Mike
In the ever-evolving world of interior design, the contrasting styles of British and American home decor have long fascinated enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Brittany, a well-known TikTok influencer recognized for her DIY and home decor projects under the handle @thebrickhousechronicles, has gained significant attention with two of her viral videos. As an American residing in the UK, she explores the peculiarities of British homes from an American perspective in one of her videos.
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Conversely, in a separate clip, she delves into the aspects of UK home designs and functionalities that she finds completely logical.
“These are things in British houses that are strange to an American. First is this double tap situation where one is scalding hot water, and the other is ice cold, and there’s no in between.
You just have to wave your hands around like an idiot and hope you can mix the two to get a decent temperature. Thankfully, these have become a lot less common recently.”
“Next is washing machines in the kitchen. I don’t know why this seems like such an odd place to put it. Maybe it’s because in the US they’ve got their own room, or they’re in the bathroom or a closet. But the kitchen? Just no.”
“Another thing is that there are no outlets in the bathroom. You might get one that only works for shavers, which like, sexist. But I wanna do my hair in the bathroom and be as happy as the stock footage lady.
And all you people who are gonna say, ‘Oh, it’s health and safety!’ I looked up stats on people that have been electrocuted in the bathroom, and most of them wanted to be electrocuted, if you know what I mean.”
“But also it wouldn’t be such a risk if the shower doors actually kept the water in. Make these glasses longer, England! I beg you.”
“Lastly, this country needs to accept that it can be a fiery hell here and that you need AC in your buildings that were built to keep in heat. Now I can’t fault too much for this because it didn’t used to be this way.
But I spent one summer here before buying a portable unit, and our first year in our house we got an AC installed. A necessary evil, but by god was it necessary.”
See the Tiktok here:
@thebrickhousechronicles Any guesses as to how many people will tell me to go back home just for pointing out differences? 😂 if its anything like my last one of these, it will be A LOT #birminghamuk #ukhomes #americanintheuk #usvsuk #home #homedecor #britishhomes
She also covered the flip-side.
“So these are things in British houses that I think we need in the US. First is an electric kettle. Now I know some Americans who are obsessed with tea will have a kettle, but they are definitely not the standard.
If we wanna heat up water, we do it on the stove or in the microwave. Which honestly feels insane now that I’ve had a kettle for years.”
“Next is conservatories, which are just little glass walled rooms on the back of people’s houses. And look how happy these people are to have one. These things are little boxes of warm magic.
I love taking a nap in my fiance’s parents’ conservatory when it’s all nice and toasty. Though I’m pretty sure if we had these in Florida, where I’m from, they would get so hot, you’d combust if you went in there.”
“This next one is one I never thought I’d be into, but British houses seem to have doors for every room rather than an open plan style which is popular in the US. And I have to say, I like the separation, particularly of the kitchen because it means the food smells stay in there.
Does anyone else have traumatic memories of their mom roasting peppers and you basically needed a gas mask to avoid the burn? This would have helped with that.”
“I’m also a big fan of letterboxes on the doors here. We definitely have these in the US, but it’s also really common to have a group mailbox for your neighborhood. These things are so ugly, and I remember ours being so far away when I was a kid and hating having to trek to get the mail.
So this is my official request for the US to only use letterboxes in the door. And I know mail delivery people are probably yelling at the screen right now.”
“Lastly, big flush, little flush. This is genius. You pee, do a little flush. You poo, do a big flush. In the US everything is big, so we do big flush.
And we waste water with a big flush. Please give us a little flush.”
See the Tiktok here:
@thebrickhousechronicles Big flush, little flush, cardboard box 🤷 #homedecor #britishhouses #birminghamuk #homeonabudget #ukhomes #americanintheuk #usvsuk
Here’s what people had to say in the comments:
h/t: BoredPanda