Deserving Design
I love that show, Deserving Design, on HGTV. Its host, Vern Yip has been one of my favorite designers on TV since “Trading Spaces”. I love his design, elegant and classy. So back in April when Deserving Design had a contest that you can nominate someone who deserves to have a room in their home redecorated, I automatically thought of my oldest sister. I’ve documented her battle with cancer since last year on this blog.
My oldest sister deserves only the best because she is very kind and thoughtful. Always putting others’ well-being before her own, she’s unselfish and selfless that way. Actually, I’d love to nominate her for “Extreme Home Makeover” but I do realize that there are needier families who deserve it more.
Unfortunately, Vern didn’t pick my nomination of my sister’s house. So we decided to offer her our own version of “Deserving Design”. My sister loves the “Tiffany blue” color so that was the palette for choosing the fabrics. That is one of my favorite things to do, fabric shopping. I’m like a kid in a candy store, I can spend hours in the fabric store and not be bored. There was this really nice saleslady who helped me picked out the fabrics, I was overwhelmed with emotions by her kindness and the thought of how much joy it would be for my sister to see the final outcome of her bedroom.
My sister’s house is an older home which needs a lot of work. The basement gets flooded every time there’s rain (I don’t even want to think about the mold that’s infesting in the walls). The roof leaks and needs to be redone, the kitchen’s cabinets are so old that they get stuck every time you pull out the drawers. The laundry area is in one part of the basement that is so dingy and small that you can only squeeze in 2 people at a time, that’s just to name a few. We’d love to demolish the house and rebuild but we’re not flushed with extra cash like ABC.
On July 19 (while my sister was still in the hospital), my youngest sister, brother, Mom, Dad, my sister’s oldest son and I rolled up our sleeves, brought our tools to her house ready to work at 8AM.
My brother is the handi guy, so he patched up the hole in her bedroom that has been there for the past few years.
The most time consuming part is prepping the room for painting, here’s yours truly trying to put the painting tape on:
The rest of the crew (Dad, sister, brother and nephew) took over to paint, while my Mom helped me sew on the snaps (I still don’t know how to do button holes yet) on the pillows, two-sided duvet cover, and curtains that I’ve sewn the previous week:
This is the “before” picture of the room:
Here’s the “after” picture of the room (my Mom reupholstered the bench at the end of the bed, I learned to be “Jack of all trade” from her):
Another “after” angle:
And if you’re familiar with the show, Deserving Design, Vern usually redecorates one room and then surprises the homeowner with another finished room. But since we can’t give her a new kitchen, I thought why not change her existing curtains that she’s been wanting to get rid off for a while now.
“Before” stairs curtains:
“After” stairs curtains:
“Before” kitchen curtains:
“After” kitchen curtains, this took me the longest time since they had to be hand-sewn and on site:
As I’ve mentioned before, we started at 8AM and didn’t get home until 10:30PM, exhausted but satisfied with the final outcome. My Mom did more work a few days after with the final touches like getting the accessories for her bedroom, cleaned out her girls’ room, tidied up before my sister comes home from the hospital.
My Mom is truly a gem, when asked why she has so much energy, she replied “it must be medicine of love”. She is tireless and constantly on the go. I must have gotten that trait from her since I can’t sit still either.
I wished I can post the pictures of my sister when she came home and saw the transformation, but that would infringe on her privacy. I can tell you that she loves the room but felt really bad that we all spent lots of time and energy on her house. But you know what? We would do it again in a heart beat!
On another note, I can’t wait for school to start next week!! Trent is going to full-day kindergarten. Tyler will be in 3rd grade. Sophia still goes to 3-day preschool (and cries every time we drop her off and it’s been almost a year already!). Parker took his first few steps on 8/8 and he’s been cruising around the house on two legs instead of four, and loves to climb the stairs. He’s such a joy and a half!! I can’t wait to spend more solo time with him while the kids are in school.
This has been one heck of a busy summer for us. I’m looking forward to some down time when the kids are in school, who knows…maybe dedicated more time to this blog and visit yours, and equipped with a list of projects to tackle around the house.
How was your summer? Did you go anywhere or did “stay-cation” like us?
I love that show, Deserving Design, on HGTV. Its host, Vern Yip has been one of my favorite designers on TV since “Trading Spaces”. I love his design, elegant and classy. So back in April when Deserving Design had a contest that you can nominate someone who deserves to have a room in their home redecorated, I automatically thought of my oldest sister. I’ve documented her battle with cancer since last year on this blog.
My oldest sister deserves only the best because she is very kind and thoughtful. Always putting others’ well-being before her own, she’s unselfish and selfless that way. Actually, I’d love to nominate her for “Extreme Home Makeover” but I do realize that there are needier families who deserve it more.
Unfortunately, Vern didn’t pick my nomination of my sister’s house. So we decided to offer her our own version of “Deserving Design”. My sister loves the “Tiffany blue” color so that was the palette for choosing the fabrics. That is one of my favorite things to do, fabric shopping. I’m like a kid in a candy store, I can spend hours in the fabric store and not be bored. There was this really nice saleslady who helped me picked out the fabrics, I was overwhelmed with emotions by her kindness and the thought of how much joy it would be for my sister to see the final outcome of her bedroom.
My sister’s house is an older home which needs a lot of work. The basement gets flooded every time there’s rain (I don’t even want to think about the mold that’s infesting in the walls). The roof leaks and needs to be redone, the kitchen’s cabinets are so old that they get stuck every time you pull out the drawers. The laundry area is in one part of the basement that is so dingy and small that you can only squeeze in 2 people at a time, that’s just to name a few. We’d love to demolish the house and rebuild but we’re not flushed with extra cash like ABC.
On July 19 (while my sister was still in the hospital), my youngest sister, brother, Mom, Dad, my sister’s oldest son and I rolled up our sleeves, brought our tools to her house ready to work at 8AM.
My brother is the handi guy, so he patched up the hole in her bedroom that has been there for the past few years.
The most time consuming part is prepping the room for painting, here’s yours truly trying to put the painting tape on:
The rest of the crew (Dad, sister, brother and nephew) took over to paint, while my Mom helped me sew on the snaps (I still don’t know how to do button holes yet) on the pillows, two-sided duvet cover, and curtains that I’ve sewn the previous week:
This is the “before” picture of the room:
Here’s the “after” picture of the room (my Mom reupholstered the bench at the end of the bed, I learned to be “Jack of all trade” from her):
Another “after” angle:
And if you’re familiar with the show, Deserving Design, Vern usually redecorates one room and then surprises the homeowner with another finished room. But since we can’t give her a new kitchen, I thought why not change her existing curtains that she’s been wanting to get rid off for a while now.
“Before” stairs curtains:
“After” stairs curtains:
“Before” kitchen curtains:
“After” kitchen curtains, this took me the longest time since they had to be hand-sewn and on site:
As I’ve mentioned before, we started at 8AM and didn’t get home until 10:30PM, exhausted but satisfied with the final outcome. My Mom did more work a few days after with the final touches like getting the accessories for her bedroom, cleaned out her girls’ room, tidied up before my sister comes home from the hospital.
My Mom is truly a gem, when asked why she has so much energy, she replied “it must be medicine of love”. She is tireless and constantly on the go. I must have gotten that trait from her since I can’t sit still either.
I wished I can post the pictures of my sister when she came home and saw the transformation, but that would infringe on her privacy. I can tell you that she loves the room but felt really bad that we all spent lots of time and energy on her house. But you know what? We would do it again in a heart beat!
On another note, I can’t wait for school to start next week!! Trent is going to full-day kindergarten. Tyler will be in 3rd grade. Sophia still goes to 3-day preschool (and cries every time we drop her off and it’s been almost a year already!). Parker took his first few steps on 8/8 and he’s been cruising around the house on two legs instead of four, and loves to climb the stairs. He’s such a joy and a half!! I can’t wait to spend more solo time with him while the kids are in school.
This has been one heck of a busy summer for us. I’m looking forward to some down time when the kids are in school, who knows…maybe dedicated more time to this blog and visit yours, and equipped with a list of projects to tackle around the house.
How was your summer? Did you go anywhere or did “stay-cation” like us?
Wow Betty! I love the room makeover and the new curtains. VERY NICE!
I love that bench in her room, especially with the new cover.
When are you doing my room?
Did you do all the sewing? You are really handy! The room looks fantastic and so do all the curtains.
WOW! I think you need your own HGTV show
Oh my Gosh!!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the room!!!!
it looks amazing. Holy you guys did an awesome job & the curtains too!!!
WTG!!!