HomeStretch, Inc.

The DC Chapter had a full day!! Our project for the day was to make a 2 bedroom condo that is used for a family in transition (due to leaving an abusive relationship) more pleasant to live in. We felt that if we provided a more “homey” environment that the transition would feel a bit more stable.

We started with very limited furnishings with no warmth or flow to the condo. The biggest challenge for the day was to remove some very old, multi-colored plaid wall paper in the kitchen. This wallpaper had been scrubbed thin in areas around the sink and stove and actually had so much grease on the surface it felt like wallpaper glue! Thanks to Dee Dawson's husband, DL, owner of a home improvement business, the wallpaper stripping and painting was completed in one day. David Schandler and the sons of Dee and DL Dawson and Shae Leighland pitched in to strip the wallpaper, remove the glue and paint the kitchen.

All of us did a lot of little things that really pulled everything together and I could go on forever what each of us accomplished during the day. What stands out most was the creative uses of what we had, using a limited budget, and coming up with wonderful ideas to create a lovely living environment. Deb Gorham, Chapter President, tackled the family room by slip covering a sofa and chair to coordinate the upholstered furniture. Shae Leighland, Public Relations, came to the rescue by donating additional pieces of furniture to complete the family room and spray painted a few lamps and a dining room light fixture to help the fixtures look brand new. David Schandler used some of the stain Stagedhomes.com provided in our World Wide Staging Day kit to give older pieces of furniture a great new look. Lisa Collins, Chapter VP, worked on the girl's bedroom using new bedding on the two beds to coordinate the room and pull everything together. Dee Dawson did a fantastic job on the boy's bedroom and donated not only new bedding but a computer desk.

Although each of us were assigned specific rooms we all brought additional decorative items and pulled from each others “inventory” to make all the rooms work. It was a “real team work” approach and we learned from each other throughout the day. A real bonding experience with our local ASPs and a great feeling of accomplishment.

As stated by Homestretch “Please express our appreciation to all who helped with this super job in making this house a real home!”

A job well done by all!!

- Lisa Collins, ASP

A couple of our After photos: