Inside Our Latest Sorority House Makeover Project
We are back at the Chi Omega house at Florida State University! Last summer we redesigned four smaller spaces and this year we’re tackling two large ones. The piano room is a very large space that serves as a gathering room for the sisters. I would say it’s the “living room” of the house. We needed lots of options for seating, including a small table and chairs. I also had this very sad piano that needed a place to shine. Here are a few photos of how it looks today.
Like with our residential projects, we created a rendering video so the board members could envision our ideas that not only includes new furniture, but we are going to give this room some much needed architectural detail. The piano will have a custom built-in around it and the fireplace is finally getting a mantel. I’m also excited about our plans for what we are going to display on the mantel.
The sisters love taking photos and having them out for rush. Instead of filling the built-in with frames, we’re going to incorporate large, black and white images of sisters who lived in the house in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Check out the rendering we did for the presentation showing all the changes we plan to make.
Since we can’t replace the flooring (which is gray vinyl plank) or the stone on the fireplace (travertine like panels), I had to be intentional in putting together a design that incorporated some cool and warm tones. All the fabrics are super durable and will hold up to most anything these sisters spill on it. I also wanted to bring in lots of different textures. We had to eliminate the grasscloth wallpaper on the ceiling, but the labor costs were way more than we had in our budget. So, paint is the next best thing. I have to get rid of those chocolate brown squares!
If you or someone you know is on the alumni board of a sorority house, please send them this blog post. We would love to take on a few more of these projects and it doesn’t have to be local. There’s still some time to do a little “refresh” this summer or have a new room installed over the winter break.