Can anyone recommend good US or British shows about DIY home improvement, interior design, gardening, etc.?
I’m not interested in anything with reality-style “drama” (though shows based on competition, makeovers, etc. are welcome if done well - I enjoyed The Great British Interior Design Challenge) - really I’m just interested in shows I can learn and draw inspiration from.
Thanks in advance!
Hometime on PBS is good. It’s been around almost 30 years. It’s new construction and renovation of houses.
Hometime and This Old House are about massive renovations (or new builds sometimes on Hometime). Ask This Old House has useful information on smaller jobs, like installing a door or changing out your water heater.
I’d stay away from all the “Crasher” type shows, in that they are massively irresponsible (permit? what’s that?) and personality-driven.
There aren’t as many interior decoration shows, but Color Splash can be interesting (although I find it too constricting) and Design On a Dime can have some interesting ideas.
There are quite a few gardening shows around, but I don’t watch them so I can’t recommend one over another. Again, however, I would stay away from the gimmicky ones (like Yard Crasher) where they tear out and re-do the whole yard in one day.
I agree that Hometime and This Old House are fun, but they’re home renovation porn. This Old House will show a home being renovated and have things like a custom-made front door, or (from the last season) an enormous teak kitchen island top.
Curb Appeal is pretty good for outdoor stuff.
Knock It Off on the Live Well Network is pretty good for design. The premise is creating magazine style for way less money. I thought it would be cheesy but the hosts really do have some talent and good ideas.
The best local show is Gardening Australia, with a complete maniac in charge. But huge fun, and full of quite genuine enthusiasm. Downside might be that it’s very locally focused.
Ask This Old House is the best show in this category, and all their episodes are on YouTube now.
Note that Ask This Old House is a separate series from This Old House, which follows long-running renovation projects (typically two big projects per season.) ATOH provides instruction for small DIY projects, typically two projects per episode.
I’ve learned quite a lot by watching Holmes Makes It Right.
The website, in fact, has a lot of good info.
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It may catch some flak, but I quite likeGrand Designs.
I also like the shows Mike Holmes does (Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection, Holmes Makes It Right) as they often go into what is and isn’t good building practice, and there’s a lot of respect for real artisans there as well. Plus, he’s the second most trusted Canadian!
I like Mike Holmes, but I dislike that his shows tend to focus more on Mike Holmes than the actual construction process, with a lot of the details skipped over in montages. What I really appreciate about ATOH is how they skip all of the bullshit and actually teach something in every episode, while still managing to occasionally be funny.
And even Mike Holmes’ shows, while showing real-life scenarios, often involve some drama about how terrible the Bad Contractor was to the unsuspecting homeowner. I’m with the OP: I just want to watch other people work on a home improvement project, not a bunch of made up (or real) drama about the project.
I do IT projects for a living and I get all the drama I could ever need from real life.
Hometime is in Minnesota, so they spend a lot of time on heating and insulation. Not as much time on the AC system. 
The Woodright’s Shop is filmed here in NC and it’s on PBS. The guy does not use any power tools.
I can’t stand that guy. He just rubs me the wrong way somehow. He’s pretentious.
I prefer Hometime because often they will have smaller projects. This Old House projects always take months to complete and often the homeowners must move out while also providing part of the labor force.
I also like Dean and Miriam Johnson more than the crew on This Old House and Norm Abram has been boring for a long time now.
Bob