And the story began…
 Paula Zelynski migrated to Australia from China in 1962 with her Russian parents and six surviving siblings. The communist regime had confiscated the family’s belongings and forced them from their self-sufficient peasant farm into the city of Harbin , where they were enrolled in a re-education program. Paula’s parents made the difficult decision to uproot the family in search of a better future and arrived in Sydney when Paula was 20.
Initially, Paula worked in a factory making bags for cement, before taking a job at the Royal Hospital for Women in Paddington. She was introduced to George, a Ukrainian-born Australian, by a mutual friend and three months later they were married. Natalie, their eldest daughter, was born a year later. When the children were old enough to be left alone, Paula started back at work as a cook in a local nursing home. It was during her 16 years in this role that Paula observed the difficulties faced by elderly people spending their final years in an institution. When Paula was forced to leave her job due to RSI, she became a member of the Community Visitors Scheme. The Community Visitors Scheme is a government-funded initiative aimed at improving the lives of residents in nursing homes with limited social or family contact. Many of the patients Paula has been visiting for the last 10 years suffer from some form of dementia and many have reverted to their mother tongue. Aside from offering friendship, understanding and cultural links to their former homelands, Paula often takes in home-cooked food and traditional Russian or Ukrainian cuisine. In 2000, Paula became her husband’s fulltime carer. He died in April this year. Paula’s three children see Renovation Rescue as an opportunity to give their special, outspoken mother a fresh start and a chance for her to do all the things she could not do when her husband was still alive. Valerie Chu from the Central Sydney Area Health Service first suggested Paula for this show, but handed over to Natalie, Paula’s daughter, to continue the nomination process.
 The Reno team moved Paula’s bedroom into the front room (a project the family had started but not yet finished). In the living room we hand painted Paula’s dining table and added a huge display cabinet. Over in the sunroom, we added plantation shutters and a cosy seating area. In the kitchen, we gave Paula all new appliances; a Smeg stove and rangehood and an LG dishwasher, microwave and new fridge. We also gave Paula a gorgeous new federation door from Hume Doors, in keeping with the architectural style of the house. To keep Paula and her family safe, Signature Security installed a back-to-base alarm system. The bedroom Before  Paula’s front bedroom was a blank canvas for Sarah. She changed the aluminium window frame to a beautiful cedar colonial style from Stegbar and because Paula loves poppies, Sarah gave the walls a coat of deep red in Dulux Colonial Red USA. (Cost $85 for four litres.) After 
Paula’s walls are full of cracks, so Peter uses No More Gaps between the cornice and the walls. For the bigger gaps he uses Spack Filler, which you can sand back before painting. Tips: Strong wall colours can look fantastic when they are offset with white, but can often be a little harsh. To soften the space, Sarah introduces a third colour, Dulux Russian White, which is a warmer neutral. (Cost $64 for four litres.) Sarah’s artwork was inspired by the fact that Paula’s favourite flowers are poppies. Sarah used a clear plastic salad bowl, a feather boa and some hot glue. Simply place the hot glue around the bowl and stick the feather boa on top. Then hang them on the wall with a plate hanger. Sarah gives Paula a stunning new bedhead by buying some lace from Spotlight and hanging it from a brass curtain rod attached to the wall. It adds layers to the room and lots of femininity. Get great ideas for your home with Mitre 10 Mitreplans Check out our fact sheet list of products and suppliers. The lounge room Before  Paula’s dining table is the real heart of her home. Tara wanted to do something special for her, so she enlisted a few friends to turn Paula’s dining table into a real work of art.
After  Paula’s sunroom gets quite hot in summer and cold in winter, so Tara separates the sunroom and the lounge room by organising plantation shutter bifold doors. Tips: Tara uses plantation shutters made from coated MDF, which is much more affordable then traditional styles. They come pre-finished, so no painting required! Available from Just Blinds and Shutters. French wash is a beautiful delicate paint finish but it’s definitely a two person job. In the lounge room, Tara uses Porter’s Wasabi as a base coat and Porter’s Pickle as the top coat. Simply apply the top coat with some soft muslin to give it that delicate wash finish. The backyard Before  Out the back, the Reno team built Paula a secret rose garden surrounded by decorative arbours. The courtyard now has new pavers and seating and in the corner we built Paula a fantastic cubbyhouse for all her grandkids. After  We also created a fabulous barbecue area with outdoor cedar shutter windows (cost $20 each) and a brand new barbecue from BeefEaters. The back of the home got a coat of paint in Dulux Butterscotch ($85 for four litres) which gives the area a whole new look. Because Paula had a sloping yard, we decided to terrace the garden into two levels. The top level is Paula’s secret rose garden, which has decomposed granite as a base, timber arbours and a selection of beautiful roses. The bottom level is a lawn, with a boundary of striking new plants. Tips: Make sure you use the right machinery when levelling a yard. A bobcat with an operator costs $65 per hour. Luke Van Dyck replaces the old shade cloth under Paula’s house with some hardwood screens - just two batons on either side and hardwood decking from the ground up. Remember, it’s very important to maintain airflow when building screens for under the house, so make sure you leave little gaps which keep it nice and dry and lessen the risk of termites. Most pavers vary slightly in size, so to compensate when laying the stone, we leave approximately 3mm gaps, which help the job stay nice and even. The pavers we used were C & M Limestone, available from Amber for approximately $70 per square metre. The pavers are laid on a bed of roadbase and river sand. For instant retaining wall systems, use pre-fabricated concrete blocks. You don’t need footing or block work, because they weigh 280kg and will just sit in place. But you will need heavy machinery to manoeuvre them. Woodcrete blocks cost $60 each from McCorkell Products. Before you plant out your garden, have a look at what grows best in your area. Down the road from Paula’s house is a thriving magnolia soulangiana (400mm pot $100). The trick to growing Japanese maple (300mm pot $100) is to keep it in deep, well drained soil with lots of organic matter. Don’t clip or prune it and keep it out of windy positions. Camellia japonica (300mm pot $60) has a stunning flower. Its ideal growing conditions are a shaded position with well drained soil. A great hedging or screening plant is a viburnum tinus (300mm pot $45). It tolerates lots of different soil types, flowers all year and grows in part shade or full sun . Scotty’s project: A fabulous cubbyhouse for Paula’s grandkids. Pick up the MitrePlan from your local Mitre 10 store. Scotty used Western Red Cedar to give it a rustic look! Get great ideas for your home with Mitre 10 Mitreplans Check out our fact sheet list of products and suppliers. 
 Rebecca wanted to take Paula and her two best girlfriends, Tamara and Valentina, somewhere they had never been before, somewhere grand that incorporated Paula’s three secret passions: chocolate, Latin music and Stingers actor Peter Phelps. The place that combined the three turned out to be … Hobart
! Day one Virgin Blue flew Rebecca, Paula and Tamara and Valentina - her two mischievous girlfriends - to Hobart , where they were given a luxurious Holden Statesman to drive. First stop was Bar Celona, a happening nightspot in Salamanca Place . Rebecca had heard it was Paula’s dream to do Latin dancing, so she’d arranged for Tasmania ’s best salsa band, Son Del Sur, to belt out some flavourful tunes. To recreate an authentic atmosphere, she also asked Tasmania ’s Salsa and Tango Club to teach the girls some moves. They danced until the wee hours. Day twoAfter a late breakfast and a stroll around the cute cobblestone streets of Hobart, it was time for the next surprise. But how were they to get there? By helicopter of course! They started on the banks of Hobart’s harbour, went straight over Mt Wellington and along the eastern coastline. They were dropped off at a magnificent mansion known as Anstey Barton in the quaint seaside town of Kettering. Anstey Barton is a secret hideaway for the rich, the famous and the royal - and now for renovation rescuees! And who should greet them at the front door? Paula’s favourite actor, Peter Phelps from Stingers! Peter showed the ladies through the house and joined them in a celebratory drink. They all had a great chat about their lives, their kids and even grandkids before Phelpsy had to get back to the Stingers set. Rebecca then told the ladies they had the mansion to themselves for a whole night - it was a girls' sleepover! Bec handed each an official Peter Alexander pyjama pack to get them started. But before she left it was time for the Wizard Wish. Paula was known for her love of cooking, especially French, so we decided to send her to the Ritz in Paris plus a winery in Arles to learn how to cook from the masters. With tears, hugs and happy emotions, it was truly a night to remember! Day three Paula is a self-confessed chocaholic, so when Rebecca told the ladies that today they had access all areas passes to the southern hemisphere’s Cadbury Chocolate Factory, it was screams all round. As the ladies took over the factory floor, some cheeky hi-jinx ensued and Paula was given more chocolate than you could eat in a lifetime - a 10kg block! By noon it was time to fly home to Sydney to see her new house and one
more massive surprise - her favourite singer Peter Cousens singing the hits
from the musicals she knows and loves. For more information click here. 
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