In many ways, Room to Improve has become as faithful a barometer for the country as the price of a Fredo bar or a chicken fillet roll.
Whether we're watching glass bathtubs in awe or horror, or calling for more windows, then less windows, the beloved show has charted our country's fascination with homes, adapting each year to work with the realities of the property sector.
This is equal parts by design and by necessity, as years of cost-of-living increases, supply issues and more hiccups have made owning a home, much less renovating one, a daunting task.
However, with the newest season of the show, Dermot Bannon and his team have set out to become even more transparent - and one might argue hopeful - about how we can get the homes we want.
Speaking about the upcoming season of Room to Improve, Bannon reflected on the state of the nation: "Money is at a scarcity. The cost of living crisis is really kind of taking hold. Budgets are a lot tighter this year, but there's a lot more grants available, especially for derelict homes and older houses."
"It's a design show, so I think it's very easy to solve problems if you can throw money at the problem", he continues. "I think it becomes far more interesting for people to see what you can do with on a much more limited budget.
"And that's where design kind of comes into its own, because you can go out and buy something beautiful that will fill a corner of a room or a really nice set of doors or a huge, big roof light. But if you don't have the budget, how can you make a regular budget stretch?"
Complicating this is our exposure to ever more design possibilities. With endless streams of inspiration affronting us every time we open Instagram or TikTok, Bannon worries that we've become more magpie-like in our design choices.
Just as you might lust after the latest lipstick or pair of shoes worn by a celebrity, "I think we've got a little bit that way with buildings, architecture and interiors that people will want a certain type of chair or couch", he says.
"A lot of people now are kind of big on social media and they need to create new content. And in doing that, it's almost bringing things into a fashion or a phase kind of stage."
Swept up in focusing on the "final layer of a house" like cushions and paint, many homeowners are forgetting to prioritise the bones of the home, he adds.
"We should be really focusing on the quality of the space. A room should be great regardless whether it's paint white or elephant's breath, it doesn't really matter."
Among the projects in this year's show are a renovated farmhouse in Kilkenny that became "a real conservation project", a bungalow with a view of the Rock of Cashel and a house for an influencer, for which Bannon and his team consulted with none other than Donal Skehan.
Central to this are grants, with Bannon eager to espouse just how much of a "game changer" they are.
The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is a key one, he says, which awards upwards of €70,000 if you buy a derelict property that's been vacant for two years.
"If you marry that with an SEAI grant for sustainable energy, you can get up to about 28,000 on that. So you can get close to 100,000 in grants if you buy the right type of property."
With more employees working remotely, Bannon says their priorities have shifted: "What people are doing is they're looking far more at the amenities that are where they're buying. So they're looking at parks, they're looking into the close to the sea. Is it close to parents?"
As for those of us who have spent Christmas indoors with too much time to sit and analyse what we want to change in our homes, Bannon had some tips for January spring cleaning and freshening up.
"If somebody is thinking about doing something with their home, that means there's a couple of issues with it because they're not happy in the house", he says.
"I always try and make a big long list of things that you don't like about the house or don't work. Just say, we were watching TV over Christmas and there's a door there and everybody comes in and out and walks in front of the television, and make a list of the stuff that really frustrates you. And then put that list into an order of priority."
Working through that list is a much more realistic and cost-effective way of improving your home, he says, adding that "every little one of those things will feel like a bit of a big win".
As always for Bannon, it comes back to the bones of the house, and whether a few new cushions or wall hangings will really make a difference.
"If you don't like your house, having a navy kitchen as opposed to a green kitchen is not going to make any difference. It'll just be something to look at. But moving a door or putting in a new window or capturing a view to the garden or putting in that roof light [will]. Small little things."
Room to Improve returns on Sunday 7 January at 9:30pm on RTÉ One.
