Live Like You & Marmalade Interiors
  • Shelter Redesign

  • 21May

    7 Comments

    IT’S DONE!! Shelter – Before/After

    Posted in: Before/After, Shelter Redesign

    So thrilled to share with you the BEFORE/AFTER pictures of the shelter redesign!  This morning all the designers and bloggers involved are linking up their blogs so you can surf around and view all the rooms Before/After in the shelter.   You won’t want to miss it!!  I’m hoping by sharing all this it might inspire other designers and people to do the same!!

    One of my favorite things about design is the ability to make people happy, and also be able to change someone’s life.  Donating my time and seeing all the amazing designers, handymen, and volunteers generously give their talent and time to help women and children who’ve suffered abuse makes me feel so positive about the world!   I will sleep better tonight knowing women and children who’ve suffered horrible abuse have a nice, inviting, cheerful place to stay while they heal.

    Listen to what KATHY, the shelter director says about their new surroundings!

    THE STORY

    With Knock Out Abuse we have a program called Sharing Spaces, which helps shelters fix up their spaces with an all volunteer effort. I went out to one of my favorite beneficiary shelters, to see if they needed help. I knew a lot of the shelters were struggling in the economic crisis, and no money ever gets allocated to interiors.  Here is what I saw….

    SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE!!

    STEP 1

    I wrote about it on the blog and asked Jennifer Sergent at DC by Design to do the same. She rallied several talented local designers. Within days we heard from many designers who were excited to step in and take on a room each to redesign. In fact we had more designers than we had rooms!!!

    STEP 2 – MEET AT THE SPACE

    We met at the shelter, made a plan and assigned space.  It was great meeting everyone, and the weird part of it was…They were thanking me to be able to do this!!  HOW NICE!

    STEP 3  – SHOPPING WITH ZERO DOLLARS

    Since the budget was zero we had to rely on donations from kind people and the shelter’s second hand store. Most designers went out of their way to donate their own pieces and somehow miraculously like always when something is meant to be, it all just fell in to place.   Here are some pieces Danielle and I found to use in our room.

    STEP 4 – GIVE THE PIECES A FRESH MAKEOVER

    Jose was an angel and donated lots of time to help the shelter.  Here we gave the pieces a cheerful update.

    We took lamps we bought for  a couple of bucks and spray painted them turquoise.  To turn them in to…

    …something like this.  The lamp shade we found in the shelter some where but it worked perfectly.

    A side table like this and an ugly lamp base, was turned in to…

    …a bedside set like this!

    The head board looked sweet with the bedding Bliss Living donated. The chairs with their fresh coat of paint got upholstered in yellow.  (Great upholstery job Danielle!)

    This depressing corner turned in to…

    This cheerful view. ( Sorry this chest we had not completely finished painting when I took the picture)

    I will sleep better at night knowing the woman and her three children staying here now will come home to a happy space!   (Thank You Jennifer for painting the bed!)

    To view the rest of the rooms you’ll have to visit all the other blogs.  But I’m going to share with you a teaser of Hardwood Artisan’s make over, because they took on the worst bedroom in the entire shelter.

    This is what one corner looked like before…

    This is how a little boy or a girl will sleep now! Doesn’t that feel good? The mom cried when she came in to the room!!

    Surf around and catch all the rooms going from DRAB to FAB!!  If they’re not posted yet, they will be today. Rebecca and Lauren’s living space is BEAUTIFUL, Denise’s playroom makeover a JOY, Raji’s living  room a CHIC haven.

    Rebecca at Acanthus & Acorn

    Jennifer Sergent at DC byDesign

    Lauren at Pure Style Home

    Hardwood Artisans

    Raji at Design Dossier

    Dream Design Live

    THANK YOU all Designers, Jennifer, handymen, Jose, Ellen, Kathy!!!!!

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  • 14May

    9 Comments

    SHELTER CHIC?

    Posted in: Before/After, Shelter Redesign

    FLYING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS!!! That’s the best way I can describe my day today.  Spent the day with the group of amazing and talented designers who are turning the domestic violence shelter in to a place, most people would dream of!!   Relying solely on donations from second hand stores, generous people (we love you!) and from the designers themselves, the design would have to “go with the flow” or for my part I was “flying but the seat of  my pants”.   Danielle and I changed our design scheme on a dime when BLISS LIVING donated  beautiful bedding.  Here is a sneak peak from a busy day when a new look might have been coined….SHELTER CHIC!   Before/After photos to come very soon.

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    Kathy Chassinger shelter director, talented Lauren Liess from Pure Style Home and wonder woman Jennifer Sergent from DC by Design in full speed in the room also designed by Rebecca from Acanthus & Acorn.  I had to leave before it was finished to be the parent reader at Luke’s school  ( I made it flying down 495..pizza in hand but right on the dot. Phew!)   But I hear this bedroom turned out AMAZING!!

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    Denise Willard in progress of turning the downstairs kid’s space in to a haven for kids. Yellow vinyl seating to work with the bold green wainscoting that existed.  Can’t wait to see how nice it will be.  the ladies working on this were another whirlwind of talent. SO HAPPY FOR THE LITTLE KIDS WHO WILL COME HERE!!

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    Everyone from Hardwood Artisans hard at work changing the worst looking bedroom in the shelter in to a fantastic mint green haven with fun built ins for a family of five.  They even built a hidden play area for kids in an empty wall space.  Can’t wait to show you next week what it looks like!!

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    Super talented Raji took on this big living room.  This is the space where all shelter meetings take place.  It will be a living room I could only wish to have.

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    Lauren and Rebecca also are doing the foyer.   Just giving you a peak of the fun things they’ve put together.  How CHIC!!!

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    Jose donated his time painting furniture for Danielle’s and my room.   We lost the dresser we had picked out, but found this in the foyer.  Not kidding. As I said I earlier I really meant “flying by the seat of your pants”!!  So we still have some painting to do.  We also lost the carpet, it accidentally got sold in the shelters second hand store. So we’re back in the hunt for a carpet. Got one?

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    Danielle is testing out the gorgeous bedding from Bliss that was donated for the three beds in the room.

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    Just a reminder that this is how our bedroom looked, and with a “little (or a LOT)  help from your friends”–a LOT of paint, a lot of goodwill, generosity of spirit…

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    …you can really make a difference!   This entire shelter will be  “Bliss” fully improved.  Will show you all the Before and Afters next week.

    It’s Friday afternoon-Yeah!   I’m going to S-L-E-E-P this weekend!!

    Have a great one!

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  • 15Apr

    5 Comments

    Helping people with design

    Posted in: Shelter Redesign

    Anna’s dining chairs and carpet have arrived, so I had to head over and check them out. They look awesome!   Anna and I are both thrilled, but agree they would look even more awesome with even lighter legs, and without the antiqued finish, which is the only finish in white Lee offered.   So we’re going to have them painted in a brighter shinier white for a more modern look.  The room is not done yet, but here’s a quick snapshot of a dining chair.

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    I LOVE the Madeline Weinrib carpet with the velvet chair.  How can you not love every single Madeline Weinrib carpet?  I’m definitely a Weinrib addict I think.  For you who didn’t read the earlier post, the chairs and carpet looked like this—

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    We’ve placed a bunch of orders for the living room.  I want to colorize everything, but sometimes muted tones are just the best.  Anna says she is the oldest in the family, Type A personality, used to taking care of things— so living in streamlined, peaceful and organized interiors is how she feels the best.  I think all these pieces are sleek and elegant, yet add just enough personality.

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    This mirror from Global Views already came in and makes the entire living room. I think it can be used in so many different styles. Just great simple design.

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    Two identical sized brown bordered wool sisals were ordered.  This one has a nice dark brown border and was without a yellow tone in the sisal.

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    Anna is still thinking of this grass cloth covered coffee table from Bungalow 5. It has a lacquered finish on top for easy cleaning.

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    We ordered two of these modern sofas from Lee.  They are only 71″ wide and will face each other in front of the fireplace.  The rooms is very long but not very wide so we had to find some that would fit they space right.

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    They are being covered in a gray velvet. I couldn’t get a picture of it — it’s a bit lighter than this fabric sample.

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    Anna found these two lamps for a good deal from Lamps Plus. To go on top of this–

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    …Parsons console fromWest Elm. Great style for a great price.

    We’ve been thinking of inexpensive things to go behind these lamps, and I really like what Danielle did in her house. She bought small mirrors from Ikea for $ 2/each and spray painted them silver. Looks pretty  neat I think.

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    Then I saw this on a Matters of Style blog last week,  and think  these IKEA mirrors might be even better.  Looks really nice I think.

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    Spray painted silver for Anna’s would probably be the right finish.

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    And no room is complete without something old. So we’re keeping Anna’s grand father’s chair. Having it done in black lacquer.

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    A cheap cane fabric will work to cover.

    Silver-Garden-Stool$250 Silver-Garden-Stool$250

    I love these garden stools.  Garden stools in general are fun and useful.  Anna was unsure at first as she has never used garden stools,  but somehow they stuck in her mind and is on the list for the near future.

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    Four the kids corner in the living room some serious budget purchases had to come in.  For the game table Anna purchased the “Karlstad” chair(named after my home town in Sweden!) from IKEA in natural linen $ 229/each.  Not big on this much IKEA but the shape is nice and clean and the legs have been painted  espresso brown. That made them look way more expensive.

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    We love this table but the price tag is too much.   Do you have any ideas on where to find a similar “budget” version of this?  No more than 36″diameter?

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  • 26Feb

    2 Comments

    Gimme Shelter!

    Posted in: Shelter Redesign

    I was going to wait and post this on Monday, but was so inspired by Jennifer Sergent at DCbyDesign, swift call to action when I asked her to help, that I’m posting this today instead. Turquoise can wait, this can’t!

    Fifteen years ago together with my good friend Cheryl Masri we founded Knock Out Abuse Against Women in DC, a not for profit organization raising funds and awareness for victims of domestic violence.  Learning that the number one reason for emergency room visits by women in the US are due to domestic violence, 1 in 3 women will be abused in their life time, and 4 women a day in the US alone are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends, we just had to do something!  The thought of children having to grow up living in fear breaks my heart.  And I can only imagine a mother’s desperate anguish not being able to shield her children from such cruelty.  Domestic violence is violence of the worst kind.  It takes place in your own home (that should be a sanctuary)  and it’s perpetrated by someone you love.

    I’ve spoken to many victims over the years, and done many mini documentaries for our charity event.  The violence these women and children are exposed to is of the extreme sort, and is possibly happening right now, right down your street.  When it comes to domestic violence neither race, social status, education or age matter.  It can happen to anybody.

    At Knock Out we have a program called “Sharing Spaces”, where we encourage people to donate what they no longer need, and use it to redesign a shelter.  Working in design, I want to commit, at least once or twice a year, to redesigning a shelter. It’s amazing how, what can feel like a little effort to you (like getting rid of a piece of furniture), can make a HUGE impact in the life of someone else!

    Danielle and I went to one of the shelters last week to see what needed to be done. The women who run these places are truly angels. They do an incredible job helping the women and children heal their wounds and get them back on their feet.  All the funds go to much needed programs, and sadly not much is left to the interiors. They have to rely on the kindness of strangers.

    They gave me permission to post these images I took on my blog, as I’m going to post the progress here.  When you’re life is in a state of chaos, I think no woman and child should have to live like this.  Sadly this is reality for many shelters.

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    Are you up for helping?

    Here’s how you can.  Most urgently right now they need furniture. Vastu furniture DC has already kindly agreed to donate some pieces, and so have other people and stores.  Are you a painter, upholsterer, carpenter, contractor, designer and want to help out? You can e-mail us at contact@marmaladeinteriors.com or contact Ellen Blankenstein at Knock Out Abuse (202)725-5604.   They need EVERYTHING!  But for now, we’re starting with two bedrooms.  Here is the immediate  wish list.

    1. 2 Bunk beds with trundle
    2. Single bed frame and headboard
    3. Tall large dresser ~ 3.5 ft.wide (tv above)
    4. Wide dresser ~ 5 ft. wide
    5. Carpet 8 x 10
    6. 3 Nightstands
    7. Lamps
    8. 4 x 3 bathroom mat (bathroom color mint green)
    9. Bathroom needs new vanity
    10. 4 Single bedding sheets sets (duvet/sheets/pillow case) – this is a continuous need
    11. Chairs of any kind

    I would feel much better if I knew the kids were sleeping in places that looked like this.  Wouldn’t you?

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    And the women could sleep in cheerful rooms like these below.  Maybe we can’t get all the way there, but at least we can aim for it…

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    P.S.

    Thank You to Ada-Marie for posting the super nice article on my beloved summer house on her fun blog! If you want to check it out needspark.wordpress.com.

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