We didn't bump into Kevin or any of the other TV presenters although you would have thought they would have been at the door to meet and greet. I mean, how rude.  Anyway, armed with our free tickets (yes, I did say free - the subscription to Self Build and Design magazine has paid for itself with all the free tickets we have had), we headed into battle with the crowds. Our first mission was to make an appointment with an expert for a free 30 minute consultation. We saw David Bryden for project manager advice and he was excellent. He didn't spend the time trying to sell us his service, but listened to our story and gave some really useful advice. I hate it when the "expert" is obviously touting for work, and not really interested in what you have actually said. The window man we saw was really helpful too. We are pretty sure that the local supplier used by our builder is the same company so it was great to see and touch the windows. We were really surprised at how PVC windows could actually look like wooden windows. We were thinking that it was a bit of a shame that we would probably have to go for plastic windows to cut down on costs, but now we are not bothered about it, so that was another result for Grand Design Live.

We talked to solar pv people, biomass boiler people, sauna people (how I'd love a sauna), home cinema people and well, generally ended up with information overload. Most of the stands are sending more information so we will hit a deluge of email shortly. All in all, it was a very useful trip, although we didn't  have time (or energy) to look at kitchens or bathrooms.