Property Ladder…the inside story!
Since I got married last year, and my partner bought the light industrial victorian property in London he had been renting for ages, we began to draw up plans for converting it into a luxurious modern apartment. As designers do on their own projects, we spent a very long time procrastinating over all aspects of the design and finally settled on something we both thought would make a fantastic place to live. It then occurred to us that it might be a good idea to see if any of the many property orientated TV shows would be interested in filming the process. Whilst it could have been a risk if it all went horribly wrong, it could also be a laugh and great way of increasing the profile of my interior design business.
So with this in mind, we approached Channel 4, and were shortly told that the producers of Property Ladder would like to discuss things further. Sure enough, after having given a few details and shown a few photos, they decided to include us in their next series, with filming starting as soon as we were ready to begin work - we agreed and exchanged contracts.
It was at this point that we began to feel a little trepidation - was it a good idea to involve Property Ladder in our development? Would presenter and seasoned developer Sarah Beeney have our best interests at heart? We had never done anything like this before - what if we got it wrong and ended up looking like idiots on prime time national television? We knew we had no editorial control whatsoever and so we had unwittingly placed ourselves completely at the mercy of some editor in a soho studio about whom we knew nothing.
Six months later, with the last day’s filming approaching and a vast amount of work to do before the property is presentable, this is still very much the situation. We have learned a great deal about the art, and more about the stresses of developing property, and whilst having the cameras there has often been difficult - having your ideas criticised in front of an entire nation isn’t an experience I can wholeheartedly recommend - we have been given sound advice, which we took, and which may well make a significant difference to our future.
Will we end up looking like idiots on prime time national television? You’ll have to tune in to find
out. Not sure if we will be though!
The new series of Property Ladder is due to air on Channel 4 early in 2009.
By Louise Begley
http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/property-ladder/index.html
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 4:11 pm and is filed under General Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Do you know how to view an episode of Property Ladder that recently showed on TLC. I would like to renovate my current ranch into one that resembles the Houston House that was flipped and shown on October 25.
Thanks,
Melanie
Take a look at the following link provided for any catch-ups of the Property Ladder:
http://www.channel4.com/video/property-ladder/catchup.html
You can watch these episodes online. They all have time limits on them i.e. the most recent has 20 days remaining to view. Alternatively, repeats are available on digital box-sets, which can usually be found in the “catch-up tv” section.