The Winner: Sallie Hickam
Location: Jonesborough, TN
The Contest: Entrants uploaded a text essay and up to five photos of a room they wanted to make over. They had a chance to win gift cards for their room makeover and for a favorite community organization
Prizes: · $2k gift card towards room makeover · $2k gift card towards community organization · $500 Sherwin-Williams gift card towards room makeover · $500 Sherwin-Williams gift card towards community organization · Personal phone consult with Susanna Salk
The Winner’s Essay: If I were to win the “Easy One Day Makeover Contest”, I would transform my bonus room into a sophisticated retreat for future grandchildren and guest, without the room looking too juvenile. Currently, the room contains a set of antique beds w/outdated bedding, an entertainment and seating area, boxed model airplanes, and unsightly exercise equipment. To start, I would buy new comforter sets for the beds, place coordinating slip covers on the club chairs, add new lamps for the antique trunk and bedside table, plus place an area rug in the seating area or under the beds. On the opposite wall, I would stain the existing table to match the beds, and add a flat screened television. I would turn the window dormers into reading nooks by painting and using two existing unfinished chest and add thick custom upholstered seat cushions. I would dress the windows with draperies attached at the ceiling, and extending to the cushions. When not in use, the exercise equipment would be camouflaged with a large coordinating screen that could also double as a dressing area. To freshen up the room, the walls and sloping ceiling would be painted a rich color picked from the new fabrics. Accessorizing the shelving (perhaps using the red model airplanes), tables and walls, in addition to adding tall room plants, would finish out the overall look. My favorite organization, the community animal shelter, would benefit from my winning this contest. They could surely use the prizes!
The Winner’s Community Organization: Washington County/Johnson City Animal Shelter -- Our local animal shelter is in the process of raising money to help build a badly needed new building to house the stray cats and dogs. The current shelter is in need of repair, so new paint and prize money could go a long way for temporary improvement to the current shelter. Animals also deserve a nice place to live.
Susanna Salk’s Design Tips: Painting the room in a deeper and bold hue like a yellow-gold would make the space feel cozier and more elegant. Right now the pastel yellow and white only reinforce its huge and unique "barrack-like" shape. Paint the door a different, even deeper hue for fun! Try boldly-patterned matching quilts and shams to fill the space and bring visual unity. White end tables on either side of beds with a pair of table lamps will bring further unity. Take away small table in the middle of beds. Remove trunk with television on it -- this only bulks up the space. Put a flat screen TV on the wall as you come in to the space instead, as it's only used by the husband when he exercises anyway so that would place it right in front of him.
Remove the 2 chairs and trunk and flowers: again, against the wall they don't really serve a purpose. No one is using them. Instead, bring from downstairs two matching love seat sofas facing one another (one with its back to the bed and the other with its back to the entry way) with an ottoman in between which lifts up for hidden storage (perfect for grandchildren's toys or for Sallie's gift-wrapping needs). Now the space feels like a living space; instead of seeing beds at the end of a long bowling-alley style space, it's broken up by a welcoming place to sit, with the guest area just behind. Eventually a rug with a patterned personality would look great in this sitting area; put it on top of the wall-to-wall carpet, to break up that block of color.
This room's success is as much about what Sallie takes OUT as what she puts IN!
