Last night saw the first episode of Kirstie’s Homemade Home, in which Kirstie Allsopp does up a house in deepest Devon, using, where possible, local materials and craftspeople, and her own enthusiastic but untested craft skills.

So what did you think? For what it’s worth, I think it’s refreshing to have anything on tv that isn’t about making money from your home. I’m not nearly fresh-faced enough to believe that the programme will do anything to change the way we think about our homes – we’ve all invested too much (financially and emotionally) in the whole housing process for us not to look at a house as an investment, even if it’s a long-term one. And with savings rates being as low as they are, many of us still think it’s best to sink hard-earned cash into property rather than put it in a bank.

That said, having done up six houses myself, it’s great to see someone approaching a renovation in a way that doesn’t involve a) trip to DIY store, b) trip to giant furniture store to buy roomset and c) trip to supermarket to buy ubiquitous products to accessorise with. I’m not knocking any of these approaches – we all go to Ikea, for example, because their furniture is cheap, just about stays together AND you can buy a whole room’s worth of furniture that looks really quite good together. The only hassle is getting it through the check out.

However, that kind of room, while stylish, swish, modern and, importantly, affordable, is never going to be unique, individual and one-off – and that’s what really makes a home interesting. And while I don’t want to put anyone out of a job at these bigger high street or retail park stores, I do think it’s high time we all supported local British craftspeople who work really hard, for little profit and almost no national recognition. And if the show does nothing else but to inspire us to think a little bit more imaginatively about how we design and decorate our homes, it will have done a good job.

What do you think?

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You can’t have missed that we’ve got a competition running to win lunch with Kevin McCloud. The very thought of it created a flurry of excited emails between us in the 4Homes office. What would it be like to sit down before the great man and try and hack your way through a pork sausage (for example) while discussing the merits of using hemp in a self build?

It even kept me awake last night. Emma from the 4Homes office wondered if Kevin would describe what he wanted from the menu by using his knife, fork and napkin to build a representation of the dish to the waiter. I’m more haunted by the thought that, were I to win, I’d order my food, and Kevin would then turn to an imaginary camera and say, ‘Of course, it’s all very well Lucy ordering beef, but it’s just not very eco-friendly, is it? And, more to the point, she’s never ordered a la carte before. If you ask me, this could all go horribly wrong.’ read more

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Here’s some ways to wile away the time, both on 4Homes and otherwise.

How Gay Is Your House? Quiz – Find out if your house has the camp factor
Which Grand Designs House Are You? – Because you’ve always wanted to know. (I’m the Cumbria Underground House)
Mansion Impossible – Ridiculously addictive flash game you can play while the boss isn’t watching
Swedish Furniture Name Generator – I like this. A lot. Find out what you’d be called if you were a piece of furniture from a certain Swedish retailer
London Parking Spaces – Find out how much they’re worth (too much, that’s how much)
ThisIsMoney Property Quiz – Featuring our very own Kirstie, Kevin and Sarah
Sarah Beeny’s MySingleFriend.com – Get your mate a date
Celebrity Houses – Marvel at the opulent world of celeb property
Amazing Architecture – Head over to Dezeen to see the world’s most cutting-edge new buildings

If those don’t keep you going ’til half five, you should probably just go home now…

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Please help Kirstie Allsopp find her missing ring – reward £1000.

We’ll put up something on 4Homes about this ASAP, but in the meantime you can find out more info here – www.kirstieslostring.co.uk

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Sewing is the new going out. Decoupage is the new designer wallcovering. Reusing old fabrics to make patchwork is the new black… However you want to put it, craft is back in a big, big way. And just in time, too - with the credit crunch affecting us all, we’re all looking at ways of making our homes not just a retreat from the harshness of the world, but a cheap, or at least affordable, retreat at that. Bang on cue, enter our favourite homemaker, Kirstie Allsopp, whose new show Kirstie’s Homemade Home, starts in April. She’ll be tackling all sorts of projects, from making cushions and revamping lampshades to buying furniture at auction, as she decorates a house from top to bottom over the course of the series. Better still, we’ll be featuring each episode in detail, and we’ve got tons and tons of fabulous ideas, advice and inspiration lined up to help you turn your house into a home – on a budget. Plus, we’ll show you how to complete your own craft projects in Kirstie’s step by step DIY How Tos. Watch this space.

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The government have released a draft strategic document which outlines plans to give every existing UK house a green makeover, as well as dramatically raising the bar regarding the building regs for new homes.

The intention is to bring all UK homes to a level ‘approaching cation neutral’ by 2050. Unfortunately the document fails to specify where the money’s going to come from to pay for it.

You can read the full story here, and get info on how to save energy in your home here.

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A bit of Tuesday afternoon daftness – 20 famous skyscrapers made entirely from Lego bricks. Faves of mine include the CN Tower and the Gherkin, although they’re all impressive. Check them out here.

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The Bank of England is today expected to cut rates again today, with experts predicting that the cut could be up to another one per cent – more than that and it would take rates to their lowest since the Bank was founded over three hundred years ago.
But will it make that much difference in the short term to the homeowner? Last month’s shock base rate cut of 1.5 per cent was not passed on in full by a staggering 75 per cent of mortgage lenders, although 92 per cent of them passed the cut on in full to their savers.

Michelle Slade, analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, says, ‘Both borrowers and savers have been penalised following the last base rate cut and it is hard to believe that it will be any different if base rate is cut again. Many of the large high street banks passed the cuts on equally to SVRs (standard variable rates) and savers. However, Barclays Bank, through its Woolwich brand, failed to pass on any cut to its SVR, but cut its savings rates by up to 1.75 per cent.’
Forgive us if we don’t throw our hats in the air with joy just yet – we’ll wait and see how generous the banks are this time first.

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So, MFI is joining the league of companies not to ride out the credit crunch. It’s more obvious to me – from a very bland point of view – why MFI has not managed to stay afloat. It used to be known as a very cheap kitchen company, but worked recently to smarten up its act and produce much more inspirational kitchens. However, I’m not sure the general masses ever caught on to that.

What’s more, the competition at the cheaper end of the market for good looking (if not good quality) kitchens is really, really fierce. Far better, some would think, to brave the aisles and kitchen planning department of Ikea, and to bag a kitchen for just a couple of grand, than go somewhere like MFI, where the perception of the quality of the kitchens on offer was much the same as Ikea’s, and to pay over twice the price of those at the Swedish giant.

And, sadly, I think the atmosphere of the store itself didn’t help. Unlike Woolies or Ikea, which have always been packed (to the point of hysteria) when I’ve gone in there, MFI has only ever been deserted. I’d far rather choose a kitchen in a quiet, calm atmosphere like MFI’s, but who wants to buy where no one else is? It’s like passing an empty restaurant on a Saturday night in order to stand in a queue at another one up the road. The food might be just as good in the first one, but if no one else thinks it is, why should you?

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