A mother who was reminded of her near-death encounter every time she went into her living room was left in floods of tears after her home was given an impressive renovation in just three days.
Appearing on Channel 4’s The Great Home Transformation tomorrow night, Lombe, from Swansea, reflected on how battling Covid during the first lockdown had left her fearing that she would die on her sofa.
The full-time nurse said she was reminded of the difficulties she had breathing every time she saw the sofa, with her husband Gregory determined to remove the painful memories for his wife.
After the efforts of the transformation were revealed, she was over-the-moon, saying: ‘I keep sitting in the same seat where I nearly passed in this living room and the memories just come flooding back. It’s a new page and a new day for this family.’
Lombe, from Swansea, was left in floods of tears after her home was given an impressive renovation in just three days on Channel 4’s The Great Home Renovation
The family confessed they were struggling with traumatic memories from Lombe’s battle with Covid in their lounge Pictured: The living room before
However after the team came in to renovate the space, the family were blown away by how different the room felt Pictured: Living room now
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 Mwanza family’s house.
Emma explained that the traditional three-bedroom Victorian semi had become a ‘tight squeeze’ after Gregory and Lombe’s two adult children had moved back home.
Lombe said: ‘We sort of live in a manner where we just tolerate each other.’
However, their daughter admitted they’ve had arguments because of the ‘chaos’ in their home.
Through careful research and planning, the team discovered that Lombe would often fall asleep in front of the TV to avoid her uncomfortable and cluttered bedroom (pictured before)
However, the team gave her bedroom a new lease of life with colourful wallpaper and upgraded furnishings (pictured after)
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.
Interior designer Alex then used the information to create a tailored plan for how to renovate the home, while acknowledging that the open plan design of downstairs wasn’t suitable for the family.
The cameras also revealed that the family used their dining area just two per cent of the time and it took up a large amount of space.
Lombe was also seen falling asleep in front of the TV after her lengthy shifts in care home, and appeared desperate to avoid her cluttered and uncomfortable bedroom.
She explained she contracted Covid-19 during the first weeks of the UK lockdown in April 2020.
The family said the living room had become a traumatic reminder of Lombe’s battle with Covid during the first lockdown. Pictured: Living room before
However after the renovation, Lombe was left visibly emotional and weeping when she saw the changes to her home
Reflecting on her recent illness, Gregory said: ‘It was the darkest moment. I nearly lost my wife.’
Meanwhile Lombe recalled: ‘I was watching telly and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. He held me in his arms and I could feel myself going slowly.
‘I knew that this is it, I’m not going to come out of this.’
The family admitted that the living room had become a traumatic reminder of Lombe’s near-death experience.
Gregory’s home office was tucked away in a corner of the home before, and didn’t work practically within the family house
The team completely transformed the working space, with a new, larger desk and trendy office chair
Lombe was taken to look at a mood board created by Alex to give her a glimpse at the home transformation, and was immediately overwhelmed by his plans.
She was visibly emotional when she saw the bright, spacious design that Alex has planned for her home.
Lombe went out to work, while Gregory joined the team in starting to overhaul the home by painting the walls of the living room.
Meanwhile the couple’s daughter and presenter Emma took charge of picking the colour of the bedroom.
Alex (pictured second from right) explained how the team had split the downstairs area into zones to ease tensions
Alex decided to get rid of the family’s open plan living room by splitting the space into zones which would help to ease their tensions.
The team also added ceiling to floor storage to provide a tidy space for the family for their game consoles and vinyl discs.
The team placed wallpaper that could be easily peeled off without damaging the wall on the chimney, before setting up a large new desk for Gregory to do his work.
A bi-fold door with glass frames was added to split up the living room, giving the family a chance to block out noise from the television being watched at the same time as a business call.
The dining room was given a lick of paint, and the furnishings were updated in a trendy and stylish way
Alex tasked the team with installing bi-fold doors with glass frames (pictured) to split up the living room from the dining room
The Mwanza family were shocked as they entered the transformed downstairs, with Lombe wiping away tears.
She said: ‘It doesn’t look like my home anymore. It looks absolutely beautiful.
‘There’s not enough words in vocabulary that can express how I feel right now. I am so grateful.’
The family went on to say the transformation had infinitely improved their house, with Lombe adding: ‘For the first time I’ve seen smiles, it feels like home.’
Lombe (pictured, with Gregory) was emotional after seeing the transformation after she said it had brought a smile to their family
The Great Home Transformation airs tomorrow at 8pm on Channel 4 or is available on All4
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