2015 Holiday Home Transformation - Part 2

One more week... and we end 2015.     It has been a great year for K. Renee and we have to thank each of you for your loyal support of both our home and clothing business.  Your support has made it possible for us to continue our tradition of giving back to our community by selecting a deserving person for a home transformation.   Last week, we shared the nomination letters ( click here to read letters) and the name of the very special lady that is this years recipient, Melissa Dale.  

And this week, I get the pleasurable task of sharing with you the details of her transformation the Monday before Christmas.    Melissa gives tirelessly to all those around her through her work as the Celebrate Recovery Coordinator at the Lutheran Church of Hope so it was only fitting for us to be able to give something back to her.     How did she react to the news of being selected?    Melissa writes on her facebook page...

Such perfect timing for a home transformation!   Our design team went to her home, talked about her needs and decided that we would furnish and style her living room area just in time for her upcoming Christmas celebration.  

Melissa had some work to do before we arrived at her home the following Monday.    She had over the years accumulated lots of things and had the difficult task of sorting through all of the items in her home and deciding which items had true meaning for her and which items she would let go.  I know that this is a difficult thing for all of us to do in our own homes.   I asked Melissa to really look at each and every item and decide if it brought her joy and good memories.   If so, keep it.    Otherwise, donate or give away anything that did not meet that criteria.

After a weekend of sorting through all of her items, she was amazed to discover that the only items that really meant something meaningful to her fit nicely into one storage tub.  Melissa even told me that a few of the items on her shelves had been there since the mid-nineties.   How many times does that happen to all of us?   We put something in our home and it just stays because it's there...not because it brings us joy.      

Melissa decided that the remainder of her furniture would be donated to Lutheran Church of Hope’s Furniture Ministry. This ministry offers furniture to those coming out of shelters and starting a new life.   A perfect fit for her furniture.  

The entire K. Renee team was engaged in this home transformation in one way or another.   The first team on deck on the day of our transformation was Jeff Schulz, Travis Schulz, Wendi Williams, Rachel Winkelmann, Jason (Rachel's husband), Kasey Schulz and myself.    While the boys loaded and delivered Melissa's donations to Lutheran Church of Hope, the girls and I did a little organizing, cleaning, and polishing before the next crew arrived.

Once Melissa's old furniture had found its new home, the transport team headed back to the store to begin loading up her new furniture and accessories.   It really does take a village to transform a home in just a few hours.    Susy Damon and Sherryl Viars helped us out by steaming new drapes and covering the clothing store along with Lana Jones Gould while we were out of the store.  DJ Fees came in on his day off to help the guys load furniture.  And Gina Ross was a big part of picking out and packing up all of the furniture and accessories that we would need to create Melissa's new room.  Thankfully, she was also able to man the fort at the home store while the rest of the design team headed to Melissa's home.

A clean slate was ready and waiting for the design team of Kelli Schulz, Stacie Schulz and Dana Luke to arrive!

Once the design team arrived, they leaped into action by putting up new drapes and flooding the room with a new sofa, chairs, coffee table, end tables, lamps, tables, dining chairs, area rug, accessories, mirrors, and artwork.

At this point, Frank Vaia joined the team in adding a few extra touches to get Melissa's new room ready for the holidays.  A few decorations, stockings for the fireplace, and a wreath for the door were all lovingly hung with care.   Rachel even headed to the porch to fill the planters with holiday trees and tie some garland and ribbon to the rails.

As the girls finished the room... we called Melissa at work and told her it was time to come home to see her new space!

Melissa arrived home about 5 o'clock that evening to see her new space...

And this is what she saw... 

Melissa had told the team that she liked to work at home in her living room and that she also didn't have an area to sit down and eat with family and friends. So Kelli came up with a perfect solution for the small corner by transforming it into a home office by day and dining table by night.   This great table can easily sit four for dinner.    

With the fireplace and shelves free of years of collectables, we were able to install a flat screen TV replacing the cumbersome tube TV which really helped free up the needed space to put more seating into the living room.    A mirror was placed on the mantle which not only brings in additional light but visually enlarged the room.    

So what did Melissa really think about her home transformation?    This is what she posted on Facebook later that night...

We are so thankful to have been a part of your transformation Melissa!     Thank you for allowing us into your home and letting us bring a little joy into your space and to help you get ready to entertain in your home.    Change is not always easy, we know.   But as you teach those that you serve... "Change is Possible" and change is good.   

Again, we thank each of you, our wonderful clients, for our amazing year.   And as we all head into 2016, it's time to think about the things that we can do or change to bring that thing called joy into our lives.    What will you do?

P.S.  Melissa's sweet cats seem to be enjoying their new home!