New paint, new furniture, new attitude
It takes a lot of loving care to turn a house into a home.
That task is even more challenging when the house is a group home for boys who are dependents of the county because their parents have abused or neglected them.
But over the course of about nine months, interior designer Carolyn Zainer made it her mission to bring new life to a drab house in Santa Ana where six teenage boys live under the supervision of Olive Crest Homes & Services for Abused Children.
Most of the labor and materials were donated or offered at a discount.
Judging by comments from the boys when Zainer stopped by recently with several large pieces of contemporary abstract art, the nearly completed makeover is a success.
Saul, 15, pronounced the new look of the house “ravishing.” The boys’ last names are not being used to protect their identity.
“I love it,” Saul said, helping Zainer hang the paintings she bought herself for the living room, den and dining room. “I just have a feeling if we place more color into this house, it’s going to look like a real house. It looks beautiful.”
“You like it?” Zainer asked.
“Yeah!” Saul answered without hesitation, a pencil behind his ear and tape measure in hand.
Josh, 17, thought having three paintings in the living room made it feel a bit crowded and he would have preferred switching their placement.
“I’m thinking that gold piece would look good on that wall,” he said to no avail.
But overall he liked the changes made to the group home, where he’s lived the past two years.
“I feel cared about,” Josh said.
Once painted white throughout with little else on the walls besides white boards listing the boys’ chores and the rules of the house, the rooms sport colors – sage, creamy yellow, almond – that Zainer chose for both easy maintenance and to cheer up the environment.
Gone are the frumpy flower-patterned couches from the living room, replaced by sturdier, golden-brown couches and a deep-seated leather chair fit for a king. Berber carpeting rests on the floors instead of the worn putting green-colored carpet. The bathrooms got new vanities, sinks and shelving along with refloated and repainted walls.
Residential manager Michelle Ricker said the new look brought with it a new attitude: “It was so bare before. I can just tell their whole respect for the house has really changed.”
The boys made their own rules about not putting their feet on the couches or eating in the living room.
“We live in a cleaner, nicer house,” said Jesse, 16. “That would have an effect on your personality. It makes you want to protect things more.”
They stopped writing on their bedding with markers.
“They never had nice sheets and comforters,” Ricker said. “They just didn’t care. Now each of them have their own and they take care of it every weekend. They wash it.”
Zainer, who owns CAZ Designs in Mission Viejo, figures the makeover would have cost between $25,000 to $30,000, but the donations kept all the work within the budget of $10,000 raised by the Lighthouse Guild, a fundraising arm of Olive Crest.
Contributors included CAZ Designs, Kustom Kut Construction, Stone Design Creations, Classic Home, Aspen Woodworks and House of Blinds.
“The intent was just to really personalize one of the group homes,” said Zainer, who sits on the board of directors for both Lighthouse Guild and Olive Crest. She added that the makeover may be used as a model for other Olive Crest homes.
But one of the boys wished for a more manly look.
“It’s a guy’s house, but it’s kind of looking like a family house,” Marvin, 14, said. “I’m OK with this, but we need sports pictures.”
Zainer heard him. “How about in your room?” she asked.
“That would be great,” Marvin answered.
