Veronica Solomon
Jan 11, 20164 min
One of the greatest joys of what I do as an Interior Designer is seeing happy clients at the end of a design project. It is even more rewarding when the new space is done for someone who really needs some brightness in their world.
Veronica and Aunt Rosa
Recently my friend and realtor Linse Meadows approached me about doing a makeover for her Aunt Rosa. She wanted to do something special for her as Christmas present because Aunt Rosa has gone through quite a bit with her health in recent years. She suffered a stroke a few years ago which left her paralyzed on one side of her body, and she has been in and out of the hospital, even being there over the Christmas holiday. Our goal was to enhance her life by improving her surroundings and making it easier for her to get around.
Veronica and Linse Meadows
Aunt Rosa lives around an hour and a half from my design studio, but I was happy to take on this project. Linse has been a great supporter of my business and has referred a lot of business to me over the years. I agreed to accept significantly less than my normal rate with no product markups as my contribution to making the project happen for this kind thing she was doing for her aunt.
After meeting with Aunt Rosa and seeing the space first hand, my heart was moved to lighten and brighten the space to fit her personality. Despite her many health issues, Aunt Rosa is one of the happiest people you will ever meet. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and I immediately felt like I had known her for years.
The existing space was dark and cave-like and the furniture was way too big for the room, but we had to keep them, so my challenge was to make things feel like they belong.
Here are the before shots of the space
BEFORE – THE LIVING ROOM
This is the living room viewed from the front door. The leather sofa and chair had to stay in the room. Aunt Rosa needed the recliners to be able to put her feet up. They are very large for the room, but that’s what we had to work with.
BEFORE
Notice that the windows are covered with temporary paper shades which made the room even darker. The room had great wood floors which I was really excited about although they needed a bit of work. That and painting were not quite in the budget, so whatever accents I brought into the space will have to detract from the work that was needed to the floors and the beige paint color on the walls
We also had to keep in mind that she is leasing the house and we therefore did not want to improve it too much
BEFORE
The master bedroom was just a bed, dresser and one nightstand. It was as plain as vanilla and nothing like Aunt Rosa’s personality. She definitely needed a headboard to help her get out of bed. You will see soon how we addressed that.
BEFORE
She also needed a seating area for when her home health aid was with her.
So here’s what I did for Aunt Rosa
AFTER – LIVING ROOM
So lighter and brighter is what we did!
I wanted to minimize the look of the sofas by bringing in bright colors, so I started with the area rug with its aqua, green, orange and yellow. I needed to keep the center of the room pretty open for reclining the sofa, so I used an oval ottoman instead of a heavy table. The lighter weight of the ottoman makes it easy to be pushed out of the way when she needs to recline.
The media cabinet was chosen to complement the rug and so were the colorful pillows. The media cabinet will be getting a TV soon, but in the meantime I added a floral and some photos.
I was extremely happy to pull the temporary paper shades off the windows and added these semi-sheer curtain panels in white. They let so much light into the room
I replaced the art in the room with ones that went with our color scheme and I also used 3 dimensional sculptural pieces as well
One last one for the living room
The master bedroom got a bit of a change too. The headboard had to have slats for her to grab onto to help her get out of bed. I chose this metal headboard which is just as beautiful as it is practical. It is also a great choice because it does not block light coming in from the awkwardly placed window behind the bed.
The bedding includes some of Aunt Rosa’s favorite colors and adds a pop of color and interest in the room.
We finally got a seating area in the room – a chair for her when her home health aid keeps her company
I also removed the temporary shades from the windows and added these semi-sheer grommeted panels. There is so much more light coming into the room
We had to keep her temporary TV stand, but it is great that she now has a TV in her bedroom. We had only one nightstand, but moving the bookcase that was blocking a door in the living room to the bedroom, stands in as a place to display her beloved family pictures.
She loves having a soft rug underfoot when she gets out of bed, and this geometric shag rug fits the bill.
We did a few things in the kitchen as well, but our budget didn’t quite stretch to a complete overhaul.
At the reveal, I got lots of hugs and thank you’s from Aunt Rosa. She loved everything and was so happy at how light and bright the new space is.
This is what her daughter wrote on my Facebook post
That is my mom and she is still in complete wow, she loves it…!! Thank y’all so much she hasn’t been this happy in a long time”
That just warmed my heart . I love being a part of moments like this.
If you are ever looking for a home in the Houston area, or selling a home, contact Linse Meadows for great personal service. Click here to visit her website
FOR SALE – 9994 KATY BROOK LN BROOKSHIRE TX 77423
And speaking of great service from Linse: She just listed my home for sale, so if you are in the market for a gorgeous new home in the Katy area (Katy ISD), please check out my listing. Click here. I will post more about that later
Wishing You Beauty and Inspiration!