I just love Changing Rooms which is currently shown on both BBC1 and UK Style - I know it's sad but someone's gotta watch it. So you can imagine as soon as I saw the advert for the magazine, I just had to get it. At just £1.99 a copy and that's only once a fortnight, I thought it was very ... Read review
Advantages: An excellent, affordable magazine with plenty of tips and ideas. If you buy in bulk, you get a discount. Disadvantages: Waiting for the postman to deliver!
I just love Changing Rooms which is currently shown on both BBC1 and UK Style - I know it's sad but someone's gotta watch it. So you can imagine as soon as I saw the advert for the magazine, I just had to get it. At just £1.99 a copy and that's only once a fortnight, I thought it was very affordable. I mean how could I miss out on all those DIY tips and all the laughs from showing my boyfriend how to do things round the home - read into that what ... ...buy in the shop but to order a bulk amount of issues at once. That way, you don't have to worry about missing an issue and you have paid for them beforehand. I decided to have the bill put on my Visa card and had to pay £10.75 up front for 6 issues. This worked out at each magazine only costing £1.79 and it saved me £1.19 on every six issues plus, they are delivered to your door! What more could you want. Anyway, after a while, I decided to cancel ... more
I just love Changing Rooms which is currently shown on both BBC1 and UK Style - I know it's sad but someone's gotta watch it. So you can imagine as soon as I saw the advert for the magazine, I just had to get it. At just £1.99 a copy and that's only once a fortnight, I thought it was very affordable. I mean how could I miss out on all those DIY tips and all the laughs from showing my boyfriend how to do things round the home - read into that what you like!! HeHeHe!
Anyway, I decided not buy in the shop but to order a bulk amount of issues at once. That way, you don't have to worry about missing an issue and you have paid for them beforehand. I decided to have the bill put on my Visa card and had to pay £10.75 up front for 6 issues. This worked out at each magazine only costing £1.79 and it saved me £1.19 on every six issues plus, they are delivered to your door! What more could you want. Anyway, after a while, I decided to cancel my card payment and pay by cheque instead. This time I had to pay for 12 issues up front costing me £21.50. Again, the magazines worked out at £1.79 but the saving every 12 issues was £2.38. Even better I thought!
The first magazine came with a paint tray filled with goodies. The company said it was £20 worth of goodies and as I open the packaging and saw my freebies, I agreed. There was a large blue paint tray, a stippling brush (these are quite expensive), a special effects roller with handle, some rubber stamps for printing, some blue paint and one of those wonder paint pad things. They are excellent by the way and are quite cheap to buy at B&Q. Anyway, back to the opinion, I found the freebies well worth the £1.99 I paid for the magazine.
I began to build up a nice collection of DIY tips as Mr Postman pushed my magazine through the door every fortnight. However, I soon began to wonder how would I store all these pieces of paper when to my delight, one of the issues came in a folder. Nice one! I now had storage for my wonderful magazine. It had stickers too that labelled the sides - god I sound like I am back in primary school. Since the first folder, I have received two more and will be getting my fourth file soon.
So what is this magazine all about. Well each issue comes with a stencil which is a great saving as these can range from £1.99 each up to about £10 each. The designer tips and ideas are split up into different sections.
Guide To Decorating ------------------- This shows you how to do different effects in your home such as tiles that are really painted on the wall and some other great ideas. Each design tells you what you will need, what you need to do before you start, how to plan out the effect desired and it shows you step by step with picture and description how to actually do the design. It also shows you how you can adapt the design if you wish.
Designer Ideas -------------- This shows you different ideas from different designers and has a range of whacky designs to contemporary designs. Lets face it Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen does designs for this magazine so expect anything. Again, the layout is pretty much the same as the Guide To Decorating with all the instructions and what is needed etc. You usually get two designer ideas in this section and it shows you several adaptions that can be made if wished. You also get templates for any drawings or photocopies you might need - or if you are brave you can just have a go yourself!
Freestyle ------------- This section shows you how to put your free stencil to good use. Again some wild and wonderful examples are given but you can of course use your own ideas. You also get the step by step instructions with pictures and a list of what you need. The same as the others really.
Handy Andy! ----------- That's right, after you have read all these sections, you turn over the page to find good old Handy Andy beaming at you. He has a section on how to do different things in the house ranging from wallpapering to electrics, from floors and stairs to woodwork and loads of other things. He really is a Handy Andy! He also has a section called Kit. This focuses on a different tool or piece of kit you might need and it gives you a picture of the item, descriptions of different parts on it and where and when you might use it. Pieces of kit can range from window and door locks to screwdrivers to drills. So you get a wide variety of information and for once it is useful information.
Each section has a different colour so it is easy to seperate in the files although you are provided with dividers for each section. I am on issue 40 at the moment and still love reading this magazine each time it arrives. I just can't wait to get my own place then I can start to change my own rooms!
If you are interested in DIY, this magazine is a good buy and has some great freebies with it in each issue. I recommend it to anyone!
Advantages: Free stencils and loads of ideas Disadvantages: You'll never stop decorating
We've all seen the tv show and wondered how easy it would be to try out some of the things they do - well now you can try it for yourself with the Changing Room magazines.
We've just moved into a new house, and to be honest when we moved in it was absolutely mank! The magazine gave us loads of ideas on different decorating techniques that we probably never would have tried before. We've now decorated the living room by colour washing the walls, ... ...get a free gift with each issue - normally a stencil, but somethings different stamps or paint effects. The great thing is that it gives you ideas and you carry it on from there. It also gives a section on decorating know how, like how to strip and hang wallpaper etc. There are sections on designer ideas, like a great bed made from a bookcase, or radiator covers etc.
The only problem is that you may have to order it from your local newsagent as ...
Biffa 08.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of BBC Changing Rooms
Advantages: Clear, precise instructions and really nice ideas. Disadvantages: Have snapped my finger in the binders a couple of times!
I started subscribing to the Changing Rooms mag as soon as I saw it was going on sale. Yes I am one of those people who love the programme (but only because I can't wait to see if people are actualy going to like what Lawrence does for a change!)and being a ahem, ahem, less than adequate DIY-er, I thought I'd give it a go. I wasn't disappointed. The mag is full of stylish ideas of things you'd never think of, from rag-rolling to making floor to ceiling ...
minxette 05.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of BBC Changing Rooms
Advantages: Brilliant ideas for decorating Disadvantages: Addictive
If you've enjoyed watching the tv programme "Changing Rooms" then you have to buy this magazine, it's brilliant.
It costs £1.99 and is available every fortnight, although you might need to order it from your local newsagent to be sure of getting hold of a copy. I've been getting it ever since it came out, and it's a wonderful source of inspiration if you're stuck for ideas on what to do around the house.
There's all sorts of things included in ... ...of a book case. There's some really good decorating ideas as well as things to make - like a display table, a coat rack etc etc.
There's a free gift with every issue, normally a stencil but sometimes a stamp etc. There;s also a handy reference section that builds up over the course of the publications, giving you tips on how to change a light fitting, how to re-glaze windows, how to put up wallpaper properly etc etc.
The only downside to this magazine ...
Biffa 27.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of BBC Changing Rooms
Advantages: easy to read guides for decorating and DIY Disadvantages: how many issues can there possibly be?
Having not long bought my first place and itching to get the paint brush out and create a showhouse flat, I subscribed to the Changing Rooms magazine that promised £20 worth of brushes, rollers and other 'essential' decorating tools. Since then I have been receiving the magazine every fortnight religiously. What gets me is that having paid £20 up front to subscribe assuming that would be the end of it, I'm now on to about issue 40+. Yes, I could ... ...now not to finish the collection, but it's annoying that there was no letter sent to me informing me that in fact the issues would keep coming, and would I like to continue.
On the flip-side however there are some really good ideas that have been taken from the show, or are added bonuses from the designers. There is also really good advice on practical DIY jobs from fitting a front door knocker to having a look at the plumbing. There are step-by-step ...
corman 05.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of BBC Changing Rooms
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Advantages: quite enjoyable if i admit it Disadvantages: none
I have been a member for a little while now, so thought I'd write an opinion, after all I can't just read them can I? SO I chose changingrooms!
Changingrooms, a simple idea, a great programme, and even some laughs (not to mention tears). The idea of the programme is as follows: Two households living close to each other, decided on a room each they'd like changed in their house. Then along come the BBC with designers, Carol Smiley and Handy Andy!
Each household gives some rough ideas of what they like and what they certainly dont like. And then the fun begins. Two days and £500 to deliver the goods, - to change the elected room.
The designers get to design, the families get to strip (wallpaper), and paint, Carol Smiley gets to chat and laugh, and Handy Andy gets to be handy!
Then after the two days, they return to their ...
Advantages: hilarious when people see what colour Lawrence has painted their room Disadvantages: you may be deceived into thinking that brown is actually a very nice colour
ChangingRooms is a well know television program where two couples (usually family, friends, neighbours etc) swap houses and decorate a room in each others house. They are given a budget (£500 I think?!) and have two days to completely change the room.
They are each ‘given’ a designer to work with. These designers are supposed to help but are more like instructors – “we are painting this room vomit green whether you like it or not”. There’s also Handy Andy who runs between the two teams helping with all of the hard work, i.e. building shelves/television cabinets/walls out of twigs and sticks. Carol Smillie presents the program and also helps out with all material type stuff – covering settees, making cushions/curtains etc.
Obviously having such a low budget everything is bought ...
Advantages: Fun and witnessing the reveal at the end of the show is always hilarious! Disadvantages: The contestants must be off their trolleys to let the Changing Rooms team anywhere near!!
ChangingRooms is one of many decorating makeover shows on TV right now, but in my opinion is the best on offer! Hosted by Carol Smillie, the show involves two sets of neighbours/friends redecorating a room in each other's houses with the help of an Interior Designer on a budget of £500 per house. On hand to provide carpentry skills is Handy Andy who flits between the two houses and is bossed unmercifully by the two designers...poor chap does most of the work!! The neighbours/designers have just two days to completely renovate a room from scratch and it can lead to lots of arguments and heated discussions...and you can gaurantee that if one of the neighbours has expressly asked that their prized oak fireplace NOT be touched, within hours it will have been stripped and given the latest paint effect treatment!! Some of the makeovers have ...
