House Gift

Contents

Host

Voiceover: Pip Torrens

Co-hosts

Experts: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Stephen Collins, Danielle Proud, Tom Keane, Gillian Anderson Price, Philip Chaklar

Handyman: Gavin Hunt

Broadcast

ITV Studios for ITV1, 31 August 2009 to 11 March 2011 (56 episodes in 4 series)

Synopsis

Three well-known(ish) interior designers compete to find the perfect gift for a set of homeowners. The gift they choose must compliment the home, and also appeal to the homeowners tastes, but there's a twist. They will have different amounts of money to spend on the gift.

We are first introduced to the homeowners, where we see the items and accompanying decor already in their home, as they describe the kind of items that appeal to them. Following this, the three interior designers (who are referred to as 'experts', and vary in each episode) are introduced, after which we follow them as they explore the home for which they must find a suitable gift.

At this point, each of the three interior designers must pull a gift tag from three unmarked gift boxes. Each of the three gift tags has a different amount of money printed on it. In the initial five episode pilot run, these amounts were £1000, £300, and £80. By time the programme made it to a full series, they had been changed to £1000, £500, and £200, which does lessen the interest created by seeing what kind of gift, a typically extravagant designer can come up with, with a limited budget. In any event, this is this amount of money which the designers will have to spend on their gift. After a further look around the home, the three designers set off to find what they think is the perfect gift. During the programme all three designers have access to the services of Gavin, the handyman, for any DIY issues that crop up. A large part of the remainder of the programme is then spent watching the three designers trawling everywhere from flea markets to high-class boutiques (and one of them moaning about getting the smallest amount) as they try to find a suitable gift within their budget.

After a day of searching, the three designers return with their chosen gifts, placing them in position in the home. We then see each of the three designers passing judgement on their opponents gifts, and for reasons unknown, handyman Gavin gives his opinion too. After this the homeowners return, and they finally get their chance to cast their eyes over the three gifts. Following this, in front of the three designers, they must first reject one of the three gifts, after which they must choose which gift they want for their home, with the designer whose gift is chosen being declared the winner. To complete the proceedings, the amount spent on each of the three gifts is then revealed to the homeowners, followed by the winning designer presenting the homeowners with a certificate of authenticity for the new gift.

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