The Great Interior Design Challenge

The Great Interior Design Challenge is a competitive UK reality tv show. There are no prizes for guessing what it's about – it is a design challenge. The show has 15 episodes over the first season and the format is simple. They season is broken down into three episode arcs. We are introduced to four amateur interior designers and they are each given a similar room in the same building and have three days and a budget of £1000.

They must work to a client brief and transform the room. Their design presentation and the rooms are then judged and the contestant deemed to have done the poorest job gets sent home. This happens twice more until the last remaining designer wins and moves on to the quarter finals.

That process happens three more times, each with new designers, until there are four winners who must go head-to-head for a place in the final. At this stage the level of design is much more difficult but they are given extra money and time. At the end of episode 15 the overall winner is chosen. The judges in the show are Daniel Hopwood and Sophie Robinson and renowned architect Tom Dyckhoff narrates and brings the show together.

I definitely liked the show but probably so I could add my own running commentary to some of the designs! You can imagine what happens when you let amateurs in to people’s homes to redecorate. The transformations are often amazing but they are equally hilarious with some cringeworthy results.

It is engaging and fun but can be frustrating. The judges constantly contradict themselves. So they may comment that one competitor is fulfilling the homeowners brief but not ‘doing their own thing' and give out when another doesn't fulfil the brief and does their own thing. They ask for creativity but when they get it they slam it. When a room looks beautiful and the homeowner loves it, it's considered boring. I think they may have forgotten that people actually have to live with the rooms when the crew has packed up and gone home!

All that said, some of the rooms were truly fabulous if a little out there. With the addition of challenges and guest judges, including Kelly Hoppen, the show flows along at a nice steady pace. If you like home based shows with a competitive edge, then The Great Interior Design Challenge is for you. It's along the lines of Amazing Interiors and Restaurants On The Edge so you should really enjoy it.