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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that Kirstie Allsop is hardly 'making do and mending'

109 replies

chegirl · 16/04/2009 21:00

Excuse me but is she really trying to tell me how cheap it is to do up a huge victorian house?

How much did those chairs cost to reupholster? Digging about in skips my arse.

Asking Cath Kidson for tips on frugal living, have you seen how much she charges for a flippin tea towel?

Cant wait for next week's ideas for 'saving' money.

OP posts:
southeastastra · 17/04/2009 08:12

i thought is was a bit daft too, blow your own glass, oh yes sure!

though i'd like to throw a pot. her cushion was rather pathetic too sorry kirsty.

her voice did grate for a whole hour also.

brimfull · 17/04/2009 08:21

ridiculous program

apparently the house will be available for holiday rental to actual real people !?

good lord!

brimfull · 17/04/2009 08:30

Wrong-apparently she's only renting to family and friends

ssd · 17/04/2009 08:38

did anyone see the article where she said that "after having her second baby she was at a loose end and so she learned umpteen different crafts".............

after my second baby I didn't have time to pee never mind get bored

Nekabu · 17/04/2009 08:58

I thought it was quite good. She made it perfectly clear that going to places such as Cath Kidston's and grand homes was just to get ideas and that you should go with your own tastes, not what the latest schemes are in the home department stores. That getting furniture secondhand was a Good Thing (I'm sure I'm not the only one who knows people who say 'secondhand' in the same tone they would use for 'smeared in dog poop') and that you could pick it up in a variety of different places.

The handmade stuff - she said at the start of the programme that you didn't have to go abroad to get nice, individual pieces, you could get them here as there are loads of people making a variety of things. She didn't say it was cheap, in fact she said she could only afford a few bits. There are quite a few people who will happily search out craft shops whilst on holiday abroad but wouldn't think they could find the same here, if that programme makes a few of them use their local craftspeople then that's got to be good too.

Yes, she is doing up a big house (she's got to make it last a few programmes!) but the whole thing seemed to be geared towards give it a go, try this, it's not always as difficult as you may think, there are loads of courses for this sort of thing if you're interested, go to places and get ideas/inspiration, have a look for your local artists/crafts people and see what they are producing, mix and match, secondhand is good/cheap/good for the planet, etc. Of course it's Kirsty and there were glam bits but I expect the programme attracted a wider audience because of it.

MarmadukeScarlet · 17/04/2009 09:07
Nekabu · 17/04/2009 09:33

Lol!

Wizzska · 17/04/2009 10:17

But you're all missing the mumsnet classic - she had letters in the kitchen. WOW. Anyone remember that thread?

I thought it was hilarious that she was being congratulated for making a bleedin cushion 'Oh Kirsty I'm soooo proud of you'. WTF?

Yes she is posh. Her dad is Lord Hindlip who used to be Chairman of Christies auction house.

Katisha · 17/04/2009 10:49

I expect she's a big World Of Warcraft fan...

TangoFango · 17/04/2009 11:07

Agree with sentiment. Nekabu are you Kirsty?
The lady doth protest too much

TheBolter, yes you must have a crush on her
I wonder if you'll have more dreams as she strips in the rooms and crafts her way through the house.

Wizzska · 17/04/2009 11:10

Lol Katisha

Nekabu · 17/04/2009 11:20

TangoFango, definitely not! I guess it's just I have made a few bits and bobs over the years or have bought things second hand from markets/shops and the odd handmade item too. Every person who's admired them has said "Oh! I could never do that!" (er, if klutzy me can do it, I bet you can!) or "I'd have never have thought of that." and so on and so forth.

I just thought it was quite a good programme as it encouraged people to have a think about what they actually liked rather than what was available in the shops in this season's colours, that there was nothing wrong with hunting around to find secondhand stuff, to look for ideas in different places and to have a go themselves at making things if they fancied.

Nekabu · 17/04/2009 11:24

p.s., I didn't mean to intimate I'm some kind of design diva as I am very much not! Just that the people I was mentioning really hadn't thought about doing something themselves/getting stuff secondhand or free and tarting it up - it wasn't that they couldn't do it, just that it hadn't occurred to them and maybe a programme like this will make people think they could have a go should they want to.

noddyholder · 17/04/2009 11:26

I have been doing up houses cheaply with recycled things since I started.She is just trying to keep her foot in teh door at ch4 in teh hope that house prices rise again.You can be sure she's never been near a skip in her life!That skip was soooo staged.An unbroken mirrow with no chips in the frame hmm

pointydog · 17/04/2009 11:26

YANBU

This programme was the biggest pile of patronising tosh I have watched in a long time.

I snorted most loudly when Kirstie informed her shabby-chic audience that you need a pair of tough eyllow rubber gloves for skip-delving but unfortunately she had left hers at home that day.

Very likely. The one time she is actually being filmed raking around skips and she goes and leaves her essential gloves at home.

Tn0g · 17/04/2009 11:36

I think the problem is that not everyone has the ability to mix and match in an eclectic fashion and for it to ultimately work.

You have to have vision, creativity and an 'eye', otherwise you could end up with an unholy mess.

I guess most people feel safer having someone else tell them what looks good rather than being brave and meshing a look together for themselves.

southeastastra · 17/04/2009 11:36

i have actually blown my own glass

TangoFango · 17/04/2009 11:59

The thing is, the Kath Kids stuff looks like a mix of colours but is all the same hue of colour, so it works. All bright reds, greens, blues etc, no pales, darks, etc thrown in. I thought displaying her kitchen range was of no benefit at all, you could see that display in a department store. Nice for a kid's party, but come on......

I do get the idea that she is trying to say don't buy off the shelf, by bespoke, or second hand, but thrifty it ain't!

TangoFango · 17/04/2009 12:01
Wizzska · 17/04/2009 12:10

I hate Kath Kidston - the colours are so garish.

I was confused by what message the programme was trying to convey. Was it to be cheap? Making your own pottery etc certainly isn't cheap. Or was it to inspire you to make things - how many of us can go and blow our own glass? She only made one of each thing and then comissioned the rest to be made for her. Was it to try and get us to make a house like her mega rich parents with questionable interior design taste?

Was the message 'look how a spoilt rich girl can pretend to be hard up because her property show doesn't cut it in the credit crunch'?

southeastastra · 17/04/2009 12:11

i would be more impressed if she taught us basic plumbing

Katisha · 17/04/2009 12:14

I've said it on the other thread but I'll say it again here - it's Marie-Antoinette TV.

Her and Nigella. Kirstie pretend to skip-dive. Nigella pretends she uses public transport. All while trying to sell us some ideal about style on a budget.

I agree that it's impossible to tell who it is aimed at.

TangoFango · 17/04/2009 12:16

southeastastra I'm with you on that, also plastering the walls. It's the bathroom next week, so may be she'll show us how to knit your own bath towels.

I have just remember the flower arranging!

Madmentalbint · 17/04/2009 12:36

The whole thing made me larf from start to finish. The idea of KA decorating her home from the contents of skips is ludicrous and I don't believe it for a second.

I like the sentiment of making do and not buying for the sake of it. I remember watching a Grand Designs where the couple filled their new home with all their old tat as it was all perfectly functional - much to the disgust of Mr. McCloud

I also had a snigger when Nigella queued for the bus on Nigella Express. Purrrrr-leease!

pointydog · 17/04/2009 13:11

wizz, you have hot the nail on the head.

This prog was nothing to do with style or hobbies.

Other Big Snorts:

  1. my good friend and interior designer gave me a sewing machine lesson and let me use hers - how very convenient. She also seemed to have a collection of very large and groovy buttons
  1. my good friend and interior designer has made me two matching cushions so the one I made doesn't look all lonesome on the extensive window seat
  1. I bought three beautiful blue glasses from my new friend the glassblower to go with the wonky one I made for free as part of a tv show
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