Maeve’s Project

Butterflies for Princess Maeve and Dragonflies for the adventure sisters Meghan & Erin

A while back, my friend Joanne DiFrancesco asked me to help out on a charitable project in the name of her mother. Not only was I so honored to do so, but this was also an ideal opportunity to give something back to the community.

The Dream Team was assembled: Michael Collins, Project Director for RTD who conducted the initial site visit and developed a set of project standards, and Doug Hanna from S&H Construction who managed the construction needs which included widening an existing doorway and cutting in and installing a new custom door & me with the space planning, furniture procurement and cosmetics.

We needed to define and solve the problems quickly and within budget. It was hard not to fall in love with this active, young family when we first met: Kara the Mom and Chris the Dad of Maeve, 5, a darling little brown-eyed girl, and her two spunky sisters, Meghan and Erin, 9 and 7. The children are energetic and upbeat kids who play well together. The main problem was how to organize the three girls’ crowded living space which combined, spanned only 302 SF including the closets. Maeve wanted a princess theme and her sisters favored sports and adventure.

I sat down with Kara and the girls and created “wish list.” We decided that special shelving, a 3-drawered bed, new bureaus, a bulletin board and desks – red, white and from IKEA – would most efficiently and economically accommodate Maeve’s special needs equipment, books, clothes, and expanding collection of sports awards and stuffed animals. The girls had a special request to build a small entrance through the closet wall so they could crawl through the “cave” from one room to the other.

After floor plans were drawn and space was allocated, seven paint colors were chosen, fabrics were selected and many butterflies of different shapes and sizes were painted from one room into the next. Andy D’Amato from Andrews Painting transformed their color palette to bubblegum pinks, sky blue and lavender. Like Santa’s workshop, our crew set to building and installing the furniture over a weekend. When the family returned from their “staycation,” the girls squealed with delight at each new re-discovery in their freshly decorated spaces.

Thousands of thank you’s to the fabulous team who made this happen!

Project Manager: Michael Collins
Designer: Marilyn MacLeod
Photography: Michael J. Lee

There were many other helping hands who made this all possible: Tricia LeVangie of California Closets donated two closet systems, Karl Ivester of New England Shutter Mills provided painted and shuttered closet doors, Mahmud Jafri of Dover Rug & Home contributed a beautiful orange dragon fly area rug and Tony Mirabile – Joanne DiFrancesco’s Dad – contributed a large, flat screen television for Maeve’s Room. And we couldn’t have done it with our volunteer work crew – Barb Collins, Andy and Joe Mirabile, Tony Mirabile, Ann Joyal, Bob and Joanne DiFrancesco, Bill Doirin, and Bethany Guen.

S&H Construction
Doug Hanna

Andrews Painting of Milton

Babels Paint & Decorating