What Is It?

What happened when we were asked to help out with the BBC's DIY SOS show? Read on to find out!

It was 14th July when my wife told me that the BBC had left a message on the phone asking if I'd like to place one of our bookcases into a makeover programme that they were making for DIY SOS, and having returned the call I was told that their designer (Julia Kendell) would like a bookcase saying CHELSEA in red on one side and hot pink on the other...and that they wanted it in place the following week!

Now this would not normally be a problem, but Chelsea has 7 letters and our maximum 'standard' height is 6 letters; and so I hurriedly made a couple of rear support posts to suit a 7-letter bookcase (taking great care not to get paint all over our best furniture in the process!), and took it down to London the following week.

This was a great opportunity, not only to meet Nick Knowles, Julia Kendell and the team...but also to stop overnight with friends and take in a round of golf at Muswell Hill Golf Club...where I knocked in a couple of back-to-back birdies...but that’s another story! My friends also had a surprise in store for me when they took me to their Argentinean Tango class on the Wednesday evening...but that’s also another story!!

AS SEEN ON TV 31st MAY 2010

Anyway, I met up with the DIY SOS team on Thursday morning 23rd July in Kingston-Upon-Thames, and introduced myself to Julia as 'the man with the bookcase' and asked her where she'd like it; and after establishing that it couldn't go on the wall above the desk in Chelsea’s bedroom, Julia decided that it would be best if it went against the wall at the end of the bed.

I have to tell you that the banter that you hear between Nick and the builders is just the same off-screen behind the cameras as it is in front of the cameras that ends up on the TV screen...they're all very easy to get along with!

All in all it took me a couple of hours to assemble...including having a bit of banter with the crew and enjoying 'brunch' in the back garden (where the photo was taken...as I said to my wife when I saw the photo 'who's the old guy that's sneaked in-between Nick and Julia?!')...and tidying up after myself of course!

The finished result though was fantastic, as you can see from the photos, and although I had my doubts about the colour combination of red with hot pink, I have to concede that it works really well with the rest of the bedroom colour scheme...and that’s why Julia's the successful interior designer, and I package bookcases!!

The programme was shown on 31st May 2010, and we celebrated by holding a DIY SOS BBQ!!  The bookcase looked absolutely fabulous and Chelsea loved it!

I hope that you've enjoyed reading about my time in London just as much as I had giving a small helping hand in making the programme, and my thanks go especially to Julia Kendell for giving me the opportunity of 'showcasing' the Sezitall bookcase to 5 million viewers.

You can order Sezitall shelving online today. Just follow our simple, step by step process to order!