It’s a countdown for the Mechelen couple. Are they rewarded for their hard work? Will their three children finally each get their own room? Flanders will know the answer on Tuesday. “We try not to worry, but there are nerves,” says Enis. “However, we no longer have control over it, the viewer decides together with real estate agents and potential buyers.”
“We can’t do more than this,” says Ana. “We mainly dream, and dreams come true. However? But we are not saying that we are going to win. We are not tempting fate.”
The house has been ready since mid-November. “Started in March. Worked hard three days a week. And on the other days there was our job and the three children,” says Enis. Ana inevitably suffered a setback after the filming. “I’m constantly sick. Even now I’m coughing a lot. My body needs to recover.”
“I used to always say that a weekend is too short,” Enis laughs. “We now have loads of time. Very strange to suddenly not know what to do anymore.”
The entrance hall as it used to be. — © vtm
The result of the metamorphosis. — © vtm
“Each our roots”
We are sitting in the dining room. Behind us hang three striking photos. Antwerp is recognizable in the middle. “Porto on one side, Tuzla on the other. Or Portugal and Bosnia, each our roots,” says Enis. “When VTM wanted to do business with us, I thought they were crazy,” he laughs. “We knew nothing about renovating! In the past, we sometimes suggested renovating, but we didn’t dare because we had two left hands. And now look. We learned quickly, thankfully. Although we did discover that the structural work and electricity were quite tough tasks. Painting and finishing was much more fun.”
The building really seems built to their needs. “People often think it is too small. But not all rooms have been renovated,” says the couple. “There are three rooms left. So there is plenty of room for the children. There is even room for a dressing room. And two toilets. Finally, we wouldn’t have to go down at night anymore,” Ana hopes.
The old living room. — © vtm
The new living room. — © vtm
The interior is stylish. “Sometimes we had discussions. Enis wanted to paint the downstairs ceiling yellow, I wanted to paint it white,” says Ana. “The compromise? It turned green. (laughs)”. “Because the kitchen is green, it flows together beautifully,” says Enis.
“Enis made many important choices and they turned out well. We scored with Amália’s bedroom floor. That was his choice. Just like the herringbone floor downstairs.”
Eye-catcher
“Eye-catcher? The entire ground floor for us. Just from the books,” says Enis. “We challenged ourselves,” says Ana. “We worked with accent colors on walls and ceilings. This nice alignment was not easy.”
Their first assignment was Amália’s bedroom. “There was healthy stress. But when our first buildings were level and everything worked, we felt calm: we could do this job.”
This was an empty space between the living room and dining room. — © vtm
And now there is a new kitchen. — © vtm
Water fun
Not everything was nice. “Like installing the pipes for the bathroom. A lot of work, you hardly saw any progress.” And yet things went seriously wrong with that bathroom. “The water was gushing out of the wall. Apparently someone from Pidpa had been working on the main tap, which we thought was closed,” it said. “It took a while for the water to stop.”
The jury at the time was not happy with the bathroom. “Bart Appeltans called it the worst room of this season,” says Enis. “We focused on the technology. As a result, the painting was not finished, the skirting boards were missing… But that’s okay.”
This empty space made room for… — © vtm
A diningroom. — © vtm
If they reach the final and win, they won’t move immediately. “Because there is still renovation work to be done. But we want to speed things up,” says Enis. “Friends can help. Our children really hope that they will come and live here. They still have to go to school in Mechelen, but we are happy to take them”
If they lose, the dream will shatter. “To borrow? We fear that. This is priceless for us. Then we stay in our rental home. So there is only one option: win. Estimating the odds is impossible. We only see on TV what they have made of it elsewhere.”
You can vote for the finalists from Thursday evening, the final is Tuesday January 2.
House made, VTM, 8.35 pm
In terms of sanitary facilities, everything was outdated. — © vtm
Now the future owner has a mega-sized bathroom. — © vtm
And this bedroom was also taken care of. — © vtm
With this as a result. — © vtm