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| The Big Reveal | Budget for Cheshire bedroom | Budget for Lee bedroom | ||
Changing Places: The big reveal! |
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:By Karen Gardner The Berkshire Eagle presents the last in a series of five stories that are a home makeover show in print. “Changing Places” followed two Berkshire County couples as they met, planned, worked, and surprised each other with the reveal of their final designs. It’s the moment both of our “Changing Places” couples anxiously have awaited: After many hours of work and one virtually sleepless weekend, they revealed the master bedrooms they designed for one another and saw their own new spaces. The project started on Feb. 23, when the participants — Shannon Briggs and Mark Badorini of Cheshire and Kathy and Tom Morawiec of Lee — met for the first time after applying and being selected to take part in the newspaper’s home makeover series. Shannon and Mark needed some life put into the four white walls that surrounded their rather empty bedroom. The Morawiecs had just the opposite problem: There was too much stuff crowded into their sleeping space. “Our bedroom is nothing but a big, white cube,” Shannon wrote on her “Changing Places” application. “We have refinished almost every room on our own, [but] that one is always last on the list. We can paint, wood work, sew, brainstorm, and transform. We are do-it-yourselfers. Together, we make a great team!”
“We don’t have anything to wear!” wrote Kathy. “That’s because we can’t find our clothes! Clothes! Clothes! Everywhere! Can anyone solve our dilemma? Forty-eight hours of work won’t scare us. We sew, roll, paint, stain, don’t complain, argue or give up.” The rules were simple. Each couple had $1,500 to spend, and they were to spend it all. Consultation services were provided by professional interior designers. In addition, the couples were free to bring in any outside help they desired. After several weeks of planning and preparation as they sewed and sawed their way through a variety of projects, the couples spent a weekend in each others’ homes, carrying out the marathon makeovers. Interior decorators Jackie Flynn, of Flynn Decorating and Design in Williamstown, and Lyn Petricca, of Petricca Designs in Lanesboro, volunteered their consultation services and assistance with the projects. Jackie worked with Shannon and Mark on Kathy and Tom’s room. Lyn helped Kathy and Tom with Shannon and Mark’s space. ‘Anything goes’ and ‘shabby chic’ While Kathy threw caution to the wind with her “anything goes” attitude, Shannon indicated a preference for a shabby chic design. Their designers initially went where those in most television home makeover shows do — by determining what color to paint the rooms. As neither couple specified a particular shade, Jackie went to the wall-to-wall carpeting in Tom and Kathy’s bedroom for inspiration. Relatively new and in good condition, the Morawiecs’ tan rug featured small designs in dark red and hunter green. “We went with the tan color,” said Jackie. “Then, we picked up some of the red accents in the carpet.” Lyn selected “traditional yellow” for Shannon and Mark’s bedroom. “It’s almost like sunshine in your room,” she said. The color also complimented the soft sage green, blue and rose colors in the “inspiration” rug she and Kathy bought at The Interior Alternative in Adams. The Portuguese needlepoint looked well on the existing, rose-colored carpeting. Because Shannon said she would like to replace it at some point with a wood floor, the area rug provided a “perfect” solution, Lyn said, because it would work well on either floor surface. An avid reader, Shannon needed a reading light that would not disturb Mark as he slept. In addition, she longed for a headboard for the bed. So, Kathy went online and found plans on how to make a shabby chic-style headboard from a paneled door. Tom, an electrician, knew he could do the required wiring to light it under the molding. A friend helped Tom install crown molding around the room during the work weekend. It was his first attempt at such a project. But Kathy was not worried about that task. Instead, she wondered how the large headboard Tom made would make it into the house, up the stairs, and around a corner to the bedroom. As it turned out, “It was easy,” according to Tom. He just took a little extra length off the legs. For the Morawiecs’ room, the main focus was clear: They desperately needed more storage. But, because of the room’s small size, there was little space for that storage.
“What is in there has to be completely functional,” said Jackie. After spending several hours measuring and brainstorming, she and Mark drew up some plans for his and her built-in units for the Morawiecs’ clothes. The queen-sized water bed took up much of the room’s space, a fact Jackie kept in mind when deciding on colors and a bed redesign. Both the headboard and footboard would be removed to simplify the bed’s style and draw one’s eyes to other aspects of the room. The Morawiecs’ two dark-colored dressers, too, would leave, and an existing ceiling fan would be replaced. “They want to keep a fan in there, but the fan that they have is black,” said Jackie. “So when you walk in, you just see this big, black fan. Whereas, if it’s a white one, then it tends to blend in with the ceiling more.” To jazz up the plain design, Jackie decided molding should be added to all of the baseboards, the windows, and up around the doors. “With those posts poking up, you could see exactly how big the bed was,” she said. “If you knock them off, this kind of blends in.” Originally, Mark, Shannon and Jackie thought they would remove the trim from around the doors, windows, and baseboards. “But then I didn’t want to mess up the carpet,” said Mark. “So I added [some trim] to make it fancier. Try cutting that at about midnight.” “At 12:30 a.m. he measured it three times,” said Shannon. “He cut them one inch short, every time.” “I said, ‘I need to get a couple of hours [of sleep] because I can’t even think right anymore,’” Mark said. Sleeping for several hours recharged him, and he completed the trim project later in the morning. Shannon, on the other hand, decided to stay up all night. Nervous energy fueled her as she worked to complete project details like putting a final coat of paint on some trim and removing price tags. “The whole time he was sleeping, I had music blaring and everything. Finally, he woke up at 4:30 and joined me again,” said Shannon. More than enough to do Because both couples and their designers had spent hours preparing in advance of the work weekend, they were able to complete the bedroom redesigns without the usual crew that accompanies television makeover shows. Still, Mark, Shannon, Tom, and Kathy had plenty to do — including hours of painting — during the weekend as they worked to complete their designs.
Finally, the rooms were done. Arriving at their house in Lee shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday, Kathy and Tom got a little preview of what was to come as they walked toward their back door. On the porch railing, Shannon and Jackie had displayed the four bed posts cut away from the headboard and footboard. Kathy noticed. “Hurray!” she said. A few moments later, with their eyes closed, the Morawiecs were led into their bedroom. After a count to three, they opened their eyes. “Wow,” said Tom. “That’s incredible. This is great.” For a few moments, the usually talkative Kathy was struck speechless with stunned surprise as Shannon and Jackie giggled in the background. Kathy responded with muffled shrieks of delight, her hand over her mouth. “I told you we were going to get some lighting,” Tom told her. Kathy soon found the words to describe her reaction. “Oh, it’s incredible,” she said. “It’s so hard to believe it’s the same room,” said Shannon, referring to a “before” photo of the space. “Oh, my God. Ooh. It’s incredible,” Kathy gasped, then screamed, “Oh my God!” Turning to Mark, she asked him if he made the two, large built-in shelving units to hold their clothes. “Oh, you’re incredible,” said Kathy. “It’s huge.” “We hope you like it,” said Shannon. “And, you still have under-bed storage. It’s still working. There’s the whole thing to keep the water bed in, but there’s no headboard or footboard. And those curtains go up and down.” “Oh, it’s beautiful,” Kathy said. “They’re beautiful. Oh, it’s incredible guys. Incredible.” “When we finally put it together, we were so happy with it,” Shannon said. Was it anything like Kathy had imagined? “I don’t think I imagined anything, to be honest with you,” she said. Indicating the wall opposite to where the built-in units were positioned, Kathy added, “I figured this wall, if you were going to do storage.” Still taking it all in, she again gasped in hushed tones, “Oh, wow.” “We looked around and found those baskets” for additional storage on exposed shelves at the bottom of the built-in units, Jackie explained. She and Shannon opened the closet doors they upholstered in black, textured fabric with matching buttons to reveal a closet organizing system Mark installed inside. “Oh, that’s great,” exclaimed Kathy. “We doubled your shirt space,” Shannon said. Noticing a plaid cushion and a pillow placed atop a small chest-like bench, Kathy asked her, “Did you sew those?” “Yep. We reupholstered that, and then I made a pillow [for the bed] with what was left of it,” said Shannon. Lifting up the dark red bed skirt from a corner of the water bed, Jackie said, “You still have all your drawers. We wanted it to look like a [regular] bed with a skirt.”
“Look at that. I didn’t even notice that,” said Kathy. “You’re good. I love it. This is unbelievable. I’m not leaving. Isn’t this great?” “This is great. This is great,” Tom responded. “You guys did it.” “How could you not like this. Love the color, love the color,” said Kathy. Shannon apologized for just setting up an air mattress where the water bed should go. There had not been time to fill it with water prior to the reveal. “That’s perfectly fine,” said Kathy. Then, turning to Tom, “Where are you sleeping?” she laughed. “Oh, you guys did a fabulous job.” With her new bedroom’s streamlined look, Kathy vowed, “I’ll be really picky what comes in. It’s really good. It will make us be really picky. We’ll give more to Goodwill.” Onward to Cheshire Next, it was time to head up to Cheshire to reveal Shannon and Mark’s bedroom. Although Shannon had a little trouble staying awake during the drive, all made it safely to the second reveal. Kathy and Tom led them across the room, to where they would get the best view. Wearing just socks, Mark noticed the carpet underneath his feet felt a little different. Like the other couple, after a count to three, they opened their eyes. “Oh,” Shannon squealed and gasped with delight. “It’s beautiful!” Mark was all smiles.“My God,” he said. “Oh, look at this chair!” said Shannon. “Oh, my God! It is so pretty. It is so elegant. We have a headboard! I wanted a headboard so bad.” “Oh man, it’s awesome,” said Mark. “Wow.” “That’s like what I wanted. I said it’d be cool if it’s kind of a mantle-like thing,” said Shannon. “It feels like you’re in a different house, doesn’t it? It’s like a hotel room, actually. All the fabrics look really nice together.” Going over to get a closer look at the bed, she said, “Wow, this is so pretty. Look at this chair. Thank you! I feel like I’m in a hotel. ... You did such a nice job on this chair. It’s beautiful.” Mark noticed a desk Lyn and Kathy found at a second-hand store. In the same style as his grandmother’s two antique dressers, the desk was a perfect match to complete the set.
“When I opened my eyes, I was like, what is that?” said Mark. “You found that?” said Shannon. “Oh my God. It’s gorgeous.” “When we found it, we were like, ‘We need it,’” said Kathy. Hopping up to sit on the bed, much higher after being put up on bed risers, Shannon voiced her approval. “This is awesome,” she said. “This is so cool.” Although the couples had sworn not to read the “Changing Places” series so they would not know what went on in their rooms, Jackie had followed along with the series. Despite insight gleaned from a story which discussed the couples’ decorating plans, even she was surprised. “When I saw the [black and white] picture in the paper, I thought this was the purple comforter,” said Jackie, referring to the green comforter. “I said, ‘I recognize that.” Shannon particularly was pleased with the paint choice for the walls. Although she never said anything to Tom, Kathy or Lyn about it, she had hoped for yellow. “Mark was my little worry,” said Kathy. “That he’d walk in the house and say, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’” “No, this is great,” said Mark. Tom showed off the lights he installed into the headboard. With a number of different settings, Shannon and Mark can dim or brighten them as they wish. “Isn’t that neat?” said Shannon. At 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, the couples were ready for some much-needed sleep. “It’s a lot of work, hey?” said Mark. “Unbelievable.” “I can see why they bawl on those shows,” said Kathy. “It’s perfect.” Karen Gardner’s e-mail address is kgardner@thetranscript.com, telephone extension 224.
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