| Back to home And so it began… Julie and Tom were nominated by Joanne Hodge, an old friend of Julie's. Another main conspirator has been Julie's mum, Marie.  Julie and her husband Tom met when he agreed to make a house call for her as a massage therapist. At the time she was living with her parents following a sky diving accident 10 years ago that left her a C5, C6 quadriplegic, which in practical terms means that she has movement in her arms and wrists but not in her fingers. At the time of the accident she was 23, studying accounting and working full-time. Julie has incredibly hard working and supportive parents who made many modifications to their own house in order to care for her and later to accommodate Tom before assisting them in buying their own home which they moved into last November. Julie is incredibly sociable and was a renowned party girl before the accident and still enjoys going to nightclubs and having a bit of a boogie in her chair.
Julie had such a positive attitude when recovering from her accident that the nurses at the pain unit at Royal North Shore Hospital signed her up to come back and talk to other female patients with similar or lesser injuries, to advise and encourage them from the perspective of someone who has lived through it and overcome the difficulties. She has also spent a lot of time at the Royal Rehab Hospital in Ryde, talking to other patients and teaching folk art, and nurses there have been known to bring other patients out to Julie's home to talk to her. What they wanted… Julie absolutely loves dolphins and the water and would probably like her house to have a "beachy" feel. Her favourite colour is blue but she loves anything bright and cheery. Julie and Tom also love to entertain and have lots of visitors so a new dining table would be great! However, the crucial part of the renovation is accessibility. The home and backyard are not very wheelchair friendly so Julie would love the Renovation Rescue team to make their home more accessible for some freewheelin'. 
Our designers Sarah and Tara discuss with Pete their plans to make Julie and Tom's house more inviting. The entrance really needs some warming up as it's a bit cold. Tara is planning to make the hall more inviting with some funky artwork. She also plans to kit out Julie's office with a new desk and clever filing system. Sarah plans to raise the laundry floor and fit it out with new units so Julie can do her washing. The lounge area will be treated with some cosy wicker furniture. Hall
 The focus of the hall was to make the thoroughfare more interesting and "welcoming" without restricting wheelchair access. Tara says, "Julie needs complete access in the hallway so rugs, console tables and plants are out of the question. What we can use is lots of colour and clever artwork."
 An automatic door opener was also installed by ADIS Automatic Doors so that Julie no longer needs to use a cord to open the door — all she needs to do is press a button!
Signature Systems also installed a back to base security system with one year's free monitoring to keep Julie and Tom safe!
| Tip: For old picture frames check your local charity stores. Grab yourself a colour wheel from your local art shop (for roughly $10) so you can match colours that work well together. Also a great tool to use when levelling pictures (or even tiling and wallpaper) is the Strait-Line Laser Level by Irwin (for only $80). | Laundry and vestibule
 The aim was to make the floor level with the loungeroom, to give Julie greater wheelchair access. Julie loves the colour blue so this was incorporated into the tiled floor, keeping the walls neutral for that beachy feel. Sarah says, "Because Julie loves dolphins we want the tiles to look like water on the floors and I have created a pathway of pebbles for a river bed look."  The changes to the laundry were designed to give Julie easier access and movement. The door was widened; door beads were used instead of a door; the washing machine and dryer were mounted next to each other on the floor for easier access as well as a lower height sink also for greater access. The pantry style cupboard gives more laundry storage and the clothes drying rack is an easy pull out style for inside drying. All in all, a very functional and gorgeous laundry!
Office
Julie and Tom's working space was not "user friendly" so the plan was to keep the paint work and walls as they are and furnish only, with focus on easy access. Tara also created her own piece of artwork in keeping with the beachy theme. Lounge/dining
 The aim was to allow wheelchair access on to the rear deck. The wall colours of blue and white were retained and the room styled with clever furnishings to accommodate more guests for dinner parties.  The window was knocked out and replaced with Stegbar French Doors ($3000) which give Julie total access to her brand new deck! | Tip: Julie and Tom have lots of nieces and nephews. Scott whipped them up a folding blackboard so when they pop over they can have a bit of fun. All you need is the Mitre 10 MitrePlan (Plan no. 36) some pine, masonite and black board paint (all for under $40). | The backyard
  Our landscape designer Greg Norton says, "We're knocking up a massive timber deck complete with a boardwalk so Julie can come down into her new yard, and because Julie loves everything to do with the beach we're giving her a beautiful tropical garden made up of more than a dozen mature plants." | Tip: If you're looking for plants for your landscape, a way to save money is to outsource. For Julie's backyard we required a whole lot of mature palms (three years or older) which we bought from Queensland, saving a small fortune. | Also, if you love colour in your backyard you can't go past tropical plants such as strelitzias, liriopes, crotons and cordylines. | Tip: Before you buy your plants, you should coordinate and check that the colours work together. |  Luke Van Dyck shows us how simple it is to make a fabulous water feature. Simply buy some Fibrous Cement sheeting (also known as FC sheeting). Cut a 600mm slit which allows the water to cascade out into a trough. Place the pump in the trough allowing the water to circulate.
More tips | Removing turf: To remove turf quickly, simply look in the Yellow Pages under "E" for excavation and you'll find Bobcat Hire (around $65 and hour). Building the ramp: A deck for a wheelchair has to be 14:1. That means for every 140mm you come out it has to drop down 10mm. The ramps are made from treated pine so they won't rot. | More about our sponsors and suppliers.  While Scott and Peter headed up the home renovations, Rebecca Harris took Tom and Julie on a 48-hour adventure they'll never forget, incorporating activities and events they never dreamed were possible. Contacts: Back to home | 
