and say on the tours themselves, and it also affects how we market ourselves. This focus on sharing our culture guides everything we do.

While focusing on something that you love and feel passionate about is a great start, your best bet for ensuring that your idea will actually turn a profit is to spend some time in your customers shoes. You cant forget who youre selling to!

Sure, you can spend countless hours looking at what your competitors are doing, but just because everyone else is doing it, doesnt mean its the best way to figure out what your customers want.

Im talking about really getting into your customers shoes. Not just paying this idea lip service, but really doing it. Pretending that youre the customer and that youre shopping for your service will give you better insights than anything else you can do.

I had a friend who wanted to become an interior decorator, specifically with the focus of helping real estate agents stage homes attractively so they could sell faster. As part of this, she wanted to set up a website. But as Ive seen time and time again, not all websites are created equal.

So, I gave her a tip Ive shared with others: look at your competitors websites as if you were a customer trying to buy their services. And she did. What she found was that a lot of interior designers basically fill up their website with portfolio pictures, but dont offer much in the way of useful information like rates and specific services offered especially since not all interior designers focus on real estate staging.

This helped her realize that to get customers, she needed to make it easier for them to know if her business was a good fit. Cutting down the number of photos on her site, providing short (but detailed) explanations for her services and listing rates helped her own her niche and get more contacts from potential clients.

Still think you cant balance passion and profitability? The pathway to success might be challenging, but its far from impossible. By putting in the necessary work early on, youll be able to do what you love, and actually make a living from doing it.

Originally posted here:
How To Find Your Passion AND Profitability In Your Small Business - Forbes

Once In A LifetimeIn Once In A Lifetime, Katie Rife charts the many melodramatic ways things can go awry in a Lifetime Original Movie

Husbands are but one star in the firmament of people who will betray you in a Lifetime movie, but as far as relationships go, marriage is possibly the most fraught. Its an intimate relationship, making the violation all the more profound when the inevitable deception is revealed. You can sense this vulnerability just in the titles of Lifetime films about spouses hiding horrifying secrets: Stranger In My Bed. In Bed With A Killer. The Familiar Stranger. The Stranger Beside Me. And then theres the sobering reality that husbands are a leading cause of death for their wives, making an abusive partner a far more visceral threat than, say, a homicidal interior decorator.

Domestic violence as TV-movie kitsch floats in the same problematic pool as all murder-for-entertainment propertiesspecifically, the deep end also occupied by Dateline and your various Investigations Discovery. Those shows so often turn out the same way that The Husband Did It T-shirts are all over Etsy. And theres a similar inevitability when a younger man with Ken-doll good looks, or an older man who has everything except for love, is introduced in the first act of a Lifetime movie with the words stranger, secrets, or betrayal in the title. (Theyre not all as forthright as I Almost Married A Serial Killer, which gives you the plot of the movie up front.) But given the real-life ubiquity of family violence, these films have to go way over the top to vault over squirming discomfort into howling camp.

This is especially true of 1995s The Stranger Beside Me, not to be confused with Ann Rules famous true-crime book about working at a suicide hotline with Ted Bundy. This ones also based on a true story, about a Texas housewife named Linda Bergstrom whose repeated attempts to report her husband as a serial rapist were ignored by both the U.S. Navy and local police. Opening with the title in yellow cursive script over generic country-western twang, the movie embodies the wholesome mid-90s aesthetic of delicate floral prints and pearl chokersand thats before Alyson Hannigan shows up in a bridesmaid dress that looks like its made out of Fruit Roll-Ups.

Tiffani Thiessen stars as Lindas stand-in Jennifer Gallagher, who at the beginning of the film meets what seems like a nice young man at a church picnic. Over the next hour or so, Jennifer gets married, moves to California with her husband, Chris (Eric Close), squirms uncomfortably at the other Navy wives sex talk at a bustling honky tonk, and ignores a series of glaringly obvious red flags that include Chris petulant response to Jennifers very valid anger at him for missing the birth of their first child. (I was busy, he says, unable to make eye contact.) That last offense is dramatized in the form of a montage whose combination of self-seriousness and low-budget ineptitude would normally prompt a derisive snort. Which it does, but not without a heavy undercurrent of guilt, given that the film juxtaposes Jennifer in the delivery room with Chris attacking a woman in her bedroom.

As a viewer, the feeling you get watching all these warning signs pile up is a lot like the frustration of seeing a co-ed go into the woods alone in a slasher moviewhich isnt entirely coincidental. The Stranger Beside Me was director Sandor Sterns 20th TV movie, but aside from co-writing the 1979 basketball comedy Fast Break, when his work did make it to the big screen, it was in horror: He wrote the screenplay for The Amityville Horror (1979), and his sole feature-film output as a director was 1988s Pin. Stern shoots Chris like a slasher villain, lurking in shadows with a beam of light shining over his beady eyes and letting his face fall from a fake smile to an evil scowl when Jennifer turns her back. (Think of the lead performance in Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, and youre in the ballpark.) Not only that, but the last third of the film transforms Jennifer from a helpless victim into a final girl, sticking around just long enough after learning Chris is a predatory sociopath to collect evidence damning enough that even Chris buddies on the police force cant protect him anymore.

Another parallel between Lifetime movie abusers and slasher villains is the overwhelming sameness of these menin looks, personality, and tactics. Theyre all clean-cut, which makes them appealing to all but the most intuitive friends and relatives. Theyre all able to put on a superficially charming act, further isolating their victims when those they tell about the abuse respond with, But hes such a nice guy! Theyre possessive, defensive, moody, belittling, and skilled at making themselves out to be the victimall strategies of mental and emotional abuse. Most of all, theyre crushingly mediocre, and deep in their narcissistic hearts, they know it.

Fatal Honeymoon (2012) offers up a relatively specific, but perfectly emblematic version of the phenomenon. Its cold-blooded killer, Gabe (Billy Miller), is a marginally good-looking, muscle-bound Alabama frat boy whose interests include football, deep-sea diving, and badgering his fiance, Tina (Amber Clayton), about whether shes signed the life insurance paperwork yet. Gabe is a model of abuser logic throughout the film, gaslighting Tina, isolating her from her friends and family, and pressuring her into doing things shes not comfortable with. Tina is afraid of the water, and isnt even that good of a swimmer. But Gabe presses her into going diving on the Great Barrier Reef for their honeymoon anywayone of many reasons why its suspicious as hell when she drowns mid-dive.

That film is also based on a true story, which accounts for the specificity of the characterization. By contrast, however, the paint-by-number nature of director Nadia Tass filmmaking gives Fatal Honeymoon a kitsch quality that not even co-star Harvey Keitel, who did this Lifetime original in between shooting Moonrise Kingdom and the Romanian WWII drama A Farewell To Fools, can overcome. Generally, its a mothers intuition that saves the day in a Lifetime movie. But in Fatal Honeymoon its Keitels grouchy, Sinatra-loving father-in-law who uncovers Gabe plot to murder his daughter, following a trail of clues from Alabama to Australia in an attempt to prove that the son-in-law he never liked anyway is actually a murderer. Keitel puts on his best Alabama accent, but the movie around him is so lackluster that he comes across older and more ineffective in Fatal Honeymoon than he does in films shot years later. As for why he did a movie so cheap that most of the exposition takes place in cars and sparsely furnished living rooms, well, free trip to Australia, maybe?

But for all its flaws, Fatal Honeymoon offers such a clear-cut lesson in how abusers behave that it points to the socially redeeming qualityif youre interested in that sort of thingof this particular variety of made-for-TV trash. Even otherwise forgettable Lifetime movies, like the recent A Boyfriends Deceit (2018), are full of melodramatic dramatizations of things to look out for if your daughter, friend, coworker, cousin, or neighbor is in a new relationship with a guy who your gut says is bad news. Confronted by his girlfriend, Annie (Emily Rose), after shes detained and questioned by police who find a bloody knife just chilling in the backseat of his car, the boyfriend of the title pouts, I can only say sorry so many times! An absurd thing to say in response to a reasonable question about why the hell you have a bloody knife in your car, to be sure. But its also a great example of weaponized guilt and denial.

That being said, Lifetime movies are less emotionally intelligent when it comes to dramatizing why victims stay in abusive relationships. Presented with horror-movie flourishes and delivered in an over-the-top acting style, the abuse in these films is obviousunlike the more insidious machinations of real life. When we fast-forward through the grooming and the gaslighting to get to the dramatic stuff, our sympathy gets tied up in the victims eventual wish-fulfillment triumph, not her all-too-realistic suffering. Such is the case with the reverse-Misery tale Her Perfect Spouse (2004), directed by Lifetime staple Douglas Jackson. Co-star Michael Riley bears such a strong resemblance to Twin Peaks villain BOB that you know his character, mystery novelist Ty Kellington, is going to bring radio producer Lisa (Tracy Nelson) nothing but misery. And indeed, Ty does turn out to be another generic Lifetime narcissist, whose only distinguishing quality is that hes jealous of his wifes success at work.

Over the past 30 years, careers have become increasingly important for Lifetime heroines, who tend to have the same types of jobsarchitect, newspaper columnist, bakery owneras their rom-com counterparts. That reflects changing social mores, of course, but it also adds a narrative shortcut to a Lifetime screenwriters quiver; when a concerned parent or sibling doesnt make sense for the plot, a loyal employee or trusted coworker will do. And even housewives in these movies may find an ally in their husbands assistant or at a volunteer gigtake Janice Mitchell (Judith Light), who proves that men are a bad idea even when youre not married to them in perhaps the most entertaining movie discussed herein, 1995s Lady Killer, which premiered on CBS before making its way to Lifetime.

Although the movie came out in 1995, the specific variety of aspirational identity Light representswhite, blond, thin, moneyed, into jogging and sophisticated cultural markers like classical musicis a hangover from the decade of Dynasty and Polo Ralph Lauren. She should be irritatingly perfect, but Janice is actually a sympathetic and likable character. Lights hair does a lot of the dramatic heavy lifting in this film, sitting neatly pinned into place or falling out in messy chunks depending on her mental state at the time. But Light, best known either for her runs on One Life To Life and Whos The Boss?, also has more dramatic chops than some of her Lifetime peers. She brings a certain poignancy to moments like the scene where her husband leaves her alone at her own birthday party, or the dramatic monologue where she lays out the aimlessness she feels now that her daughter, Sharon (Tracey Gold), is away at college.

That rootless feeling is what drives Janice to begin a passionate, soapy (literallythey take a lot of baths together) affair with Guy (Jack Wagner), a much younger plastic surgeon. Guys sociopathy and narcissism are, again, utterly banal, save for one distinguishing characteristic that drives the plot. This time around, its a mommy complex. Things begin to go bad when Janice cancels a weekend getaway with Guy because her husband, Ross (Ben Masters), returned early from a business trip, prompting him to express his fury by drawing a sad face on a prescription pad. He retaliates with a mid-movie sexual assault that, to both Lights and director Steven Schachters credit but not to the audiences pleasure, is actually quite disturbing. But after this sobering brush with reality, the plot gets outrageous once again after Janice and Ross retreat to the family lake house so Janice can recuperate.

Its here, draped in homespun quilts and framed by rustic wood paneling, that Lady Killer accomplishes what many Lifetime movies about bad men cannotclearing the bar of real-life trauma and ascending into high camp. Not long after Janice and Ross arrival, Sharon arrives with her new boyfriend in tow. Its Guy, showing a dedication to revenge that would make Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction proud. Ross likes him, inexplicably; Janice is within her rights to hate the guy based on the age gap alone (seriously, its mortifying), but when he hisses to her, Youre much better in bed than your daughter, Janiceand the audienceknow its time to take care of this psycho for good. Its a torrid tale with a simple, satisfying ending, and any lingering guilt over the affair is burned away when Janice pushes that asshole off of a lighthousesomething more than a few moms in the audience would probably like to do to their daughters boyfriends, even if they hadnt had sex with them first.

Next time: Unless its an issue film about coming out, the Lifetime channel tends to be, to paraphrase Edith Massey, sickeningly heterosexual. But that doesnt mean a woman cant ruin another womans life.

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If youre ever tempted to trust a man, Lifetime movies can fix that for you - The A.V. Club

Netflixs Say I Do is a celebration of love that transcends all societal boundaries. It is a testament to couples who overcome their obstacles and decide to have a dream wedding. The best part is that they dont have to do any of the planning. Three experts, Gabriele Bertaccini, the chef, Thai Nguyen, the fashion designer, and Jeremiah Brent, the interior decorator, ensure that everything goes to plan. Naturally, the couples we see are all over the US, and different splendid destinations are chosen for the ceremonies. However, Say I Do was filmed quite a bit in secret, which might make you wonder about the locations. Weve got you covered.

The best part about Say I Do is that the wedding destination is the primary filming location. Among the places we see in the series is the Drees Pavilion at 790 Park Ln, Covington, Kentucky. It is one of the most popular wedding destinations and offers a fantastic view overlooking the skylines of Cincinnati and Covington. Marcus and Tiffany tie the knot here.

Some of the dream weddings also take place in Cincinnati, Ohio. For example, Nikko and Amber get married at The Phoenix on 812 Race St, Cincinnati. Besides being equipped to handle intimate ceremonies and larger gatherings, the venue is perfect with multiple rooms to choose from, and hands-on event staff to ensure that the wedding takes place without a hitch. Joe and Kerrys Gatsby themed wedding also takes place at the same destination. Of course, the romantic balconies and the Archway Ballroom makes it popular among couples looking to start a new life together.

Mattie and Melvin get married at The Summit in Madisonville. We see the wedding taking place on the rooftop. The Vice President of operations spoke about it, saying that it is one of the hotels highest honors to help a couple celebrate love, via a wedding ceremony. The Summit is a part of the Preferred Hotels and Resorts network and opened in 2018. It is at 5345 Medpace Way.

Jason and Jonathan have a beautiful wedding in a rustic setting, which is theStone Creek Lodge at Crawfordsville, Indiana. Everyone who saw the property when it was starting, commented on how it would make for a great wedding venue. The proprietors decided to capitalize on the popularity of barn weddings and even added a building so that other events can be hosted at the location as well.

Essie and Bruce also have their unique barn wedding at the 3 Fat Labs Estate Wedding & Event Barn in Greencastle, Indiana. The venue offers a sophisticated country-style retreat where couples can enjoy perfect views with the vibrance of nature and backdrops that make the day truly special for lovebirds.

Say I Do has made use of picturesque locations, which have been turned into something magical, thanks to the experts. With everybody pitching in, the weddings are perfect, and the couples can start a new chapter of their lives with hope and love in their hearts.

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Where is Say I Do Filmed? Where Are the Wedding Venues Located? - The Cinemaholic