What is wrong with people who go on Grand Designs?

[RobynRB]

Seriously, time and time again it's the same thing. Why do people feel they need to build a house the size of a cinema complex and then moan when they run out money. Most of these things could be 10-20% smaller and you wouldn't even notice. Don't these people understand that materials like wood and concrete cost money so buy less of them and the house will be cheaper.

Speaking of which, last night was a classic case... we haven't got any money, but we bought this copper bath for our bedroom and this (frankly disgusting but I'm guessing ridiculously expensive) gold and black marble for our kitchen.

It struck me the reservoir building was big enough to build a reasonable house in, maybe with a smaller extension to the side. It certainly looked twice the size of my three bedroomed house on it's own.

And of course five minutes after they started they announced they were having a child. What brilliant timing...

When you look at the Insta pictures you can see that they have almost no furniture. Really odd. I’m absolutely fascinated by their lack of finances and how the hell they’re going to afford it. Why not just do a small project in the original building rather than set yourself up for so much debt? Very odd.

I looked on their Instagram - wye valley grand designs - and lots of items are tagged so they probably got them free or reduced in price for publicity.
Those Ligne Roset sofas don't come cheap. They look great but I don't think they are comfortable. The lower part needs to be raised off the ground a wee bit.

I also wonder about those sofas if they are directly on a concrete floor, do you get a cold bum?

No, but they are the only sofas that you can have if your house is like an aircraft hangar and they must be orange.

I'm always curious how many of the people building their "dream " and their "forever home" and their "legacy" are still living there 5 years later

Last weeks was insane. He was a skydiving instructor and she a job which seemed fairly low paid and they spent over a million pounds! I mean it did look nice (except the gold and black marble kitchen) but how on earth will they ever pay the money back?!
Do they get money for appearing on the show?

@LadyEloise1 The sofas are £5900 each [faints]. They have a showroom near me, maybe I should go and try them out 🤔They look like you'd have to roll sideways to get off.

I'm always curious how many of the people building their "dream " and their "forever home" and their "legacy" are still living there 5 years later
And if they are there, have they realised that the sprogs they had when they were building the legacy might not be bothered with all white style and expensive soft furnishings?
So many builds seem to be completely incompatible with family life. I wonder if some of these high flying rich types seem to think that they'll have control over parenting like they do every other part of their alpha life, so it doesn't cross their mind that they'll be just like every other parent with toddler toys and laundry.

And that hangar-like spaces open-plan spaces tend to be noisy and look very messy with little Kevin and Kevina running or toddling about.

Also, what about when every single one has a surprise baby mid way through the build? They are already strapped for cash, have no free time between working and managing a build and then ooops, we got pregnant. Come on.Also, I've always wondered about how people come up with their budget on housing shows in general. I can't count how many times I've seen "this is amy and this is chris, amy works part time selling products on etsy and chris is a stay at home dad. Their budget is 1.5 million." I mean, what? how?

This exactly 🤣

I agree with a lot of the comments here but with regards to concrete and glass looking like an office building, I don't know about that, to each their own. I prefer the modern, minimalistic look. When we were looking for a house to buy, as soon as I hard the words "traditional", "charm", "classic" I knew immediately it was not for me and more like something my gran would have lived in.

@Jinimcoroneo , I take it you've not lived in an open plan house with huge glass windows and crittal doors.

There's a really horrible concrete thing locally. They knocked down a perfectly nice bungalow to build it. It's concrete coloured concrete inside and out with tiny slit windows, must be like living in a car park. It clearly wasn't finished for the reveal as all the building van's disappeared for a week, camera crew moved in, then were back. Most people locally give directions with reference to it, " you know, the road with that hideous concrete monstrosity " .

I live near this one which is now for sale in St Albans if anyone remembers it on Grand Designs

I’m sure it’s lovely to some, but I don’t like the style at all.

I rather like that one, @DognamedDill - it seems warm and welcoming. Though I do notice a lot of bench seating, which is OK in a breakfast nook/dining area, but cannot be comfortable in a lounge!

It reminds me of the mad bloke on Your Home Made Perfect who put bench seating in every single project he designed - if I am sitting in the living room, watching TV/reading/whatever, I want a comfortable sofa or chair, not a bit of wood with a thin cushion on. Not only will that become very uncomfortable very quickly, but all those cushions will just slither around on the bench, whenever you try to move (to try to get more comfortable).

Dh has heard this rant every time this bloke was on!

I will be soon. What's wrong with wanting more light to come in, especially in the UK where sunlight/natural light isn't in huge abundance?

Nothing wrong with wanting more light coming in, @Jinimcoroneo - but personally I would want my light-filled rooms to be separate, not open plan. I think that very open plan living must be really noisy as different people try to do different things - someone in the kitchen, cooking with the radio on, someone else watching TV, someone else making a phone call, a couple of the children arguing over a video game - all in one big space.

Also, in my experience, cooking tends to produce a nasty, greasy dust that sticks to every surface. It's bad enough having to clean that off the kitchen surfaces, but they are, at least, designed to be cleaned - but if your whole downstairs is open plan, what's to stop that greasy dust ending up everywhere? An extractor fan doesn't stop it happening in our kitchen.

But it's horses for courses - I know my opinions are just that - opinions that everyone doesn't have to share - and I'm sure you'll be very happy in your new home.

Too hot in the summer.
Too much light can be uncomfortable and an overcast day is a lot of gloomy grey.
Difficult to dust very high ceilings.
Dirty windows are annoying.
The 'crittal' doors were draughty.
The concrete bricks in one bedroom were damp.
Noise carries as do cooking smells.
House felt unbearably cold if the heating wasn't on.
Partner had to have complete blackout blinds or couldn't sleep, and I don't like pitch darkness. What's the point of having a picture window if you wake up in a completely dark room.

Open plan looks great if you are a minimalist.

Yes the bench seating chap from Your Home Made Perfect, always shown wandering around his private island in unsuitable footwear, staring into the middle distance as he pontificates poetically about space. My grandma had bench seating around her kitchen table (a 1960s original, it had plastic vinyl seats) and all I can remember about it is everyone having to move when the person at the end wanted to wee and the table always being just the wrong distance away. It’s a no from me.

That St Albans house is lovely and in a lovely spot.

Just reading up about it, it took six years to approve the plans (due to location, thecAbbey etc), four years to build, and now the family are moving on, after five years or so living in it.

https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/interiors/breathtaking-romaninspired-grand-designs-commuter-house-for-sale-for-ps5-95m-b1036089.html

sorry if I came off as rude, not my intention at all, just that light is hard to find in the UK. Also, I'm sure my wants/needs are much different than other people's. For one, we have no kids and a lot of bedrooms so we already have our own spaces. We have a dedicated gym, office, guest room and dressing room so the large open space for a kitchen, living, dining doesn't feel like we are giving up any privacy. We also had a very open plan space in our last house which was about half the size and I never had any issues with food smells and stains going beyond the kitchen, maybe I don't cook enough, who knows. I'm indian though and indian food isn't known for being un messy :)

.Also, I've always wondered about how people come up with their budget on housing shows in general. I can't count how many times I've seen "this is amy and this is chris, amy works part time selling products on etsy and chris is a stay at home dad. Their budget is 1.5 million." I mean, what? how?
😂
That's too true.

The ones I like are "this is Stephen and this is Stephanie. Stephanie does performing arts and Stephen is a high flier in the city. They're selling their multiple London properties to fund this move to rural England, but in 15 minutes time we're going to have some rainy shots of desperation where they say the bank won't lend them any more money, they've maxed out their credit cards, and the whole build is in jeopardy... but it's ok because they quickly did a whip round and friends/family found an extra £380,000 down the back of their sofa and because it's small change they're handing over their cash to two people who have clear problems budgeting".

I do always wonder how they're going to get cobwebs off their impossibly high ceilings or clean windows in awkward places.

I think open plan living is fine if you have no kids and also have other private spaces, but I wouldn't fancy watching tv with the kitchen extractor fan on! Or keeping the kids from falling off the mezzanine balcony or down the stairs which has no hand rail or is open on one side. Or getting sticky fingerprints off all the glass!

Our conservatory is bloody deafening when it rains, however there are doors to close it, as well as letting lots of light in glass would also give you a better view of dull rainy weather as well so works both ways. And yes to a million toddler height handprints all over it!

Also where was the storage and prep area for all the sweets they were selling to finance it?