Style on a shoestring - Assisted Living apartment

How can one bring style and beauty  - not to mention warmth - to a generic vanilla assisted living apartment in 2 weeks, and include a Tempurpedic memory foam mattress (definitely the priciest component),  for under $4500?   It was a scramble, but we pulled it together by hanging family photos as wall art and sourcing items from Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Ballard Designs, and Altstadt Interiors, a Seattle homewares consignment shop.  

The end result is a cozy and welcoming refuge for a woman who is losing her memories......

..... the reading alcove, before:

....... and after......

..... from this......

......to this...... 

She appreciates the transformation....and feels comfortable here.  Alzheimer's is a devastating disease and whatever I can do to make it a little easier for my mother is worth it.

Good Design can be found many places

Note:  This post was first published in the blog:  Piacenza Design.....

Recently, I was intrigued by the Restoration Hardware catalog that arrived in my mailbox.  We’ve all become used to the ubiquitous lighting, quality bedding in every color, window treatments and hardware, furniture and casegoods that RH is known for but this issue contained something new: a collection of reclaimed woods (elm, pine, oak, etc) that have been reborn as chic furniture and accessories.

Now, I’m a huge fan of good design whether it’s found at the Seattle Design Center in “To the Trade” showrooms or on the pages of the glossiest shelter magazines, but - Restoration Hardware?  Granted, they’ve upped the bar for most do-it-yourselfers with their collection of good-looking bath fixtures in a range of styles, and their bed linens and bath towels are quite wonderful…. But I wasn’t expecting this!

The October, 2009 Elle Décor features a short article about the Restoration Hardware CEO’s belief in taking his store’s goods upmarket in downward times because, “Nobody wants to waste money in an economy like this.”  Too true, but producing beautiful - as well as socially conscious - goods in “this economy” is so commendable!  Now, if they’d just increase their Designer discount……