Budget Decorating

Here is an idea that we may be able to use to help cut costs on a remodeling project.

Grove City Pennsylvania Medical Center enlisted the services of eleven Grove City college sophomore women to help give their emergency room a makeover. After some planning and idea sessions, these women helped give an overnight facelift to the department.

Just like the show “Design on a Dime,” they stripped and painted the hospital’s waiting room on a single Saturday night in April.

This emergency room sees more than 14,600 patients per year and the waiting room takes a beating. This particular makeover incorporated elements from three design proposals the students presented to the management. They chose calming green hues to replace the outdated wallpaper and they removed cluttered bulletin boards. New lamps added homey lighting and the hospital re-covered its waiting-room chairs. Framed photographs shot by one of the sophomore volunteers now line the walls and all of this was done at a fraction of the cost of a professional designer.

We have lots of talented people in our community that I bet would help with projects such as these. Ideas like this could help with hospitals, community centers and other public funded buildings that need updated. The city county building could use a few new colors based on my last visit there.