A couple’s dark and barely-used lounge was renovated with yellow wallpaper and a new sofa while their teenager daughter’s tiny bedroom was left unrecognisable after lick of lilac paint on on The Great Home Transformation.
Louise and Pete, from Suffolk, appear on the Channel 4 programme tomorrow night, as they described struggling to live as a blended family in a two-bedroom semi with their two daughters, Jasmine, 16 and Louiana, three.
The couple said they felt their home-life had become ‘a disaster’ since the Covid-19 pandemic, with Pete working in the kitchen while both Louise and Jasmine were left ‘walking on egg-shells’ and working from their beds.
After the renovation was revealed, Louise was moved to tears, confessing it would ‘change their lives.’
Louise and Pete, from Suffolk, were left in tears after their house was renovated on Channel 4’s The Great Home Transformation
The blended family came together seven years ago, when support worker Louise met Pete, who is a social care manager.
They went on to welcome a daughter together, with Louise explaining: ‘Louiana is noisy, fun, creative and messy.’
Like many three-year-olds, she took up more than her fair share of the family home, with Louise explaining: ‘The downstairs of the house can definitely become a bit of a Louiana play room.’
And with both Pete and Louise working from home during the pandemic, a lack of work and home play space had resulted in an impossible living situation.
![The couple confessed they barely used their living room because it was dominated by a huge L-shaped sofa](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792085-10731443-image-a-103_1650379410218.jpg)
The couple confessed they barely used their living room because it was dominated by a huge L-shaped sofa
![The Great Home Transformation team renovated the space, creating a cosy and comfortable living area for the blended family](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792087-10731443-image-a-104_1650379412619.jpg)
The Great Home Transformation team renovated the space, creating a cosy and comfortable living area for the blended family
Louise said: ‘Pete working from home absolutely does not work for us at all. Pete gets annoyed because we’re making too much noise, she’s three and doesn’t understand and is loud. It’s just a bit of a disaster.’
Meanwhile Jasmine said: ‘Dad works ridiculously hard, he always gives everything in his job 110 per cent.
‘Which is amazing but sometimes you do feel the stress as soon as you walk in the room. You do have to walk on egg shells a bit.’
And Louise added: ‘I feel frustrated because I feel like it’s my home and I should be able to say and do what I want.’
![Meanwhile Jasmine, 16, said she felt forced to work on her bed in her tiny bedroom due to lack of space in their home](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792081-10731443-image-a-105_1650379414778.jpg)
Meanwhile Jasmine, 16, said she felt forced to work on her bed in her tiny bedroom due to lack of space in their home
![Designer Alex replaced the teenager's large double with a day bed, leaving space for a vanity table/desk](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792089-10731443-image-a-106_1650379417132.jpg)
Designer Alex replaced the teenager’s large double with a day bed, leaving space for a vanity table/desk
Pete said: ‘It’s just getting the balance of work and social, and it’s not working at the moment.
‘Equally for Jasmine being 16, she wants a bit of space that isn’t always around young toys.’
Presenters Nick Grimshaw and Emma Willis teamed up with award-winning interior designer Alex Dauley and master craftsman Tim Hitchens to improve the layout and appearance of the family home.
The design team installed specialist motion cameras to track the family and created heat maps that could help them to identify who used which space and for how long.
![The design team installed specialist motion cameras to track the family and created heat maps that could help them to identify who used which space and for how long (pictured)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792091-10731443-image-a-107_1650379419232.jpg)
The design team installed specialist motion cameras to track the family and created heat maps that could help them to identify who used which space and for how long (pictured)
Interior designer Alex then used the information to create a tailored plan for how to renovate the home.
While Pete worked long hours at the kitchen table, Louise worked on a laptop on the bed.
And Jasmine often struggled to find a space to study so would also often end up working from her large double bed.
The teenager confessed: ‘I would do it from downstairs, but my dad is working downstairs. And even the sitting room and conservatory, I’d sit in one, but Louiana would want to go into the one I was in.’
![With the ironing board and piles of washing taking over the lounge, it was more like a launderette than a family space](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792259-10731443-image-a-109_1650379423283.jpg)
With the ironing board and piles of washing taking over the lounge, it was more like a launderette than a family space
![Meanwhile a lack of sensible storage within the family home left the space feeling cluttered and untidy](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792261-10731443-image-a-108_1650379421314.jpg)
Meanwhile a lack of sensible storage within the family home left the space feeling cluttered and untidy
Heat maps showed the downstairs rooms were drastically underused, with the huge sitting room only used 16 per cent of the time.
With the ironing board and piles of washing taking over the room, it was more like a launderette than a family space.
Meanwhile the massive sofa took up a lot of space, despite the fact the family rarely used it.
And the conservatory was also underused, having been repurposed as a play room for Louiana.
![The designer transformed the conservatory from a play room into a stunning study and family room for everyone to enjoy](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792267-10731443-image-a-110_1650379425395.jpg)
The designer transformed the conservatory from a play room into a stunning study and family room for everyone to enjoy
![By adding a playful wallpaper as well as a stunning new desk for mother Louise, Alex made the space unrecognisable](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792263-10731443-image-a-111_1650379428106.jpg)
By adding a playful wallpaper as well as a stunning new desk for mother Louise, Alex made the space unrecognisable
But with clever design solutions, the presenters planned to transform the space for a better family life in just three days.
The designer said they planned to move Louise’s workspace from the bedroom into the conservatory.
Meanwhile all of Louiana’s toys would be placed back into sensible storage solutions.
She also revealed she would be replacing the family’s L-shaped sofa with a smaller regular couch.
![Meanwhile the designer Alex also replaced the family's huge and dominating L-shaped sofa with a smaller, brighter couch](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792277-10731443-image-a-112_1650379430841.jpg)
Meanwhile the designer Alex also replaced the family’s huge and dominating L-shaped sofa with a smaller, brighter couch
The designer said she planned to take Pete off the kitchen table and instead put his work space into the living room which could be easily hidden away.
Alex also had a plan to create a multifunctional bedroom for Jasmine, which could work both a bedroom and a study.
She said: ‘A teenager’s room is supposed to function for three purposes – sleep, socialising and studying.’
As the family set about with the renovations, Pete confessed he had struggled to adjust to life as a blended family, saying: ‘Jasmine and I talked about being a bubble, and that bubble expanding.’
![Jasmine was stunned by the renovation of her bedroom, which saw a wooden tree mural added to the wall](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792271-10731443-image-a-113_1650379432764.jpg)
Jasmine was stunned by the renovation of her bedroom, which saw a wooden tree mural added to the wall
After helping out with some of the renovation, Emma invited the family to leave, allowing the team to make the final adjustments necessary to the home.
Hours later, the family returned to see the final result of the home renovation and confessed they were ‘blown away’ by the transformation.
Jasmine couldn’t help but burst into tears as she saw the new living room in the home, while Pete said: ‘Oh gosh, it doesn’t feel like our house!’
Louise added: ‘I can’t actually believe it. This is not my lounge.’
![Louise and Pete were left beaming over the transformation, while 16-year-old Jasmine was also blown away](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792333-10731443-image-a-114_1650379434692.jpg)
Louise and Pete were left beaming over the transformation, while 16-year-old Jasmine was also blown away
And when the team unveiled Pete’s workspace, he said: ‘Thankyou, that means so much. This is amazing.
‘That is honestly absolutely amazing. This is going to make so much difference.’
And they were also amazed by the changes in the huge conservatory, which had been changed from a playroom into a study for Louise.
![The teenager couldn't contain her excitement as the family confessed the changes to their home would transform the way they lived](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/19/15/56792269-10731443-image-a-115_1650379437244.jpg)
The teenager couldn’t contain her excitement as the family confessed the changes to their home would transform the way they lived
Pete said: ‘This is amazing! We’re so grateful, this is actually perfect.’
Jasmine was equally blown away by the changes to her room, which saw the walls painted lilac and a new day bed, leaving space for a working space.
Louise said: ‘It will just transform our life, it really will make such a difference. I feel like I can relax in here, Pete can work in here.’
The Great Home Transformation airs tomorrow at 8pm on Channel 4 or is available on All4.
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