Kirstie Allsopps homemade home - OS opinions?

mandragora_2

It made me laugh - since when did we need an expert to tell us to:

not buy everything brand new from one shop;
not follow the Ideal Home trends slavishly;
to have things in our homes that we like;
to get things from friends & family, and swap things with each other; car boot sales; second hand shops; street markets (she didn't mention the tip - my favourite shopping emporium of all time!)
to fix things if they're broken
to adapt things if someone is throwing them away but we have a use for them;
to buy a house at auction if its a good idea for us

?

D'oh! None of any of that had ever occurred to me!! As I sit here in my repossession-find, renovated and much loved house (yes, in the same county as Kirsty's, but we bought ours 23 years earlier!), surrounded by... things that I just had to rescue from the tip (beautiful hand blown Dartington crystal bowl - price 50p); lovely waterclours on the walls - found in a skip; Poole pottery dining plates from the car boot - in a gorgeous duck egg blue that looks great in the newly re-refurbished kitchen (end of range from High Street, made bespoke by talented oh) etc etc etc.

Oh, and if you want my opinion, I think buttons on a cushion are silly - the point of a cushion is that it's supposed to be comfortable - not with designery big hard plastic blobs stitched on the front it won't be.


And I'm spitting mad about her drawing attention to the village she's bought in - it's been our secret favourite place to go, with one of the best surfing beaches for miles around. And now she's gone and publicised it. Cheers, girl!!

thriftlady_2

rosy wrote: »

If anyone's impatient there are photos of the rest of the house ( done up) on the channel 4 site here http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/kirstie-s-homemade-home/meadowgate-photo-gallery-09-04-14_p_1.html

Can't say I'm overly impressed by it , I don't like some rooms at all - some bits are nice but I think there are a lot of piccies on the shabby chic thread that would well give Kirsty a run for her money.

Really odd choice of poster in the children's playroom don't you think?

I only watched a bit of this programme. I'm not a fan of these sort of programmes. I'm just not that interested in interior decoration. The bit I did see struck me as patronising and like Mandragora says a bit bleedin' obvious.

greenbee

thriftlady wrote: »

Really odd choice of poster in the children's playroom don't you think?

Absolutely!

I don't have a TV, so haven't seen it, but I expect there'll be lots more like this... the credit crunch answer to the property programme maybe?

Gigervamp

rosy wrote: »

If anyone's impatient there are photos of the rest of the house ( done up) on the channel 4 site here http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/kirstie-s-homemade-home/meadowgate-photo-gallery-09-04-14_p_1.html

Can't say I'm overly impressed by it , I don't like some rooms at all - some bits are nice but I think there are a lot of piccies on the shabby chic thread that would well give Kirsty a run for her money.

I think the house and decor are lovely, although I'm not too sure about the wisdom of putting the Sex Pistols poster up in the *childrens playroom*. If it was a teenagers den, I wouldn't have any problem with it.

I have to say though that I'm glad somebody bought the house and restored it. I REALLY hate seeing lovely old buildings falling to ruin.

rachbc

thriftlady wrote: »

Really odd choice of poster in the children's playroom don't you think?

Nah - a friend of mine hand a hand knotted rug to the same design for her friends little one's room!

mandragora_2

*b*gger - piccie 30 on the website is of the beach. Fortunately, taken at high tide, so no-one will want to go there. Nasty, rocky place anyway... honest!!

Gigervamp

thriftlady wrote: »

Really odd choice of poster in the children's playroom don't you think?

Hah, I didn't see your post before I posted my last one!

rosh12

I watched it and thought it was ok, nice to watch though not totally life changing!

But to be fair all the way through she did keep referencing the Channel 4 website - hope this link works... http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/kirstie-s-homemade-home/index.html,
there is loads of extra stuff on there... buying sewing machines, instructions and step by step guides on making cushions, shortening curtains, DIY stuff, finding craft courses, 'skipping' etc etc. It seems to do an awful lot of the stuff I maybe expected the programme to do...
Think I'll keep watching though- I love looking around other peoples homes!

eeyorerules

I came in about half way through the programme but I enjoyed watching it. I missed Cath Kidson however! I thought the mirror right on the TOP of the skip was just a bit convenient - especially a mirror. I mean the chances that something else put in the skip hadn't cracked the mirror but then maybe whoever threw it out was EXTRA EXTRA careful as they didn't want any bad luck!!!

'Also said some of the supermarkets are selling sewing machines for £50. They didn't mention which stores.'

Maisie - I got my sewing machine in LIDL a few years ago and it was about £50. I haven't used it very much as I could do with a few night classes ( I was the one who always broke the sewing machine in school in the days when Home Economics included the practicalities of sewing in the curriculum!!!) so I can't really tell you how good it is, but it does sew.
It is a matter of waiting until they come into stock and I have heard of people queueing to get them. I had to go round a few shops before I got mine!

CougarJo

She lets it out for either £2000, £2500 or £3000 per week, depending on which week. eeeek.