Be cheap yet chic when decorating your space!
Finally, the Jazz Room! The record headboard is my favorite DIY project I’ve completed. It was so easy to do and looks spectacular, if I do say so myself! The dresser and mirror took forever to complete, but I’m glad I stuck with it because it really adds a lot to the room.
Hey, y’all, this video didn’t upload properly, so I will be posting “The Big Reveal: Part Four 2.0″ later this evening! Stay tuned and thank you for your patience!
The moment is finally here, y’all! After almost four months of planning, painting, reupholstering, and laboring, my five rooms at the Ocala Ritz Veterans’ Village are finally finished!
This is a bittersweet moment for me because it’s been such a labor of love. I’m thrilled to be finished, but I’m going to miss going to the Home every day to tinker away. I’m sure I won’t be idle for long, though. My best friend is having a baby in August and I’m helping her with the nursery, so that should provide me with plenty of things to paint and reupholster!
Thank you for being such a huge part of this project! I loved hearing from y’all about paint colors and solutions to various design problems. It was so helpful to get encouraging feedback from all of you as I plugged away. Enjoy the tour!
This is Part One of a five-part video series I’ve completed to give you a detailed tour of each room I decorated. Let’s start first with the Monochromatic Room.
The Monochromatic Room’s calming color scheme might make it my favorite of the five I decorated. The mid-century style dresser, along with the headboard, are my favorite aspects of the room. Enjoy the tour!
As y’all know, I strongly believe in being involved with a charity that tugs at your heart, be it one that helps homeless veterans, one that fights to end hunger, or one that supports victims of domestic abuse. You can give so much to an organization by donating your time, talents, and finances. I am a loyal reader of Kate Riley’s amazing blog, Centsational Girl, and I read about her work to renovate and decorate a home for single mothers who are trying to get back on their feet. They adopted a home through the Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) in California. It became known as the “The Alma Project” because it’s located on Alma Drive. Coincidentally, “alma” means “spirit” or “soul” in Spanish, and almsgiving is a means of giving to the less fortunate.
The Alma Project
Kate was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the project, and I think y’all will really appreciate what she and her team are doing for these women. I hope this encourages y’all to find projects in your area that you can help!
1. What has been your favorite part about working on this project?
I loved the opportunity to use my DIY skills to better the living environment for the families living in the Alma House, it gave me great satisfaction knowing at the end of each project the house was a nicer place to live thanks to our efforts.
2. Have you had a chance to interact with the women who will be living in the home upon its renovation?
I was there for several hours a day while we worked on the individual projects, so I really got to know the women and their kids on a personal level. We talked about both the charming and challenging aspects of being moms, and we even attended a birthday party for one of the kids one weekend.
3. You wrote about this project in March 2011 and detailed the many ways you planned to improve the space. What have you done so far to improve the home?
We worked on three separate projects, including improving the hallway and converting it to more of a mudroom, building them a media center, and building a full laundry center out in the garage. We ended the year by bringing Christmas to the home, all of the posts are here. Read more about the projects here.
4. Do you have an anecdote or short story from your experience working on the project that best describes what you were trying to achieve by taking on this renovation project?
Whenever someone asks me where I see myself in five years, the first answer that I give is ‘fixing up spaces for those who really need it, not those who can afford it’. I feel in my heart that I want to spend part of my time giving back some of what’s been given to me. The mantra I have heard over and over in my head for months now is ‘there are real people with real needs who need real solutions.’ I talked it over with my hub, and we came to an agreement months ago that we were going to reach out into our own community and find somewhere to help. And so we did, that’s how the Alma Project was born!
First Bedroom in the Two-Bedroom Unit
Drum roll, please! I’ve FINALLY gotten the green light to start nailing, painting, and decorating my rooms at the veterans’ home. I’m so excited to begin this amazing project! For the past couple of months, I’ve been collecting furniture (my parents’ garage looks like it should be featured in an episode of TLC’s Hoarders TV show) to use for my veterans.
These are the two bedroom units I’ll be decorating. The wall colors will stay the same, but besides that, everything else is going to change! I want these veterans to walk into these rooms and feel instantly welcomed and comfortable. They have done so much for our country, so I’m determined to make their space the most beautiful, warm, and comforting place possible.
I think my favorite part of these spaces is the beautiful hardwood floors. I think I’m going to use a small area rug underneath the bed so that the vets have a warm place to put their feet on when they get out of bed, but I won’t cover up more than that.
Kitchenette Area Shared by the Two-Bedroom Unit
It’s going to be a challenge to find furniture that will be both aesthetically pleasing and functional. I’m on the hunt for a small circular table that can serve as a desk and dinner table.
I’ll also need an inexpensive way to provide coverage for these windows. Any ideas? I thought maybe using valances and then venetian blinds, but I hate to have anything that looks cheap and last minute. If y’all have any suggestions about inexpensive window coverings, I’d love to hear!
These pictures are to show you what I’m working with. This weekend I’m going to sketch out a rough floor plan so that I can get an idea of how much space I’m working with and where I should think about placing the furniture. Look for a post later this week about the furniture I’ve gotten so far and what I plan to do with it!
Hey, y’all!
I hope this finds you having a fantastic start to your weekend. I wanted to let you know about a special project I’ll be working on this summer: I’m helping to refurbish and re-decorate an old hotel in my hometown, which will then become a temporary residence for homeless veterans.
Ocala Ritz Historic Inn, Photo from Hotel-Online.com
The Ritz Historic Inn, an 85 year-old building near the heart of downtown Ocala, will serve as a transitional housing facility for 50 veterans.
The Ocala community has generously donated furniture, bedding, wall decor, and other room accessories in order to make each room a welcoming, warm dwelling for each veteran. The awesome people of Volunteers of America Florida have made this project possible.
I’ll be posting pictures and updating y’all on my progress on the project throughout the summer. It’s such an amazing honor to be able to give back in a small way to these men and women who have given so much to our country.
If you have any design or decor suggestions for me, let me know!
For more information about this project, please visit their Facebook page.
