With $500 from Birmingham View and the expertise of a creative interior designer, (who by her own admission was a thrift store junkie), we turned a depressed Ensley woman’s living and dining room into the talk of her friends and neighbors.
Joyce Lewis said her new living room (and dining room, which Fields threw in as a bonus) has given her something to be happy about again.
The widow had been in a funk since the death of her husband, Joe Lewis. In February 2003, they moved into an Ensley home that needed serious repairs. Her husband of six years was remodeling the house when he died in March 2003.
“I got depressed and didn’t want to do anything after he died. I really didn’t have the money to do anything. Then I said I would just do it one room at a time,” she says. “I was just saying something about needing to fix up the living room when you called.”
Lewis was randomly chosen from a group of our readers who filled out an entry card inside Birmingham View magazine and registered to win a $500 room makeover.
Interior designer Janice Fields specializes in “fast, fearless and frugal” decorating by re-arranging a client’s existing decor and 
accessorizing with items from clearance counters, thrift stores and the occasional garage sale. “My clients are always shocked at how quickly a room can be completely changed into an exciting new look with very little time and money,” she says.
Fields used this former window covering on Lewis’ dining room table.
The Redecoration Process
Lewis told Fields she wanted a tropical look, because she is a distributor of Noni Tropical Juice and hosts meetings for sales associates in her home.
“I showed her a picture that had a lime green background that she loved,” Fields says. “So I proceeded with a look I call, ‘Tropical British Colonial,’ which incorporates bright colors into the usual pairing of white and beige fabrics and the dark woods associated with the British Colonial look.”
Fields spent two days shopping at thrift stores, picking up two sofas, lamps, shades, pillows and other items. She found an old wooden fire screen on which she painted a floral pattern in only 30 minutes. “I’m no ‘arteest,’ but I can paint a little bit,” she says of her work.
She also brought in an old side table that she found on the roadside some years ago and painted red.
Wesley Champion, the manager of Lowe’s on Lakeshore Drive in Homewood, assisted the project by selling paint, painting supplies, curtain rods, roll-up rattan window shades, and a 12-inch potted plant with
various tropical greenery, all at cost.
Daniel and Mehgan Funk of Maintenance Solutions, a handyman service, helped paint the living and dining room walls, the trim and the ceiling. They also assisted with curtain hanging and furniture arrangement.
Fields puts the finishing touches on her work.
Fields spent hours arranging rugs, cushions, pillows, lamps, books, pictures and paintings. She used much of what Lewis already had – an old floral curtain that Fields used as a table covering. She found a big old Bible, a big old dictionary, a James Brown book, and other coffee table books and magazines lying on the front porch.
She also used Lewis’ black table, her two end tables and dozens of framed pictures. It’s all about arranging the items in a way that is appealing and inviting to guests, Fields says.
“It was very gratifying to see someone like Joyce thrilled with the transformation of her home. I love this work because I love to see people happier through a pleasing home. Home is truly where the heart is.”
Interior designer Janice Fields, owner of Savvy Spaces, can be reached at (205) 822-8201. Daniel and Mehgan Funk, of Maintenance Solutions, can be reached at (205) 685-5782. And visit Wesley Champion, manager of Lowe’s Home Improvement Center in Homewood, who contributed to this project.
