More Designing Haven of Grace -- shop for shape

Our Haven of Grave project relied on the generous donations of our sponsors. Ashley Furniture HomeStore in Kirkwood, Missouri, where I work part-time, let me search the 75% off accessories for items we needed. Problem was, not all the items met the design goals for our color palette.

Never fear when spray paint is near.

We just painted the items. The brass candle sticks in the bedroom became white. The planters and obelisks in the kitchen were painted to complement our kitchen colors.

Lesson learned: You can often find good deals on accessories if you are not picky about color. Color on most accessory items can be changed with some paint. So shop for shape!

The items in the pictures below were muted grey and green before we aimed the spray can to change them into a vibrant rainbow of color.

More Designing Haven of Grace -- Dominique

Dominique James, 21, and mother of a beautiful daughter was the recipient of the apartment Gina and I designed as part of the Haven of Grace project.

Christy Marshall, editor of St. Louis AT HOME magazine, wanted to be sure that each recipient felt it was her home. So she had photos taken of the women and their children and asked the designers to find a special place to hang them.

Gina and I wanted to display these in the entry. We were only allowed to paint three accent walls, so we could not paint the entry walls. However we wanted to set off the photos, make them stand out, rather than place them on a blank wall.

Dominique enjoying the reveal of her new apartment as Gina looks on.

At the end of our budget and donated supplies, I grabbed our leftover bathroom paint to create a 6 inch wide stripe behind each frame. I think the purple paint really makes the black and white photos and silver frames pop.

left to right: Gina, Dominique with daughter, and Dana.

More Designing Haven of Grace -- Flower Power

There is so much to share about the Haven of Grace project. I showed you the children's space. Here is the bathroom (above).

Gina and I did not have any grand plans for the bathroom. We were focused on finding donations and decorating the other spaces. The bathroom just lost our attention.

But thanks to Laura n , the bathroom, once an afterthought, became a highlight. She put in some extra time at my urging and created a dynamic wall mural of a Calla Lily. I found a silk Calla Lily to put in a beautiful turquoise vase that was donated by Ashley Furniture Home Store in Kirkwood, Missouri.

I love this mural because it is not a cutesy wimpy mural of a flower or flowers, but bold and graphic...it really makes a statement. To create a similar look, go big and bold.

That's Flower Power!