INTERIOR DESIGN MASTERS
Series 6; Episode 1: Youth Hostel
We’ve waiting longer than usual for the return of Interior Design Masters, and I for one was very disappointed at the first look at the new contestants. No-one dressed as a clown? No-one channelling a 19th century Venetian gondolier? They all looked relatively…..NORMAL! That’s not what I pay my licence fee for – hopefully one of them will turn up next week dressed as Henry VIII or Margaret Thatcher.
Putting the absence of Coco to one side, I was extremely excited at the return of my favourite ‘shout at the tv’ show. Which one was going to order the wrong shade of paint? Which one would fail to measure their curtains properly? Which one was going to cry every blooming week? Sadly we only got one out of three in this particular episode, but give it time.
The ten aspiring designers that assembled in Michelle Ogundehin’s lair (sorry – ‘design studio’) included two teachers, a sexual health worker, and an online interior accessories store owner who is also mother to ‘two small humans’. As an online interior accessories store owner myself I know I am skating on thin ice…..but is anyone else currently watching Amandaland?
The prize this year is to design a homeware range for John Lewis (a distinct step up from last year’s co-lab with La Redoute), and in order to eliminate the first of the group we were transported to the Lake District in general and to YHA Windermere in particular. Bunk-bedded rooms were allocated to each designer, with the brief to show Michelle their ‘signature style’ whilst also taking into account the location and the practicality of the rooms being used by active people. I’ve got the feeling that most of the designers only heard the first two parts of the brief – I’ve stayed in many YHA hostels in my time and all most visitors want is somewhere to store and dry out muddy and wet kit as opposed to unusual lamps and fluffy tables. But maybe that’s just me.
First to be properly introduced was Rita. Rita was fervently hoping that we’d all forgotten about previous winner Banjo Beale’s trick of inventing a client for each task, as she proceeded to do exactly the same thing. Her ‘client’ was called Maria, and was a Lebanese hiker who wanted to be cosy after a day outdoors. ‘Maria’ wanted to sleep in a dark grey shepherd’s hut style room with some rusty corrugated iron on the bathroom wall and a wooden structure around the bed that was likely to give you a splinter on your backside as you arranged your pillows. I liked the look of the room, but I’m not convinced it worked on a practical level, and as the Lake District sees more wet days than most parts of the UK I think dark grey walls might be quite depressing for a soaked and shivering hiker.
Corrugated iron chic
Next up was Craig, who described his style as ‘retro vintage’, although the short clip of his home looked more of a ‘dust trap’ aesthetic. Whatever he pays his cleaner is never going to be enough: it looked as if a bomb had gone off in a charity shop. Nevertheless, his plans for the hostel were interesting: he was going for a ‘vintage travel vibe’, with a Windermere steamer mural inspired by 1940s travel posters and carefully researched vintage touches. Not entirely convinced about the shade of green he chose, but otherwise I liked it.
Craig's mural
Ayisha loves a ‘bold and romantic’ style, and went for a sunset/sunrise theme for her room. She chose peach as her main colour, which even Michelle conceded was a marmite choice. Peach always makes me think of 1980s bridesmaid's dresses so I'm not a huge fan. However, I do love a bellini..... but after drinking a few of those I wouldn’t fancy trying to fit round the curved bunk screens Ayisha had installed.
Ese (the sexual health advisor), prefers a more organic and natural design style. He opted for a textured green wallpaper with blue and brown accessories, together with a wardrobe that looked like a large man’s coffin. Ese seemed a lovely man, but fell foul of the common Interior Design Masters trope – an inability to measure properly. He hadn’t ordered enough fabric for the curtains, and his curtain rail was too short.
Victoria was a fan of ‘contemporary luxe’, which seemed to consist of wanting to paint stripes everywhere and mix them with floral wallpaper. I’d hazard a guess that hiking through wet landscapes was not a familiar pastime to her, as instead of somewhere to dry a dripping kagoule Victoria thought that a dressing table was more important – do many YHA guests like to wear a full face of make-up down to the kitchen of an evening?
At this point in the proceedings the producers thought it would be hilarious for host Alan Carr to dress up as one of the Village People and give us a rendition of YMCA (as that sounds a bit like YHA). At the risk of sounding like a killjoy, this particular segment should have gone west – with ten rooms to cover there simply isn’t time for filler at this stage.
As well as the vans full of stuff that each designer had brought with them, they were all asked to take a wheelbarrow into the countryside to forage for something to be used in their rooms. It was amazing how lovely pieces of slate were to be found artistically arranged on the forest floor and sheeps wool curved into convenient nooks, but the display of dried flowers in florists buckets was a particularly clever find.
Next we met Briony, who with her ‘organic, restorative’ style wanted to box in the bunkbeds with reclaimed doors and wipe coffee all over the walls to give a lime effect. As eyebrows were being raised at this she then produced a small table covered in sheep’s wool that was (a) probably quite smelly and (b) of absolutely no use as a table whatsoever. She also made a lampshade from a placemat that at least would ensure that the smoke alarms got regular use.
Bradley was up next. Bradley is a content creator who described his style as ‘modern and colourful’. Bradley lives at home with his parents, who indulge him by letting him cover the entire house in floral wallpaper when a better use of their time might have been spent teaching him how to put on gardening gloves properly. Just a thought. I’m sure that they also have all his paintings from primary school still stuck on the fridge – and judging from his hand painted mural on the back of the door his artistic skills haven’t progressed much from that era.
We were then introduced to John (are you keeping up?!), who is a Design & Technology teacher with a penchant for ‘graphic bohemia’ (no, I’ve no idea what that is either). His signature style involves putting panelling in rooms, which the resident carpenters are going to love if he stays the course. He went for a blue/green/grey colour scheme which I liked, and some hand-painted topography lines in red which I wasn’t so keen on.
Emma! We need to mention Emma. An art & textile teacher, she goes for a ‘colourful and happy style’ which meant lots and lots of sewing (which didn’t seem to make her happy at all). Going for a ‘swallows and amazons’ theme, Emma designed some wallpaper for the ceiling (which looked great), but the rest of the room lacked – wait for it – ‘cohesion’ (those new to the show will have to get used to this word).
Emma's self-designed swallows wallpaper
Finally – yes, finally! – we get to Holly. Holly is a fabric designer who was born in the wrong era. She is a great lover of 1970s trends, and tries to incorporate them into her rooms. She designed some wallpaper (which I liked, but then I am a fan of orange), and also made some felt bunting. She used oars as curtain poles which also looked good – but worried that she’d not done enough work on her bunk beds to be safe.
Guest judge Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen – someone I’d guess has never slept in a youth hostel in his life – joined Michelle to give his considered opinion regarding the completed rooms.
Craig's Windermere touches
Laurence and Michelle loved Craig’s vintage 1940s steamer cabin room, thought Emma had a great ceiling but there was ‘too much crafting’, and thought Bradley’s room was ‘refreshing and uplifting’ (I notice they had their back to his door mural throughout). Ayisha’s was ‘a bit peachy’ but they loved the architectural bed, and Rita got a distinct thumbs up for her dark shepherd’s hut sanctuary (first time I’ve ever heard rusty corrugated iron described as ‘super sexy textures’). They loved Briony’s subtle nods to Windermere, and were soothed by John’s panelling and topographical room (especially the boot pegs made from old chair legs). Ese got initial praise for his colour scheme, but Laurence felt that the coffin wardrobe didn’t ‘reflect the language of the space’. Victoria was criticised for the dressing table – hostellers care ‘more about boots than blusher’ – and it has only taken one episode for Michelle to complain about someone using dried flowers (honestly – have some of the designers never seen the show before?). Holly was last to be judged, and got great feedback – they loved her wallpaper, her clay leaves, and thought she’d made a ‘super strong start’.
Ese's coffin wardrobe
I thought that ‘super strong start’ summed up Week 1. There were no real horrors, and it was really a matter of taste as to which room people preferred. As always I found myself muttering ‘will no-one think of the cleaners?!’, but I’ve come to the conclusion that none of the judges have picked up a duster since about 1990 and they are never going to give marks for practicality.
Rita's dark and cosy room
The best room according to Michelle and Laurence was Rita’s dark grey shepherd’s hut inspired room: ‘unexpected but lovely’ – and joining Rita sailing into Week 2 were Craig, John, Briony, Holly, Bradley and Ayisha. This left Emma, Ese and Victoria on the Sofa of Doom….
Emma was criticised for trying to make everything herself rather than concentrate on the overall design. She replied that due to her limb difference she wanted to prove that she could make rather than buy and that she’d not make that error again. This gave her a reprieve and Michelle let her through to next week. Ese and Victoria were criticised for very different things: Ese for a good design but a lack of finesse, and Victoria for trying to make everything too luxurious for the brief. In the end it was Ese that was deemed to have committed the worst crime against design, and Victoria that will live to fight another day.
Poor Ese
Do you agree with the judges? Did the right person go home? Which was your favourite? Oh - and if you want to see how much of the design remains in the YHA rooms: https://www.yha.org.uk/interior-design-masters
Great as always Mel. I think I look forward to your Blog as much as the actual program.