It's time to shine for a northern Illawarra furniture restorer who will feature on a new television series from May.
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Britta de Laat was hand-picked by talent scouts to join a team of highly skilled craftspeople for The Repair Shop which begins airing from May 3 on Foxtel.
Family heirlooms and much loved keepsakes that have seen better days are brought in for the experts to give a new lease on life.
"I believe in manifestation," de Laat told the Mercury. "I said to my seamstress 'wouldn't it be amazing if they'd have one of these restoration shows on television and they cast me on the show'."
De Laat and five others - a leather craftsman, horologist (clock expert), jeweller, metal worker and electrician - restored more than a dozen pieces over about six weeks, each coming with a significant story to pull at the heart-strings.
The owner of restoration business Dumped & Ditched said she had worked behind-the-scenes on many film sets in the past, but this was the first time being in front of the camera.
"It was a bit nerve wracking with five cameras watching you as you're doing something challenging, it takes multi-tasking to the next level," she said.
"There was quite a lot of work on, it was manic to get all the stuff done."
Many of the owners of these pieces felt guilty about having not looked after the item but left feeling proud and relieved, de Laat likening the experience to "giving healing" by bringing the cherished items new life.
Originally from Germany, De Laat lived in the UK for 13 years before moving to Australia with her husband.
Her restoration business has steadily built a client base over the last seven years, with her first retail outlet selling resurrected furniture and home-wares opening this week in Stanwell Park, called The Unlikely Item.
De Laat hopes to use her newfound fame to encourage more people to repair the old and "raise awareness of the processes of rescuing items" including the time and effort that goes into it.
"If you find it on the street, mentally people put its restoration on a low budget - but the more broke it is the more time you need to fix it," de Laat said.
She said furniture restorers spend many years studying and perfecting their craft while her business was "not a back street operation".
"Appreciation for the art and craft is often missing," she said, adding her aim was to change the perspective people have.
"Think about it like getting a tailor-made suit, that you can't get off the shelf ... design their own heirloom pieces that they can pass on to their own kids."
The Repair Shop premieres Tuesdays at 8.30pm from May 3 on FOXTEL.
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