Episode five, Laois | PHOTOGRAPHY & SUPPLIER LIST

Meet Dolores. Her family are staging an intervention. Over the last ten years as Dolores’s three children have moved out, she has moved more and more clutter in! The house is now at bursting point with clothes, shoes and paraphernalia for community events.

Dolores and her husband Liam have lived in their rural county Laois home for over thirty years. Dolores says it’s not Farmer Liam’s stuff that is cluttering the house, only hers, so it’s all eyes on her to sort it!

Dolores adores clothes. She has a jumper in every colour and over fifty pairs of shoes. She doesn’t believe in throwing old clothes out because ‘everything comes back into fashion’. She still has her 1980s power suits from her days working in an office and a jumpsuit she wore to her 21st! Also, hidden in a wardrobe is the dress Dolores wore at eleven years of age for her confirmation.

Community is very important to Dolores. She runs local bingo once a month and also organises fundraisers and an annual ladies lunch. All of these activities see her buy and store signs, glasses, tablecloths, flowers and dishes in case they are needed and can bring a wow factor to a local event. Of course, each event also requires a new outfit!

In her own quirky way Dolores uses her dishwasher to dry and not wash her dishes. Buried on the kitchen table is one of Dolores favourite items, a record player. She loves country music and wishes there was more room for dancing - not only is there no space for dancing, there’s little space for anyone to sit and have a cup of tea!!

Róisín’s design challenge in this house, is only one aspect of this Home Rescue. Convincing Dolores to let go of clothes and event props will be a completely different task for the clutter busters to tackle! This dedicated fashionista will have difficult choices to make!

With a sense of humour, Dolores and her family will laugh their way through the rescue and Róisín, Peter and the team may have to deliver lots of tough love along the way!