Maximising space and minimising stress

Maximising space, minimising stress

In the penultimate episode of DIY SOS, it’s tools, hearts and kindness to give another family the home they deserve with EZ Living stepping up to play its part.

We’ve had some tear-inducing episodes of DIY SOS: The Big Build Ireland over the years, but episode three of the current series proved to be a heartbreaker as we met the Barczak family from Clarecastle, Co. Clare.

Thirteen years ago Tanya Barczek delivered twins Franek and Antoni by caesarean section at 31 weeks. Devastatingly for her and husband Val, Franek was found to have profound disabilities including severe scoliosis which left him unable to walk or sit. He’s also visually impaired and non-verbal.

In 2018 a further blow was dealt to the family when Tanya was diagnosed with a brain tumour while being full-time carer to Franek and parenting Antoni and elder son Tom, now 19.

Despite making a good recovery, Tanya has been left with partial hearing loss and balance issues which means she’s unable to lift Franek. As he grows this will become more challenging even for Val and Tom who bear the responsibility for carrying him up and down stairs.

Enter DIY SOS show presenter Baz Ashwamy and a crew of hero volunteers who come to the rescue to adapt the house, but just as the family moves out temporarily and the crew gets to work, Franek is hospitalised.

“This is probably the smallest build we’ve done, but it’s probably the most urgent,” says Baz as hundreds show up to help. Even a band of Dublin-based Polish carpenters hit the road at 3.30am to get to Clarecastle and show solidarity with Tanya and Val who originally come from a small village in Poland.

“I was shocked people wanted to come and help my family,” says Tanya.

As the nine-day project gets underway, tradesmen buckle under the summer heat but are revived by a kind neighbour with ice creams; sparks fly between electrician Stephen and designer Kerry about the placement of a fuse box and a controversial mirror, and a great deal of tears are shed for this deserving family by burly builders and even the normally cheery Baz.

But moral support backup appears with the arrival on-site of teenager Bella from the 2022 series whose home in Ennis was adapted for her needs. She gets to work making a cushion for Franek’s bed, and when it’s discovered that one of the gardeners is an ex-Riverdance performer he treats the crew to a jig accompanied by a local céilí band.

Like all the best stories, there’s a happy ending: Cue the garden planting arriving and the red and white EZ Living Interiors van parking up with goodies to finish off the house.

Then it’s the big reveal as Tanya and Val return and are taken on a tour of their home by Baz.

“It’s like something out of a magazine,” says Val in what is now an open-plan kitchen, dining and living room with ample space for the Franek’s wheelchair and for the family to work, play and relax.

But it’s the all-important ground floor bedroom for Franek that has the tissues out yet again. Part of a ground floor extension, it’s finished in greys and greens with a therapy bed artfully dressed to look as stylish as any other. Tom calls it “the coolest room in the whole house.”

An ensuite wet room provides the all-important hoist Tanya needs for lifting Franek from bed to shower.

Tom and Antoni each get their own room with the Evie bed and Tampa wardrobe for Tom.

For Antoni, a room of his own is a dream come true. “I can’t believe it,” he says when Baz shows him around as he had previously shared a room with Franek until night disturbances from essential equipment for his brother forced him onto the sofa to get a night’s sleep.

A newly revamped main bedroom with walk-in wardrobe for Tanya and Val is finished in restful blue with the Alice navy upholstered bedframe and cream Farrow chair adding texture and softness, accessorised with the Pleat clear glass table lamp and Painting No.5 wall art.

The impact on the family is profound and with Franek home from hospital, the family is all set to live their best life in their new space.

Quoting Winne the Pooh, Val summed up the feeling, “’Sometimes the smallest things that you do make the biggest kind of magic’ and you all created magic here in the last nine days.”