Library staff completes makeover

• Image

Mallory Sweeney, 10, won an extreme bedroom makeover through Friday Memorial Library’s Summer Reading Program. Above, she is pictured in her new room.

Talk about it

When 10-year-old Mallory Sweeney moved into her new bedroom on Tamarack Place, she was less than thrilled.

“It was just white and someone obviously smoked in there,” said Brian Sweeney, Mallory’s dad.

When she heard about Friday Memorial Library’s contest to win an extreme room makeover, she was sold.

The makeover was a prize awarded during the library’s Summer Reading Program.

“We had two drawings for the tween and teens,” said Georgia Jones, children’s librarian. “One drawing was for an iPod and the other was for the makeover.”

Participants were able to enter the drawings based on the number of hours they read each week. If participants read five or more hours, they earned a ticket.

Mallory entered both drawings but was hoping for the makeover, she said.

Mallory’s name was drawn by Mayor Fred Horne on July 27, said Cynthia Hanson, project volunteer. A few days later Mallory was meeting with library staff to discuss her dream room.

“She asked for a princess bed,” Brian said.

Really, all she wanted was a canopy above the bed, Mallory said.

“We asked Mallory to tell us how she wanted it to be made over,” Jones said. “Then Sandy (Venhor) went to Farm and Home and got paint samples.”

Mallory picked four colors and ranked them one through four, Venhor said. After that, it was up to the design team to select the final color.

“And this isn’t her No. 1,” Venhor said as she gestured toward the lilac-colored walls.

Once the paint was chosen, Hanson used graph paper to design the room’s new layout and determine where the furniture was going to go.

On Thursday, Aug. 26, four ladies — Jones, Venhor, Hanson and Elaine Schachtner — evicted Mallory and went to work on her room.

It wasn’t very nerve racking to have four strangers working on her room, she said.

“It turned out better (than expected),” she said.

Mallory’s makeover is more than just paint on the walls, Jones said.

“It’s every detail,” she said. “Down to the little vase with a daisy on the desk.”

Daisies serve as one of the main themes of the room, Jones said. From images on pillows to decals on the walls, daisies will be visible wherever you look.

Bedding donated by Venhor served as the inspiration for other bright accent colors in the room, Jones said.

For example, the desk chair is a bright pink telescoping chair the group bought from Ikea.

“We wanted something to punch is up a little bit,” Hanson said.

“Cynthia’s specialty is punching it up a little bit,” Jones said with a laugh.

Those punches of color and different textures are one of Mallory’s favorite things about the room, she said.

“I like this blanket because it’s fuzzy,” she said. “I also have a fuzzy rug and a fuzzy pillow.”

Parents Holly and Brian said they were pretty open about what happened in the room.

“I peek in every now and then,” said Holly. “We trust those ladies. They know what they’re doing.”

Jones said that while there was a budget for the project, they would not have been able to create the room they did without donations from local businesses. Labor and time was also donated, she said.

Tags: home and garden, new richmond, lifestyle, family, home