You may remember them from The Block Sky High in 2013 but husband and wife team Matt and Kim Di Costa’s latest renovation is a heart-warming tale of intelligent design.
Lounge & kitchen
The couple were given four days to renovate the home of Ray and Ruth Wilson for the Channel 9 series ‘Matt and Kim to the Rescue’ which aired only in Western Australia. The major design challenge was making the home wheelchair-accessible for stroke victim Ruth, who is paralysed on one side of her body.
Wheelchair-accessible bathroom
“It was our intention to give Ruth her freedom back as due to financial struggles it was impossible to upgrade this house for wheel chair accessibility and she had been limited to just three rooms in the home,” says Matt, who was tasked with making the home 100 percent accessible.
Master bedroom
A dual access ramp was installed at the front door, switches were lowered, power points were raised and the bathrooms were made wheelchair friendly too. “We created ramps in the outdoor living and a ramp behind the pool too, for Ruth’s rehabilitation,” says Matt.
Ray’s bathroom
“I didn’t want the home to feel or look like a wheelchair home,” says Matt of the stylish house that is a nice study in the use of texture. “We painted some exposed brick walls, used horizontal vein marble in the bathrooms, installed a beautiful light oak vinyl floor, incorporated polished concrete and marble in the kitchen and lounge and installed fabric panels on the wall in the master bedroom,” says Matt.
Pool
Incredibly, the backyard, like the rest of the home, was also transformed in four days with donated labour and materials. “The backyard was mostly for Ray. It celebrated his love of two things – his family and golf. We installed an outdoor kitchen fit with BBQ, concrete sink, fridge, serving area and concrete dining table,” says Matt who also designed a mini putting green and driving range. “I’m a bit of a golfer too so this was pretty epic! We created a winding path, conversation pit and vegetable garden too.”
Putting green and driving range
Check out Matt and Kim’s show for more.
