Marybeth Barrett

I recently was one of 8 designers who participated in a great event for Habitat for Humanity. The event was to raise awareness for the Restore Retail location and the great programs that Habitat does in our area. The challenge was to shop the Restore and use the donated items to decorate a room. I was assigned the "Living Room". We had 2 weeks leading up to the event to select items to refinish, repurpose, etc. But, we only had 2 days to put the room together. We were givien 3 unfinished plywood walls and a cement floor. Well, I made some Lemonade out of Lemons!

I am honored to have won 2 out of 3 awards that night. I won the Judge's Choice and People's Choice Award. The Judge was the Mayor of Winston Salem, NC! I was so thrilled. He could not believe how I transformed some of the items from basically trash to real treasures.

This was an amazing experience for me and I experienced so many memorable moments. I had one woman moved to tears by the transformation. I just wanted to hug her. It was an awesome moment for me.

Here is a before and after picture of my Living Room. My color story and inspiration were a Tiffany Blue Box and a Box of Chocolates.

If you have a Habitat Restore in your area. Check it out. As you can see, there are some treasures to be found!

BEFORE - The Lemons

AFTER - All items (except the window treatment panels) were from the RESTORE

I will be posting more before and after pictures of the individual items so you can really see the transformation. It was a lot of work, but worth it on so many levels.

Keep your eye out for more posts on some of the creative ways that I repurposed some items.

-Marybeth Barrett

www.redesignsource.com

I am one of 10 local designers/decorators to be selected to participate in ReStore Spaces. It is a great event to help build awareness and raise money for our local Habitat for Humanity and Restore. Each designer is assigned a room and must "shop" the restore to find items to use in their room. I got the "Living Room". It is a little scary b/c one of the largest items in the room is my sofa so I am at the mercy of what has been donated. I did find a neutral sofa in pretty good shape. I went on the "hunt" the last two days and was delighted in the treasures that I found! Mind you, they need some TLC but they have great bones! I found a really cool mantel/surround, secretary desk, old columns, a bag full of designer fabrics and so much more. "Shopping" the store really forces you to be creative. I love the concept of "reduce, reuse, recycle" so this event is right up my alley. You can view more about the event at www.redesignsource.com/resources Just click on the Restore Spaces link. I will also be posting pix on my website later so people can see the transformation.

If you have a Habitat Restore in your area. I encourage you to check it out. You will be suprised at the treasures you may find! And you will be delighted in the money it saves you too! The beauty of it all is that the purchases you make help your community by funding the programs at your Habitat for Humanity chapter. It is a win-win for everyone.

Happy Restore shopping!

-MB

www.redesignsource.com