Changing Rooms: Trust Me… I’m A Designer 2002 New DVD Top-quality

The title is a quote from Laurence the Cuffs himself, and Changing Rooms: Trust Me, I’m a Designer is a “best of” compilation, celebrating more than 100 editions of the popular home makeover show. Although it might imply that the focus is on the designers themselves, despite their larger-than-life personalities what comes through most strongly here is the practicality of actually getting the work done. The question whether anyone other than the designers themselves actually like the results is as cheerfully up-in-the-air as ever, of course.
This compilation scores highly–perhaps higher than the show itself for anyone who’s not a fan–because, with so many episodes to choose from and with the opportunity to use some snappy editing, we’re spared all the finger-drumming, pacing up and down and general faffing about which inevitably takes up a certain amount of time in any individual edition. Instead, we move neatly and quickly between ideas, discussions and practical considerations in a very un-boring fashion. Of course, there’s plenty of fun along the way, such as the absolutely priceless moment when Llewelyn-Bowen nearly convinces “Handy” Andy Kane that he has to board over a swimming pool and create two rooms from the resulting space using only the inevitable MDF. It’s instructive, great fun and a very neat package of material. –Roger Thomas