How TV Is Inspiring Our Kitchen Design Decisions? | More Kitchens

Published: 5 October 2022

We start this blog with a question. Has something you have seen on TV ever influenced a choice you have made?

The likelihood is that the answer will be yes, whether that be from an advert or something you have seen on a show.

And when it comes to the design of our homes, many of us will have been inspired by a design or a concept that we have seen on a television programme, leaving us thinking and Googling about how we can incorporate it into our own living space.

Kitchens are not exempt from this conversation. In the UK, we have a plethora of home design and kitchen-based TV shows that are created to inspire the watcher. Below is a small selection of them, with airing figures that demonstrate just how popular they are:

1. Grand Designs - a show that first aired in 1999 and now attracts over 3 million viewers per episode
2. Your Home Made Perfect - far newer than the aforementioned, but growing to a position in which averages over 1.8 million viewers per episode
3. Great British Bake Off - a show that’s so popular that its 2021 final attracted a record-breaking 9.2 million viewers
4. MasterChef - the oldest of the shows here, with its first episode dating back to 1990, but still averages over 4.5 million viewers
5. Saturday Kitchen - again, relatively new to the space but consistently engaging 3 million viewers per episode

Those first two programmes are produced to show what can be achieved within the home and leave the watcher feeling in awe. But even the final three - which focus more on cooking and baking - who doesn’t also watch it and comment on how good the kitchen set-up is?

Within our homes, the kitchen is the most valuable room in the house and in this blog, two of our kitchen senior designers, Julie and Simon, discuss how TV is influencing the decisions people are making when it comes to investing in their kitchen space…

TV shows and social media begin the ‘inspiration process’

Julie said: “It’s true that Grand Designs and shows like that inspire people.

“That said, you're also talking about a different budget completely there. You're trying to build ideas from it, sure, but homeowners are then using social media websites, like Pinterest, for ideas and further guidance.

“People have actually got a lot of pins they’ve got for inspiration, some of which has come from shows like Grand Designs, but they've got an idea as to what they want.

“There is a downside to that. That can often mean trying to incorporate every element of something they’ve seen on Pinterest but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will all work together, just because they like it and have seen different things on Pinterest.

“Sticking to TV, there's a lot of the American shows that are doing well right now, shows where they’re buying and selling property, doing it up and renovating it.

“There's a lot of inspiration that comes from those shows, but, in general, when you're actually living everyday life with a family, most people are inspired by Bake-Off and want a Neff Slide and hide oven. They want the same appliances and they want them to all work together.”

Are TV shows inspiring our houses of the future?

Simon believes so. He said: “Everyone wants the perfect house, the best that’s available. Everyone would want the house from Grand Designs but that’s not always possible. However, that style and that look are becoming more the norm rather than a luxury.

“When you look at new builds that have been built more recently, you’re seeing more of that open plan living that we regularly see on the TV shows is becoming more and more prevalent and going forward that is probably the way property development is going to go.

“Has that been driven by TV shows or the client? I’d say it’s been a bit of both. They go hand in hand. The TV programme wouldn’t be making it that way if it was against the clients’ wishes to live that way so they’re probably pushing each other along.”

Do TV Programmes set unrealistic expectations?

Julie added: “The reality is that all of the filming for the shows we mention has probably happened over three months, but it's showing it's all happening within a week.

“Kitchen renovations don’t happen that way and it isn’t a true reflection of the process. It’s a double-edged sword. When you look at programmes like Grand Designs, the projects are often bigger than your standard semi-detached house in Leeds just as an example.

“They’re starting with a bigger space. The important thing with any project is that whatever you do, works with the project you’re working on - whether that’s in the form of an extension, or to build out into the garden, or even, actually if it’s not possible to build the dream and you’ve got to do it an entirely different way.”

How the dynamics of a kitchen are changing

Simon added: “The dynamics of a kitchen have changed. A kitchen used to be based around the cooking triangle, where you had the hob, the workstation and the fridge all within reach of one person as the primary function of a kitchen is cooking.

“However, the dynamics of the kitchen have changed. Now there isn’t just one chef in the kitchen anymore, there are multiple within a family, with even kids helping out to an extent.

“The whole dynamic has changed. The cooking triangle has disappeared. Instead, we’re seeing that there are multiple workstations in a kitchen and a lot of people will be cooking at the same time. The kitchen has, very much, become the heart of the home.”

How More Kitchens can help?

Offer a full kitchen design and installation service More Kitchens, part of the Passmore Group, offer a unique kitchen renovation experience due to our broad range of expertise, including internal building services.

The region’s most trusted and experienced home improvement company, and with a history spanning more than half a century, if you have been inspired by something you have seen on your favourite show and want to discuss how it can be incorporated into your own home? Then please contact our team of experienced designers and we can turn your inspiration into a reality.

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