A Wiltshire family’s home was transformed by a local builder when they appeared on a popular Channel 4 property show.
Chippenham couple Tim and Sonia featured in the first episode of Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It, series nine, which aired on Wednesday, December 20.
The long-running show sees hosts Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer battle it out to convince warring families who need a fresh start to either renovate or relocate.
The pair were convinced to remain in Tim’s childhood home, where the family cared for his elderly mother for seven years before she died, after the four-bedroom house was extended during a £133,000 open-plan renovation.
These works were carried out by local building firm Jack Humphrys builders Ltd, also known as The Open Plan Man, which has been operating in the Chippenham area for around ten years.
Mr Humphrys told this paper the experience filming the show while renovating Tim and Sonia’s home was an “exciting” opportunity.
He said: “Tim and Sonia contacted us around ten months ago to design an extension and do the building work, they also mentioned they’d been accepted for the show.
“The design we proposed nearly matched Kirstie’s design, so that was really good for us, for someone of that calibre to come up with the same design.
“It was a really good experience for us and very exciting, it was rewarding to see and it was great to listen to Kirstie’s thoughts and views on the work.”
The nine weeks of work included the installation of sliding doors into the garden and an island in the kitchen.
Sonia said: “Every time I come down in the morning it just makes me smile, it’s so open, so bright, so lovely compared to what it was.”
The icing on the cake for Mr Humphrys came when Tim and Sonia, and daughter Ella, decided to ‘Love It’ and stay put despite being shown houses in Calne, Malmesbury and Goatacre.
Mr Humphrys added: “They loved it and they’re staying there which is great news.
“We’re very passionate about what we do so it did increase the pressure, but it made us enjoy it more.
“The nicest thing for me was to listen to the story of how they all lived there with Tim’s mum… for them to end up staying there after we delivered their wish list is the icing on the cake.”
Mr Humphrys’ firm specialises in providing open-plan living locally and builds around 40 extensions a year.
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