Our dream team general contractor was Double J Construction, and Parkin Electric rewired the entire home, with the assistance of Technocom, who rewired the cable and phone systems. Interior design director for project was Ragan Corliss, Interiors by Decorating Den.
Above: Before photos of living room
The fun challenge provided for the redesign of the home involved incorporating the family’s special interests revolving around African and tropical themes. These themes stemmed from treasured memories from a tropical vacation the family took a few years back; the Huddleston’s mission work in the Honduras; as well as family keepsakes passed on by Tracy’s grandfather from his travels to Africa. The living room also functions as the family room, TV room, and den, and those functions in the room needed to be laid out more effectively. Moreover, there was not enough adequate seating for when the two older Huddleston brothers came home for special occations, nor for larger, extended family gatherings. Additionally, the seating outlined the parameter of the room, and the floor plan needed rearranging for a more intimate seating arrangement.
Above: Corliss’s colored rendering incorporating some of the new design elements in the room. A new sofa and loveseat were provided by an Oregon based furniture manufacturer, MasterCraft, and “covered in a really great durable fabric that resembles leather, but is soft! Mastercraft is a great manufacturer to work with, who produces quality furniture at reasonable pricing, and I was thrilled when they became a sponsor” Corliss says. Corliss's interior decorating company donated the indoor/outdoor rug, “which is quite soft for that type of rug, but also very durable for a heavy traffic area and pets.”
Above: After photo of the living room
The resulting affect in the madeover living room included a subtle balance of the family’s African and tropical interests incorporated into the room décor. According to Corliss “My goal was to incorporate those elements in the room design without making the room overly cutesy with too many tropical elements, nor did I want the room to have too strong of an African influence. Rather I was aiming for a rich, exotic look that would mesh well with restrained tropical and African influences. Consequently the themes were incorporated into the room through smaller elements and accessories, so that the Huddleston’s could easily make changes in the theme later on.” The ceiling was painted a light organic blue which changes shades as the light changes throughout the day and resembles a blue sky. All of the eco-friendly paint used in the house was donated by Kelly Moore Paints, who also gathered a group of employees to donate painting services over a large majority of the house. The tropical painting above the sofa is an original painted by Kathyrn Delany, of ColorSplashes. The beautiful ceiling light donated by Quoizel is another key element that helps set an exotic tone in the room. “It’s definitely an eye catcher when you see it in person. Light fixtures are a very important element in rooms that shouldn't be overlooked” Corliss says.
The overall affect resulted in an Ernest Hemingway feel, especially after the addition of the beautiful hardwood floors donated and installed by Modern Tech Floors and Centrex Hardwood Floors, and the white doors and woodwork that were refinished in a dark exotic faux wood effect under the guidance of Johanna Annable, of Johanna’s Design Studio. Additional moldings were contributed by McCoy Stair and installed by Heritage Restoration, Inc.
Above left: Award winning hardwood flooring installer, Scott Avery, Modern Tech Floors, working his magic on the new living room hardwood flooring he procured for the makeover. Notice the mahogany diamonds in the transition strip. Scott designed a beautiful border around the parameter of the floor, utilizing salvaged materials of hickory and “some really amazing white oak” as described by Avery, a man very passionate about the beauty of wood.
Another huge
contributor to the overall richness to the room comes from the rich exotic,
African clay plaster that was applied to one wall (shown above center and right)
as an accent color in red tones by Johanna
Annable, with the assistance of Eco
Artisan Painting & Renovation. Corliss says “I had worked with
Johanna several times in the past, and Johanna was one of those people who didn’t
hesitate to contact me about contributing to the Oregon Dream Makeover project
as soon as she heard about it. She ended up becoming my right hand person, and
helped greatly with recruiting additional artisans and sponsors.” Understanding
the dual need for beautiful surface finishes as well as for healthy home interiors,
Annable recruited and led a team of artisan decorative painters in creating
artistic enhancements for the home that were low in VOC for the treated interior
surfaces, and also contributing to the project sustainability by reusing and
renewing doors, furniture, and trim.
Above: More before photos of the living room
Above: After photo of living room. A wall of custom built-ins, (designed by Ragan Corliss, and built by Jamie Harding, Dream Home Finishers), was added to house the new TV area, and made large enough to incorporate a large flat screen TV for future upgrades, as well as a computer work center which was moved to the opposite corner, and out of the way of the primary seating area. Corliss says “By moving the TV to the other side of the room, more space was created for additional seating in the room, and the sofa and loveseat could be placed close to one another and around an area rug creating a more intimate seating area that can also view the TV.” Corliss was happy to find out that Marissa’s father, Bob Huddleston, loves the tropical wicker chair provided by Legion Furniture, since she had used it to replace the old reclining chair. Additionally, the stunning floor standing lamp covered in genuine agates came from Quoizel, the side table was provided by Denali Furniture, and accessories were donated by Real Deals Home Décor, The Tole Barn, and Corliss's interior decorating company. The stencils on the rust colored accent wall were painted by Kathyrn Delany, of ColorSplashes.
Above: Living
room door after photos. Decorative artisans Johanna Annable, Caroline Johnson-Bell
and Kathryn Delany collaborated on the dramatic face-lift for the front door.
Using natural glazes from Bioshield Paints, and Mixol pigments, a faux wood
grain affect transformed the plain white door for the rich exotic look we were
after. Melanie Royals Design Studio's
Carved Arch Panel Stencil was used as a template for a raised pattern using
Wood Icing paste on both sides of the
interior panels. The result was a warm and intriguing, exoticly textured, hand-carved
look. The door knob hardware was donated by the House
of Antique Hardware, and installed by Marissa’s doctor, Dr. Fortlage.
Corliss says “I was astounded by the level of community involvement we
received on this project and it was a huge reason for our success!”
Above left:
The custom made window treatments were fabricated by
Anderson Fabric Workroom and designed by Ragan Corliss which she says were
designed to “provide the light airy feel you find in tropical climates,
with the functionality of fabric Roman shades for privacy in a fabric that resembles
woven wood shades, another treatment applicable to the exotic feel I was trying
to create.” Corliss’s interior
decorating company donated the fabric as well as the palm tree. Above right:
Brimar donated the stunning drapery
hardware.
Above left:
The coffee table before photo. Table donated by This-N-That, a used furniture
and antique store, Oregon City, OR. Above center: Marissa marvels at the unique
table treatment created by Johanna
Annable using state of the art products and creativity to change a plain
coffee table into a stunning work of art. Using products and techniques from
Wood Icing, Annable re-surfaced and
textured the top sides and legs with a large crackling effect mimicking an African
Savanna Desert floor. Specialty pigments and Annable's proprietary varnishing
technique made the table top look like wet glass. On the top and legs she troweled
through a raised plaster zebra pattern stencil from Faux
Effects International, Inc. creating a raised stencil effect.
Above left:
Johanna Annable, Kathryn Delany and Caroline Johnson-Bell painted the burgundy
archway using two different colors of burgundy, blended and glazed together.
“This is a decorative artisan's technique for creating visual interest
and more natural depth.” says Annable. Above center: Originally born in
Africa, Kathryn Delany of Color
Splashes, rendered unique Moroccan Modellos in Golden Metallic Art Deco
from Chromatix Paint Company. Above
right: Wade & Dave Parkin, Parkin
Electric, unraveling the mystery of incredible durable packaging of the
beautiful chandeliers donated by Quoizel.
Corliss says “I couldn’t have been happier with the beautiful craftsmanship
and quality of all the light fixtures Quoizel donated to this project. The light
fixtures really added to the overall charm of the new décor.”
Above: Volunteer team from Kelly Moore Paints. Corliss says “They came in and painted all the ceilings and all the solid colors on the walls. Kelly Moore gave us carte blanche to use their paint. I couldn’t be more grateful to them. Plus I was very impressed with the quality of the paint. I have never used so many paint colors in a house before, and I was really happy with the overall total affect. Paint really makes a huge difference in a home, and it can be one of the least expensive ways to redecorate.”
Copyright Oregon Dream Makeover. All rights reserved.