Room to Improve 2026

[JaneJeffer]

RTÉ 1 at 9:30

Let the gigantic window installation commence!

The planter is a waste of space!

Deirdre thinks so too!

They’re very sociable people

Ah, I missed it tonight. Will catch up.

I live very close to here. DD & I were in stitches watching them make Clonsilla look green & palatable, squeezing in the little bit of old Clonsilla station to assist.

The renovation was fab. But €275k! I get they had an emotional attachment to their first home & wanted to be near friends but what you could do with that money! I found it a really strange choice (but then, if I had €275k to spend, plus what the house would have gone for in a sale, I’d be legging it out of this area!)

I thought it was a bit “tone deaf” to be honest, the first house in the new series was owned by a couple with 2 houses, when the Irish media is full of stories about people who can’t get on the property ladder.
€275,000 for a refurb of a very ordinary house. I know they were downsizing and I presume there was no mortgage on it as they had owned it for 30 years +, was it worth it ?
What are prices like in that estate ?

I liked the planter - definitely not a waste of space. Loved the opening roof on the outdoor space.
I don't agree that it is tone deaf although I see why someone might say that. They've worked hard and she said they had difficulty holding on to it at times.
I loved the garden of the house they were selling - the whole idea of downsizing is interesting. It must be hard when you are used to loads of space.
I wish I had neighbours as nice as they do!

Didn't watch it, but here's a DB-related funny:
When Trump was threatening to build a wall along the border with Mexico and make Mexico pay for it, somebody commented that the only person in the world who can make you build a wall you don't want and make you pay for it is Dermot Bannon😁

I think the neighbours being so close would get on my nerves. I would have sold the house and kept the one with the garden! I hate the really narrow corridor from front to back. I liked the roof on the man cave thing but that would be useless on this side of the country - you’d get blown out of it!

Ha ha love that @MarieDeGournay 😂

So true @MarieDeGournay
It’s usually ( but not always ) his way or the highway
He’s an iron fist in a velvet glove. 😀

I loved the complete horror on everyone’s faces when they saw the chimney breast had been massacred!

I mean, I guess it was worth it to them as they were very emotionally attached and keen to live beside their pals again. But I wouldn't otherwise have thought so.

The house was in poor repair but would still have sold easily for €300 - €350k or so, depending on what work was done ahead of sale.

I don't think they will ever realise the amount they put into it but I know that's not the point - they are buying it to live there, not to make money and it's clearly right for them.

For that money, and given they had a lovely other house, I'd have moved elsewhere - but I live pretty much in that area and am biased. I'm happy enough but I never planned to stay so long (separation and divorce meant I was lucky to be able to do a deal with my ex and hold onto the house, and my kids are very connected to the area - when they are grown up, I will definitely be moving!).

Dermot Bannon was on with David McCullough this morning, he was very good. He's very passionate about what he wants, and each season has some new idea that he is obsessed with including in every design (the 'wasted space' is this year's one!) and he doesn't mind having his mistakes / human frailties shown up, which makes for great TV. The Irish Times has a good piece by Patrick Freyne about the current season, from Saturday - Patrick Freyne previously wrote a hilarious article, years ago, about the massive windows, and Dermot Bannon brings it up with a great line 'it's not a massive window, I haven't done one in years, it's a pavilion.' (whatever that is exactly, in that context).

I’ll have a look for that article @EarringsandLipstick I loved his original one where he called Dermot the sun god 🌞

The problem with selling the house is they would be liable for huge capital gains because it was rented and not their primary residence.

We’ve just finished having an extension put on and the first time we sat down with the builder and the architect, the builder said ‘So, basically, do ye want a Bannon Box?’ By which he meant a mostly glass kitchen extension. The architect looked ready to throw something at the mention of the Unholy Name.

We said no, we didn’t. (I mean, we live on the side of an exposed hill in the southwest. I want to feel like I’m indoors when I’m indoors!)

I know the area well and was surprised they were so keen to move back there. The other house was beautiful but they never mentioned where that was. I think the finished house was lovely though and did like the design. Couple were great and I'd say they are great fun to know.

The price was high but as someone who did a renovation a couple of years ago on a pretty much untouched 1970s house it seemed reasonable enough. The cost of getting houses up to A ratings is huge and that's before you even start extending anything or adding bathrooms and kitchens. We spent more than that and didn't actually extend at all we did convert a garage though. It all still worked out cheaper than buying a turn key in our area. Funnily enough Dermot bannon had done a house on our road years ago so we did source it on the rte archives to get some ideas 😁. The house he did still looks great, it has aged very well and lots of copycats now on the road.

Anyone think the garden needed a makeover on tonight's RTI?

Yes they kept going on about wanting to be in the garden which was really scraggy looking. The house was amazing though., but €300k to renovate is insane to me.

I hated the sewer pipe running through the extension - under that bench step bit. So you'd be sitting there with your cup of tea knowing that all sorts of shite is just under there.... I suppose there are sewer pipes all around us - but this just seems very close.

I did like the 'botanical garden' look and the garden is a work in progress and I've no doubt will be lovely in time. I thought the first thing you saw when you looked through the house from the front door was the back of the neighbours houses. But I'm sure in a few years that could be screened off with clever planting.

Loved the larder. Would absolutely love to have something like that.

They seemed like a lovely family.

The utility room freaked me out because I had visions of getting locked in and the button not working!

I wasn’t gone on any of it really.

The woman looked like she could be Dermot’s sister.

I felt the money was insane. And are you supposed to build over the main sewer for the road? When she brought Dermot to those woodland gardens and said she'd prefer to be there on her own - hilarious! I think she's one of those gardeners where there's a million specimen plants and no overall vision.

300k for conservatory 🍋

They went €20,000 over in the end.
I think they finished at €295,000 after grants etc.
That’s an expensive kitchen and glass box.
I can never understand why, when money is tight on these shows, people don’t go for a Cash and Carry kitchen, or one from The Panelling Centre or an Ikea kitchen to save costs.
Dermot waxed lyrical about the uninterrupted view from the hall door to the back garden.
Uninterrupted except for the lines on the Crittal style door and frame.
I’m not a fan of Crittal style doors/windows as they are too fussy.