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Inspiration for the Day

Update on Aimee’s (Pink Beige) House!

By 03/28/2014January 21st, 201717 Comments

Snoopy

I just want you to know, Irene and I are so moved by your generosity and support for her sister Aimee’s story and her children.  We wanted to give you an update on what their space looks like now, and what will soon be possible with our fundraising efforts!

After all, now you’re all part of their story too!

Aimee's Family

As of today there is $10,272 in our fund with 7 days left to go. It’s exciting to check the balance each day as it continues to climb. . .

Here are some pictures of the house as it is now.

Only my regular readers will get this but check out how much pink-beige is in this house! It’s as if they knew I was coming, haha. Seriously. It’s why I want to banish this colour from the planet, it’s so heavily overused as an ‘If all else fails and you don’t know which colour to choose’ colour.

We’d like to paint the main living areas as well as most of the bedrooms and we’re looking for a paint company to sponsor all the paint, please contact irene here if you would like to contribute!

Irene and Aimee have decided to shop extensively out of the Ikea catalogue as they have such a wide range and well-priced furnishings for homes – lots of fun and bright colours and exactly right for this home makeover.

So here’s what it looks like now. . .

Living RoomLR 1

LR 2LR 3

Here’s our idea board for the living room. The denim slip-covered Ektorp sofa from Ikea will be perfect for all the energy and play this room will see. Katie from Popocolor has generously donated some of her gorgeous cushions and we’ve chosen these to set the colour palette for the rest of the room. An Ikea rug combined with a HomeSense ottoman makes a great start:

Aimee's Living Room

Dining RoomDR

KitchenKit 1

You can see that the pink beige walls in NO WAY relate to the blue and gold tiled floors. Overall though, this is a pretty great kitchen for this family of six!

Kit 4

Aimee’s Room (The Master Bedroom)

Aimee 2

Aimee’s room will have the blue bedding she loves combined with wood furniture. Her bedroom is actually a large bonus room and will double as her in-home office. It’s almost 500 square feet and we’ve got great plans for how to set up the space in a way that will be cozy, functional and pretty, including a small seating area where she can go when she needs to drink a cup of tea in peace:

Aimee's Master Bedroom

Esther’s Room:Est 1 Est 2

Esther has decided her colour scheme will be blue, dark brown and white. She has very definite ideas and we’ll be using the neutral look of the artwork and curtains to add her own special spin:

Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 7.42.29 AM

Remember yesterday’s post where I was talking about contrast? Well, creating contrast in design is not about black and white, or bright pops of colour, it’s mixing patterns and solids appropriately as well.

Here’s what Esther had chosen, and here are the small tweaks that I made to turn it into a more pleasing combination:

Esther's Room

Emily’s Room Em 1 Em 2

Emily’s opinion was, “I like red.” So red she shall have. And some bright blue and a little bit of green. Irene bought this wonderful Madeline book and will frame some of the pages.

Amazingly enough, the colour scheme of the book matched the colour scheme we put together for her. Okay, we planned it that way:

Emily's Room

Sam’s RoomSam

Sam loves anything and everything lego and can stay quietly entertained for hours in his room playing with his toys.

Sam's Room

Joe’s RoomJoe

Joe is planning on becoming a palaeontologist when he grows up and we’ve given him a room that will let him explore his interest in dinosaurs and digging in the dirt.

Joe's Room

Dan’s RoomDan 1

Dan 2

Dan is fascinated by life under the sea and so we’re going to have an artist come in and paint a mural on one of his bedroom walls.

Dan's Room

Powder room

Bath 2

Three-piece Bathroom

Bath

Just new paint colours alone will make such a huge difference to all of these rooms!

We are a little more than halfway to our goal of $20,000. Besides giving this family a fresh start with furniture, there are so many basic items they need that will make such a difference! Aimee has NEVER had anything new, everything has ALWAYS been second hand.

Charlie & Snoopy

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far, there’s such power in numbers! Y’all are awesome!! xo Maria

Related posts:

You’re All Beautiful You Know?

Why Pink Beige Should be Banished Forever

In Praise of Pinky Beige

17 Comments

  • Julie from Downunder says:

    I hope you get that last minute rush of donations. I did mine very early one. That is quite a large house! None of the children having to share a room either. Good luck with it all – am sure it will be a lovely home for them to all enjoy. 🙂

  • Maggie S says:

    If ever there was a space crying out for color this is it! I know when you get done working your magic it will be a wonderful space for a family to grow.

    Thanks for giving us the opportunity to help!

  • megeranski says:

    Wow — what a great education for us, what a great outcome for Aimee!

  • Sheri says:

    I too hope that you reach your goal! I look forward to seeing the ‘after’ pictures! I’m certainly glad I could help out!

  • Mary Lou Fritz says:

    What a fantastic fresh start they will have.
    Cant wait to see the after pics.
    Mary in Ohio

  • sandyc says:

    Wow, Maria! That house is tingling in all its finger and toes at the thought of how it’s going to look and feel after you and Irene work your color magic and once Aimee and crew move in, it’ll be rockin’ the neighborhood with happy song and dance. Wish it were possible to round up a group of us to help out in person a la Habitat for Humanity. Love the plans for all the rooms, but best thing about the house is that Aimee is already starting out with a “white” kitchen!

  • Ellen says:

    Very happy for Aimee and her children to have something “new”. Thank you to Maria and her fans who made this possible.
    Cannot wait to see the after pictures.

  • Kristen says:

    So glad I came across this story. Just donated. Wish I could have given much, much more.

    Kristen W. in Atlanta

  • Susan says:

    Just made a donation. My heart is very happy knowing that every little bit of money raised will help this family have a beautiful redesigned home. Your designs are wonderful…bright, light and modern. Good luck to Aimee and her children.

  • Livia says:

    Beautiful plan Maria. I can feel that happiness already. Wishing you good luck for more donations! I will share this blog and will also send it through e-mail to my friends.

  • Kathy says:

    What fun choices! It will be so educational for us to see the afters, and so exciting for the family to live in a happy colorful space. (All that beige equals depressing). So happy to have been able to help them in this way. Thanks for all your donated time Maria!

  • Sabine says:

    Wonderful Maria! I love what Irene posted… “you have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you”. The story was beautifully written with lots of love. I wish Aimee and her family all the best! I always enjoy reading your blog and love the work you did for us 4 years ago!!! Happy to donate to help you reach your goal. 🙂

  • Ginny says:

    So excited for Aimee and her family, this is going to be a very happy transformation.

  • Sakena says:

    Hi Maria,
    What do you think of Sherwin Williams Balance Beige 7037. Is that a better beige to go with? How about the undertones. Is it pink? I cant really tell.
    Thanks
    Sakena

    • Maria Killam says:

      Balanced beige is a taupe which will only look pink if you use it with green undertones, otherwise, it’s a great taupe colour. Maria

      • Sakena says:

        Thank you Maria. I really appreciate your quick reply. Forgive my ignorance but how do we tell the difference between beige and taupe?
        Thanks
        Sakena

  • Sakena says:

    Thank you Maria. I really appreciate your quick reply. Forgive my ignorance but how do we tell the difference between beige and taupe?
    Thanks
    Sakena

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