HGTV Smart Home

Like I did earlier in the year with the HGTV Dream Home, I'm going to take a peek inside the new Smart Home, which you can sign up to win until the 31st. This time the house is in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, which seems like a lovely place, but I need to tell you something before we get to the pictures: the house is Themed with a capital T. And I bet you know what theme that is.

Let's start with the foyer, since that's the first place most people see. I like the thick trim, the wood ceiling, the floor color... The paint color is a smidge bright for me, but I've seen worse. Not bad, foyer!

Just kidding. Below is the foyer nook that leads to the master suite. See what I mean about things getting matchy? Also, if you're going to do a feature wall, then it should stand out. The lamps and anchor artwork make it too busy in there. Plus, I'd like another color for contrast.

This is the kitchen, obviously. I don't have anything bad to say about the room itself. It's fresh and light, and feels beach-y without being literal. (I hate literal.) I just have one little nitpick about the styling: I don't like the turquoise dishes and pots. Another color would've been a wee more interesting.

Sidenote: look at how different the island cabinets look in this picture. I wonder which is the more accurate color:

There isn't much I don't like in the dining room. The china cabinet is beautiful, as is the chandelier. And the rug! Come to my house, rug. The one weird thing for me is the curtains. I get the point of them (open floorplan with an option to close it!) but they just don't work for me. Maybe it's the stripes? Or the fact that this house has great views, so why would you want to hide them? I don't know.

This is the art above the china cabinet. Kind of theme-y, but for me it's a new way of using seashells and I appreciate that:

Oooookay. The family room. Can we talk about the giant marlin above the doors and that honkin' seashell in the back corner? This will sound harsh, but stuff like that is so cliche to me. Especially since we all know they're fake. If you actually catch a fish that big, cool! Hang that baby up! But this fake marlin that I've seen over and over again? Pass.

As far as seaside decor goes, I actually love the coral on the coffee table. It says "ocean" without screaming it in your face. Plus, it works with other kinds of decor, too, which makes it a great purchase. I think they picked some nice fabrics in here, too, though I do wish they put a different pillow on the side chairs.

[Edited to add: DUH! I forgot the picture of the kid's room!] The headboards are cool, but again with the theme. It's just... sigh. I wanted them to use a different shade of blue at some point.

This is the master bedroom and by far my favorite. I want to get rid of that plant table at the end of the bed (how fast do you think somebody would trip over that in the dark?), and I want a pop of color somewhere, but overall I think it's really pretty and soothing. Thumbs-up for ceiling height curtains, too.

Just to keep us on our toes, they made the guest room a reddish coral that doesn't have any beach paraphernalia. The wall color is nice and the mismatched nightstands are cool, but those curtains overwhelm me. It feels like a small room and that's a lot of look.

Finally, here's the deck. Helloooooo party zone! You could easily have 30 people out there. I have nothing bad to say about this. Hubsey is all over that outdoor kitchen.

Since this is the Smart Home they have all kinds of fancy technology built in. I'm no tech genius, but they have a central command zone for your door locks, lights, pool settings, window shades, security cameras, and entertainment center that sounds pretty snazzy.

So what do you think of this? I like it more than the Dream Home, but that bar was set pretty low, wasn't it? What's your favorite space in here? Are you into this theme? Do you have a deep and unyielding love for fake Marlins and now hate me? (I hope not.)