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The frame was small, maybe 3 by 5 inches. The quote displayed inside, “I made a wish and you came true,” caught my eye—and, I’ll confess, melted my heart. Of course it was schmaltzy, and sugary enough to catapult a diabetic into a coma. But there it was, in Aaisha Irwin’s house in north St. Louis, amid a cluster of brand-new, modest but lovely homes—each one constructed by the individual homeowner working alongside volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.
Down the hall, Ms. Irwin’s 7-year-old son, Kiy Juan, pointed with pride to the new gargantuan white shoe on his shelf, autographed and dedicated to him by Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, and to the skateboard with Tony Hawk’s John Hancock on it— both gifts tracked down by designers Retta DiFate and Zachary Cramberg. On the walls in the living room, original canvases hung—painted in brilliant colors by designer and The Designing Block owner Susan Block—just another in an army of designers who volunteered for AT HOME’s 2009 community project to furnish and finish five Habitat for Humanity houses.
Down the street, JoAnn Barge dabbed her eyes and showed off her residence to friends and strangers. She personally picked the colors of the walls—which included indigo blue, deep lavender, and pink—and painted most of them herself, with the help of her two teenage daughters. Then her phalanx of designers finished off the rooms with donated fabrics, furniture, and fixtures. Granite countertops went into the kitchen, with backsplashes covered in red tile from Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore. In the basement, designers Jenny Manganaro and Paul Pagano took an unfinished space and converted it into a den with room to dine. Two of Ms. Manganaro’s closest friends funded the cost of the plywood. An overstuffed couch came from an AT HOME reader; most of the other furniture was found at the Little Shop Around the Corner. When Bill Croghan, president of Boa Construction, heard that 23-year-old Courtney Sims needed some assistance with her house, he not only sent out a crew who finished her basement in one very long weekend, but he personally spent two long days working and painting.
Residents from all areas offered up random acts of kindness: Sunny Lim of The HomePort Collections donated the contents of his Union warehouse, a lady in Hillsboro gave 30 yards of fabric for Ms. Barge’s basement ceiling, readers from across the city offered up furniture they no longer wanted, and Little Shop Around the Corner not only allowed the designers to shop their shop but also stored all the furniture until it was needed. Corporate donors ranged from Benjamin Moore to Carol House, Weekends Only, Home Decorators Collection, and many, many others. In all, more than 250 individuals and companies donated time and materials to get the five houses done. And the results? Brilliant (see pages 37 to 44).
Wishes were made. And wishes came true.
Christy Marshall
