WWSSW: After

Taaaaaaaaaaaa - Daaaaaaaaaaaa!!

View: Doorway

The Esplanade House is a facility that only built what they needed.  They have every square inch accounted for and is used daily.  This room in particular, is used for EVERYTHING!  Potlucks, parenting classes, staff meetings, girl scout meetings, CPR/First Aid Training, holiday parties, memorial services,  group therapy sessions, and whatever else you can think of ... a real multi-purpose room.

In the before shots, furniture was scattered all over, plus, the storage of all extra chairs where stacked in the corner.  In doing this make-over, we helped get the ACTUAL storage area organized, so we could use it for what should be in there - all those extra chairs!

Also, this project came at a great time because they were due for their annual carpet cleaning, as well as, a fresh coat of paint on the walls.  So our volunteering motivated their own "to-do list" of projects, and working together make the impact even greater!

Because of the intimate and private meetings that often happen here, our team decided to set up the room in a more "living room" layout.  Its much more of a circle than before, where everyone can see everyone.  In the before shots, the sofas were lined up against the walls.  It seems you'd have to shout in order to be heard.

The other issue that needed to be addressed is the amount of seating; this is for the events that are not so private.  We added tables behind the sofas for 3-4 extra seats each.  And if there were still more people, we added larger pillows which could easily be used as floor pillows.

Kids Corner

In the back we put together this Kids Corner.  This is a family facility, and all of us parents know that if the kids are bored, they will find something to get into.  Better they have some toys!  Here we have puzzles, books, floor pillows, cars, paper & pencils.  

Kid's Corner

AND OH MY GOODNESS Look at this tree!!  My friend Nicole painted this "Tree of Life,"  Didn't it turn out great?!  She took our inspiration picture and copied it almost identically.  If you're in NorCal and need a painter, this is the gal you call!  Contact me for more information.

Tree of Life

Tree of Life

Throughout the tree, she stamped words of hope and inspiration.  You will find words like: LOVE, TRUST, HOPE, FORGIVE, LAUGH, and PEACE.  This tree does speak words of life over everyone that enters.

View: From Kids Corner

From this angle you can see the "teaching center."  In the BEFORE shots, the projector screen and the dry erase board were on 2 different walls.  So in order for this circular seating arrangement to work, it had to be centered to 1 focus.  We added a credenza with storage baskets for the teachers to utilize, and then moved the bookcase close by for extra storage and reference.

Here's the best part -
We did not spend 1 penny!  Everyone involved volunteered their time.  We found many items just sitting in storage.  The facility has an on-site donation center and we were allowed to utilize that.  We recruited and received donations from local businesses, along with local friends & family.  Not 1 penny!!


A BIG THANK YOU to The Esplanade House for allowing us to come in!  We do hope you love this new space, and can use it for even more activities.  Congratulations on 20 years!
ANOTHER BIG THANK YOU to the team who put this together!  IAHSP NorCal Chapter ROCKS!