If you’ve been hanging around our website in 2017 you will have heard about our giving back campaign. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE! We announced in the early months of this year that we would be taking our tools and trade talents to the streets, down the side walks and right up to people’s door steps.
While you have been wondering what we have been getting up to (yes, I know, we were pretty vague in the beginning!) we have jumped in with both feet!
Typically that is what we have done for the last dozen or so years in our personal lives and that spontaneous way of living has now overflowed into our life here too.
We announced we would be taking our renovation adventures on the road and we meant just that. We thanked the good Lord for stow-and-go seats and packed up our trusty and rusty mini van with all of our saws and tool boxes and pressed the gas full tilt. In the beginning, we didn’t know how we would choose what project to gift to whom, but we had a general idea I suppose.
You see, by day I work as a hairstylist and as expected my clients discuss all things heart and home with me. Often we share all about the things in our lives that we are working on. After all, when that big mirror stretches far and wide across the wall revealing both of us in its reflection, its hard not to feel revealed.
So, it was just any other day when this whole Porch Project idea came to mind while talking to a lovely client and Mama of five. She mentioned loving the post we had put together that covered our One Room Challenge laundry room and mud room makeover. YOU CAN READ THE FINAL POST HERE After that, she mentioned potentially hiring my husband and I to makeover her space. But after some thought we knew that this sweet mama deserved a surprise makeover!
We know all too well what it’s like to conquer room design while sticking to a budget as well as keeping an eye on tiny people who are underfoot. So, we decided to reach out to some of the amazing companies we have partnered with in the past to see if they wanted to be a part of our giving back initiative. We were overwhelmed by the amazing response from two local companies who jumped at the opportunity to help create some calm in a busy Mamas daily routine.
The first to jump on board was Metrie.
Metrie is a 90 year old Canadian trim and moulding company who we worked with for our own mudroom laundry room makeover. You can find their products in Lowe’s Home Improvement stores and can find all of the rooms that have been transformed with their products on their Instagram page at @Officialmetrie
They jumped at the chance to join forces with us for our laundry room makeover round two! They graciously supplied the baseboard trim, wall planking and materials for our custom corner built in folding station! TUTORIAL TO COME SOON!! Without their generous donation of top of the line quality products this surprise makeover would still just be a dream of ours to create.
Next to join our team was The Art of Home.
The Art of Home is a local independently owned and operated store and is located in downtown Galt, in Cambridge Ontario. It is boss babe central!!! Ive been stalking their Instagram feed at @theArtOfHome for four good years and anxiously await seeing what new goodies they will be carrying next. You will want to too!! FYI. They are known to be the first store around the area to carry trendy and classic items like the ultra popular Uashmama reusable paper pots and gurgle pots.
Both companies joined forces with our husband and wife duo who answer to #TLEBuildandDesign (You can see past projects on our social channels under that tag!) and with their products and our hands we got to work making a bland space into a pretty one.
We corresponded with the busy Mama-of-five’s busy Daddy-of-five and he soon became the newest member of our surprise implementing team. He let us know on a regular Tuesday that the following weekend would be the extra special weekend where we could house crash their space and make it over. He would do his job by taking his wife away from Friday night to Sunday at noon. Things were quickly falling together. We were impressed. He moved fast.
One part of our design and build duo had to work on the Saturday but we got to work the night before measuring and planning out what we would do with the blank space. We had a general idea but we needed to determine the exact size of the custom laundry unit we were going to create before we started building. So we worked out a rough plan and while one part of us worked creating hair design on the Saturday of our makeover weekend the other half got to work installing trim and moulding on Saturday in the day. By time Hubby was done, installing all the trim and hardscapes, I rushed over to paint paint paint till I nearly fainted.
We chose to lighten and brighten the space with Benjamin Moore Swiss Almond on all the walls and the ceiling. Because of the dips and slopes of each, this part of the project took three times longer than anticipated. 11PM came fast.
The following day we hustled. We had time to make up and had to account for the fact that the makeover recipients five children were just like our three and wanted to be involved with the creativity process. Of course, how could we say no. We loved having the opinions and helping hands of 8 little ones. However, as you’ll be able to tell by our soon to come video, the sound on our video footage was literally magnified by eight children. They say it takes a village. 😉
It soon became obvious to all parties involved that we needed to inform the Daddy-of-five to try to stall the Mommy-of-five from coming home. We would not make our noon deadline.
As with most renovations, our extended new finish time still wasn’t enough. It came and went and we missed that one too. As a team, we came to the conclusion that the makeover would still indeed be a surprise if the Mommy-of-five came home and was just kept from seeing her almost-maybe-nearly-done space. So, we worked like little maniacs trying to finish the custom unit to transport to their home. Then, we finished a handful of hours after we had anticipated.
We rat-a-tap-tapped on the party of seven’s door and found a very surprised Mommy-of-five and five very excited littles who wanted to show their Mama the space they had helped create!
After some more painting and staining, we finished right before the eight children’s bedtime.
We revealed the space to all of them in a fun furry and still cant get enough of the excited squeals from the Mommy-of-five once she processed the fact that her space was the one getting made over! The one she had watched in our Instagram stories!!
This reveal video is real reality! There’s background noise and no lighting to speak of, but between the grainy footage there are also happy children willing to give their input, to create a special space for their Mama. And in the midst of chaos there is so much genuine effort. In the end the space was all that we wanted it to be and so much more.
We will be sharing more about the products used in this room reveal and more behind the scenes footage soon!
But, for now, we hope you like following along on this makeover adventure with us! Without further ado…
So, let us know: What space should we go to next? How should we choose the recipient? Do YOU need a space in your home redone?? If so, let us know in the comments below! Maybe you will find us on your porch next!
