HORSFORTH builder and handyman Dean Taylor took on a decorating job with a difference this summer – on the BBC2 television show The Great Interior Design Challenge.

Dean joined a small team of decorators on the 16-part series, working on properties which varied from Edinburgh townhouses to houseboats in Surrey.

The show features amateur designers who are each given £1000, two days and a small team of decorators and builders to redesign a room. They must impress both the judges and the homeowners if they are to be in with a chance of making it to the next round.

Dean, 40, who runs his own property maintenance and decorating company, was invited to take part by the production company Studio Lambert.

“I wasn’t sure if I was what they were looking for but they seemed to like me and I was able to work fast which was really important,” he said.

“The shoots were really pressured because as well as doing the decorating I was also being filmed and the crew were asking me to give lots of tips at the same time. But it was also really good fun to work on such different styles of properties.

“The rooms had to be finished to the same high standard that I would do for a normal client. Each one needed a different technique and the biggest challenge was adapting to it in such a short space of time.”

The first episode featuring a Cotswolds village was broadcast at 7pm on Tuesday this week. The Great Interior Design Challenge is to continue every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with the final show scheduled for the end of November.