And the story began…
Arriving in Australia in November, 1963, Fatima Hassan spoke no English and held only a photo of the man her parents had arranged for her to marry. At the young age of 22 she had left behind family, friends and the only life she had ever known. Forty years on, Fatima has truly embraced life in Australia and devoted herself to her family and community. She is known especially for her sewing and cooking skills, which are called on daily by others. She is now a long-term volunteer with local schools, cares for the children of working parents, volunteers at fetes and fundraisers, cooks for functions and provides homecare for the sick and frail. Even though her own health has suffered and she has endured over 24 surgical procedures in 40 years, this "community grandma" has never stopped giving to others. What they wanted... Fatima’s home is over 100 years old. The house is neat and tidy, the walls plastered with photos and children’s drawings. However, it’s very old, with tired furnishings, and definitely needs a spruce up! Obviously her two greatest passions are sewing and cooking, so if a design was to incorporate these, she’d be extremely happy. Fatima would love a new back garden for many reasons. She adores her veggie garden (for cooking) and would love for it to be more organised. She likes to sit outside in the sun and look at her garden, read a magazine, knit or have friends over for coffee. She also loves barbecues. Fatima would like the big shed in her garden to be removed, with a smaller storage space for her lawn mower and tools at the side of the house. She would also love to have a garden seat and water feature.
 The lounge room Before  Sarah and Tara gave the lounge room a whole new look, with a new feature fireplace and elegant furniture. The windows were removed and replaced with some fabulous windows with federation coloured glass from Stegbar. After  Tips:
- Sarah uses the old vinyl flooring to create some fabulous artwork. She simply cuts pieces to size, gives them a clean and pops them in a simple frame.
- Missing sections of picture rails were replaced by cutting a small sample piece off, taking it down to the hardware store and matching it to the same profile. If they don’t have the same profile in stock, they can simply mill it for you for a small amount of money.
- Instead of using a custom-made fireplace, which can be quite costly, Scott made Fatima her own fireplace by using custom wood, pine cordelling and six-inch skirting -and it only cost $120!
- Tara finishes Scott’s MDF fireplace with a marble painted finish. All you need is some black and white artist’s acrylic, a paint brush, a damp cloth and an old piece of plastic. Simply get a little bit of white and a tiny bit of black on your brush, randomly apply (not too much), get the damp cloth and rub it around and then press the plastic over the top to get the marble affect. Not technical at all, but gives a great finish!
Get great ideas for your home with Mitre 10 Mitreplans Check out our fact sheet list of products and suppliers. The kitchen Before  Because Fatima loves her cooking the Reno Rescue team give’s her kitchen a re-vamp with some new bench tops and some fabulous new appliances; from Omega we got a gas stove with electric grill and oven, plus a range hood. A massive LG Fridge, Microwave and a dish washer!
After  Tip:Sarah gets Scott to add some crown moulding to the top of the kitchen cupboards, which will give the kitchen a more antique look. This is a very detailed job, so if you’re not comfortable doing the joins, Scott recommends you get a professional. The sewing room Before  Tara creates Fatima a fabulous new space to do something she loves - sewing! The room gets a new armchair, new TV from LG andSpotlightgave us a brand new sewing machine and overlocker. After  Tips: - PortersMilk Paint is a natural paint made from milk and pigment. It’s a great alternative to a traditional latex-based paint. It’s great to use on smaller pieces of furniture such as tables and chairs and gives a lovely soft chalky appearance.
- Tara uses bright red carpet for the sewing room so if Fatima drops her pins, she can see them standing out on the red!
- To tone down a strong wall colour, Tara dilutes some acrylic white paint, applies it with a brush and rubs it with muslin (muslin is available from all good craft shops).
- Tara created some fabulous artworks using sewing items that Fatima loves. All you need to do is buy some box frames (available from department stores), some sewing bits and pieces such as pins, sewing patterns, thimbles, etc. Stick the items to cardboard with hot glue, place them in the box frame and you have a fantastic piece of artwork!
Get great ideas for your home with Mitre 10 Mitreplans Check out our fact sheet list of products and suppliers. The backyard Before  Fatima loves entertaining and barbecues, so theReno team gave her an exotic Mediterranean garden. A paved entertaining area was added, with a stylish water feature and brand new pergola and surrounding the garden is a new screen and stylish new plants. Greg makes Fatima a fabulous water feature. All he uses is a fibreglass trough, with concrete footing all the way round to secure it in place. The capping stone, which are the pavers, go all the way round the lip. The feature is large glazed pots! Tip them over and the water fills up inside and flows down the ridges. True Turkish delight!
After  Tips: The backyard had an old shed that was full of asbestos which needed to be removed. The Reno team called in the professionals. Greg wants to surround the garden with rendered walls for that Mediterranean feel. But with limited time and budget, this was going to be difficult. So a simple alternative is to use fibros cement sheeting and apply a render finish paint. The paving is laid by using a cement-based adhesive called Pronto Fix. It’s a fantastic product that allows you to walk on the pavers in just a couple of hours. Scott gets handy and makes Fatima a fabulous potting bench for the backyard. You can do this at home. Just pick up the Mitre 10 plan from your local Mitre 10 store. It can be built in three easy steps, a bottom, a top and some shelves. Scott uses 6x1 pre-primed timber and finishes it off with a coat of paint. Jim’s Fencing replaced the old hardwood fence with treated pine fence. The posts come pre-housed out to size, so all you need to do is put them in the ground, slide the three rails through, nail off the palings and it’s a perfect framework for the fibros cement screen. Greg plants someSpartan juniper, a conifer that grows to about five metres. No pruning necessary, they are pretty well drought-tolerant and make the perfect screening plant. Buxus microphillia (or Japanese box) is one of the best hedging plants. All they need is a trim a few times a year and some fertilizer! Fatima loves her herbs! And it’s great to have fresh herbs in your backyard to cook with. So Greg gave Fatima’s herb garden a revamp and added parsley, coriander, thyme, mint and basil. (NB: Mint loves to take over, so plant it in the garden in its pot. Get great ideas for your home with Mitre 10 Mitreplans Check out our fact sheet list of products and suppliers. Tips for buying older homes: When buying older style homes, there are problems you must consider: - The older-style plaster ceilings often need a lot of work done to them. The best thing to do is put some gyprock over the top of the ceiling (don’t pull them down, because the dust is incredible). Put new cornices all the way around, add a coat of paint and you’ll never have any dramas.
- If you’re painting over oil base paint with water base, you will firstly need to sand off the old oil, otherwise the paint will peel off. Then use Zinsser Primer Sealer 123.
- If there is dampness coming through a wall, you must strip the paint back, seal it and re-paint it. It is important to check where the dampness is coming from. If it is coming through the outside wall, you can drill holes through the bricks and get them injected with silicon, so you have a new damp course.
- Another drama when renovating old homes is that more often then not they need to be re-wired, which can be very expensive, so be prepared for plumbing and electrical problems.
  Fatima’s passion in life is cooking, but her secret indulgence (which she rarely gets to do) is the theatre. Where better to combine her two favourite fantasies than in the cultural and culinary capital of Australia, Melbourne! Day one: Rebecca, Fatima and her dear sister Sevim hopped on a Virgin Blue flight to Melbourne and were promptly given a brand new royal blue Holden Vectra to cruise around in for the whole trip. First stop, the elegant Windsor Hotel. Australia ’s only remaining grand hotel combines the classic beauty and culture of Victorian architecture with the comforts and facilities of a modern five-star establishment. Fatima and Sevim were given the Royal Suite, where royalty, glitterati and the seriously cashed up come to rest. They had dinner downstairs in the Windsor ’s plush restaurant, 111 Spring Street, and then early to bed, for day two was going to be big. Day two: One of Australia’s best selling chef/authors, Stephanie Alexander, offered to give Fatima a personal cooking lesson in the kitchen of her award-winning restaurant Richmond Hill Café and Larder. Stephanie and Fatima clicked instantly and created a delicious brunch to die for. Fatima couldn’t believe it. She had been an admirer of Stephanie’s style for years and her lifelong dream was to share a kitchen with a famous chef. Next up was the Wizard Wish: Fatima was to finally visit her homeland of Cyprus , with return flights for two people to go any time she wished, with $5000 spending money! No time for tears, though, as it was off on the next adventure - VIP seats to see the new Mel Brooks musical, The Producers, starring Tom Burlinson and Reg Livermore. Fatima and Sevim loved it and Rebecca took them backstage after the show to meet the entire cast. Photos, autographs and lots of hugs ensued. Day three: Fatima had the morning off to visit her very best friend who lives in the outer suburbs of Melbourne . Fatima was very excited, as they only see each other every three to five years. Rebecca then took the girls back home to see what had been done on the house, but before they got there, she had just one more pit stop: a new hairstyle from hairdresser to the stars, Joh Bailey. If he can do Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton-John and Elle Macpherson’s hair, he’s good enough for our Fatima! She comes out looking and feeling a million bucks. “This has been the best couple of days of my life,” she says to Rebecca. It’s time to head home and see her friends, family and reveal the renovations… And little does she know there’s one more surprise - Renovation Rescue has flown her favourite niece Cansev over from Cyprus! Holiday contacts:
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