We all know and love the Ideal Home Show and have done for more years than any of us care to remember. Imagine however, that show, with a bucketload of festive magic thrown all over it and you have the IDEAL HOME SHOW CHRISMAS.

It’s one of those events that many of us will make the trip to London for, just as we do for the regular show. It is packed full to the Christmas Stocking with inspiring ideas, to amazing gifts and on-trend festive solutions for your home. The IDEAL HOME SHOW CHRISTMAS, brings together over 600 companies, 100’s of free talks and great ideas from a team of experts for your home at Christmas.

More than that it’s just great festive fun. SOUTH WALES LIFE was there for the opening day and it is everything you would expect from a festive show, and so much more. There is, of course, a sackful of festive goodies for the home and tree, and some really unusual items which we haven’t seen anywhere else. Food and drink is everywhere and plenty of free sample to be had too. We did see a few people having a sneaky little tipple or two.

There are gadgets, and toys, clothes and blankets. A huge section for your pets, in fact a lot of the top floor will delight all you animal lovers. The food and drink stage was packed with visitors watching demonstrations and talks from the likes of Rosemary Shrager and Olly Smith.

We spoke to both of them in between shows and they were having as much festive fun as the huge crowds who were in the cooking theatre for their shows. Rosemary, of course cooked up a Christmas storm and Olly delighted the audience with his tips for a festive tipple.

SOUTH WALES LIFE was there to bring you a little flavour of this year’s show. It was plain to see that a fair contingent from South Wales had made the trip along the M4 to Olympia to see what it had to offer. We’re sure that will be the case for the next few days too. Just be aware however, parking is of a premium and if you arrive after opening you may find it difficult to find a space. Our tip is to park at Westfield and either walk the mile to the show or UBER, at a cost of around £6 each way. You can then, of course, have a wander around Westfield too.

IDEAL HOME SHOW CHRISTMAS is one of those events where pictures can say far more than words ever can. The sights, sounds and smells, are all festive and they are there in abundance.

No puppies were harmed in the taking of that photograph, nor the Snowmen below…..

The Ideal Home Show itself was actually founded in 1908 by the Daily Mail. It was originally envisaged as a publicity tool for the newspaper and as a way of increasing its advertising revenue.

It’s hard to imagine what the world was like when the show first opened its doors in 1908. Suffragettes were chaining themselves to railings, the first Model T Ford rolled off the US production line and the UK’s first ‘skyscraper’ the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool was being built.

The Royal Family has always taken an interest in the show; HRH Queen Elizabeth II has visited eleven times! The 1960’s saw cult of ‘celebrity’ begin to take a hold with visits to show from many of the leading faces of the day, such as Tom Jones, Eric Morecambe and even the Rolling Stones!

Whole villages were built throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s and by the 1990’s up and coming architects were invited to enter a competition to have a house built at the show. Green issues were tackled as far back as 1989 when the first green kitchen was shown with energy saving appliances, CFC – free cleaners and using wood from sustainable sources.

Personally, I remember showing Leslie Grantham (Dirty Den) around the show, just as he became the biggest star of the time. Like all of us, he loved the browsing and the aspiration this and the Christmas Show fills us with.

There is everything you could put on your Christmas List, food, champagne, music, celebrity guests, music and more trees, tinsel and presents than you can shake a snow globe at.

The IDEAL HOME SHOW CHRISTMAS runs till Sunday 24th November at Olympia London on the Hammersmith Road, so actually really straight forward to get to from here. The opening times are……

• Wednesday 20th: 10am – 6pm
• Thursday 21st: 10am – 8pm
• Friday 22nd: 10am – 6pm
• Saturday 23rd: 10am – 8pm
• Sunday 24th: 10am – 5pm

For more information and see the full line up and of course get yourself tickets, just go here. IDEAL Do have a good look around though as there are some really good ticket deals to be had at the moment.