My first time at the Ideal Home Show was last year (2014) on its last occasion in Earls Court. 2015 brings a new era to the show as it makes the move to Kensington Olympia. The event fitted the venue perfectly with each zone in its own separate spacious hall, making the show easy to navigate from any entrance.

I usually visit the event on a Thursday evening, which is a bit like late night shopping when the show stays open until 9pm. It’s a nice time to visit as it’s slightly quieter from the day trippers and doesn’t have the weekend rush which means it is far easier to navigate around the event. Make sure you leave plenty of time for your visit though – there is so much to see (and purchase!) and you won’t want to be rushing round at the end!

We entered through the garden section, full of beautiful gardens, inspirational garden houses and beautiful water features. Living in central London currently means we have a bit of a distinct lack of garden but I now feel inspired to fill our balcony with water features, a pergola and a green house along with a hot tub! Maybe I should wait until I have a large enough garden to do that though?!

The food section was our absolute favourite part of the show! There was so much to choose from, everything from Chinese, Indian, Caribbean, Hog Roast, through to Ice Cream and Confectionary! We had delicious chilli and bratwurst German sausages which certainly filled us up! We also had a look around the Willy Wonka chocolate competition – Ideal Cake Decorator of the Year, which had some beautiful cakes!

British Gas, as one of the main sponsors of the show, provided a number of stands exploring sustainable solutions for the home. There was information provided about loft and cavity wall insulation which will be provided free with support from the Government to the 90% of homes that need it depending on eligibility. You could be saving as much as £145 on your heating bill in a single year by having cavity wall insulation. By having loft insulation you could be saving as much as £150. Click here to find out more!

Smart Meters are the new upgrade to how your energy usage is measured. British Gas is currently upgrading properties with this new technology across the country for their customers. If you are a British Gas customer this will mean you will no longer receive estimated bills, as readings will be automatically taken and sent directly meaning you will have a lot more control enabling you to see just how much energy you are using before your monthly or quarterly bill arrives. Click here to find out more!

Hive is ‘the clever way to control your heating and hot water.’ Using an app from your mobile, computer or tablet, you can control your heating remotely so there is no need to waste money heating an empty home again! It also has an optional feature alerting you if you have left your property with the heating on, again saving you money. Click here to find out more!

You can get a full range of Home Inspiration tips and advice from British Gas by clicking here to visit The Source. Helping you to get the best out of your home.

The Ideal Home Show has a number of show houses on display and this year, in true election spirit they had Number 10 Downing Street as one of the houses! It’s amazing to see how they literally flat pack and build these houses into the event. It’s definitely a key feature of the event.

I attend a lot of exhibitions and events and what I found especially good about this show was the amount of stalls and businesses exhibiting. It was though every space had been used productively, partly down to the fantastic displays by the stall holders but also by the company that set up the event layout. It was very impressive!

To find out more information about the Ideal Home Show please click here.

Becky at Pretty & Petit