Why do rich people like white Christmas lights?

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GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,099
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Originally posted by: phisrow
My understanding is that white lights are standard for exteriors, at least in climates with proper winter, because they are supposed to evoke the shine and sparkle of ice struck by light. Coloured lights are commonly used on trees, to augment their already colourful decorations. For other interior applications, white/coloured is at the discretion of the decorator, and dependent on the home's colour scheme.

You, dear fellow, need to relax a bit. The placement of any type of light is the sole discretion of the artist placing them. </thread>
 

amol

Lifer
Jul 8, 2001
11,679
1
0
Not necessarily. Come to my town. There's a street here with a block full of houses that are about $4-6million each. They don't light up the houses, but they light up the trees (ginormous trees in the front) with multi colored lights. It actually looks pretty nice.

If anyone on here is near Pasadena and doesn't know of St. Albans Rd, I suggest you take a looksee.
 

mercanucaribe

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
9,763
1
0
Originally posted by: Amol
Not necessarily. Come to my town. There's a street here with a block full of houses that are about $4-6million each. They don't light up the houses, but they light up the trees (ginormous trees in the front) with multi colored lights. It actually looks pretty nice.

If anyone on here is near Pasadena and doesn't know of St. Albans Rd, I suggest you take a looksee.

The new subdivisions here don't have trees. They clearcut the lush pine forest to build the houses, then plant little saplings in the yards.
 

forrestroche

Senior member
Apr 25, 2005
529
7
81
Originally posted by: fanerman91
What's a vaulted ceiling?

Its a favored architectural feature of the cookie-cutter mansion. It is a ceiling, usually in the living room, that reaches to the roof joists. It is associated with middle and higher end suburban development homes because the ceiling requires the sacrifice of second story footage. It lost it's novelty somewhere back in the early eighties and now is viewed with disdain (or humor) within serious architectural circles.

 

forrestroche

Senior member
Apr 25, 2005
529
7
81
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The new subdivisions here don't have trees. They clearcut the lush pine forest to build the houses, then plant little saplings in the yards.

Isn't uncontrolled development wonderful?

 

forrestroche

Senior member
Apr 25, 2005
529
7
81
Originally posted by: ballmode
we started having white lights and then the whole neighborhood got them following year

Yes, unfortunately the masses have a nasty habit of expropriating good ideas and making them common.
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
33,936
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Originally posted by: forrestroche
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The new subdivisions here don't have trees. They clearcut the lush pine forest to build the houses, then plant little saplings in the yards.

Isn't uncontrolled development wonderful?

As a little kid, I had 26 acres of land, about 22 of which were forest. We moved to a suburb with like .75 acres. I hated it. I hope I never buy a house in a suburb like that. What a boring place to be a little kid.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Originally posted by: mrrman
I like color lights over white any day...looks better

same, we still use the LARGE colored ones outside, small colored ones inside, colored on the tree

the large ones are like candle lightbulb sized, the small ones are like small versions of those none of those tiny BS lights where 1 goes out teh whole string does
 

phisrow

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2004
1,399
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0
Originally posted by: Coquito
Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Originally posted by: phisrow
My understanding is that white lights are standard for exteriors, at least in climates with proper winter, because they are supposed to evoke the shine and sparkle of ice struck by light. Coloured lights are commonly used on trees, to augment their already colourful decorations. For other interior applications, white/coloured is at the discretion of the decorator, and dependent on the home's colour scheme.

Seriously, you need to sit down and drink several gallons of eggnog right now!

:lips:

There is no way I can ignore drinking advice from a guy called MagnusTheBrewer. I'll have to hit up the liquor store on my way home ;)
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,119
14
81
I like bubble lights.

When I was younger I would take the tube out and hold it over a candle so it bubbled and run around the house with a vial filled with seemed like a boiling liquid.

Suprised nobody has posted this.
 

forrestroche

Senior member
Apr 25, 2005
529
7
81
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
As a little kid, I had 26 acres of land, about 22 of which were forest. We moved to a suburb with like .75 acres. I hated it. I hope I never buy a house in a suburb like that. What a boring place to be a little kid.

Today they will fit almost a hundred homes on that chunk of land and give it a name like, "Willow Brook Gardens."



 

Sketcher

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2001
2,237
0
0
Originally posted by: forrestroche
Originally posted by: Sketcher
We just put our tree up today. 9' Frasier (our old house had 14' vaulted ceiling so we usually got a 11' Frasier).
14' ceiling = rich
14' vaulted ceiling = nouveau rich
Numbers are deceiving. House was only 1900sq' finished. Living room was 13x20' and since the house was relatively small we thought we'd raise the vault in the living room to give it a more open feel. Bought the place new in '98 for $187k and sold in '05 for $285k. Now-a-days, can't even touch a townhome sans yard for less than $200k around here. Not cheap; but then nowhere near the "Rich" category being snubbed.

BTW, depending on the overall home architechture - vaulting a ceiling be it cathedral, casket, traditional is relatively inexpensive to do and it adds significant resell value to your home. It's just that most people think of it as an "Upper Class" option so they don't think they can afford it and don't ask.
 

forrestroche

Senior member
Apr 25, 2005
529
7
81
Originally posted by: forrestroche
Today they will fit almost a hundred homes on that chunk of land and give it a name like, "Willow Brook Gardens."

Most of the people who subsequently buy these homes will use colored lights, and some, having seen Martha Stewart, will use white lights.

None of them will realize that the latest in thing is to decorate your tree with Luminol chemical light sticks.

 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,119
14
81
Originally posted by: forrestroche
Originally posted by: forrestroche
Today they will fit almost a hundred homes on that chunk of land and give it a name like, "Willow Brook Gardens."

Most of the people who subsequently buy these homes will use colored lights, and some, having seen Martha Stewart, will use white lights.

None of them will realize that the latest in thing is to decorate your tree with Luminol chemical light sticks.


Betalights last longer.
 

Sketcher

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2001
2,237
0
0
Originally posted by: forrestroche
Originally posted by: fanerman91
What's a vaulted ceiling?

Its a favored architectural feature of the cookie-cutter mansion. It is a ceiling, usually in the living room, that reaches to the roof joists. It is associated with middle and higher end suburban development homes because the ceiling requires the sacrifice of second story footage. It lost it's novelty somewhere back in the early eighties and now is viewed with disdain (or humor) within serious architectural circles.
The only point of truth in your post is that it does require sacrificing any development above that room; but depending on house architecture in the first place there may be no sacrifice at all.

Certainly there are trends in residential architecture just as with any other commodity but there aren't any circles snubbing the build option; serious or otherwise. For rooms that are not vertically constrained it is an inexpensive way to build in a perspective of openness or provide a more airy feel in what would otherwise be a more closed in space.

Being that we built our house (from one of those highly disdained "Cookie Cutter" suburban developers) we ordered our trusses vaulted rather than standard and because it truly takes no more work to build them that way or standard I only paid the difference in materials for the added vertical footage. I think that "Rich" bill came to around $800 including labor.

 

getbush

Golden Member
Jan 19, 2001
1,771
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0
Originally posted by: forrestroche
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
As a little kid, I had 26 acres of land, about 22 of which were forest. We moved to a suburb with like .75 acres. I hated it. I hope I never buy a house in a suburb like that. What a boring place to be a little kid.

Today they will fit almost a hundred homes on that chunk of land and give it a name like, "Willow Brook Gardens."

In an urban setting you can easily get more than 5000 units on 26 acres. It's all relative, different strokes for different folks. With 300,000,000 in this country, we can't all live in a beautiful and unique snowflake of a home.
Goddamn you come off as a pretentious twat in this thread.

Most of the unwashed masses don't live with their heads' up the collective ass of contemporary architects. There's no reason. A vaulted ceiling is just a desirable feature on a universal level.
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
33,936
1,114
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Originally posted by: getbush
In an urban setting you can easily get more than 5000 units on 26 acres. It's all relative, different strokes for different folks. With 300,000,000 in this country, we can't all live in a beautiful and unique snowflake of a home.
Goddamn you come off as a pretentious twat in this thread.

Well, there's plenty of space, it's just that lots of companies require urban/suburban environments to thrive and thus to hire workers.