So, did you watch
Kirstie's Vintage Home last night?
When her "Homemade Home" series first started, I rather loved it - especially the bits showing talented, skilled craftspeople making amazing things (glassblowing! stained glass making! knitting!).
I wrote in
my blog post about it at the time, that...
The program is trying to sell that whole "make your house a home" thing,
advertising handmade things as a way of adding character and a truly
personal touch, which is aesthetically very refreshing after so many
years of being sold clean, white, modern, chic and also a welcome change
after a decade of "quick fix" DIY shows packed with MDF and stapleguns... and that
You get to see how much work and real skill goes into making handmade
things, and their value and specialness is prized. This isn't a show
that says "and you can make one at home for 50p!" but recommends serious
workshops and craft courses and suggests commissioning pieces from
craftspeople in your area.
Then series
two came out in which instead of doing up her own (holiday) home, Kirstie was helping couples create their own "homemade home" and the title of my review probably gives away my feelings about it:
Kirstie' Homemade Hmmm. I found the crafting featured in the show a lot less impressive, the makeover format pretty standard and the shift from "look at this amazing handmade special thing made with skill" to "look how easy and cheap this is to make!" a bit disappointing. BUT it was still great to see crafting (and talented crafters) on the telly and I think the "real people decorating their real homes" angle made it perhaps feel a bit more relevant/accessible to the target viewer than "Kirstie Allsop makes her holiday cottage look nice"?
And I think I feel the same way about Kirstie's Vintage Home, which appears to be Kirstie's Homemade Home all over again just with an added emphasis on retro styling. She helps a couple redecorate, they meet some crafters and make some things, she takes them shopping and gives them tips on buying second hand stuff... but this series they say the word "vintage" a lot (often when they just mean "retro") and use words like "upcycling".
I did quite like the finished makeover (though I wondered where they were going to put all their stuff as that living room looked a little low on storage!), I rather loved the screenprinted sideboard (though I'm not sure that painting a bit of perfectly nice furniture really counts as "upcycling"!!) and it was fun to spot some
Mini Moderns wallpaper pop up and to see
Lisa Comfort's appearance on the show (I'll be reviewing her book later this month so it was interesting to see her "in person" if you know what I mean). But still. Hmm.
I'm probably going to watch the whole series, as I'm interested to see which other crafts & crafters they feature, how the "vintage" makeover turns out each week and whether a "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster ever makes an appearance! Did you watch last night's show? What did you think? And will you be watching the rest of the series?
P.S. Also, today's the day to pick the winners of the copies of
Stitch it for Christmas.
The winners are...
K2
who said...
"Very cute. I just love the look of redwork embroidery"
and
AnitaS
who said...
"I love this book and bought it for a friend. But I like to have it for myself"
