Interior designer Verity Coleman is no stranger to appearing on TV, having taken part a couple of years ago in the first edition of Interior Design Masters.
This time around, she was commissioned to work on a series of projects featured in BBC2's My Unique B&B, and, she says, found the experience slightly more relaxing 'without the competitive element'.
"The producers rang me," Verity explains, "because it was a local show, with the properties all in the West Country, including Herefordshire and the Forest of Dean, and they were looking for local designers and asked if I'd like to participate.
"I liked the fact that it was local because so much of what we see on television isn't, so for a BBC show to be based around where we live was fantastic and the concept was appealing - it was totally unlike my previous appearance on TV!
"I was working with a small team on real life problems rather than on manufactured ones (as had been the case on that first series of Interior Design Masters)."
The first project Verity worked on was John and Michelle's horse trailer in the Forest of Dean, for which the owners had a gentleman's club vibe in mind. And a very specific wallpaper.
"The process was that we would go and visit the site, have a look at the space and discover what the owners had planned ... and how much work needed to be done.
"We'd then turn up for two days to finesse the plan and film how it was achieved.
"It was quite tricky to design as we were never sure how much work the owners had done until we go there. I chose a colour scheme and knew that we could then work around whatever else needed doing."
What also made the projects more challenging was the tiny budgets the team was given to transform the equally tiny spaces: "I had £500 and the guys had £500 for all the woodwork, so the clients did have to put something in
As well as presenting an unusual challenge for an interior designer, taking part in the show had a surprise up its sleeve for Verity as one of the properties she was given to work on, a family caravan near Bath, belonged to an old friend: "I knew Jenny from Hereford 20 plus years ago," says Verity. "So it was lovely to catch up with her!
Especially as it was gloriously sunny when we were filming in this beautiful spot on the top of a hill with spectacular views."
Tom and Jen had quit the rat race a few years ago and bought a picturesque patch of land in rural Wiltshire, where they had dreams of turning their old family caravan into a profitable short-term rental business.
"They did a lot of the work themselves," Verity reveals, and they also enlisted a small army of friends and family to help with the build, before Verity used her design skills to bring the scheme together.
"I knew there would be beds, and that we'd need lighting and shelving," she says. "I bought a lot of stuff and got things from Ebay and auction houses and then design as we went along, seeing what would go where."
And personal touches were brought to the interior with pieces, including pencil drawings by Jen's sister and a stunning 'trees' chest of drawers from scottandboo.co.uk.
"It's not the same as just going to buy stuff and putting it in there - it was about people creating things for them."
Verity explains that, though she would go in with a plan, "there was a lot of designing on the hoof, and a lot of humping furniture around, some of which was used, some not."
What united everyone who appeared on the show was a desire to create a unique and distinctive retreat that would appeal to the growing army of staycationers in the UK, offering an unusual getaway in a year where monotony has become something of a cliche.
In addition to Tom and Jen's caravan transformation, Verity worked on an old sailing boat which Asiyla and her family thought would make unique glamping accommodation in rural Oxfordshire. Although the boat was very much landlocked, surrounded by free-roaming geese, Verity's brief was to restore the boat's nautical feel, which was achieved principally through colour and accessories.
"I was lucky," she says, "that Simon and Ian could make things, so it was very much designing on the spot a lot of the time - in Tom and Jen's build, the corner window with its glorious views wasn't even going to be there!
"We were able to be quite flexible and I would bring along a lot of styling things without knowing where they were going."
In rural Oxfordshire, Simon Parfett and his team meet Asiyla and her family. They live in a beautiful spot where the three generations of her family live and farm together. Among the free-roaming geese sits an old sailing boat, which Asiyla thinks could make unique glamping accommodation with stunning views of the pasture.
As with some of the other projects, the vision had waited a while to be realised. "Perhaps the best thing they got from us being there was that they had to get it done and there was an end result!"
John and Michelle's horse cart in the Forest of Dean for example, "they had spent years not doing it, and had never got it to the point of anyone being able to stay there.
"The brief for this was that they wanted it to have the atmosphere of a gentleman's club, they wanted it to be very regal, and they were absolutely thrilled with the result."
The fourth project was slightly different in that it was an attic room in a house rather than a separate space outside.
"The house was in an ancient village and is the oldest house in the village. Owners Mel and Tom were keen to transform their attic into a writer's retreat, which was achieved, naturally, with the introduction of lots of books and the addition of a William Morris wallpaper.
"I think that was my favourite project," says Verity.
RASCALANDROSES.CO.UK
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here