Renovation and design projects are not just about changing a home. Most projects also changed LIVES — the Clients’ and mine! I used to say, ‘I live for the transformation — the Before vs After’, but I now know that’s not really true.
See the story of the Bordo project and Angelica’s bold decision below to understand why I cried at the end of this one.
History & Trust
The Bordo Project: one of the most interesting renovation and design projects we’ve recently completed involves a 1965 childhood home transformation, the homeowner (who inherited it), and the process of working through decades of memories — 60 years for for Vince and 20 years for Angelica, his partner.
It took Vince & Angelica two years of interviewing design firms and contractors to choose us. And, YES, we feel privileged that they trusted us with their home –creating a design that felt true to them, and coordinating every puzzle piece and step of the renovation process to deliver the project on time and within budget!
Change is HARD!
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Change is rarely easy, especially when a home holds decades of memories — and the Bordo project was a perfect example of that. When spaces like these evolve, emotions can run high and hesitation is natural. There’s often an instinct to protect what feels familiar, even when change is needed.
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Besides emotions, a whole house renovation and design project is one of the most challenging. In this case, the Clients lived close by in rental property for 5 months to avoid the constant dust and noise that occurs when every surface is completely rethought.
You’ll note (in our Staging Blog and in this project post) how we helped with the emotional transition of this project by repurposing and pointedly reusing some special pieces of family history in the new design.
Bold Decisions
Half way into this whole house renovation project Angelica’s Mom fell ill. She left to go overseas and stayed for 4 months. While caring for her mother, Angelica told Vince (and us) not to send a single photograph of the second half of the renovation changes or furniture deliveries. She wanted to experience the carefully curated spaces for the first time as a whole in person — not just see detached moments of change.
Vince captured her first moments in their newly completed home at 2 a.m. after 12 hours of travel — and she cried.
NOT just a Transformation — JOY!
They shared the above picture and a small video of Angelica’s first reactions to their transformed home to us the next morning. It was the first time (in 28 years of doing this) that I cried!
Of course, we are always so careful to deliver a thoughtful and personally crafted design tailored to each of our clients’ needs. BUT I hadn’t realized until that moment how hard it had been for me and my Team to wait all those months to be certain she was happy too.
Before the Bordo project, I didn’t realize that the Before vs After transformation wasn’t really what drove us — it’s truly about our Clients’ JOY!
