Centenary Ideal Home Show celebrates past, present and future 14 March – 6 April 2008, Earls Court.

Marking one hundred years of iconic home innovation and inspiration, the Ideal Home Show kicks off its centenary celebrations on Friday 14 March, 2008.

Over the last 100 years, the Ideal Home Show has been the UK launch pad for countless household legends. These include the first the first toaster and electric kettle (1920), the first electric grass mower (1970), the first microwave (1947) and more recently, the largest commercial plasma screen (2006). The show also unveiled the first “energy efficient kitchen” in 1989.

Each year, full sized houses and even whole villages, including pubs, town squares and shops are built inside Earls Court. The 100th year celebrations will be no different and visitors will find a full size eco house and a giant dream house to name a few. Also this year, to mark the Ideal Home Show's commitment to environmental issues, the show will be holding it's own light bulb amnesty. All visitors who bring an old light bulb can exchange it for a free energy saving bulb.

Century Street From the art deco of the 20s and 30s to the leather and metallic minimalism of the 80's, the last a hundred years have left quite a style legacy. From psychedelic sofas to retro cars, kitsch gardens and even classic advertising, Century Street celebrates it all and takes you on a journey into the past, with houses from different decades recreated from the show's staggering archives.

The Ultimate Eco House Exclusively designed for the Show, the zero carbon eco house will be built using the latest innovations in eco-architecture. The affordable one story home makes creative use of space and its surroundings and shows that generating positive environmental vibes does not compromise your standard of living or cost the earth to achieve.

For expert advice on being eco friendly or for a copy of the Ideal Home Show Eco Attitudes report, please call the press office on 0207 4920977

The Dream House A contemporary home sporting a cinema room, games room, separate guest wing and ornamental pool and fountain, the Dream House showcases the kind of luxury and spectacular style that most of us can only dream of. The house will be styled by interior stylist Maggie Colvin.

For expert advice from Maggie Colvin please call the press office on 0207 4920977.

Innovation Nation The first thing you'll experience when arriving at the show will be the Innovation Nation area; an incredible collection of UK designing talent offering unseen designs and prototypes for brand new home products and inventions. This will be made up of the Show's annual 'Concept Products' competition for student designers as well as the brand new 'Innovation Creation' competition featuring designs submitted by the British public. (Competition opens 1 January 2008 with more details to follow soon.)

To book tickets or view a full list of exhibitors and attractions at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Show, visit www.idealhomeshow.co.uk or call ticket hotline on 0870 606 6080.

A potted history of the Ideal Home Show

• The first Ideal Home Show Exhibition opened in 1908. • In 1912 an eleven-roomed detached house was on sale for £1,100. • In 1919 a diagram demonstrated how a well-planned kitchen could reduce the number of steps required to make afternoon tea from 350 to 50. • In 1920 “Electric aids to the tea-table” identified new electric curiosities; a kettle and a toaster. • In 1921 the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition was temporarily replaced with the Daily Mail Efficiency Exhibition, such was the focus on labour saving devices. • In 1921 an entire village near Welwyn Garden City was built as part of the show. Called Meadow Green, it consisted of 41 cottages representing 16 types of construction and featured unseen innovations in architecture. People still live in these houses today. • 1930 was the first year a house designed by a woman was featured. The competition to design the house was only opened to married women. • In 1935 the show's research found only 25% of households had an electric iron, this rose to 75% in 1939. • The show was suspended 1940-6 because of the Second World War. In 1947 the babies section was extended to incorporate older children as a whole generation had missed so much. It was called Peter Pan's Paradise. • Royalty have been regular visitors, including Prince of Wales (1932), King George V and Queen Mary (1921, 1937), the Queen Mother (1924, 1986), Princes Elizabeth (1949), Princess Margaret (1965), Prince Philip (1957), Princes Michael of Kent (1991), Princess Diana (1992) and the Queen (1955, 1965, 1988). • In 1951 a special entrance was set aside for members of the Women's Institute. • In 1955 the Television Retailers Association offered advice to confused buyers on choosing a television. •The 1956 House of the Future predicted houses would operate like machinery and eliminated the need for house work. • In 1957 attendance hit an all time high of 1,329,644 people. • In 1979 the Ideal Home Show moved to Earl's Court from Olympia. Earl's Court 2 was built especially for the growing show. • In 1989 the Show teamed up with Friends of the Earth to open first “Green Kitchen”. The washing machine, fridge-freezer, dishwasher and microwave were all energy efficient, the aerosols were CFC free and the kitchen units were made of sustainable wood.

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Editors Notes:

dmg world media is an international publishing and exhibition company that produces more than 300 market-leading trade exhibitions, consumer shows and fairs each year. We also publish more than 65 related magazines, newspapers, directories and market reports. Employing over 800 people, dmg world media maintains a worldwide presence through 38 offices in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, the United Arab Emirates, China, Australia and New Zealand. Dmg world media is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT), one of the largest and most successful media companies in the United Kingdom. Additional information on dmg world media can be found at www.dmgworldmedia.com.

For further information, please contact:

Amanda Mills, Michelle Saxby, Gareth Streeter or Alice Vaughan Seventy Seven PR Tel: 020 7492 0977 Email: amanda.mills@77pr.co.uk