Furniture I Would Never Buy As an Interior Designer (DON’T put these in Your Home!) 

When I see a home with a barn door, I know that the home smells like pumpkin spice. Live, laugh love.

That hairy cow art is sold at hobby lobby in the cowboy art section. Its a Scottish cow! Not a Texas steer!😅

Oh yes! I used a powder room with a barn door, and that's when my dislike of them turned into absolute hatred. Not only are they ugly and belong on barns, but they are useless for any room requiring privacy. A ridiculous trend.

Twice I have reached out to artists whose work I loved to ask about pieces more in my price range. They were both so appreciative of my enthusiasm for their work. One gave me an amazing deal on a piece and the other did a commission within my budget!

I swear by my pocket doors. Have three. So easy to section off parts of home when needed. Well worth expense

I have a barn door for my kids bathroom. There was no other option, but we ended up loving it! There’s privacy and it locks.

Tbh, I'm excited to see your outfits as much as I'm for your architectural content So stylish!

As a stroke survivor i have had to finally accept the need to purchase a recliner sofa. All other sofas i have tried are too low or too deep for me to be able to get out of. They are unfortunately the highest 3:49 seat height which allows me to get out of them by myself. I love the look of those low and soft couches but i would never be able to use it if i didn’t have another person to help me get up. Wish i had another choice. So function had to supersede design. Just something to think about.

Those cup holder sofas and recliners are HIDEOUS! There! I said it!

I agree with sofa beds being tricky to buy. I was searching for mine for couple of months, before I made a decision to purchase. However, now I am really happy with it, both as sofa and as bed. Easy to open, performance fabric, standard matress, not too big, comfortable to sit, great mechanism. It came at a price, but I do not regret. It will serve me for many years.

I had to get rid of a glass dining table because my dog didn’t see it and kept bumping into it, and sharp corners are no joke. She’s a big girl and her eyes and snout were right on the level of the table top. And yes, cleaning dog drool and nose prints from the underside was not fun lol.

I love my pocket door! My sectional with a bed is used only for guests who have short stays. As a family we enjoy movie nights while opening up the sectional.

I'd never have one of those big recliners either, but I knew an old gentleman - no longer with us, sadly - whose last years were spent in this terrific nursing home with only 8 residents. Their bedrooms were laid out around a big central living room, in which eight recliners were arranged in a semi-circle in front of a huge-screen TV. Every time I'd visit, he'd be watching whatever sporting event was in season, with the other old guys, all enthroned like old kings.

You hate me. I’m convinced LOL. I ❤ my sectional and my olive and resin dining table, it’s high quality, and I ❤❤❤❤ my acrylic bench in my elevator because you can see the mural right through it! So I think it’s important to say it depends how you use the pieces. My entire house is art. To make you happy though my bulky recliners are in my media room where they belong 😉 and lawd, yes….no barn doors or mass produced art. 😘 😘

Phoenix, your channel is really fun and you seem very down to earth (despite your height). I enjoy your design advice and your lighthearted delivery. I also appreciate that you’re not mean or condescending even when you’re ruffling feathers on controversial topics like barn doors. Pun intended…

Say it, Daddy - barn doors are for livestock!!!

i'm really glad you mentioned Etsy. i live in a college town, so there's no shortage of local art to choose from, but not everyone has that opportunity. Oh, and since we're in the season now, could you do a video on "Just say no pumpkin spice," please? i swear, that special kind of evil is everywhere this time of year 😱😱

Ok - I’m with you on most things on your list - people just don’t seem to be able to think ahead or how each individual piece will or won’t marry into their space and with their other pieces. Gotta stop you though at glass topped dinning tables at least for those of us without children/grandchildren running around the house on a daily basis. There is a simple trick that has existed for centuries(#?) called a table cloth and another called place mats. If used properly these will certainly reduce much of the risk of scratching and the sound of glass dragging across class while, when not in use, leaving your dining table looking great, adding some bling to the space and not being a big chunky piece of wood taking up visual space in a smaller home like a condo. Coffee tables etc I’m not so big on with glass because they don’t generally get the same protective options and can look terrible in the right/wrong lighting conditions if not cleaned properly and often. I do enjoy your enthusiasm and humour and the less is more but nothing is far too little approach you take to design.

I live by myself, so when I remodeled my home, I put a paned glass door on my master bathroom. That would make most people cringe, but my master bath is so small that the paned glass makes it feel roomier.

One thing I like about your videos DD is, you not only tell us what you don't like, but WHY, reminds me of the way a good friend would critique my work, if it was a piece of cr@9, not only would she tell, me, but she'd then tell me why it was a piece of cr@9. Also if I may add? when it comes to art, many living local artists also offer prints of various levels of quality. I have a couple $20 prints of a favourite artist on the walls in my shop, they bring me joy, they help support them, and they aren't so precious that I'll be broken hearted when they get dirty or damaged or whatever.

I love buying original art from Etsy. I found a few artists that I like in particular and I’ve bought a few pieces over time from each of them. I really can’t afford to spend more than a few hundred dollars on a piece, so most of them are on the smaller side. I’ve also bought prints from artists I love if I can’t afford an original. Each time I’ve bought art directly from a small artist, I’ve gotten a thank you note, which is nice knowing that the art was created by a real person. I also have a collection of vintage art; which can be really affordable and fun to collect and style.

We opted for the barn door over the pocket door for our water closet and laundry room. The pocket doors were much pricier and if the mechanism breaks it’s not cheap to fix. I’ve never understood the separate room for the toilet, but to add maneuvering around a second door in the bathroom seemed silly, dangerous even if it swings inward.

I've always hated glass table tops, I feel like they make a space feel more cluttered. Kinda like how a mirror doubles the mess, the glass adds the table legs, and base of the chairs to the visual clutter whereas an opaque one hides it.

That was the absolute best, detailed and spot on description of why barn doors belong in barns, kudos! I incorporated 4 pocket doors into my new build and love them, they are night and day to barn doors (tho guests sometimes misname mine as barn doors 😳).

We share all the same hates. ❤️🥰 You also touched on two things I always think about that no one mentions : seeing everyone’s crotches through the dinner table and the sounds of hard things dragging across hard surfaces. I saw an Italian cooking show once where the host counselled people to take their plates to the stone yard and bang them against all the slabs of marble and granite for new countertop selection until they found one that sounded warm and not shrill, because that is going to be the sound of making dinner for the rest of your life. Also those live edge resin tables always make me feel like I’m looking at a diorama of a woodland river with a toxic DuPont or Dow chemical spill.

I detest mass produced art and always buy from art fairs. Funny thing, I bought a photograph of a highland cow from an artist who had taken the photo on the Isle of Skye where I have also been. I had no idea when I bought it that it’s so ubiquitous. I still think my cow is cool because I saw them on Skye.

Amen to the barn doors on a bathroom not being it! I need my big sectional, though 😅 For my dining room, I feel a glass table is necessary, as everything else blocks the view of the fireplace. 😕

Thank you for bashing mass produced art. I hate it in hotels and seeing it in people’s homes is baffling. There is so much affordable art you can buy, and you can find original art for very little effort, too.

I came for the design and stayed for the DADDY! 😍

I'm new to your channel, loving it! Your advice about, "living, local, artist" was awesome ❤

I'm 60 and I need a recliner. But I keep it in my den. I have 4 pocket doors in my current house and I hate them. They worked great when we first had the house built, but then the house settled. They always stick and they're a pain in the butt to slide back and forth and they have those little cup holes which are difficult for people with larger hands to lock. If we build another house, I think I'll pass on pocket doors.

you always have the best videos! your so funny :) thanks for always making my sunday brighter

With your preferences, it reflects your unique style and personality. Thanks for sharing! 🥰

I could not agree more with every item on this list! Great job!

I agree with your list of items, although I do have an attached set of recliners( with cup holders 😮), in my theatre room

Glass tabletops- not only do you have to clean the top side, but the underside will need windex,d too, so much harder to do. Luckily, I just have a small end table so it's not too hard to flip to clean.

I finally subscribed because I wanted to comment. Amen to those sofas that come with cupholders! I agree with your other items. I never understand why some other RU-vid designers use mass market art.

The Hilton line of hotels now have barn doors on bathrooms! The ones that have been there a while get heavy and hard to move and can be extremely difficult to close. Very inconvenient when traveling with friends.

New subscriber here! You had me at “Mechantisms”!

Design Daddy once again I agree with you on ALLL OF THIS Delicious 😋 advice!!! Especially the pockets doors!!! Soooo timeless, beautiful, and extremely functional. I have a live edge dining from Crate&Barrel that I love, but NO resin just seems tacky in my opinion!!! I do have an inquiring question about studying interior design though!!!

you are spot on every single point thank you for all the invaluable advise i would’ve included the potential hazard of breaking a glass table if you have kids or rumbuctous pets it’s happened to us , the corner chipped off and wasn’t pretty .

I had two glass top table and I agree never again!

Haha, agree with each of the mentions 😅 I wonder if there’s a correlation between the men who put cars on pedestals at home and women framing Hermes silk scarfs on walls (some have like a full corridor with these) 🙈

This man is so nice. I have spent a lot of time reaching out to artists for commission work and.. well, most of them in my experience are stormy, unstable and unreliable. I'm looking forward to the day when I come across someone who appreciates my inquiry.

Thank you for bringing these up! The barn doors drive me nuts! I blame the Wacko bigots for that trend 😒. Thank you for bringing up how much wall space they use! My partner and I get annoyed every time we see larger older homes flipped to be open concepted. They were large enough that it had good flow and now you take away valuable wall space! Then 75% of the time the flippers will add insult to injury by adding barndoors to their all white faux shiplap crap. I must admit I have a cheap pullout sofa from Ikea in our gameroom. I can justify that pullout because it isn't in the livingroom and we rarely have someone stay over. Then if you have someone staying over then you dont want them to get too comfortable 😂 well maybe an extrovert might. I haven't seen a resin table discolored in person but that was one of my concerns with those. I just imagine the discoloration like an old Nintendo console 😂. Also thank you for suggesting that people should support living artists. Many of the original pieces of art work were made by my mother (an arist) but then others I bought from small time local artists. My budget friendly suggestion for art is to see if the artist sells prints. Many artists will sell their work on sites that offer art prints and print on canvas. Look up artwork for sale locally 🙂 check out local markets & fairs! You can even find some fabulous pottery at renaissance festivals. My big suggestion when it comes to potter is to ask questions and their glaze and their training to make sure it is food safe. There are some fabulous potters that know their stuff but then there are those that never took proper classes about glazing 😱. A hint, if the pottery looks metallic and they say it is food safe 😒 do NOT buy! The only time I would suggest high gloss paint is on baseboards because it is more durable. Honestly 🫥 not only paint but other home decor can offset games for far pass a few weeks. Even new carpet off gases! With more and more products being man made/ altered 🤔 it is good to keep ventilation in mind. Glass/ mirrored furniture always looks dirty 🙁.

Also glass tables are dangerous! My son fell on one at my mom’s house when he was two. He needed stitches on his chin and around his lips. He has a big scar on his chin still 24 years later! P.S. you always make me laugh:)

Thanks DD! We are trying to achieve a multipurpose second living room with sleeping option for guests. Do approve of a quality Murphy bed, well integrated?

I love hearing all your great advise. Would you leave a link for the U.S in your drop down? It always wants to change my country when I click on it. Thanks Design Daddy.❤❤❤

Sofa beds keep visitors from staying too long! 😆

Check your local papers for art-event! I go to art in the park near me and it’s great!

“Hence, the name, Barn.” Hilarious!😂

I bought a glass dining table last year and I hate it! Every time we set a glass down the loud clank makes me cringe. I thought it was beautiful but it does seem to big for the space. Now I’m trying to figure out what to do with it.

This is so important for saving people grief/money if you just didn't have time - see this list (sorry Felix - everyone should watch the whole thing to get the value of Design Daddy's comments and jokes which are hilarious) *I so regret the day I bought a genuine (gently used) very expensive Noguchi coffee table - it literary cannot be thoroughly cleaned or moved - God help me. 1 Huge pieces (like Lazy Boys) 2 Sliding Barndoors, especially for powder rooms - However pocket sliding doors are great! 3 Sofa beds 4 Live edge pieces with resin 5 Mass-produced artwork 6 Glossy painted/lacquered furniture 7 Glass tabletops

All the points are logical.

Great to see you Daddy and double-breasted looks very good on you. I have seen these daybed type things that look more like a body sized bench or ottoman. Tufted and very simple, no arms, no back. Could well be wrong, but could be from the Barcelona line? Since you will only use these 1% of the time for sleep, they have to be used in a place where a sofa is not needed and still look good. Maybe against a wall or used like a temporary seating peninsula that you can at least sit either way, for a short time, and used rarely. MY 2 cents. I don't have kids or pets, so my glass table top takes me all of 30 seconds to wipe down, yes, daily. It is bent wood and bamboo, and the top edge goes toward the center about 6". It is great for projects like painting or whatever, because nothing sticks. A razor blade takes it all off. I have no scratches. Acrylic would be very bad. The rest, "Yeah, what YOU said."

Green wall and light grey sofa… should I use pink or rust as accent colour? Thanks.

What about a pocket door.

Oversized recliners are a hate of mine. Last recliner I purchased was from Ethan Allen and appears to be a regular chair.

Any suggestions in a good mattress

I have a loft area and I need another bed for holidays but I don”t want the bed there all the time. What other option do I have besides a sleeper sofa?

Can you please make a video about how to become an interior designer . I am in my 20s and I want to get into interior design but I don’t know where to start😅.

What flooring do you recommend? I am looking to renovate my home and I am just so confused when it comes to choosing the most stylish flooring. Please help

Is there ANY away that you could do just the mass-produced art critique portion of this video? Or create a hard-truth vid on this subject only. I would LOVE to be able to share a link to your expert opinion on the importance of buying original art. I bet so many artists would also link to it. BTW, I agree with all your other icks here, too.

Apparently sofa bed is not same as sleep sofa. Murphy beds need more PR!

What do you think about usm ?

Had an 80's house with an "open batahroom"" - whoever thought THAT was a good idea??? Split the barn door in two and it looked fabulous! Agree about the sound, but the toilet and shower were around the corner from the door so that wasn't a big issue. OH. And the stupid bathroom was CARPETED! Even dumber. Cost me a bundle to tile the large space with in floor heating but well worth it.

I like sofas that are lean, sharp, clean, stylish and angular. Just like my men.

You had me at Sofa Beds. And you Finished with Glass table tops. We should get Married. Love you Mean It. Love from Ottawa

Barn doors are the worst IMHO!! My husband and I have used pocket doors in every home we have built.

Hence the name “barn” 😂

No thanx!!! I use many different brands....they ALL have excellent qualities.

I once heard big, bulky leather furniture described as having a dead baby elephant in the room.

The last house I lived in had no door between the upstairs bathroom and a bedroom. Anyone could access that bedroom by the hall bathroom door. The opening was 26 inches and if I had it framed out, it would be down to a 24 inch door. I had a bi-parting barn door with two 24' reg doors put on it so it only took up the wall space equal to the frame. The house I live in now--the upstairs bathroom door opens exposing the shower and toilet. If I want to brush my teeth or do my hair, I have to go in and shut the door to get to the sink. I cannot flip the door because all the light switches are on the shower side. I cannot afford the expense of pocket doors so it too will have a bi-parting barn door. Often, what designers hate are the only thing an owner can use to deal with piss-poor architects and builders unless they have the cash to spend on restructuring the idiocy.

What about the art size? 😊

Sofa beds from Ikea my parents bought is the UGLIEST THING I have ever seen. Yes daddy not allowed to say beat that wood here... hahaha

Living in Texas I would never hang a cow on my walls.

Hey Daddy, you got any perspective drawings in yer closet?? I have dozens....My degree was earned with Honors, in Boston, on Newbury Street, and Comm. Ave.....Space is a canvas......I am an Artist, an Interior Designer, and a Salesperson, worked for Macy's, for 21 years....in furniture, Mattresses, and area rugs.....still enjoy a forever 20% discount at Macy's, and Bloomingdale's......there is no such thing as a couch, or a coffee table......Interior Design 101......it's a SOFA, and a Cocktail Table.....

Undoubtably? Or 'undoubtedly'. (I'm hating myself even as I send this. ). First time seeing your channel. Love you already. Subscribed, so hope you forgive my grammar correction.

Preaaaach

Barn doors for bathroom's no good, especially when blasting call's.

I won't defend the monster sectionals, but the recliners? oh, hell yeah. ESPECIALLY in the living room. Why the living room? Because THAT is the room for LIVING. It's right there in the name. It's not the display room or the design room, it's the LIVING room. Do I wish that my La-Z-Boy was a bit smaller in relation to the room? Yeah, I do. But, without MILLIONS of dollars, there's not a damn thing I can do to make my living room bigger (it's a smidge under 12'w x 14') other than moving. So I live with my Givens, not my Druthers. Interior Design is a CRAFT, not an ART. What's the difference? The difference can be seen in studio furniture. Studio furniture places the ARTISTIC aspects of the piece ABOVE the FUNCTIONAL aspects. Studio furniture is an ART form, not a craft form. GOOD interior design places FUNCTION first. It's ironic that DD goes after recliners because they're not "design friendly", then accurately identifies the interplay of form and function in his assault on sofa beds. Mind you, he's pretty much right on sofa beds. I wonder what his take is on futons....

Aw, the resin falling apart is disappointing😢

Ooooh…she’s 6’4? I love the subtle brag. So hot. I’m also 6’4 and have been crushing on this daddy since forever. Too bad he’s taken but glad he’s happy. 🥰

Barn doors are a pain in the ass.

One thing I see is a return to real Antique Pocket Doors as people get rid of their open concept echo chambers, Barn doors... belong in a Barn.

Say hate ,say it’s ugly ,exercise your freedom of speech 😂.We can take it on the nose and sometimes we need to be told without apology .

I saw super-expensive Ferrari (logo included) red high gloss kitchen, a nightmare.

Mirrored furniture, glass furniture and shiny furniture are cries for help

Just a random question. I’m assuming a scam. But I was contacted via Instagram to say they you wanted to speak to random watchers?

You are sooooo funny. ;-)

I have the art shown at 12:34. Oops.

...and 2 people live in the house.

6'4". Cool - you're a huge drink of water!

I like the battle 🍆 part of this 😂

The sixth sick sheiks sixth sheeps sick.

Rather then a sofa bed, go with a day bed.

Pocket doors get stuck in the walls if there's any humidity. Just saying

Love your video’s and sense of style. Can we see you standing and walking in some future videos 🤗I’d like to see all 6’4” of you 😆 btw that double breasted pinstripe jacket looks dapper on you

I'll support a local artist: Me! Design Daddy, are you by any chance Virgo?? Hee-hee

Basically, you can have ugly furniture, if you hide it where no one can see it!! 😂😂😂😂