Your Home Made Perfect returns for fourth series

The makeover show is back for a fourth series, but what makes Your Home Made Perfect stand out from the interior decoration crowd?

Well, if you’re new to the series, it’s probably that it uses the latest virtual reality to give homeowners a chance to see how the designs will look before they commit to them. If you’re a fan of 1990s favourite Changing Rooms, where half the appeal was seeing how people would react to whatever Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and their next-door neighbours had done to their bedrooms or lounges, that may sound like it would take some of the fun out of it.

However, presenter Angela Scanlon believes that if anything, the technology means the people featured can get a little more daring.

Speaking ahead of an earlier run, she said: “I suppose on a practical level what the [VR] does is allows the couples to really experience it and, as a result, they can be so much braver and bolder with the choices that they make.

“To wrap your head around how something will look on paper is very difficult and probably prohibits us from taking risks. The opposite is true for this; everybody has ended up with something that is definitely not ordinary and that they can be really proud of.”

That will certainly be the case in the latest series, where the concepts range from a tropical fish-tank wall to a room-dividing bunk bed and a terrace in the rooftops.

In fact, Angela believes the show doesn’t just encourage people to get creative with their living spaces – it may also make us feel less threatened by technology.

She says: “We’re down on social media for ruining our lives and [the fact] AI and robots are taking our jobs, so I think the idea that you can use technology in a really positive way is a good thing.”

The people embracing virtual reality in the first episode are Yesim and Hasan (Yes and Has for short), who bought their 1920s semi in Enfield, north London, four years ago. In that time, they’ve carried out some major renovations, but still don’t feel like they’ve managed to put their own stamp on the place. They are are also struggling with the disconnected layout.

Architects Will Foster and Julian McIntosh hope to come to the rescue with their competing designs. For Julian, the key is tackling the kitchen, which currently feels isolated from the dining room and doesn’t suit the couple’s dream of an entertaining space where they can bring their extended families together.

Meanwhile, Will is concentrating on the personal touch as he finds out more about Yes and Has’s style – and discovers that their dream interior would be influenced by Ancient Egypt and the Titanic.

That sounds like a tall order, but which design with Yes and Has prefer – Julian’s calm, minimalist approach which uses wooden screens to separate the spaces, or Will’s vision, where the pyramids meet an ocean liner?