Love it or List it: Kirsty & Phil

I think he couldn’t cope with the upheaval of moving and perhaps having to do more work. She did say that she thought they would move at some point.

They had a house with character and all the ones Phil showed them were modern soulless ones.

Yes, but if you want open plan all on one level, then modern and possibly "soulless" is what you get. He struggled with getting up one step - how did he get upstairs to bed? I thought the fitting of a stairlift would be bound to be included in the makeover but no mention of it.

As they point out on "Escape to the Country" - there's always a compromise.

I worked with someone whose husband designed and built their house .... and there were still things they found wrong once they began living in it.

I'm getting suspicious that a lot of what they say in LIOLI is put on. Either the husband wasn't as immobile as was made out, or he was quite happy to stay put. I think they just make a story out of two people having different ideas, when all they want is their house done up by Kirsty.
The kitchen hardly looked any different apart from the open dining area.

I wonder if the cost of moving - £22K made them think twice, as well as all the upheaval? Perhaps there’s hope the chap’s mobility might improve - it can take up to 4 years after a stroke, However, the £57K outlay for the work added almost twice as much to the value of the house for a future move, which I think is probably on the cards.
It did seem a shame that access to the garden was so important and was only partly addressed.

I must admit I didn’t give the programme my full attention, but was there no talk of a stairlift or proper lift (my DD’s thinking of the latter if and when she moves), as it was a big house, so the chap could access upstairs?

I quite like that programme,

Yes, I guess they preferred to stay with the familiar, and after all that upheaval, can you really blame them? I used to live in Mapperley and it's a very hilly part of town.

However, the £57K outlay for the work added almost twice as much to the value of the house
What the programme omits to explain is that house prices were going bonkers at that particular time, so the double figure was as much down to a good market as anything.

Yes,I am beginning to think many of these householders want their house redesigned, profess to be thrilled with the result, and then two years later it is on the market, revamped by Kirstie.

Kirsty doesn’t actually do the design , I know it’s a tv programme , but I think the Architect should get the kudos for doing the actual plans
I do like the pair of them , and I enjoy the banter

I think that too Easybee. I wondered would they organise my extension.

Sparklefizz yes I thought one of those modern homelifts would be included.

I wonder if not having included lifts is a clear indication of an intention to move?

Joseanne

^However, the £57K outlay for the work added almost twice as much to the value of the house^
What the programme omits to explain is that house prices were going bonkers at that particular time, so the double figure was as much down to a good market as anything.

Good point Joseanne

Not once did they mention husband having difficulty going up and down stairs…. So not their main concern?

Poppyred

Not once did they mention husband having difficulty going up and down stairs…. So not their main concern?

Yet he was shown struggling up just one step outside.

aggie

Kirsty doesn’t actually do the design , I know it’s a tv programme , but I think the Architect should get the kudos for doing the actual plans
I do like the pair of them , and I enjoy the banter

I agree that the architect should get kudos for drawing up the plans.

Phil trained as a surveyor and actually runs a property business so he knows his stuff, but Kirsty has no training at all and is just a presenter who pretends to have some knowledge.

Actually I prefer their other programme Location Location. With LIOLI, how many people want to go through all the disruption and upheaval of months of structural alterations, probably having to move out while it's done, and then move house? Plus by the time planning has been granted and the alterations are finished, any house that Phil may have shown them will be long gone.

I wonder if any couples say "Stop those alterations! We'll sell up and buy this one instead"

I agree and also they did not have a loo downstairs (from memory) before Kirsty started.

The fellow either had better mobility than shown or he slept downstairs but again the bath facilities were upstairs and how could he get into a bath? Was there a shower in the en suite before Kirsty started?

I could have moved into the 1st house with a small garden, very modern and I would not have needed my stair lift.

Just thinking, they wouldn't actually put in a homelift if they might choose list it.
I love K & P.

I too wondered how the husband would manage with the stairs up to bed.

I've seen a place here where there is a lift outside for the occupant to go down to the garden, a drop of about 6-8ft. And a lift up to the bedrooms would have been a good idea too. Both possible but not done.

I also had a feeling that doing anything like that would narrow their market greatly if they sold up so that's why they weren't done.

Maybe they just wanted a makeover to increase the value when they move in a year or two. Yes they added value but the market was moving up considerably anyway at that time.

I don't think they realised how draining, drawn out and stressful building work is. They do now. I see people on Grand Designs age before my eyes and look dreadful at the end of 1-2-3years of issues/money problems. Is it worth it? It takes a toll on health, mental and physical a lot of the time.

I don't like Phil since his trophy hunting of a beautiful deer. Yes I know that's nothing to do with the programme.

He did say that he'd decided quite early on during the renovation and search that he would like to stay. And she said at the end that they were likely to be moving eventually.
As another poster said, I did wonder about him getting upstairs to bed and wondered how he managed when he had much less mobility immediately after his stroke.
Sadly they are likely to have to move, unless the living room is turned into a bedroom and a shower is added in the utility. The access to the garden was greatly improved in the end, though not perfect. It was a shame that they had already spent a lot on doing the pantry in the kitchen and it all had to be undone.

I enjoy the programme but haven't seen that episode.
Friends of ours were on one of them and told us that Kirsty and Phil were really nice.

They decided to stay in their case but sold the house a few years later
The building work went badly and they ended up taking the builders to court!
I think the process took its toll on the couple but we were at their housewarming and were amazed by the space created..

I think if I'd been their children living locally I would have encouraged them to move to increase his independence. Perhaps it is the though of the actual process of moving which put them off? We've moved relatively recently and it was a real upheaval, let alone the process of buying and selling in England which is so stressful.

I like the programme. With this one, I definitely thought they'd stay, from the beginning. The wife really didn't want to move. Hard, when it's your family home and only one of you needs the change.

It wasn’t the best redesign was it! Side door with steps and long walk to back garden plus having to reach side door by going through the garage. The camera panned from mixer and other kitchen utensils in-between the cupboard to the toilet squashed in by lovely low tiled wall. No room for loo and not really hygienic. Left me wondering what happened at the planning stage, was the usual team unavailable?

We thought they’d stay. We live not too far from where they live and it’s a beautiful part of Nottingham city, one of the better parts. The places where they took them to view other properties are not in Nottingham city but villages on the outskirts or one in Derbyshire about 10 miles away, none of them had that city vibe nor were they close to their family.

He said himself that the whole process had made him realise how important the house and its location were to them both.

I did wonder if the changes made to the house made it work better for him or were enough for him but they seemed happy with them, perhaps they should have installed a stairlift