Recently I helped a friend relocate her mom from a hospice facility to an adult family home. Her mom made a profound, unexpected recovery in the beauty-filled surroundings of the hospice center and my friend wanted to create a similar environment at the adult family home. Her mom’s previous residence was larger but gloomy, so we brainstormed a bright, cheerful Nantucket seaside theme and found new coordinating furniture on craigslist. There was no time to paint so coordinating fabrics were chosen for pretty window and wall treatments which my friend sewed. These simple accessories tied together the colors of the walls, carpeting, and furniture and helped the room feel finished.
Often there are restrictions regarding how far you can go with redesign in these types of situations. Working with existing resources of wall color and floor covering, the tools of my trade were boiled down to the essences of color, texture, pattern and placement. Guided by a small budget to make a Fresh, Calming, and Pretty environment, we succeeded in creating a lovely 12′ x 12′ living space. Friends and family visit more often and stay longer because this new environment feels good.
Her mom is still adjusting to all the changes. A new address, a smaller room, new people, a teetering awareness and denial of declining health and mobility, loss of control, and she’s afraid. Being in a pretty environment supports her mental health.
There’s a Navajo blessing “May you walk in beauty.” Beauty is both a path you travel and what surrounds you on the path. Beauty can transform a room, and a heart. And aren’t both “interior” design?
This experience led my friend and I to talk about providing this interior design and selective color integration service to other seniors and their families.
http://www.landsview.net
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