Grand Designs show - any good?

[Sarah_W]

I went to the Ideal Homes show this year which was very poor - lots of stands selling QVC items, lots of junk and only one stand with anything to do with interior design. The general concensus amongst those I spoke to there was that it was very disappointing.

Is the Grand Design similarly disappointing or have people found it useful?

I've currently got a two storey extension coming up and a major house refurb, so looking for ideas.

[Darth Paul]

I got a pair of free tickets to GD a few years back and I was glad I didn't pay for them. Nothing I really hadn't seen before at the Home Building and Renovating Show, which IMHO is worth a visit much more than GD.

[satans worm]

Actualy I thought the grand designs show was very good, ideal home absolute rubbish.
Lots more independant (top end mainly) stores rather than B&Q and DFS like you get in the ideal home!!

Better add, this was a year or 2 ago, not sure what this years show is like!

Edited by satans worm on Wednesday 5th May 15:02

[squicky]

I went to the GD show on Saturday. Felt much smaller than the last GD show I went to a few years ago. I would have been disappointed if I hadn't got the tickets free.

Whilst they are interesting to go to to browse for ideas, I think this year is definitely worth giving it a miss.

[scirocco265]

Seemed smaller than the one in Birmingham last year... We went for the 'Grand Build' section and there wasn't enough choice in each area for us. Was good to go and talk to some people and throw some ideas around though.
As for the other sections (e.g. Gardens, Kitchens etc) again, they seemed smaller than the Brum show but kept us both busy for 3 hours so worth the £5 really.

[silversun]

I went to the GD show a couple of years ago. It's quite interesting in an 'ooh shiny!' kind of way.

Lots of interesting stuff to see and some decent deals to be had.