Trading Graces – Part Two

OK.  Here is attempt two at getting this post up!  Here we go –

Now that you know what Trading Graces is all about, I get to talk a little more specifically about this project.  So as I mentioned before, this family has two kids with special needs so getting their house “put together” was not really a priority.  Their priority was/is their kids.  When the design team (Lora, Debbie and Lauren) asked what she liked she said she that orange was her favorite color and they really liked warm colors. They had her collect photos from books and magazines of things she liked but other than that, the family didn’t know what all was going on in their house.

Most of these pictures aren’t mine because I wasn’t there for the beginning of the project and I left before the family came home so didn’t really get the finished pictures.  I compiled these photos from emails and Lora’s camera so sorry that some of them are a bit grainy.

Here is a before picture of the kitchen –

And the after –

I want you to know that the cabinets came from all over.  None of them matched.  Lots were from Craig’s List and some from salvage places.  Lora fit them together like a puzzle and volunteers painted them all cream to make them match.  Don’t they look amazing!  Look at all the extra cabinets she has now!!

On the opposite side of that little half wall, they had a dining room so the half wall was ripped out so the kitchen could use the whole space and then they put a built in with shelves and a desk and moved the dining room into what was originally intended for the dining room but was being used for an office.

Desk wall before –

Desk wall after –

They had blank wall and came up with this fun idea…

Before –

After –

Now here is an view of where the office was and is now the dining room..

Before –

After –

Now here are some finished shots of the living room done by Lauren Neal – www.laureninterior.ueuo.com.  (She also designed the dining room)

It takes a lot of talent to design but I think it takes even more talent to design with few resources compiling donations, found items from salvage yards or Craig’s List.  Didn’t they do an amazing job?!

And now I need to show you what Lauren did with my portraits of the family.  So cool!  It’s the first thing you see when you walk into the house.

Cool huh!!  There is so much more here to show and tell but it’d be too long.  I just wanted to give you and idea of some of the finishing touches.  And I love this photo of the family seeing their new kitchen for the first time –

And of them seeing the photo wall when they walked in –

The whole thing makes me so happy!!

Here’s one of Lora and me.  The thing that makes me laugh is all the people in the background trying to fix an issue in the pantry which sort of sums up Trading Graces – people are just excited to help…

There were so many many people that helped make this such a successful project but there are a few poeple who need special mention.  Steve Higgins (www.higginsbuildingco.com) – contractor extraordinaire – was there from dawn until well after dusk and sometime unto the wee hours pouring himself into this project.  He was always happy and helpful even when people were slowing him down.

Professional Organizer Elisa Adams put in many hours helping the family organize and purge before the project as well as being on site to help during the project and then helped move the family back in to their new space.  She gave a little seminar about organizing that I was able to go to and am so motivated to do some purging and reorganizing myself! www.how2organize.net.

Well, I feel like there is so much I’m leaving out as well as so many people I’m leaving out but I just need to stop. Thank you to all involved for a truly enriching and blessed time.