Retouched By Flair, an interior design organisation, has unveiled a home makeover reality television show to promote African interior design, empower young creatives and demonstrate affordable ways to transform living spaces.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 12-week programme, ‘The Retoucher’, scheduled to air in the first quarter of 2027, would feature 18 contestants.
Creator and Executive Producer of the show, Debola Majekodunmi, said the show would give young African interior designers a platform to showcase their talents and gain visibility.
Majekodunmi said the initiative would encourage designers to embrace indigenous materials, African culture, sustainability and practical innovation rather than depend on expensive materials.
“Through the Retoucher, we want to create a platform where young African interior designers can demonstrate their talent, compete, innovate and gain visibility.
“My vision is simple: to transform space, empower people, nurture natural talent and change the way Africans see and experience interior design,” she said.
She said the project would extend beyond television into training, design exhibitions, partnerships, and product development, creating more opportunities for emerging creative talent.
Also, Project Manager of The Retoucher, Jemimah Ododo, said the project aimed to transform homes to reflect African culture and identity while creating opportunities for local talents and delivering meaningful social impact.
Ododo said the initiative would demonstrate how local resources and African creativity could produce world-class designs while empowering emerging professionals.
Veteran Nollywood filmmaker and Producer of the show, Tade Ogidan, said the programme would combine design challenges with competition, audience participation and transformations of different homes and spaces.
“We are not just grooming them to decorate homes. They would decorate all sorts of places, exteriors, interiors.
“We have part of the concept where we will take people in poor homes. They would all pitch in to say, ‘Come and do up our home, come and do up our home.’
“We will look at it, and then we will go and give them the surprise of their lives, do up the place to become somewhere they would love.
“The home audience would also be an active part. So we believe it’s going to grow. It’s different,” he said.
Team Blue worked on their space during the unveiling of The Retoucher Reality TV Show in Lagos.
NAN reports that at the unveiling, contestants divided into Team Blue and Team Orange were given 25 minutes to transform blank sets using available materials.
Team Orange emerged winner after the judges’ assessment and audience voting, which accounted for 40 per cent and 60 per cent of the final scores, respectively.
The audience voted Team Blue 16 points and Team Orange 19 points, while the judges’ scores also favoured Team Orange.
The winning team received N200,000, while the runners-up got N50,000.
Strategy Adviser, Retouched, Hubert Davies, said attractive homes could be achieved without excessive spending.
“It doesn’t cost a fortune for you to change your home into your palace,” he said.
Founder of Jenniez School of African Interior Design, Jennifer Chukwujekwe, said design offered opportunities for the future.
Chukwujekwe, who was a former President of the Interior Designers Association of Nigeria, called for greater attention to the needs of elderly people in interior design, noting the importance of creating spaces suited to their needs.
Group Chief Executive Officer of GDM Group, Victor Afolabi, said the initiative offered opportunities to make homes more beautiful in a cost-effective way.
Afolabi called for partnerships to support the project and expand its reach.
The organisers called on brands, broadcasters, building-material manufacturers, retailers, property developers and investors to partner with and sponsor the programme to promote African creativity and create opportunities for emerging designers. (NAN)
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