Television series
Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr
A competition show where ten emerging interior designers tackle weekly challenges to transform real spaces. Alan Carr hosts with warmth and wit while judge Michelle Ogundehin offers sharp expertise. It's less about drama and more about watching talented people solve genuine design problems with limited budgets and time. Perfect if you want creativity without the cruelty.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy competition shows where the fun comes from watching rough ideas get rescued or ruined by a deadline, and you like seeing a room change from bare to finished.
Skip it if you want a deep dive into design technique, since this runs on contestant pressure and tight deadlines more than on explaining how a room actually gets built.
What it asks of you: Hour-long episodes, one challenge after another across eight weeks, so it wants a patient, easy weekly habit rather than a binge, and it stays warm even when a design goes badly.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Great British Bake Off2010
The spiritual ancestor of competition shows done right: genuine skill on display, real stakes that matter to contestants, and a host who roots for everyone. You'll learn things and actually care who wins.
But If you've never watched it, the gentle tone might feel slow. If you have, you know the formula by heart.
Making It2018
Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman host makers—woodworkers, metalworkers, sculptors—in a competition that celebrates craft without humiliation. Smart, funny, and genuinely moving when it lands.
But Only two seasons exist, which is infuriating. Some challenges feel less clearly judged than others.
Get Organized with The Home Edit2020
Two professional organizers transform chaotic homes into functional beauty. Deeply satisfying to watch, endlessly practical, and the hosts have real chemistry. A show that leaves you wanting to reorganize your own space.
But It's aspirational in a way that can feel impossible on a normal budget. Some makeovers feel almost too quick to be believable.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition2004
Both put real people in real spaces and ask designers to solve genuine problems, but Extreme Makeover operates at a completely different scale and emotional register—less competition, more transformation as gift.
A full team of designers, builders, and volunteers completely rebuilds a family's home in one week. It's enormous in scope and genuinely moving—design as an act of love and community. Every episode has real emotional weight.
But The sentimentality is unrelenting and can feel manipulative. The show needs tragedy to justify the transformation, which is morally complicated.
More like this (5)
Nailed It!2018
Amateur bakers attempt professional desserts and fail spectacularly—but the show celebrates the attempt, not the disaster. Nicole Byer's genuine delight in everyone makes it warm rather than mean-spirited.
But If you hate secondhand embarrassment, this is torture. Some episodes lean harder on the failures than others.
The Repair Shop2017
Craftspeople restore broken objects with patience and skill while owners tell the stories behind them. It's meditation television—slow, kind, and deeply human. Each episode builds genuine emotional stakes.
But Nothing dramatic happens. If you need pace and conflict, this will feel too quiet. The nostalgia can be cloying.
Queer Eye2018
Five experts transform people's lives and spaces—including their homes. It's part design show, part social experiment, all heart. Each episode celebrates the person being transformed rather than mocking them.
But The emotional beats are calculated; you can feel the production. Some transformations feel impossible to maintain in real life.
Love It or List It2008
A designer and a realtor compete to convince homeowners to either love their redesigned space or sell and move. Actual design solutions meet real family needs, and the tension is real.
But The formula gets repetitive after several seasons. Some episodes feel staged, and the designer doesn't always win over the realtor logically.
Worst Roommate Ever2022
Both are ultimately about what happens when people share spaces, but this show explores the human disasters that design alone cannot fix. It's the shadow side of the fantasy that a beautiful room solves problems.
A documentary series about toxic living situations and the people who created them. It's a darkly comic exploration of how shared space reveals character. Completely fascinating in a train-wreck way, and deeply uncomfortable.
But It's genuinely unpleasant to watch—these are real crimes and violations, not entertainment. Very different energy from the warmth of Interior Design Masters.
People
Cast
Alan CarrPresenter
Fearne CottonPresenter