The old adage about the builder having the worst house on the street applies in part to renovation TV show host Evie Ashton, but not because of a lack of enthusiasm.
Ashton, who returns to TV screens this week after a three-year absence, admits the somewhat reconstructed central Auckland villa
she shares with her partner and daughter could benefit from a visit from the Our Place team.
"We've pulled things out here and put things in there, but we still need to make the whole floor homogenous and polish all the floors," she says. "We've got a gorgeous new bathroom, which my brother built, but we still need a new kitchen."
Prime has resurrected its renovations and lifestyle show Our Place, which aired in 2005, sprucing it up with a new focus on budgetary factors and environmental concerns, and a dash of "modernity". Ashton, a "tinkerer" with a love of power tools, hosted the previous incarnation in which a West Auckland property was given an expert makeover, but this time she's doing double-duty as presenter and producer.
"I've gone from being a full-time playcentre mum and being all about education to getting back into TV production and a role I haven't had a lot of experience at," she says. "The demands on presenters are greater this time because we've got many different renovations going on at once. Before, I was presenting one or two days a week, this time I'm presenting four or five days a week and having to fit producer work in around that."
The former Flipside presenter turned stay-at-home mum made brief returns to the job market with radio newsreading, TV ad work and dabbled in work for an events company, but this year's Our Place is her biggest project since the arrival of Sabina, now 2.
"Basically you can only juggle things with a lot of support, especially if you're a woman," says Ashton, who holds a BA in women's studies.
"If you're a bloke those things come a lot easier and are a lot more expected. As a woman it's harder to maintain, and also you've got to get your guilt in the right place. If you're at home, you think you should be at work. If you're at work, you think you should be at home."
She continues, "I'm not one of those people who thinks they have to be supermum. I've just got to do the best I can with what I've got, and I'm just lucky to have a lot of support around me from my family, especially my mum, and my friends."
Besides the personal manoeuvrings on her own home front, the chatty blonde is also battling a seasonal shortage of daylight hours and challenging economic forces. The former she sees as restrictive but not obstructive, and the latter a boon in disguise.
"A lot of research is saying that rather than spending money on holidays people will actually put money into their lifestyle where they can most enjoy it," Ashton explains.
"We have real estate tips and mortgage broker tips on the show, because the market is so tight that we want to help people stay ahead and look at where they should and shouldn't spend money. People are renovating to maximise their property and concentrating inwards rather than protracting outwards."
Instead of focusing on one property, the 13-episode series does smaller renovations on several houses, with projects such as constructing an urban chicken coop and installing an aromatherapy shower. A cooking segment also features, but seems unlikely to impact on Ashton's own kitchen wizardry, or lack thereof.
"I'm one of those people who cooks spontaneously," she says. "I never remember recipes - I'm a better baker. Much of my life I've spent baking, and eating too much of it. Even when I was younger I used to bake for the family, and I'd think, 'I shouldn't have any because everyone else wants some', so I would go round and cut little bits off every piece then eat them - I went through quite a tubby stage as a teenager!"
There's no hint of that now, probably because the bubbly homebody is more interested in nourishing her compost pile than herself.
"If somebody doesn't finish their apple I'm not, 'Eat the whole thing!' I'm more, "that'll be good in the compost'," she laughs. "I'm trying to feed my compost instead of people, it's ridiculous!"
Place plots
* An unloved corner of the garden becomes the perfect home for a new pizza oven alcove and is put to the test later in the show when the Our Place chef rustles up a smoked chicken pizza.
* An upmarket courtyard is revealed to be a crumbling mess on closer inspection so Evie and the boys in pink start to renovate the garden area.
* What can you do to make sure your house sells? Evie and the team give tips to get your house in top selling condition.
* The show unveils the all new Metro Shed.
* Could you live with an orange kitchen? Watch as the team transforms a kitchen nightmare into a culinary haven.
* The team brings the "good life" to an urban plot by putting in a vegetable patch, chicken run and a rain water irrigation system.
* A shoe fanatic gets a closet made especially for her extensive collection.
* Our Place begins on Prime on Saturday June 27 at 7pm.
Former Flipside presenter Evie Ashton returns to television to front a renovation show. Photo / Supplied
The old adage about the builder having the worst house on the street applies in part to renovation TV show host Evie Ashton, but not because of a lack of enthusiasm.
Ashton, who returns to TV screens this week after a three-year absence, admits the somewhat reconstructed central Auckland villa
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