FINALLY! My Completed Project for 2013 Room Service Atlanta

Before I get to the pictures, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who supported me in my efforts to make this project an overwhelming success!  Overwhelming?  Sure, because I had no idea how I was going to pull this off.  All I had was a vision!  In no particular order:  Gerald Peterson, Jackie Kearse, Terry Kearse, Rice Painting, Marco Lemon, Scott Kelly, Kelton Bryant, Deirdre Frutiger, Dale Oudems, Steve and Jill McKenzie, Brigette Young-Martin, Dr. Karen Chaplin, Laura Newsom, Ramsey Eddington, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams (Atlanta), Floor and Décor (Southlake), Glidden Paints, Walmart (Midway Drive), Target (LaVista Rd) Walmart Distribution Center (LaGrange, Ga), and Dayka Robinson & Erika Ward (Room Service Atlanta Organization Founders).  If I overlooked anyone at all, please charge it to my head and not my heart!  I could not have done this without any of you!  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

 

I remember when Gillian and I first toured the Girls and Boys cottages; she wanted to do a girls space, but I was more drawn to the boys.  Why I chose the largest space in the cottage, I have no idea!  I left there that day thinking to myself, what had I done?  I was leaving for Paris in two days, so I thought I would worry about it when I got back! 

 



 

That is a 47" 3-D television that was donated by the Walmart Distribution Center, located in LaGrange, Georgia as well as the amazing Carson sofa sectional donated by my good friend Jonathan White at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams in Atlanta!  The DVD player was donated by Terry Kearse, along with his DIY skills at putting down the tile in the small bathroom!  The dry erase board, books, and games were original to the space.  The posters and frames, as well as the snacks are from Walmart.  The glass canisters, clock, and pillows are from Ikea.  Oh! the popcorn containers are from The Dollar Tree!

The cross is original to the space also.  You can see it in the first picture, tucked in the right corner, sitting on top of some books.  Gillian gave it a coat of paint and we left it where we found it!  After all, God was in every detail of the planning of this space.  You don't mess with perfection!  What goes better in a space where movie watching, sports, and gaming are happening?  Snacks...and lots of them!

 



 

 As you can see, Gillian was in the right corner of this picture making her own video commentary!  She wasn't pleased with my decision, but lent her support in every way she could during the project!

 

The flooring made the biggest difference in this space!  Oh it's so much better than the two layers of commercial carpet glued on top of some weird kind of tile!  If you haven't heard already, my most amazing friend Deirdre Frutiger made this possible!  The art was so generously painted by Steve McKenzie!  He and his wife Jill truly are two of the most gracious and supportive people I've met in a long time!  I think it's just incredible for these guys to have original artwork by a very talented local artist!  The Luna 45" table is another fantastic donation by MG+BW!  The chairs were found by my good friend Dale Oudems from Ikea via Craigs List!  This guy can sniff out a deal!  I'm never that lucky!  But I guess with friends like mine, luck has nothing to do with it...I'm very blessed!

 



 

 Look closely at the Ikea side tables!  They were my attempt at creating a little rhythm to flow with Steve's paintings!  Ha! close, but definitely no cigar!  I actually really like them, though!

 

 

 Not sure what these window treatments were, but I knew they had to go!  It was pretty scary!  The furniture was used in other spaces.  Those designers that snagged them, did some pretty amazing things to them!  When I saw them, I just didn't have any imagination whatsoever!  My hat goes off to these very imaginative designers!

 

 

 Truly never knew what a Fat Head was until this project!  My girlfriend Jackie Kearse has three sons and so she knew all about them!  As if contributing two weeks of her time and sweat wasn't enough; she made these Fat Heads possible as well!  These things come with tons of decals!  We only used the individuals, their names, and a couple of the Falcon ones.  The rest, I'm sure her sons will enjoy when I do their new bedroom!  Her home burned in February, so she was very inspired by this project!

 

 

That wallpaper paneling piece, that was once an exterior windows kept my mind in riddles until literally the 11th hour!  That's how creativity works sometimes!  It had to be God inspired people, cuz I had nothing until driving one day!  A few people suggested some really cool art piece, but I just wasn't feeling that!  What I did finally come up with ended up being my favorite spot in the whole space!

 

 

 That's right my friends, Astroturf purchased at Home Depot for less than $20 bucks!  It was already pre-cut, so I just measured out how much I thought I would need to make a small rug for the gaming chairs to sit on, and I had just enough left over to hang in that horribly, unsightly space.  After we hung it, I began to think out loud and expressed how cool it would be to paint a football field on it and carry the theme onto the floor as well.  Jackie went to work!  She grabbed her phone and googled some images of football fields, and voila!  Those gaming chairs are so cool!  I love the speakers in the headrest with the controls on the sides!  This area I set up for the guys to play PS2 (which was also donated by Jackie's boys) and watch movies on the DVD player (donated by Target).  Walmart Distribution Center also donated the 32" television!  The chest that the television is sitting on is from Ikea!  I just decided I would add my on little DIY touch and paint a little of the trim and louvers!  What do you think...pretty special, huh?

 

 

I knew I wanted to put something very personal in the space and I thought what better place to put it than on the bathroom door.  These are all the things that I had to have in order to make this space a reality for these deserving young men.  The only one I didn't put up was gratitude, however in the personal piece that I wrote to them, I made sure to let them know that showing gratitude for even the smallest acts of kindness and support, keeps the blessings flowing!

 

Make it AMAZING!

Rhonda



Read More

I'm Still Around!

Hey there!  I'm still around!  I've just been a little tied up trying to complete the Room Service Atlanta project, benefiting the United Methodist Children's Home.  I've been working diligently for the past couple of weeks trying to get the finishes just right.  This week is installation and I'm busy putting the finishing touches on everything; so I'll see you guys back here in a little bit!

 

 

 

...or I'm in the throws of putting out more pressing fires!

 

Make it AMAZING!

Rhonda



Read More

Teal, Turquoise, or Cosmic Blue...

Okay, so I mentioned briefly yesterday about my blue moment when the first coat of paint went onto the walls in the boys lounge at the RSA (Room Service Atlanta) project on Sunday.  Well, I go on Pinterest and guess what I see so many pins of?  You guessed it...teal, turquoise, peacock, etc., etc.  Glidden paints, the wonderful donors of the entire project, calls the one that I chose Cosmic Blue.  It is electric, and when trimmed with Extremely White, it almost vibrates off of the walls!  I did say I wanted a room filled with energy!  Well Baby, just call me Georgia Power!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My team of painters!  (L to R) Robert, Scott, Pete, and Mr. Rice.  Thanks guys for coming in and doing a fantastic job!

 

 

Make it AMAZING!

Rhonda

 

Images via Pinterest



Read More

2013 Room Service Atlanta Update!

I am so beyond excited about how amazingly generous my friends are!  I am truly blessed to have them in my life.  They support, honestly, everything that I do.  It's like a reflex!  I literally just express a thought, idea, need, whatever; and they are there with a means, a resource, a hand, an "I got you, don't worry about this" way of supporting me!  These are the kinds of people we all need in our lives that enrich it and makes us so much better for their presence!

 

The 2013 Room Service Atlanta project is underway and many designers have begun the process of getting their spaces ready.  I've yet to start the physical work, but I have been busy putting all of the pieces in place.  Erika Ward and Dayka Robinson are the charitable geniuses that gave birth to this incredible organization!  You so need to click on their names and visit their sites to get to know them!  I can say that I genuinely adore both of these women.  They are very different from each other, but they each are reflections of my personality collectively!  Weird, huh?

 

 

My color inspiration for the lounge!  I cannot wait to get started on the painting!  Well, hmmm...I'm not quite sure how much of the painting I personally am going to do, but I can't wait to see it!  You know what I mean!  I'm sure I'll paint something because I'm a little too much of "I see things that need to get done, so I need to do them" kind of person; so my hands will have paint on them, I'm sure!  SPECIAL THANKS TO GLIDDEN PAINTS FOR SPONSORSHIP AND DONATING THE PAINTING SUPPLIES for the entire project!  Wow!  Such an awesome contribution!

 

The sofa sectional has been donated by another incredible RSA sponsor, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Atlanta!  Jonathan White and his team in the Atlanta store are totally the best!  I've had the privilege of working with Jonathan, and I promise you, he is the real deal!  What you see is what you get!  I love him!  I may have to reconsider the lighting, as I'm thinking that if the guys get a little rowdy tossing a ball around and hit this amazing fixture, it may not end so pretty!  I'm not 100% on the coffee table; I'd actually like four cubes that will serve as a coffee table and additional seating if needed.  Maybe I'll make them...again, not "Me", but I'll have them made!  Shaking my head!  You guys should know better by now!

Okay, so totally excited about the gaming area!  I may have to visit from time to time to get in on the action!  My husband had the sweetest idea of having multiple televisions in the space for television viewing and for gaming.  He was getting a little carried away with all of the TV's he said to do, but his idea was fantastic and I am running with it!  I plan to paint the furnishings featured here in bright colors.  I will need help with that, as I have not ever painted furniture before!  You Tube will be viewed quite a bit in the next few weeks!

 

Words seem to escape me when trying to describe her, my friend Deirdre Frutiger purchased the laminate flooring for the lounge area, and the tile for the small restroom that's located inside of the lounge!  Did I not say in the very first paragraph that I have the most supportive friends???  Well, here ya go!  I cannot tell you how much this means to me!  Sometimes all I can say is "Wow"!  And for those of you who know me, it speaks volumes when I am rendered speechless!

 

 

This donation is so overwhelming!  My client/good friend Dale Oudems, assisted me with getting the flooring, that Deirdre purchased, to the cottage one rainy day.  He just happened to look up at the roof and says, "Have they had this roof inspected?  It looks like they could use a new one.  Have them send me some information about the organization and I'll see what I can do to get them one."  He was so matter of fact when he said it, so I was like, ok.  I got the information to him and two to three days later, the company where he is the human resources manager; CertainTeed in Peachtree City, Ga...was calling the CEO of the United Methodist Children's Home to find out how many tiles they needed in order to replace the roof!  Shut the front door!  Speechless!  Again, I am so blessed; so much so to the point where I can't do anything except say "Thank you, Jesus"!  We are all blessed to be a blessing, and my friends totally walk in this!  Again, Thank you Jesus!

 

 

Make it AMAZING!

Rhonda

 

*Quote

 

***Although I've not taken any additional pictures of the space, please visit the RSA tab at the top to keep up with the progress as I move forward with this incredibly amazing project!

Read More

Inspirations from the Paris Metro

Okay, so I'm working on a new project that I am so excited about!  It is with Room Service Atlanta, a community service organization that enlists the help of local interior designers to create better living environments for children's homes, shelters, and other non-profit facilities, that aid in the support of making Atlanta a better place for as many as possible. 

 

While in Paris riding the Metro, I was struck by the architecture of it's stations.  I loved the walls, the lighting, and the iron details that were specific to each.  This one station in particular really stood out for me, and I immediately thought of my project with Room Service Atlanta.  I have chosen to do the lounge in the Boys Cottage.  This is a place where the young men can gather and watch television or just hang out with each other for some fun and fellowship with their housemates.

 

 

I'm not much for doing one wall as a focal wall, and I guess that's why something like the wall above really appealed to me.  I think it would be really cool to do something like this on all four walls, but in a fun, very imaginative color.  Right now I'm toying with a medium orange or peacock blue!  I feel like a kid with a new box of crayons when I start thinking about color palettes for projects!  I typically like keeping the walls somewhat neutral and introducing color in the accessories, draperies, rugs, and such; but for this space I want color, color, color!  Not so much until it's distracting and overwhelming, but where it's inspiring and totally cool!  You know that place where you're like, "I so want to spend time here!"



 

This is the part of design that really gets my creative juices flowing!  Trying to figure out how to translate inspiration into realization.  Even if it isn't the exact same thing, it's okay.  The idea is to capture, in some form, the look and/or feel of the inspired element.  Yes, I do realize this is very industrial and has a cold feel about it, but that's when all of the elements such as light, color, and texture really becomes important.  You have to be diligent about selecting elements that will be a soft yet complementive contrast.

 

I love this lighting!  I can't wait to begin sourcing for something like it.  Isn't it incredible???  Of course, with this being a lounge, I want it to be comfortable and a place the guys want to hang out.  It needs to have a bit of intimacy, while inspiring their creativity and dreams.  For me to be able to design a space where they will feel at home and foster genuine, lasting relationships that will become a part of their support system will be absolutely amazing for me!

 

 

If you would love to help support my efforts in helping to create a wonderful lounge for these deserving young men, please contact me at rhondae@rhondaepeterson.com.  I will be posting updates as progress is made to keep you guys in the loop.  Also, please visit Room Service Atlanta to learn more about this amazing organization!

 

Make it AMAZING!

Rhonda



Read More