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Grand Designs viewers have despaired over a couple buying artisan tiles from Morocco over purchasing them from a local DIY store.
Graeme, an architect, and his partner Melanie, from Germany, flew to Marrakech, Morocco to design and collect the tiles for their garage plot conversion, featured in Wednesday’s episode of the Channel 4 series.
Melanie, a graphic designer, had designed the tiles herself, opting for a geometric pattern in vibrant blue and red colours, which were laid on the ground floor of the property.
But fans of the renovation series, fronted by Kevin McCloud, did not share Graeme and Melanie’s tastes, it’s safe to say, and believed they could have spared themselves the trip.
One X, formerly known as Twitter, user wrote: ‘Could’ve got those tiles from B and Q.’
Another lamented alongside a horrified emoji: ‘Those tiles’, while a third shared: ‘Right. So they aren’t *that* stretched for funds given that they are in Marrakech collecting their custom-made tiles. Cry me a river.’
Melanie had explained she had previously designed the tiles during a holiday to Marrakech, during which she had also got engaged to Graeme.
‘We will walk across the tiles and think of Marrakech,’ Melanie added, referencing the proposal.
In a voice-over, Kevin, 64, explained the price of producing and creating the tiles in Morocco was ‘comparable’ to buying them from a DIY shop in the UK, due to the lower cost of living in the North African country.
When Kevin first arrived at the plot of the property, a twin garage in North London, he’d first gasped: ‘Is this it? You’re joking?’
Graeme, who is father to Isla, 15, with his late partner, and Melanie, who is mum to Indie, 13, also with her late partner, bought the plot for £275,000 to house their blended family.
They budgeted £450,000 to transform the garages into a multi-story home, painted a distinctive red.
However, the couple went over budget and spent £550,000 on the building work and have now run out of cash, meaning they are unable to finish the renovations.
Graeme and Melanie still need to complete the lower floors, including the basement, and said they would have to sell if they were unable to source the funds.
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Grand Designs continues next Wednesday at 9pm on Channel 4.
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MORE : Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud shocked by ‘tight’ homeowner’s alarmingly cheap toilet
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