58LimitedEditionEssex
and stained glass. Various critics
described the series as
"patronising", called her posh and
"bossy", and said it was all very
well for her to tell people how to
economise in a recession when she
is the partner of a multi-millionaire
property developer.
Kirsty admits:"I have been slightly
knocked back by it, but I'm not
upset, because I have a buffer � like
a bullet-proof vest � from the
amazing public reaction to the
show. It's been so positive you
wouldn't believe. I am hoping for
a second series."
Her longtime co-presenter Phil
Spencer has been hugely
supportive, she says.
"He always makes this gesture of
waving his hand over his head and
saying,`Let it all go over'," Kirstie
says."He urged me not to take
negatives to heart, as you can't
please all people all of the time."
None of the barbs have dulled
the 35-year-old's delight in the
transformation of her tumbledown
five-bedroom house on the north
Devon coast, which she
masterminded during a break from
TV after the birth of her second
son, Oscar, now eight months, and
brother to Bay, two.
The property was bought by her
partner, Ben Andersen, at auction
for �300,000 a year ago, and the
couple spent about �100,000,
mainly on structural work.
"We have a lovely house in
Devon already, but Ben knew I'd
always wanted a beach house,"
Kirstie says."It hadn't been lived in
for 37 years, and it was damp,
rotting and so overgrown you
could hardly see it. It needed
rewiring, replumbing, a new roof,
replastering and new windows."
Renovation was so costly she was
left with only �15,000 in budget for
decorating, furnishing and touches
to turn it into a holiday home.
This wasn't a problem, because
Kirstie fervently believes in a make
do and mend approach to life �
never having something new where
something old will suffice.
It is, she points out, part of her
heritage. She's the daughter of
Holiday home � Kirstie Allsopp's Meadowgate development
Hearth of the home � the cottage's welcoming lounge

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