Aulty

Whoever was in charge of editing this episode should've been the one to go home. An hour of Monika whining about the garden and doing her own thing, with Jack on a loop of 'bringing the outside in', just for another plywood enthusiast to be sent packing. Plywood in a kitchen for an elegant brief? And nobody managed to get a stack of tile decals to cover that puce crime against ceramics? On the plus side, Monika's room did look great (she alone didn't use ply) and Tom is the antidote to the average strong-headed team challenge contestant. I liked the chairs he chose for the dining area. Temi, bless her, but I think her projects started to look very similar. I watch Laura Caldwell on Youtube. She is an interior designer, mid centry modern enthusiast, does a lot of thrifting and probably would've broken down sobbing seeing those four (with Michelle's blessing, no less) paint over the beautiful A frame beams. She loves that architecture and would've 100% celebrated it.

Last year's winner Banjo has his own show out. Designing the Hebrides is him and his husband redesigning homes on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, where he lives. Its on BBC 2 Wednesdays, but all episodes are already available on iPlayer. Comes with special appearance of our Pierce ;-) The Guardian reviewer really liked it.

I missed how and when it sprung up, but I hear it all the time on YouTube. It's cute, but so overused. Thrice within 10 min to describe what was the same piece of furniture was a bit much.

Word. Although I think, in the real world, interior designers have their comfort zones and would not neccessarily take on jobs that aren't in their wheelhouse. However, this show is set to test them on the ability to put their stamp on different projects, adapting their styles to the briefs. It would've been brilliant if she had done some dark academia version of beach. Going back to the first challenge, she did brilliantly not overwhelming the space in goth, but the dark window vignette looked great. Even with the shitty brief she had, she could've gone way younger than Edwardian parlor. I am so underwhelmed in general with those beach hut episodes, enough with them already. Between this show and its predecessor (Interior Design Challenge) I have seen those redone 3-4 times and it always looks shite. Thankfully it wasn't the themey cliche diorama we were treated to last year. And they should've made the designers put all the furniture back into the hut to show how good their storage really is. They'd be filled to the rafters, if it even fit, and would you really want to spend an hour putting things out or away when you go down to the beach? Or when you are caught out by a sudden bout of rain? I would have sent Tom packing. That wall panelling was a decent idea, but the painted result was gruesome. Why did nobody flip the kitchen area to the side (with keeping the sing in the same corner) and have the seating on the back wall? They were allowed to paint the outside in bright colours? None of the other chalets had those. I need to find out if they've been painted over afterwards. Anyone else got a little bored with Temi and lovely Steward overusing the 'she looks beautiful' for their furniture? So grating.

Casting call is already out for the next series 🎉

I initially didn't expect Ry to go, but out of the 4 who were on the couch I am afraid the was the obvious choice. Peter did great stuff with the branding for the store even if his 'sculptural' chairs weren't that good. Monika did the multi purpose furniture - I liked the idea but the execution, especially the fold out tables, didn't look that sturdy. Jack did well with the handbag-gallery. Temi and Tom did the best shop transform on this show by a mile. And how lovely that they were able to express their opinions without taking it personal or getting catty. So our lovely hairy builder with the big beard is Pierce and Wayne is an old favourite who was in the orange shirt this week. No Steward, poor lad probably needs a lie down after the first few challenges.

I am a horse girl and even I am not getting worked up over this because things like aorta ruptures can come out of nowhere and there is nothing that can be done. Even with the best vets on scene. It's happened to sport horses quite a bit over the past years - maybe thats because there are more post mortems to check for cause of death or maybe its down to breeding - even in competition in front of spectators or to horses idling in their stables. I understand why PETA is kicking this into the court of public opinion, but if they really wanted to make a stink about equine wellfare there are a lot of other, very gatekept, targets to aim for.

iirc Michelle and Matthew have known each other since college, they are great together and both very successful in the design world. I am with Matthew re the yellow sofa. Compare that to a long line of unqualified guest judges on Project Runway whose only contribution was whether they would/wouldn't wear something or liked a colour. It's like me down the car dealership 😏

That does not excite me. And she probably won't be one for nibbles either.

5 minutes in it was already obvious who would go home. I didn't get the blue in Tom's room, and Temi's cheap looking little sheepskin rugs. Still love me some Michelle & Matthew.

I am still waiting for an episode of Antiques Roadshow where someone brings in a small trinket and learns they've accidentally acquired the stewardship of a sizeable eastern country. Obedient peasants included. Or maybe it was on Russian TV and they didn't get it quite right.

That's Steward. I remembered vaguely someone being keen on him around here haha. Handsome chap, he is.

Interior Design Maestros - haha, that was one of Alan's better ones. They almost completely ignored Charlotte's musical contribution. She gota bit defensive during the judging round. Especially after Joanne had the textbook responses during her interview. I understand why Buse had to go, but I was rooting for Charlotte to get the boot. In general, not as crafty as I thought it would be. A lot of stuff looked usable and sturdy enough. (I remember the school make-over from last season with the artificial grass walls and cardboard chairs). Tom, Temi. Ry. Peter and Jack did really well. And the builders of course. I really like the one with the beard who supported Charlotte this week. I need more cold opening with the building crew again, we got a couple last year.

No surprises there, but well deserved considering all the final pieces. I still think this season wasn't great due to the weird assortment of challenges.

Yay! its back. And this year I am watching very closely because I will have a new home to decorate in a few months and could do with a few ideas. Of course the thing that I was looking forward to the most are those gorgeous builders. Good to see the old faves back, and a couple of new faces aswell. I still love Michelle, I follow her on social and she seems really authentic, and she has that great rapport with her guest judges. Good first round, wasn't it? I am glad goth lady Monika is able to dial the dark back, the first bedroom was fab. The day bed room seemed really impractical though. Ibiza lad (funny that the programme acouncer on BBC NI is openly routing for him - are other regional channels doing that too?) really missed the point of the exercise - there are always a couple who overthink what the judges want to see. Plus, I am not keen on the Ibiza-vibe. On its own, the rooms where ok imho, I liked the rusty artwork. Karl, I don't know what he was thinking with that sofa - leave the sofa building to the professionals. I've watched a lot of interior design shows and never have I seen a scratch built sofa I liked. The design of the room divider, with the shelfs at an angle was a decent idea, I thought. Everyone else, well done.

I watched it and although it was way better than last year, I still don't get the hype around that show. If you watch the races on a channel with well informed commentators who can give you some BTS stuff, its so much better/ I think my main issue is, that it is very selective in what gets air time, and its over-edited. They left quite a few stories out. Are you guys able to follow what was going on in the WC or the races based on what they showed? Very little about the actual races in those episodes, I though. At least they gave the rest of the Real Housewives of the pitlane (the team principals) a bit more air time this time round. I can't stand the Toto vs. Christian stuff.

Oh wow, I didn't know that. Basically the same as this season's guest judge and season 2 contestant Freya, whose father is a well known pottery artist. But tbh I think at this stage it's level between the remaining potter. Lowes is probably the favourite. Interesting challenge but the results were too Clarice Cliff on the colours for me.

Set your alarms, new series starts March 7th!

That wasn't half bad considering the desastrous modelling challenges of the past. Some animals were a bit squat and what a shame they chose this week to go with bronze-metallic finishing instead of something that allowed for more colour. The top 3 were pretty neat.

I'll be more suprised if there is another season than I am of Emma not being in it.

I assume what you get on Netflix are the Channel 4 seasons. There were 2 seasons on the BBC before that and the guys who won series 2 were the fan favourites in the first season - a group of chefs from the armed forces. I liked them too, very nice lads, but thought their performance in series 2 was not as win-worthy and that it was obvious the producers wanted them to win.

Of course, last week I thought 'George seems nice and he could go far in this' this week he is out. I enjoy the chemistry between the potters and between the judges. Still not keen on the challenges. Again, 'make it realistic' nudges them towars a specific deisgn corner. Still needs more Rose!

Looking forward to read what you thought about series 2. A few things that stood out to me for different reasons: When the vet suggested JC could use his media weight to get the laws around badger protection changed When they found out they used the wrong oil/potatoe combo for their crisps - his signature 'can do attitude' without the slightest bit of research. I remember that potato crisp thing being a huge issue in the early 00s. When he calls everything the 'police'. Especially the bird police regarding bird flu measures because what they are doing is exactly to prevent issues he wants prevented with TB. Can't have it both ways. The issue with the planning permission has gotten very petty by the end. Why did he never entertain the thought of getting premises in a nearby village where access and security are less of an issue. Doing what he wants on his land does not mean problems are limited to his land, as seen by the severe inconvenience (according to media reports) the run to his farm shop caused for the locals. The traffic jams alone would melt my head if I had to use that road. I don't know whether JC's team tried to coordinate with local council and police back then, if they haven't I can see why some people might have a bee in their bonnets about him. Can't wait to see the fallout of him putting this into his show so prominently, even naming and showing the guy who hired the lawyer. Also, the money spent on things on this show, prep-kitchen, crisps-kitchen, new cultivator (the kitchens were probably rentals, did they mention whether he had to pay for the machine he drove into the pole with), new roof, new cattle-barn, barn-refurb. What was nice is him hosting the hedge competition on his land.

Clarkson's Farm has been confirmed for release on February 10 (aka tomorrow) if anyone is still interested.

This week, I thought, the group really started to gel on telly. But I am still a bit underwhelmed with the challenges this year so far. Sure, the gargoyles were fun, but overall the show is really into their 3D designs and figurines this season. Shows like this always tend to give more restrictive or outlined challenges once they hit the 4-5 seasons mark, if you know what I mean. Everything needs a story.