We speak with DIY SOS’s Mark Millar about the upcoming second series of Dream Kitchens & Bathrooms, his favourite DIY SOS project, and his love for the construction industry.
By Chris Ogden
About Mark Millar
Mark Millar is the presenter of Channel 5’s primetime series Dream Kitchens & Bathrooms with Mark Millar. Millar is one of the most popular and recognised faces on BBC1’s DIY SOS, having been project manager on the show’s builds since 2006.
Millar was raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland and trained as a carpenter before moving to London and then Bristol where he now runs his own building firm. He has many celebrity clients and has worked on projects all over the US and Europe. He regularly features on radio as a DIY expert and has also appeared on BBC Children in Need and Pointless Celebrities.
Q: Hello Mark! How are you doing? What have you been up to today?
At the moment I’m working on a really beautiful building in Bristol. It’s a Grade I listed property and it’s all being restored back to what it originally was – it’s an incredible, incredible building. It’s not a five-minute project; it’s more like a lifetime project really. Because everything’s Grade I listed, so everything takes forever to do, but it’s really fun, really exciting. It’s a little bit different to doing an IKEA job!
I’ve been working on that for a few months now, and I’m about to move over to my other job which is on the other side of a camera. I’m going off to make a new series of
Dream Kitchens & Bathrooms.
Q: We were going to ask about Dream Kitchens & Bathrooms – congratulations on the show being recommissioned for a second series! Are you looking forward to it?
I’m really looking forward to the new series. I enjoyed the last series so much and I got to work with such incredible people. It was really nice to work with people who also had never really taken that challenge on before; suddenly they’d taken something on that wasn’t their world and they found this great, creative side of themselves. It was a whole learning process for them of how to build a new kitchen or do a new bathroom.
Some people had companies that would come in to do the kitchen or the bathroom and they had to project manage it themselves; others did the whole project from scratch and learnt loads of new skills and learnt how stressful the building trade can be!
Q: Some of the budgets on the show are pretty mind-blowing – one episode last series featured a jacuzzi bath that cost £10,000! How can our readers keep their costs down?
Keeping cost down in a kitchen and a bathroom is a very difficult thing because they’re the two most expensive rooms that you’re ever going to do in the house. Some people have more than one bathroom, so that could be very expensive.
Nowadays, you really need to do your research. You really need to start shopping around. God bless the Internet because that’s the windows to savings nowadays. Don’t take the first price that lands on your doorstep, and don’t be shy about talking about money. Step up to the mark. You’ve worked hard for that money, so spend it well.
Q: Kitchens and bathrooms are some of the most expensive rooms in a house but they’re also some of the most important. Do you have any style tips that you’ve picked up from doing Dream Kitchens and Bathrooms?
It was really interesting, actually, because I did learn lots of things as I went along. I learnt more about art deco, modern worktops, all the different fittings and styles and tips and the pluses and minuses against them.
I would say to people to really take their time and think about what they’re going into. Take the style that you want, research that – there’s loads of windows on the internet that you can go through –but don’t compromise. If you’ve set your mind on an art deco bathroom, you go for that, because you’re going to spend a lot of money on that space and if you’ve fallen short of that you’re not really going to be happy with it. Go for what you want and really go for it. It might take a bit more research and a bit more time – it might even take a bit more money – but don’t go in half-hearted; go in all the way and take hold of it.
Also, don’t be frightened of mixing styles. For example, in a Victorian-style property, you can work contemporary kitchens or contemporary bathrooms into a Victorian and Georgian-style house and it still really works, so don’t be frightened of mixing certain styles. I’m not the best person in the world to ask about colours though!
Q: You’ve been doing DIY SOS for quite some time now. What common mistakes can our readers avoid making when they take up a DIY project?
There’s only one answer: it’s planning. It’s all about planning. Sit down, work it out from A to Z, go through the whole process, tick all the boxes. Just plan it, book ahead, make sure you’ve got people in that calendar at the right day, at the right time – for example, so that you’ve got your first fix plumbing done in time for the next stage of the bathroom to be done, then you can bring the plumbers back in to do the second fix. It’s planning, planning, planning all the time; if you get that right, you can do any part of a build. Actually, you can do anything in life!
I like to be spontaneous and do things in life straight off the cuff, which is real fun! When it comes to business, I think the boring bit is planning, but that planning will save you time and money and sleepless nights.
Q: That’s great advice! You do between seven and nine projects a year for DIY SOS: The Big Build. How difficult is it to fit all these massive projects into just a few weeks?
The thing about DIY SOS, there’s somebody knocking around with a huge magic wand because we’re not quite sure how it happens! Honestly, it happens because of the strength and the power of the community. People come and they work from their heart, not their wallet, and it’s a really beautiful thing to see people coming along and giving something back.
The one thing it’s shown me over the 17 or 18 years that I’ve been doing DIY SOS is that this country is full of the kindest, most giving people that I have ever come across. The trade base in this country is absolutely fantastic. There’s people out there who are second to none in the world, and I’ve worked over Europe, America, all over the world. We have the best tradespeople in the world in this country and they have the biggest, kindest hearts. That’s where the magic comes from with DIY SOS and that’s why we complete it in the time that we’re given.
Q: You appear a lot on BBC Children in Need. It must be very satisfying to help people who are having difficulties in their lives.
It is incredibly satisfying helping people in need; you’re taking a house and giving them a home. Beyond that, one of the real satisfactions for me is getting the chance seven or eight times a year to work with 150 amazing people who turn someone’s life around. You see the story about the family; you see very little about the builders and the trades that come on and build the house. I could walk up and pat every single one of them on the back and just know that that is the person I would win the battle with, because they are incredible people.
Q: We’re sure there’s a lot of camaraderie behind the scenes! We see the output, but we don’t necessarily see all the work that goes in.
You want to see the catering wagon – that’s what drives the whole thing! DIY SOS – living by the catering wagon.
Q: Last year you undertook a huge project in Swansea for DIY SOS, building the first-ever surf school adapted for people with disabilities in just 11 days. What was that like as an experience?
It was incredible going to Wales tucked into this tiny little cove in the Gower. We were hammered by the elements from every direction. Going back to the people, that would not have happened if there hadn’t been such a strong community. We were teetering on the edge of Covid. Everything seemed to be against us. We had a couple of weeks before the build started where we did all the groundworks and the drainage and the electrics, and then when it came to kick-off the sun shone. It shone every day apart from the reveal day. Spirits were high; it was so beautiful.
What was really interesting about it was that the surf school was still running while we were building it, still operating from the bus shelter across the road. All of us got the chance to see how difficult the circumstances were for them to actually run that company; how hard it was for a child to come out of the ocean in a wheelchair and a wet suit to get changed at the side of a road. Everyone in the constructions saw that every day, and it drove them even harder. The finish on that build was incredible, the quality, the design.
Now we’ve done it and it went to TV, that is being produced all over the world now. That was the first ever purpose-built surf school for people with a disability. I’ve worked on many Children in Needs, I’ve worked on many SOSes and everyone says “Which is your favourite one?” Caswell Bay. It stole my heart.
Q: Speaking of the ocean, most of us have been stuck inside for the last 18 months, but we know you’re a fan of the great outdoors. Have you had the chance to get out and about a bit?
I swim in the ocean or in lakes almost every day. I’m really lucky where I live; through lockdown, for exercise I’d walk to the beach and swim off the beach. That’s how I wind down; that’s how I keep my sanity. For my mental health, it’s just an incredible thing to do. It also becomes incredibly addictive because I actually can’t go a day without it! It takes me to a place of stillness; it takes me to a place where there’s no questions. It’s like a meditation for me. I think if you live in a world like my world which is usually 100 miles an hour, it’s very important to find a sanctuary.
What I would say to people is if you want to get into it, always keep a pair of swimming shorts and a towel in the boot of your car wherever you go. I’ve constantly got a pair of shorts in my glove box. I could be driving around and I’ll spot a piece of open water at the end of the day and I’ll just go and swimming in it. For you people who don’t drive, instead of wearing underpants, just keep a pair of swimming shorts on!
Q: We’ll bear that in mind! Finally, what make you want to take carpentry up as a profession and stick with it? What do you find most satisfying about it now?
Let me tell you about how I started my carpentry career. I wanted to be a chef, and for my birthday when I was 13 or 14 my dad bought me a set of chisels because my dad was in the industry, and I was going “Chisels are no use for me! I can’t go in a kitchen with a set of chisels! I can’t mortise and tenon a Victoria sponge!” I just felt so guilty because I lost my dad when I was 14. I kept this set of chisels and I thought to myself I couldn’t go into catering; I had to go into construction.
I was really lucky to go into an apprenticeship that I served in Ireland. I was really looking to be surrounded by and work with some very skilled people. I just went on and carried on with it from there. I did the apprenticeship; I did the Dick Whittington thing and headed to London. I wasn’t a huge fan of being in London and I moved southwest to Bristol, loved the place, loved everything I worked on.
I ended up getting some beautiful little contracts working on unusual things. I’ve worked on recording studios for bands, some amazing apartments for people, some very funky extensions and builds… I’ve worked in theatre, I’ve been in the scenery and staging industry, and then obviously moved into TV, so I’ve had a really, really blessed career. I have to pinch myself every now and again because it just seems to get better and better. Who else would get the chance to run around the country and meet all these people, doing their houses up and doing kitchens and bathrooms? I love it!
I love the construction industry. I think it’s a fantastic industry to go into. So many people spend their lives in front of their computers and live in that world, but these hands can make you millions. They can also put a huge smile on your face. It’s an industry that is full of technology; it’s full of high-end skills; it’s full of a lot of fun, and, at the end of it, a mountain of satisfaction.
Dream Kitchens & Bathrooms with Mark Millar is casting now. If you want to get involved with the latest series of the Channel 5 show, you can email casting@piproductions.tv.
