The final episode of the BBC’s Your Home In Their Hands saw an amateur interior designer create a comic book-themed bedroom for teenager Jess – but it didn’t go down wellJess sobbed when she saw her new room Jess sobbed when she saw her new room (Image: Your Home In Their Hands/BBC)

The BBC’s home renovation show Your Home In Their Hands promised big transformations and even bigger reactions – but not all of them were happy ones.

In the final episode of the show’s only season, viewers witnessed an emotional and awkward moment as teenage guest Jess Daley broke down in tears after seeing her newly redesigned bedroom. The ambitious makeover, executed by a group of amateur interior designers, turned out to be far from the dream room she had imagined. What was intended to be a creative, cartoon-themed space quickly became a design disaster in her eyes.

Jess, who had handed over control in hopes of getting a fresh, modern room, instead walked into a space painted entirely white, with bold black crayon-like outlines drawn across the walls, wardrobes, and windows. The effect was meant to resemble a hand-drawn comic book, but for Jess, it felt immature and unsettling.

READ MORE: Man’s savage assessment of ‘rank’ home makeover dubbed best reaction everThe bedroom had a cartoon-style makeoverThe bedroom had a cartoon-style makeover(Image: Your Home In Their Hands/BBC)

“I hate it,” she said, fighting back tears. “I think it’s just more childish than I wanted it to be. A lot more childish than I want it to be, in all fairness.”

Trying to ease the tension, the host attempted to reframe the design as unique and creative, telling Jess, “Nobody – none of your friends – are gonna have a room like this.” But it was clear the teen wasn’t comforted by that logic.

Jess’s father also spoke up, offering an explanation that many viewers agreed with. He suggested that the room’s unusual, overly abstract style was likely the main reason Jess felt so disconnected from it. Rather than feeling personalised, the room looked, as one viewer later put it, “like a giant colouring book drawn by someone who’d never seen one before.”

Public reaction to the episode was swift and harsh. Viewers flooded social media with comments about the offbeat and arguably disturbing design. Some said the space looked like something out of a horror movie or a haunted escape room.

Your Home In Their Hands Viewers compared the room to a creepy video gam(Image: Your Home In Their Hands/BBC)

Others compared it to a crime scene or a creepy video game, with one viewer joking that it felt like the bedroom of a “ghost girl who paints before luring her victims.” Another quipped that the makeover resembled the stylised black-and-white look of the music video for A-ha’s Take On Me – but without any of the charm.

Unfortunately, Jess wasn’t alone in her disappointment. Her father also had a less-than-stellar reaction when he stepped into his own redesigned bedroom. “I think it looks smaller,” he observed bluntly, before rattling off a list of features he disliked.

“I don’t particularly like the case. I really don’t like the squirrel. Not a big fan of the pearls. I don’t like the drawers, I don’t like the mannequin… and I’m very undecided about the curtain effect.”

His reaction highlighted one of the show’s biggest risks: giving amateur designers near-total control over someone else’s personal space. While the show’s premise revolved around ordinary people taking bold creative leaps, episodes like this one revealed how those leaps could quickly turn into missteps.

Your Home In Their Hands Jess was visibly unimpressed (Image: Your Home In Their Hands/BBC)

Your Home In Their Hands originally aired in 2014 and ran for just one series. Hosted by Celia Sawyer, a professional interior designer known for her high-end taste and sharp critiques, the show followed homeowners across the UK who were struggling to make design decisions. They handed over their homes to amateur designers – often with very little professional experience – for full room transformations.

In some episodes, the results were inspiring. But in this final chapter, the mismatch between client expectations and designer vision became painfully obvious. For Jess and her family, what should have been a fun, life-enhancing reveal turned into a source of distress and regret.

Despite its brief run, the show remains a talking point for fans of reality TV and design shows, especially for those who remember the highs and lows of its daring approach.

Your Home In Their Hands is currently available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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