Last week, Maryland-based real estate agents The Gibbons Group (@therealestatefamily) posted a wildly popular TikTok containing home appliance and decor tips. The video has 2.5 million views and over 154,000 likes.
@therealestatefamily Do NOT put these items in your home. #homedecor #homedecorideas #homerenovation ♬ original sound – gibbonsgroup
In the intro, the video’s narrator promises to reveal “the worst things to put in your home that I would avoid.” Here are a few highlights from the real estate expert’s viral rundown:
- “Marble anything: It’s very porous. It’s expensive,” the narrator says. If you have kids or animals that are prone to mess, “this is a nightmare.”
- Wall ovens, which the narrator says break all the time and are hard to replace.
- Shag carpet—”so hard to clean.”
- Notched cabinet doors: “You’re going to spend the rest of your life cleaning out these little notches.”
- Dual sinks are unnecessary, the narrator finds. “What sink am I using? This is the dumbest thing ever.”
- Square sinks are even worse. “You will get food stuck in the corners; it will be gross; you will hate cleaning it,” the narrator says.
According to the Amazon profile linked in its bio, The Gibbons Group, run by Laurence Gibbons and Andrew Gibbons, is a “residential real estate team recognized by The Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors & Bethesda Magazine as one of the Top Producing Real Estate Teams in the DC, MD, VA metro area.”
The viral success of the original video seems to have inspired a series of similar TikToks from the real estate agents, including one with 141,100 views and another with 70,400 views.
In the comments section of the initial video, some viewers backed up the narrator’s assertions.
“Hard agree with all of these things,” one viewer wrote.
Another said, “As a prior professional residential cleaner he is 100% correct on all of these.”
However, many others would not stand for the sink critique, especially on the dual sink.
“Double sink is the best,” one commenter wrote.
“I love the double sink! Left side for dirty dishes and right side empty for rinsing/straining/using disposal, etc.,” another commenter wrote.
“Agree except double sinks, not bc of meat/veg it’s for washing dishes, soapy water side & rinse side. Have you never washed dishes?” a comment read.
Plenty of online articles weigh the pros and cons of single-bowl sinks versus double-bowl sinks.
According to Remodelista, double-bowl sinks are artifacts of a time before dishwashers. Still, they have their perks, like compartmentalization of dishes and keeping the garbage disposal accessible, the site reports.
Many viewers of The Gibbons Group’s video also took issue with the advice against wall ovens.
“Agree on everything except for the wall oven. love mine,” a viewer chimed in.
Another person wrote, “wall oven? my parents have had the same one for YEARS.”
Again, there are plenty of online guides that weigh the pros and cons of wall ovens. The Kitchn published one in 2019 that touted the eye-level placement of wall ovens as a chief benefit.
The Daily Dot contacted The Gibbons Group via email for more information.
