Grand Designs?

The other thing that I find annoying about Grand Designs is the claim that they are often building a 'sustainable' house. That is after they have knocked down and demolished the existing house, poured a sea of concrete, used up a forest of trees for the cladding and more glass than Crystal Palace! Not to mention having bought a full house worth of furniture and decking over the garden! Or am I just an old fogey and know no better?

I have a real antipathy for wide opens spaces, 'knocking through' (seemingly an obsession on any house renovation programme) and the cold grey shades/black that seem to be everywhere at the moment.
I love autumn colours; every shade of gold, green, rust, terracotta and lamps everywhere with warm coloured silk shades. I am not alone in finding my house restful and welcoming; people comment that it is a pleasure to be in the sitting room with white walls and the accompanying autumnal shades. Next door have 'knocked through' and are so pleased with their vast echoing chamber, but we like to get up from the dining table and leave the mess in order to enjoy coffee in the sitting room. I will have previously shut the kitchen door on total chaos after a frenzied cooking session when we sit down to eat (definitely NOT the Domestic Goddess!)

The next morning I have to face the kitchen, dining room and a small amount of chaos in the sitting room but just imagine trying to sit amongst it all with guests in comfort - perhaps others are far more organised cooks/clearers up 'as they go along' than me.

We watch it mainly to see how many times we are told that the work must now be hurried along because the woman is pregnant. My DH calls it the 'Kevin McLeod effect'!

Funnygran.

The houses usually aren't designed by an architect but by the people themselves. It's often been their dream for years and they're sticking to it whatever happens.

Kevin is very down, depressed, says it won't be done on time or for the money right up to the last five minutes when he turns into the court jester! They have all become the same though, with floor to ceiling glass and double height inside. Boring.

George Clarke is very good on Restoration Man, some beautiful properties and some of the people on have had brilliant skills doing their projects and I've been watching Amanda Lamb too with her Selling Houses programme where householders make over their homes for selling. Some good tips and it makes a change that she likes colour and lovely furnishings.

...and they are always held up because the windows have been delayed because they are coming from Italy.

I like Restoration Man - but I am an old house person anyway

On "Britain's Best House" Kevin McCloud actually commented that he'd had a lot of letters from viewers wondering why so many of the houses featured lacked curtains and hinting that the occupants must be exhibitionists. He then showed a house in full view of a coastal path which had no curtains (the owner said they were old fashioned and would spoil the "clean lines" of the architecture) - this house had a full length transparent window in the SHOWER facing the public footpath which seemed to prove the point.

Glass is great for "bringing the outside in", "flooding the interior with daylight" etc, etc. I like glass as much as any architect but I don't like staring into blackness from an artificially lit room at night. Whatever happened to privacy, security, coziness? - Not fashionable, perhaps, but still important to real people such as GNetters.

Curtains also help to absorb sound as do carpets, upholstery etc. Too many hard surfaces create an echoey, soulless space which can feel quite uncomfortable. But I have to admit I do like white walls, which reflect much more light than any other colour.

What did others think of the 'boat' house on the Thames ( the one that was flooded , ie, the building site before they got ctacking on the house.)I thought it was ugly.

Varian I like glass too but you have to think about cleaning it as well!

If its the one I'm thinking of it was an affront to the lovely old houses nearby -which the owners of the new creation decried!

Yes Jane that was the one.

It was grey and desolate looking.

I thought those owners must be deranged, and Kevin also with his talk of bold decisions and new perspectives etc.

I know the one, wasn't it a liverish pinky colour? I thought as far as modern design went it was a very poor example.

A well designed modern house could have been fitted very comfortably on that site between its older neighbours. Unfortunately what these neighbours got was a house that would have been ugly and unattractive where ever it was built with the addition of having it occupied by selfish and boorish couple.

Like everything else modern design runs from good modern design to really bad ugly modern design. This house came out at the bottom of the rankings.

I can hear that another episode of Grand Designs has just finished - DH has it on a loop!

It still doesn't inspire him to do our kitchen though

Hello. Can you recommend any agency that can help me with replacing windows and doors in a private home? My windows and doors are old and letting in cold and moisture. Advise me something, I'm already tired.

I agree rubylady the Grand Design formula is very tired now, it won't work, not enough money etc then everything is ok and it's all working. Never mind the people have gone way over budget to the tune of many thousands of pounds.
So many silly ideas incorporated with no thought given to future maintenance, cleaning etc. I don't bother watching any more it's so predictable.
George Clarke started well but is going down a similar path with ultra modern finishes etc. Many of his projects now have all the character stripped out of them.
Same old rote speeches as well, the kitchen is the heart of the home, bringing the outside in etc etc.

Yep, have been bringing the outside in for years sodapop. Muddy feet, leaves that swirl in on the wind, little stones in the tread of shoes ?

Apparently if a project has no jeopardy it won't be featured as it's thought that viewers like the danger of it not being finished before the winter snow/gale force winds/torrential rain comes in.

It's been noted that much of the furniture is the same at the end of many episodes as the production team bring it in to film and then take it away to use for the next project which leaves the broke participants with nothing to sit on as they've run out of money. They all sadly overstretch themselves and lose sight of common sense. Is it more entertaining? I'd rather see a proper finish without the tragedy of near bankrupcty myself, but then what do I know?

I didn't realise that Ilovebeigecardigans1955 makes the whole thing even more silly. Some participants take on big mortgages or borrow money from families, too much stress for me.

I love the program but the participants always steer to close to the wind, have no money etc. How come then when Kevin goes back their houses are newly, and fully furnished ?

It’s always an anti climax, you look forward to Kevin going back to see the end result, and in my humble opinion, it’s always too bland, too dull, often with so much wood you must feel like you’re living in a log cabin, but on the bright side, they’ve almost always had a baby

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By the time most of the projects are finished they can probably only afford trade white mat paint.
I enjoy grand designs and I love the look of the super tidy immaculate homes because it is sheer fantasy.

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