THE BIG FIX
Designer Dee Coleman, builder Peter Finn and the clutterbusters are back to change the homes, and the lives, of families in Ireland
The clutterbusters are back for a new series of Home Rescue: The Big Fix, and their teamwork and positivity is about to change people’s lives for the better.
Designer Dee Coleman, builder Peter Finn and their team of fitters, painters and clearer-outers have just five days to complete each makeover.
This year, the Home Rescue team brings the Big Fix to a variety of homes in Louth, Kildare, Dublin and Co Clare.
In this week’s first episode we meet granny Doreen, her three grandchildren, her daughter Claire and Claire’s unflappable stay-at-home husband Pearse who share a bungalow. The home, in In Dundalk, Co Louth was built by Doreen’s husband, former firefighter Pat.
There’s three generations of one family sharing space in a house that should be big enough for all of them — but just isn’t.
Claire, Pearse and the kids moved in with Doreen two years ago when Pat, who has dementia, moved out to a care home. But, despite its size, the house is no longer fit for purpose.
With mum and dad sharing a bedroom with their nine-year-old son Odhrán, who has additional needs, the room is cramped for all three of them.
Claire’s job as an account manager means she spends a lot of her time on the road.
Back home, Pearse is a fulltime carer, cleaner and cook for the whole family but with a chaotic layout, a disconnected dining room and a tiny kitchen, he struggles to manage.
As the clutterbusters and a willing cohort of friends and family get to work sorting the combined clutter of three generations at a local community centre, Dee sets out to re-invent the kitchen and create a sensory space in the bedroom for Odhrán, taking expert advice from the teachers at his school.
Meanwhile, the whole family decamps to a nearby AirBnB as Pete and the build crew tackle misplaced fuse boxes, awkward walls, and a door that must be replaced with recessed shelving — laying the groundwork for a new kitchen to replace the cramped, cluttered and barely useable storage-free galley. n Home Rescue: The Big Fix is on RTÉ One on Thursday at 9.35pm.