MONTY DON, Linda Barker and George Clarke are just three of the celebs booked in for the 102nd Ideal Home Show, which starts at Earls Court this weekend.


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Their names help draw the crowds and give a clue to the variety of home-ideas on offer, from gardening tips and interior design style to architectural developments.

That’s the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from the Ideal Home Show, but there is the feeling of a new era about this year’s event.


For starters, it is no longer run by the Daily Mail and the current organisers say they’ve come up with what they call a “completely new and revamped format”.

Among the revamp highlights are the beefing up of the drama department with two theatres, one filled with celebrity chefs, the other with DIY experts and a renewed emphasis on the hi-tech end of home design, featuring 200Mpbs broadband and a ‘tomorrow’s world’ look 20 years into the future.

Not only is the 2010 event a new start, but, seeing as though Earls Court itself is due to be torn down in 2012, it could also be one of the last chances we have of catching a century-old institution, at least in this part of town.

The Ideal Home Show is on at Earls Court from 20 March until 5 April. Tickets booked in advance are cheaper than those on the door and you can book them here.