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Home goes to the dogs – Metro US

Home goes to the dogs

Oh, Canada — what have you thrown at us now? Hmm? Well, you know… just the biggest challenge of our career thus far! Aye, this week we’re in the wilds of Whitby in what looks like a perfectly respectable suburban area — wide quiet streets, lush greenery and multiple cars abound. Who would have guessed what was waiting for us? Sure, our target house looked just like any other suburban dream, but, lurking behind the front door, was a home so diabolical that even The Addams Family would have winced!

Scary? Yup, this house saw Mum and Dad sharing an unfinished basement with an assembly of overflowing cat trays, a pack of mad dogs and more pet poo poo than you could shake a stick at! Put it this way, it wasn’t the type of place where you’d have picked up a stray fun-size Mars Bar or chocolate covered raisin… The house really had gone to the dogs. Literally.

In short, it was the perfect case of “when good homes go bad” due to the varied path of life’s trajectory. Mum Joanne (an utterly adorable yet mixed up 30-something) had struggled to cope with four dogs, four cats, four kids and a Gecko — and who could blame her? Truth of the matter is that it’s all too easy to judge a book by its cover. First impressions can often be wrong and, as you’ll see, we soon discover one of the finest families in Canada. Four great kids — each one smart, fun and intelligent — a husband who works hard to keep things moving and Joanne (a tiny, cute girl who looks way too young to be shouldering such responsibility) at the centre of it all. And our remedy? We plan massive changes to the layout of the house and we decide to SERIOUSLY spoil the lovely family. And that’s where we break the news to our team — on this project we’ll be tackling EIGHT rooms on our normal budget and timeframe!

And so it came to pass that, as soon as our glamorous and very capable assistant Cheryl had picked herself up off the floor, we were ready to tackle our biggest house of horror EVER. And the first thing we tackled? We rejigged the floor plan. Our goal was to reposition Mum and Dad upstairs in a drop-dead gorgeous boudoir, then create a stylish bedroom for each of the kids. Next, we chopped the massive basement into two funky crash pads AND created a useful cat and dog bathroom. Curious? All will be revealed! In addition to this, we tackled three further bedrooms, a dining room and a jungle inspired living room. Blimey!

But the burning question remained — could we achieve such bold transformations with no extra time or cash? Would our plans to control the pets transform the home, or would it once again go to the dogs? And to what, precisely, does the title of this weeks episode, “Spit On My Floor,” refer? Is it jaded Joanne’s suggestion that if we simply gobbed on the carpet we’d make it better than it was? Or is it that one of us was so freaked out by the pet poo problem that he actually vomited on the aforementioned shag? Hells bells! Hold on to your dinner, and ALL will be revealed on tomorrow night’s episode of Home Heist!

  • Colin & Justin’s Home Heist airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on HGTV.

pet-friendly design

  • Flooring: Choose flooring that’s resistant to scratches, such as hardwood, tile or linoleum. Avoid absorbent finishes such as carpets to avoid accidents and subsequent staining. Buy rugs that are machine washable.

  • Furniture: When choosing fabrics, avoid black velvet or materials that attract and hold on to pet hair. Invest in a specialist pet hair lifting vacuum.

  • Wall finishes: Use washable semi-gloss paint in high-traffic areas where your pets spend most of their time. Avoid flat paint as it’s harder to clean.

  • Hanging accessories: When deciding on where pictures, mirrors or other wall hangings should be, take into account how large your pet is and keep things out of harm’s way. Anything within reach is fair game!