After a very relaxing morning I am now off out but had one more observation on The Smug's. Some of the comments on Candlegate on Chateau QVC are saying "would love to buy a candle to support the Chateau but too expensive". What I hope that people start to see is whether it is Patreon or candles the money isn't going into supporting any Chateaux it is going into funding these vane grandiose grifters lifestyle. The kitchen make over by the smug does nothing to conserve their house it was all about labels and high end appliances, bespoke kitchen cupboards and grifted paint. Their kitchen in real terms cost way over 100,000 these people are using us the viewers to fund a lifestyle they feel entitled too, just because they hold up their grifted phones and cameras and show us snippets of their make believe lives. Trust me my renovation paid for by my husband and are have had far more moments of hilarity, arguments and genuine work than this lot achieve in years. We give work to genuine craftsman who have become friends and no I don't have everything in my kitchen that my heart desired but it looks good and it was paid for by honest work and not duping people. I find this whole Chateauverse thing so odious now it is untrue. Fanny off to Fortnums probably stepping over homeless people without a care and the Smug's thinking we all want a whiff of their success. The Smug's now churn out a 15 minute flog a week if your lucky and they do very little else they do not deserve the money they are making. If he is such a great film maker and she is such a great designer they need to raise the bar-I am sick of them.
I 100% agree with you.
AND, tbh, I actually much preferred their original kitchen as opposed to the new. The new is just so stark and clinical. Fabulous craftmanship without any doubt, BUT, no atmosphere whatsoever, imho. Anna's tiles are gorgeous too.
As to F&M. In my previous corporate role, I used to order at least 40 hampers from the CEO for his executive team each Christmas - obviously paid for by the company, not him personally. But, he was such a snob!
Well, some of the items included in the F&M hampers were just so obscure that at least 25% used to end up as school Christmas tombola items the following year. Many executives confirmed this fact to me and we used to laugh about that fact!
Finally, I suggested to the CEO that we order huge hampers from either a fabulous fine wine seller or M&S, much cheaper and most certainly much more appreciated by all the executives. Without a doubt, all the executives actually thanked me profusely for speaking up. No problem for me, as I just could not ever comprehend style/snobbery over substance/acceptability and the tastes of the majority of "normal" people with young families.
Having said that, when I downsized last year, all my huge F&M hampers sold instantly on FB - RESULT!
