Loft Redesign

DEAR CHERYL:  We want to completely redecorate our family room and move the current furniture up into our loft.  We’ve been in our house a couple years and have never liked how the family room has looked, even though we like the furniture.  We don’t want to make any expensive mistakes with buying new, so what should we do first?  Cheryl & Robert

DEAR CHERYL & ROBERT:  The first thing that you need to do is set aside a day, put on some comfy clothes, your sneakers and get ready for a little work out.  Before buying anything new, you need to get happy with your room’s furniture arrangement.  Otherwise, you won’t know what to buy, where it is going to go and be at the same place you are now, liking your furniture but not the room.

You may be thinking why would I spend the time to rearrange the room since I’m moving all of the items to the loft?  Well, I’m suggesting that you do this with your current items as it is so much easier to actually see the room versus doing a layout on paper, especially if you’re not comfortable with trying to visualize what it will look like.  So why not make it easier on yourself and do it with your current furniture.  It may take a little work, but it will make your new shopping experience much easier and less stressful because when you’re done you’re going to have a shopping list of the items that you need along with the exact sizes of all the items that you’ll be buying. Therefore, no over shopping or questioning if it will fit and how it will look in the room.

When rearranging a room, you need to completely empty it; that includes all your accessories, artwork, plants, lamps and furniture.  This lets you have a clear view or a blank palette to work with to give your room a new look.  Your next step is to look at your room and determine what you want your focal point to be.  In your family room the most obvious focal point is your television.  But do you also have a fireplace or a great view out into your backyard?  Now place your sofa so that it is addressing the focal points that you want to see.  What I mean by addressing is that when you are sitting on the sofa, the focal points are in your line of view.  The sofa does not have to be directly across from the focal point, it could be on an angle to it, but it shouldn’t be at a right angle to it.  If it is at a right angle that means to see the focal point you would have to turn your head completely to the side to watch television, which isn’t comfortable.  Was your sofa at a right angle in the room before?  Maybe that was one of the reasons your room was uncomfortable?  Don’t be afraid to angle your sofa, although I know most people are.  Angling opens up a room and gives it more interest.

Next place your loveseat or chair at a right angle to the sofa.  Then if you have a third chair, place it on a diagonal across from this grouping to balance your furniture arrangement in the room.  If you don’t have a chair to use, borrow one from the nook or dining room. You want to borrow items from other rooms because you’re looking to complete the arrangement in this room to give you a good visual on what your new furniture arrangement will look like.  Again, this way you’ll have a complete shopping list for the new items that you’ll be buying.

With all your seating placed, you’ll now bring in your tables and accents pieces. Make sure that each seating arrangement has a table for a drink as well as a lamp.  So now place your lamps and plants.  After that, yes re-hang your artwork to determine if the pieces you have still work with the new arrangement or will you be buying new.  Before you might have had a large blank wall over the sofa, but now that you’ve angled the sofa and have a lamp on a console table behind it, you may only have room for a smaller grouping.   After the artwork is hung, place only those accessories that you really want to use in the room.  Now sit down, relax, make your shopping list and who knows maybe you’ll like the room so much you’ll want to buy new furniture for the loft.

DEAR LAURIE-ANN: I’m glad that you’re ready to take a color step. It’s OK to do it one step at a time; there’s no need to leap.

You’ve probably heard me say many times, “Paint is the least expensive way to make the most dramatic change,” and so I’ll say it again and add, “It’s also the least expensive decorating mistake you can make,” so be bold and daring.

To help select your accent colors, keep in mind that they should coordinate with the colors already in your room. You want the colors to stand out, but not be out of place. The unexpected is good, but don’t paint a niche red if you’re only decorating with gold and green. If you want to bring in a new color, just add a few accessories in that color into your room.

If you’re using bolder colors, remember to take into consideration what you’ll be putting back in the room or on the wall. How much of the color will you even see? I recently painted my girlfriend’s office a very bold yellow. With the room empty it was pretty overwhelming. But when we moved the furniture back in, including her four bookcases, credenza, hutch and lateral files, you only saw a small area and it looked great.

Remember to give yourself a chance to adjust to the color change. Don’t panic and run out and get white paint. Whenever you move from white to any color it will be a change and you might need a couple of days to live with it. Don’t forget, it’s only paint and can be changed.

Start by looking around each room for architectural features you have, such as a fireplace or art niche. If you have a fireplace, paint the area above your mantel. It’s already one of your architectural features in the room so bring it out with color. For art niches, select a color that works with and enhances your art and doesn’t fight or overwhelm it. The accent color is to do just that, accent the piece that you’re displaying.

Do you have any pot shelves or alcoves that could be painted a different color? How about open back bookcases or a TV niche? These are great places to be bold. Again, consider how much will you see once you place everything back.

One of my favorite places to add color is above and below kitchen cabinets. A kitchen is a wonderful place to liven up with color and this area many times is just forgotten. Select your color with your kitchen theme and accessories in mind to make them stand out. In one of my favorite kitchens we selected a bright pumpkin orange. Now orange is not my personal favorite color, but, boy, did her herb and fruit jars, Italian clay pottery and black wire accessories look absolutely fabulous.

You also can do this anywhere you have lower and upper cabinets. Maybe you have linen cabinets or a butler’s pantry that could use a boost of unexpected color.

If you want to be a bit more daring, paint one focal wall. In the bedroom, paint your headboard wall and pull a color from your bedding. Or be different and paint any wall that you turn and face when you’re coming down a hallway. It’s one of my favorite unexpected places for an accent color.

Rooms that are good for accent colors are powder rooms, guest baths and the toilet room. Even though these rooms may be small, we are only in them for a short time, so go all out with color and make a statement.

Is there a color that you love but you’re not bold enough to put it in a main room? Paint your walk-in closet or laundry room instead. Why not?

Since this will be a big change for you, Laurie-Ann, I want you to do some testing first. For each color you’re looking to use, purchase two pieces of white poster board, paint them the colors you’re considering and tack them up. Do not paint directly on the wall. You need to be able to move the color around in your room and you’ll just be creating extra work for yourself with having to prime over the colors.

Life is too short to live with white walls. So grab some paint samples and get painting.

A team from PCC’s gerontology department was chosen to present at an international conference on positive aging in Los Angeles on their collaborative work with the Spirit of ‘45 Project this past summer. The team is made up of students Cheryl Rogers-Tadevich, Jim Dalton and Paul Perry, and instructor Cat Zimmerman. The conference featured nearly 400 renowned global experts and community leaders analyzed how to ensure that older adults improve their quality of life as they age.

“Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive” was a national, public campaign (www.spiritof45.org) marking the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II during the weekend of Aug. 14. A Congressional Resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives in support of “Spirit of ’45 Day” to honor the legacy of that generation. The Spirit of ’45 project was co-sponsored by the college and offered a local perspective on a national undertaking.

“Just a few months ago these three talented, experienced, older adults were my ‘students,’ and now they’re my colleagues,” said Zimmerman. “I’m as proud as can be – and the opportunity for them to share their findings at the Positive Aging conference really closes the loop on how far they’ve come and what they’ve learned.”

To raise public awareness, communities across the country were invited to hold commemorative events to mark the occasion and collect first-hand memories of those who experienced Aug. 14, 1945; those events and experiences were posted to the national Spirit of ’45 website.

Upon learning of the national Spirit of ’45 project, Rogers-Tadevich, a recent PCC gerontology graduate, saw it as an opportunity to apply what she’d learned in the classroom.

She interviewed Anne Lane, director of the McMinnville Senior Center, and thought the center might be a good fit for a local version of the project. Next, she enlisted the help of Dalton, Perry and Zimmerman and student volunteers to seek support from a variety of community partners – PCC, City of McMinnville, Brookdale Senior Living – Villas at Wynwood, PosterGarden, Buglers Across America and the national Spirit of ‘45 organization – to get the project off the ground.

The kick-off took place in mid-June at the McMinnville Senior Center. The PCC team led local participants in a series of activities to capture their memories of that moment in time, often with help from family members to assist in documentation.

“The process of sharing their stories enabled participants to validate a huge part of their own lives,” said Rogers-Tadevich. “Many had never told their story about where they were on Aug 14, 1945. Adult children listened intently while their parents and grandparents told their history; for several of them, this was the first time they had heard these stories.”

To share their memories, participants used forms of expression that were personalized to them, such as photos, music and story-telling. The process fostered intergenerational connections, revealed the importance of capturing memories, and uncovered a piece of history that helped to shape lives and the country.

“The impact was quite profound,” said Lane, director of the McMinnville Senior Center. “I could see the demeanor of participants change; the pitch in their voice would change, up or down, depending on their personal experience. The way they sat in their chair changed, and the expression on their face changed as they recalled their story.

“It was amazing to see how an historical event of such significance could stay with someone and create an effect even 65 years later,” Lane added.

The final Spirit of ’45 presentation was unveiled Aug. 14 at McMinnville’s Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. Public displays showcased the efforts of participants and those who assisted them; photos and news articles; items specific to McMinnville and surrounding areas covering the events of Aug. 14, 1945; and period music played by local bands.

“The biggest insight I gathered from this project was the need for ritual and ceremony to capture valuable history,” said Dalton, also a graduate of PCC’s gerontology program. “The event created a space for elders to share their stories, which helped make a distant point in time come alive for all of us: the PCC team, the elders themselves, and their family and friends.”

PCC’s Gerontology Program is designed for individuals who wish to develop careers in the field of aging, those already employed or active in gerontology or related fields.