In with the Old (2021– ) User Reviews

Great show when non-professionals restore homes

[mdbizzarri · 6/10 · 4 March 2023]

The first two seasons were a breath of fresh air because it was every day people who were passionate about history and wanted to update the home to look like the home it was originally and stay true to the history, with a few upgrades in functionality for modern convenience. The third season is almost an advertisement for professionals, where they want an old home and make it modern, which seems to go against the title of the series, with the exception of Jeff Devlin, as he does respect the history and does it professionally and has a show that highlights it. Making old homes modern is a delicate balance, which most people get. Hopefully season 4 will go back to that.

While this show doesn't show the slow, arduous process and pitfalls, they do acknowledge the drudgery of it multiple times. Old homes are hand built and there wasn't standards like today, but that's what gives them character. This show does a decent job highlighting that.

The show is nicely paced, the hosts are the homeowners, and it's divided into 3 distinct sections. It's a calm show to watch on weekends, though hearing more about the history would be nice.

Some Really GREAT design ideas!

[Lostsocalgal · 8/10 · 15 September 2022]

I am ABSOLUTELY 'borrowing' the fireplace design from Season 2, Episode 1 - The Hoffman House.

The kitchen/great room is STUNNING, CREATIVE and so WARM and INVITING! Love, LOVE the big VIEW of the Maine coastline from the kitchen and the cabinets which are not my style really work in this STUNNING space. I am VERY partial to barns being made into homes and the design choices all tie together seamlessly!! I am one envious chick!

AND, I WILL take that fireplace design! Please, and thank you very, very much!!

However; Season 2, Episode 5 - 'Net Nets' home is to me a just awful.

The mural on the back of the home, 'I' do not find it to be attractive OR even historically correct. Totally get that it is a personal choice, BUT, in keeping with the context of the series, it does not fit. The other choices for the interior are not great. Most of the work looks half done and just not great for the show. I totally get that this is a family home and that a lot of love and hard work went into the home. The paint on the fireplace and then the tiled hearth and then the natural brick above the mantle. It does not a design statement make.

The interior design is not consistent and does not work together. I feel horrible picking it apart, but this particular project just does not fit the series.

I really enjoyed this!

[ppenny-76390 · 9/10 · 19 August 2022]

I just found this show and see that's it's not even on demand. I hope the powers that be aren't going from the single review before mine to base their decision on whether or not to renew this show. I watch a LOT of these home improvement shows, and honestly this is the second one only that has a couple where I enjoy both of their personalities! I also love the show Home Town. It's difficult to watch shows where people are yelling at each other or are so hard-core that you can't follow how to do a project on your own. I really enjoyed that they explored the history and spoke to the people of the town about the house they were working on. And I really liked their easy-going personalities and they are obvious joy for what they choose to do for a living. Now that this is Magnolia Network, they are probably testing new shows right and left. But this is a keeper!

And BTW, PLEASE bring back at least one landscape show. There are zero on the air!

Great Show

[valentinegirly · 10/10 · 24 February 2023]

Love Watching all the Transformations, BUT....what is up with BLACK Houses and Black Bedroom Walls? It's so Halloween, dreary looking. Not at All a Good look. Railroad house looks spooky to me. Will be a great Halloween looking house though in October :/~ in the cabin which was a beautiful rustic look. They're painting black also, and it looks terrible. In my opinion. The only time it will look good will be October. You can still keep old feel but nobody ever had a black house back in the day so where are they getting that from? I have no idea other then that the show was great. It's fun to watch I just don't understand the black colour they use. Old houses don't have to be dreary look.

Old house destruction

[jcain310 · 1/10 · 27 March 2023]

It's a shame to watch something that's outlined as being sensitive to old houses and their history, yet the show is filled with trendy, wanna be influencers who destroy so many perfectly good original features of all of these places. Original beadboard, tile, plumbing fixtures, windows and more is all destined for the landfill so these hipsters can get the latest Chinese made trend they've seen on Instagram and purchased at HHome Depot. Painful to watch as you realize that most of these girls are eyeing a potential hosting gig with Magnilia Network who produced the show. You see them creating look and learn projects for no other reason than to play TV host. No husbands, partners, or other experts/consultants seem to be willing yo say anything to slow these girls down from their own, personal old house destruction. This is original fabric that cannot be returned. The hippest, greenest way to restore a house is to KEEP as many original fixtures, finishes, etc as possible.

Insufferable Hipsters Destroying Antique Homes

[johnsecor · 4/10 · 18 September 2023]

I literally made an IMDB account just to write a review on this show. It passes itself off as a revivalist/restoration home renovation show. But honestly all it does is exhibit obnoxiously pretentious people that basically modernize beautiful historic homes into these ugly Pinterest-esque monstrosities. I love historic homes and vintage/antique things in general and this show is insulting. The only reason I gave this show a rating of 4/10 rather than a 1/10 is because of the beginning of each episode that shows the original state of the featured home and the history behind it. Other than that it just aggravates me.

So. Dull.

[mollyjennisonrn · 1/10 · 25 August 2022]

I love restoration stories, especially of beautiful buildings which have been abandoned. But I couldn't take more than 15 minutes of this show. Loads of "look how cute my family is" footage. Loads of "look how pretty the landscape around here is" footage. Not a lot on the design and construction of this project. And to top it all off, the narrator is vapid and annoying. So disappointed. Love the concept but hate the show.

Vapid couple with entitled kid in Maine

[pamelasichel-16711 · 5/10 · 23 December 2022]

I have watched much of the series and enjoyed it, but when I hit the Maine episode, I was appalled by the relentlessly self-congratulatory city couple. "Look at me! Look at my stuff! I'm a genius! This laundry room paint makes me look luminous!" Please.

The space was lovely, but so over-filled with matching posey pots and "merchandising,"...These are sort of people who move to the "country" and collectively drive up real estate prices and demand urban services and goods.

I embrace the preservation and renovation of old buildings, unfortunately it sometimes falls to moneyed jerks. Perhaps choose renovators with a good deal more personal appeal.

Misnamed - should be called Out with the Old

[russperry · 4/10 · 3 March 2024]

Watched this expecting to see old/historic homes being renovated with an eye toward retaining the historic look and feel of the house, similar to This Old House projects. Instead, for example, I see them destroy every bit of charm from a beautiful Cape Cod brick house and turn it into a shame to look at. Typical to a lot of shows, it starts talking about how horrible the shape of the house is and really all you see are a house that needs the trim stripped/painted, new roof, and landscaping cleanup on the outside as well as minor reno on the inside. The example house winds up the host's personal vision of a modernized style-less thing. If you want to see someone retain all the charm of truly old homes, watch Nicole Curtis on Rehab Addict.

Incredibly poorly edited. Worst home show ever

[gcrays · 1/10 · 7 November 2023]

This is so bad. Where other shows use the process and opinions of the homeowners to voiceover pictures and views of the home, this show focuses only on them. Every single episode quickly scans the finished room, never stopping the camera not even once!!! You never get the full picture of the room from a fixed viewpoint, but they do focus on the homeowners, usually incessantly talking nonstop as if their opinions are so much more important than what they've made.

Even when you google the show, you can't see very many pictures of the finished product. Is it to hide the show so you'll watch it? Well I watched 2 entire hours of non stop droning about feelings and opinions to see a few 10 second pans of the finished home, zooming in on so many little ridiculous details that you never get to see what the homeowner sees everyday. Has to be the worst renovation show ever.

only made it through episode 1

[amanda-25293 · 2/10 · 9 December 2023]

The first episode was a real missed opportunity in what they shared about the adobe bricks. That is a technique created by indigenous people and the expert they had teaching them about it made it seem like it only came from the pioneers. I'd have loved to see some history there and not just a white-washed version. There is a whole lot of rich history in the US and I'd love to see more than just a narrow perspective of wealthy white influencers, we already get so much of that perspective all of the time. No shade to the designer, just thought this was a missed opportunity and wanted to voice this somewhere.