A Private Place to Reflect
She wanted to rest and retreat from the stress in her life. This focal wall as you entered her apartment set the stage to what you would experience throughout her home. A restful retreat. This statue was purchased at one of St. Thomas Academy’s annual auctions. It is now a comforting feature in my client’s home.
After selling her long time home in St. Paul which I helped her stage, she asked me to help turn her new apartment into a home.
She needed a place to get away and reflect. She was entering a new stage in life.
Feature Wall
The first thing she asked me to do was to help with this feature wall that greeted you as you first entered the apartment. She wanted the statue of the Blessed Mother here but the statue seemed to fade into the white wall behind. It wasn’t featured enough.
I decided to raise it up and center it more in the space and create a faux painted wood panel to be installed behind it. This helped the statue of The Blessed Mother become a prominant feature without making it look “churchy”.
Then there was the challenge of hiding the modem wires and finding a place for the grandchildren’s toys. This buffet provided the additional needed storage.
A simple solution to hiding the TV and modem wires was these covers from the local hardware store. They worked wonderfully.
Now, this wall happened to be the wall she saw from her bed.
It was the first thing she saw as she left her bedroom and started her day. This print by Steve Henderson entitled “Ocean Breeze” [from greatbigcanvas.com] was a delightful find that was an emotional lift at the start of each new day.
Another inspiring painting was one done by her nephew when, also, going through a traumatic time in his life. The painting, entitled “Eternal Hunger”, represented a nursing child finding solice in his mother’s arms.
Then it was just a matter of tying together her existing decor to create a cohesive color scheme that was calm and relaxing.
Guest Room
In the guest room, we worked off the colors in a picture she treasured from a friend. We took the soft teal from the ocean in the picture and repeated it throughout the room by painting the oak frame and hand painting the pillow to coordinate.
Lastly, we needed to add to the blank wall behind the dining room table. It was an open floor plan with the living room so the colors needed to be cohesive. In an otherwise muted decor of soft greys and cream, she found delight in the colors in this grouping. We centered them over the dining room table.
Dining Room
A home is all about surrounding yourself with things that you love and inspire you.
It was an honor to be a part of her journey to help her create a retreat to refresh and reflect and rejoice in God’s love for her. She is dearly loved.
