LONDON – The new British television show called Cracking Antiques is on a myth-busting mission to prove that people can add style and glamour to any type of home by investing in secondhand, vintage and antique furnishings – without breaking the bank. The primetime series, which debuts on BBC Two this spring, is presented by interior designer Kathryn Rayward and antiques expert Mark Hill.
Kathryn and Mark want to take the pain and shame out of buying old. From townhouses to terraced houses, 18th-century French Rococo to shabby chic, they want to show that antiques and vintage furnishings can help create a stylish, fashionable home and are often the better buy.
Cracking Antiques shows that spending wisely on secondhand objects can be a cheaper and superior alternative to much of what the better-known chain stores have to offer, and in comparison, antiques are well made and built to last so are also a much more environmentally sound investment.
The Brits love nothing more than trawling for trinkets and treasures at antiques fairs, car boot sales and auction houses, and as a result the British antiques industry a is highly lucrative one. But are people buying the right items, at the right price?
Mark Hill remarked: “Unique investments in quality and craftsmanship that will last a lifetime, prices that have never been more affordable, and individual statement pieces that will make a house your home, tell a story, and shout out your true personality. Antiques need to be taken off their pedestal and we should allow them to become exuberant and enjoyable parts of our lives.”
Kathryn Rayward added: “Buying antiques is recycling at its most glamorous. Purchasing secondhand goods means we’re not cutting down trees and damaging the planet. Embracing unloved family heirlooms or giving a quick lick of paint to a cheap and cheerful junk shop find can create a beautiful and utterly unique home.”
Throughout the series, Kathryn offers interior design ideas and practical suggestions on how to customize and revamp the tired and the distressed to transform them into glamorous and modern pieces. Meanwhile Mark is on hand with his top tips and helpful advice on the items to buy now, that could go up in value in the future.
From furniture to light fittings, curtains to crockery, Cracking Antiques provides the all-important guide to furnishing a home with classic pieces, how to bag a bargain and how to buy an investment piece for the future.
BBC Commissioning Editor, Jo Ball, commented: “Mark and Kathryn are great talents and I hope they will make the world of antiques accessible to everyone.”
Cracking Antiques is a Silver River production. The series will consist of six 30-minute episodes.
About the Experts:
Mark Hill was a specialist at Bonhams and Sotheby’s before joining an internet company where he became a director, running its exclusive alliance with eBay Live Auctions. He is now the resident 20th-century Design and Collectables specialist at Miller’s, and the author and publisher of a series of books on 20th-century design. Mark is an expert on BBC One’s Antiques Roadshow. He writes for magazines including Collect It! and BBC Homes & Antiques.
Kathryn Rayward is one of the most distinctive designers working on television today and runs a successful interior design company. Having started her career in theater design, she specializes in taking unloved pieces of furniture and transforming them into one of a kind, haute couture contemporary pieces of design using vintage fabric and traditional craft techniques. Kathryn’s television career began with the renovation of her house featured in (British) Channel 4’s Grand Designs. She has also designed rooms for the British television networks BBC One, ITV and UKTV, as well as writing numerous articles on craft and design.
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