It’s already day 20 of Circuit Breaker but it might as well be two months. I spend so much time at home now that I feel it is necessary for my living quarters to look pleasing. I mean there is nowhere else I can look beside my house, right? So, the only solution is to preen it.
Though the inertia to roll up my sleeves is strong, I am relying on these six Netflix home improvement shows for some wise guidance. Hopefully, I get some tips and motivation from the gurus out there—like the legendary KonMari methods, mastering the art of maximising space at home, and giving my nest a new fresh look at the end of this Circuit Breaker.
1. Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
Most of us know Marie Kondo from her popular reality television series, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”, where she visits families to help declutter their homes.
During the episodes, the renowned tidying expert, or professionally termed “organising consultant” introduces her KonMari method and expresses her fantasy of a tidy life while giving suggestions to individual households on how to make their living space more liveable. The KonMari way is a system of simplifying and organising your homes with a deeper purpose of taking ownership of your belongings.
Watch the cheerful Japanese lady in her iconic cardigan and midi-skirt, looking cheerfully excited with the mess that lies before her. One can only wish her joy from the laborious activity becomes contagious to viewers like you and me.
Who should watch it: Any hoarder who wants to break their stockpiling habits. However, when it gets too emotional, don’t give up, ok?
Tidying Up With Marie Kondo | Watch Here
2. Tiny House Nation
Hosted by renovation experts John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin, the American reality series travels around America to help families build their desired houses with one universal rule—that the houses be no greater than 500 square feet—approximately the size of a three-room flat in the Singapore context.
Downsizing homes are increasingly a popular idea because they are cheaper and young families do not want to be enslaved to a huge mortgage. Moreover, the benefits are plentiful; it is easier to manage, and also more environmentally friendly—they leave a lesser carbon footprint. Surprisingly, this show has an emotional slant, as most prospective tiny homes are often unprepared for the tiny living and the need for dejunking.
Who should watch it: Anyone who lives in small homes (shoebox apartment) or wants to maximise space in their tiny nest.
Tiny House Nation | Watch Here
3. Interior Design Masters
Interior Design Masters is an elimination based reality competition, which showcases aspiring interior designers from different careers paths manoeuvring a series of different design scenarios. Hosted by British television presenter Fearne Cotton and judged by former Elle Decoration editor-in-chief Michelle Ogundehin, viewers can expect to see a different celebrity designer in each episode that will help assess the contestants’ effort.
Besides witnessing their creativity in reconstructing spaces, it is encouraging to see contestants tell stories of their leap of faith to embrace a brand new adventure. They say one of the best learning methods is imitation. Surely, we can leech off some ideas and revamp our current living area into something that pleases our eyes.
Who should watch it: Anyone who wants some thoughts on renovating spaces, or even someone who is keen on a career switch and needs the right motivation.
Interior Design Masters | Watch Here
4. Amazing Interiors
This is a home improvement series of how unassumingly ordinary-looking houses can have amazing interiors. Every 30-minute episode features three stories of homeowners who transform the interiors of their homes into remarkable creations.
Apart from adding creativity to our home improvement ideas, the series opens up a whole new world of how bizarre people’s desires can be. For example, one homeowner went to great lengths to install a snorkelling tank inside his home with a live aquarium. Would you do the same?
Who should watch it: If you want some home improvement ideas, this show gives you good ideas to spruce up your homes.
Amazing Interiors | Watch Here
5. The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes
Travel with the dynamic duo—award-winning architect Piers Taylor and actress Caroline Quentin—as they embark on a search for incredible architecture around the globe. These houses are built in mountainous regions, forest settings, coastal settlements, and even underground properties.
The show documents the entire process of the home creation—from idea conceptualisation to architectural design—and comes with video footage of the building process. While this is a show for serious design lovers, it is admittedly not ideal and practical for most people. Nonetheless, these houses are beautiful to look at and is a good family bonding activity to watch together, dream collectively, and be entertained.
Who should watch it: If you want to look at interesting houses and in need of some family bonding activity, this is a great show.
The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes | Watch Here
6. Minimalism: A Documentary About Important Things
This documentary shifts the focus of home interiors into deeper meanings of minimalism, contentment, and compulsive consumerism. It is a relook into the ever-evolving American Dream and examines various levels of minimalism through the lives of minimalists from different walks of life.
More than the superficial idea of decluttering and getting a tidy liveable space as an eventual outcome, the recurring theme—that was echoed in the various sharing—is “I realised I didn’t need a lot”. One of the minimalists quipped that when he settled down to think of the essential things he needed, there were only 51 items. With that, he could travel light with a small duffel bag, which will put many people to shame, especially since that is the amount most people bring for one gym session.
This 79-minute film is a must-watch documentary with a message to anyone who aims to go beyond existing to a meaningful life worth living.
Who should watch it: For anyone pondering life and wants to maximise their reflection during this Circuit Breaker, we highly recommend this show.
Minimalism: A Documentary About Important Things | Watch Here
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