So, I have a crush on Kevin McCloud from Grand Designs, and yesterday I met him. I actually met him, shook his hand, had a quick chat and a quick appreciation of each other’s values. All in a book signing that was probably less than a minute, but he has had a profound impact on me.
Not the kind you’re thinking either! Yes, whilst I had to resist going in for one of his famous double kiss on both cheeks, the main impact the handsome Englishman has one me has been on my mind.
This man makes me think.
The affair started when I realised how much he takes the piss out of his Grand Designs subjects with their incredible over the top, often wasteful monstrosities. Yes, a lot of the Grand Designs are sustainable and truly are grand designs, but you can always see Kevin evaluating it on the basis of the 43 principles he wrote about in his book 43 Principles of Home which I bought a couple of years ago.
It is this book I took to Grand Designs in Melbourne, all coffee stained and well loved and stood in a queue for almost two hours. I was also berated by the Dymocks woman for not buying a book from the store because people who bought the new book at the show got priority.
Thankfully for me she handed over my “Possibility” number on a post-it to stick to my contraband book.
When Kevin saw my book he commented on how ‘well used’ it was. I think he appreciated the patina! After we finished a quick chat about the principle of authentic buying, he actually patted the book, looked me straight in they eye and said, “I’m really glad you brought this in today, thank you”.
I may have melted.
He is a lovely, lovely man.
I told him I wanted to challenge my readers (that’s you!) to think about his principles related to the things we buy and bring into our home. He said it’s one of the hardest things to do when you have kids – to stop the invasion of ‘plastic crap’ (my words not his!). I can’t believe I said crap to Kevin.
Anyway, it’s something I’ve been thinking of since last Christmas. We were inundated by plastic crap – some of which we panic bought ourselves because we were unorganised and uninspired. We got caught up in the frenetic commercialism of Christmas, carried away with the busyness and last minute panic, seduced by the convenience of the big stores with their cheap prices.
Not this year. This year I want to do a number of things:
- Focus on the meaning of Christmas for our family and working on creating traditions. For us, that’s about being together. Thinking of others rather than ourselves, and having fun.
- Make presents or buy hand-made presents from authentic sources.
- Encourage others to do the same.
You can expect some posts from me before Christmas on my progress towards this goal. I’d love if you joined me or shared with me your thoughts about the topic.
Laney x
ah you lucky thing!
I so wanted to go into the home show thingy and meet him and I so want to read that book!
It’s all very close to home for us at the moment.. literally… as we battle through to hopefully get the biggest chunk of our renovations done in the next few weeks. Our house is no ‘grand design’ but we’ve tried to make very mindful decisions… not always the most perfect decisions, but the best we could manage right now and man that is hard sometimes!
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It was no easy feat meeting him, just so glad I did! Sigh, he’s so lovely!
At least you are being mindful about your decisions. There are so many houses built with little or no logic with regards to carbon footprint. We are trying to do small things that we can manage right now to try and retrofit our very inefficient brick veneer house. Little by little :)
Love this post so much Laney! You (and Kevin!) have inspired me to try and be a bit more thoughtful with my present buying this Christmas!
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Thanks Kelly. I’m not surprised it appealed to your love of simplicity. You would really love Kevin’s book. Would make a great Christmas present ;)
I have been trying to do this for a few years now.
I have enjoyed sourcing and finding different things for the kids and also making lots of things. I really need to make a start on this years making.
I admire you for that. I always have good intentions and then run out of time. Let’s get started now then – ready, set, go!
I’m loving your face in that photo Laney! True love xx As you know we’ve done the small footprint house. We try and steer away from the plastic crap (easier said than done) and I’m with you on the changing face of Christmas. Just gotta remember not to be too hard on yourself as you morph. Slowly slowly with the right intention
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Yes, true love (or admiration) indeed! I loved the way Kevin referred to kids as plastic magnets in his latest series – so true! I’m just coming to realise that being green isn’t entirely the preserve of the rich. There are choices I can make even when I don’t have a lot of money to spend. But yes, slowly, slowly :)
Oh my hubby LOVES that show. What a great guy, would have been super inspiring to meet him. I wrote last year before christmas about some great charities that have awesome online stores for gifts, and it’s one way to be more purposeful and thoughtful for Christmas. I’m at a loss this year! Because we’re selling everything and we’ll be living in a caravan while we travel from January I need to try to get super creative with the kids presents because there’s no room in a caravan for plastic crap! lol
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Charity stores are a great idea for Christmas gifts. I’ll add them to my list.
Well, yes, you will need to get creative this Christmas. It reminds me of a time when we did a big hike into the bush to stay in a small cabin for Christmas. My brother and I could choose one present to take with us because we had to carry it in, along with our share of the other stuff!
Kind of laughing at the Dymocks lady – at least you proved your love by waiting so long to chat to him. Can’t wait to read your other posts as you get closer to the holidays.
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I know Deb, I felt so vindicated for bringing in my old ratty book that wasn’t bought at Dymocks! For the record it was bought at a small specialist independent book store :)
Love this post! I enjoy GD also but didn’t know he had a book. I’m going to have to get it now. :-)
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I can 100% recommend his book Veronica. You’ll love it. It’s called Kevin McCloud’s 43 Principles of Home. Hope you can find it :)
My Favourite TV SHOW!!! How lucky are you :)
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I’m still smiling :)
Lucky lady!
Great post! I love choosing well meaning presents for family…something handmade or cooked items. Sometimes something from the garden, plants I’ve grown, fresh herbs, produce, home made sauces, relishes or homemade baileys.
I can’t wait to read about your progress.
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Handmade gifts mean so much more I think. I always have good intentions to make things but run out of time. I think the next best thing though is to support small handmade stores like yours. I’ll be writing about this (and your lovely gifts) in the lead up to Christmas :)
I just got a book which is all about making gifts from the garden. Fabulous idea for christmas presents. Ill be blogging about ti shortly. Presents that are handmade always have a more special meaning… i think anyway xx
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