$15,000 Bathroom Eco-Makeover Giveaway Winner Gets Ready for Remodeling to Begin!

Jodi Feinhor-Dennis, owner of Invironments, landed on the front page of The Daily Camera on July 25, 2009, to announce Bathroom Confessions, a $15,000 bathroom eco-makeover giveaway contest. 55 contestants entered, incredible stories were shared and a winner was selected. Now, the remodeling is about to begin!

Invironments along with Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine and other local sponsors banded together in response to threats of a doomed economy to reward a person in the community for simply choosing optimism amidst difficulty. To enter, contestants shared an inspiring story of how they stay hopeful when life throws a curve ball.

The contest was as successful as it was inspirational. The most surprising outcome was just how inspiring people’s stories were! From a man who was laid off so he started a life-long goal to do stand-up comedy, to a woman whose son had died and she saw a recurring white cricket - an omen of her son’s spirit. Many contestants told stories of losing their savings when the stock market plunged, of health issues, of lost jobs – and then told how they keep their spirits up. Some volunteered, some connected with nature, and many said they took time to connect with family and friends.

Of the 55 contestants, Invironments selected Peggy Wrenn, a 58-year-old Boulder native. Her story was moving and inspiring on many levels. She’d had a few “curve balls” within the year: nearing retirement, her net worth dropped by 40% and her best friend passed from cancer. Peggy entered the Bathroom Confessions contest in memory of her late friend, Toni, who had decorated most of Peggy’s home.

Our winner Peggy tells her story best:
Toni REALLY wanted to redo my frumpy bathroom, but we couldn't afford it. Last summer, on a whim, thinking of Toni, I entered a "Bathroom Confessions Eco-Makeover" contest sponsored by Invironments -- a local interior design business -- with a prize of a $15,000 bathroom makeover. Per the contest rules, I wrote an essay on how to stay up in hard times, submitted bathroom photos, and went to the shop to record my story on video in their "bathroom confessional”.

When Invironments announced the winner, it ironically landed one year + one day after Toni’s death. Peggy is certain that Toni arranged this and says of her late friend, “Toni deserves the Purple Heart for making lemonade out of lemons, and using her cancer to heal at the deepest levels, to learn about her true self and to offer her unique brand of love vibrantly to the world.”

Many contestants had very inspiring and heart-wrenching stories. Amidst them all, a single statement Peggy said at the end of her video interview stood out from the rest. She said, “When you see every gesture as a gift, you’re too grateful to be scared.”

This Saturday, January 16, Peggy is hosting a party at her home – the date would have been Toni’s 60th birthday. While celebrating Toni’s life, Peggy will show off the decorating Toni accomplished and then Invironments’ designer Jodi Feinhor-Dennis will present design concepts for the bathroom’s eco-makeover.

To create the $15,000 giveaway, Invironments rallied its many local resources in the home-remodeling industry and asked them to be a bathroom makeover partner. Each sponsor jumped on board with a shared vision: to uplift and benefit the community of Boulder County. All materials and labor will be donated by the local sponsors.

Sponsors include:
Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine: www.homeandgardenmag.com Quarterly magazine that links Boulder County homeowners with the wide array of services, resources and products available to them.

Invironments Design: www.invironmentsdesign.com Intuitively designing homes to connect you with your soul. Invironments insulates clients from the stress of a typical home remodel by managing the interior design/remodeling project and budget from concept to completion.

KBC Remodeling: An expert in full-scale, eco-green remodeling, KBC specializes in custom cabinetry solutions.

Go Green Flooring: http://thecarpetline.com Family owned since opening in 1982, Go Green offers the latest technology in environmentally sound flooring with knowledgeable service and expert installation technicians.

Splashlight: www.splashlightonline.com Unique, modern and stylish, energy-efficient light fixtures.

Boulder Bath: www.boulderbath.com Owner Meri Lynn is the third generation of a family business that specializes in high-end home design products; Boulder Bath offers specialty decorative bath and plumbing fixtures.

Apache Stoneworks: www.apachestoneworks.com The highest quality installation of tile and stone by a reliable and professional team.

True Colors Painting: http://truecolorsofboulder.com Specializing in interior and exterior painting, this crew will use eco-friendly paints and the end result will be crisp edges and a refreshed space.

Ellie's Home Store: www.elliesecohomestore.com A one-stop shop for healthy, sustainable, recycled and eco friendly products including remodeling products, kitchenware, pet accessories, house cleaning and apparel.

Contact:
Katy Pollock, Invironments
katy@invironmentsdesign.com (303) 413 8003

Five Tips for Creating a Beautiful Kitchen that’s EASY to Work In

1. Consider more than just cooking when designing your kitchen. Kitchens are now often landing zones for the whole household – mail/office space, cell phone charging stations, entertaining. When planning your kitchen design, throw the net wide and consider all the uses.

2. Group similar activities into zones. Primary zones like prep, cooking and cleanup create the kitchen framework and should be distributed to avoid crowding, but close enough to share common needs. Locate prep and cleanup zones near each other. Distribute secondary zones like baking, beverage, communication centers, storage and entertainment throughout the primary zones to spread out activity. Use this system as an alternative to the standard kitchen triangle, which doesn’t work for all floor plans.

3. Plan for multiple cooks in the kitchen. Organize zones with enough elbow room to accommodate multiple people. Can someone access the dishwasher while another preps and cooks? Does opening the refrigerator door cut another person off from the sink? If you have the space, leave at least 48” of clear counter space to one side of the stove or cooktop.

4. Face your guests. If you are the social type, create an interactive layout to better connect with your family or guests while in the kitchen. Give people a comfortable place to sit to help with prep, do homework or just visit.

5. Buy eco-sensible materials. Shop for eco-friendly alternatives to standard kitchen materials. Cabinet boxes can be made from non-off-gassing particleboard or sustainable wood from managed forests. Research has shown granite can be radioactive (The New York Times “What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?” 7/24/08). Check out cool & durable countertop materials that contain recycled materials. Recycled glass: Icestone.biz, Vetrazzo, Trinity. Post-industrial-waste integrated with cement: SquakMountainStone.com. Recycled paper: PaperstoneProducts.com. Bamboo+paper: EcoTop. Decommissioned money: Shektastone.

Invironments helps you create spaces that connect you to your joy. We encourage cooking enthusiasts to delight in their craft and get more out of their kitchens. We create beautiful, eco-friendly kitchens and minimize the frustration of a typical home remodel. Unlike other interior designers or kitchen planners, Invironments manages the entire project. We hire the architect, contractor and painter, while overseeing the entire job from concept to curtains. See our designs at www.invironmentsdesign.com or visit our showroom located at 1646 Pearl Street in beautiful downtown Boulder. (303) 413-8003.