Izzy's Story
Meet 11 year old Izzy!
In September of 2020 we got to meet this beautiful and strong girl, battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia for the second time. Izzy was diagnosed with Leukemia when she was just 21 months old. She underwent over two years of chemotherapy and treatment, until October 2013. In August, Izzy was complaining of headaches and frequent tiredness. At what they hoped would be a routine check up, Izzy’s family were told that at 10 years old, she had relapsed.
Due to COVID restrictions, we met Izzy via Zoom and heard about some of her favorite things. Pusheen the Cat. Her dog, Kinsley. Her favorite snack - sushi (mine too!) and some of her favorite colors, green, black and red. She loves ballet and hopes to be able to learn hip hop dance as well. Her sister Alex (7) was so excited to be part of the call too.
Izzy’s family had just closed on their new home, a couple of days before her diagnosis. Instead of unpacking their new home, they spent 6 weeks in the hospital going through spinal taps, scans, and treatment plans. They relied on friends and family to get them moved in all during COVID.
As we designed Izzy’s room, we wanted to incorporate a comfortable bed for her to rest, heal, and grow with her into her teenage years (she’s already tall!). Also, her favorite colors (black and white) and her favorite character, Pusheen! Izzy and her family had also just found the perfect therapy dog, Kinsley, and so we wanted a special place for Kinsley to call her own, right by Izzy’s side.
Our friends at Buck Wyllie created a roll away dog bed that can be neatly stored under Izzy’s bed during the day. The wonderful people at The Drapery Company upholstered the dog bed for us in this amazing, stain-resistant fabric from Revolution Fabrics.
Izzy’s closet doors were old, dated and half painted over. We designed a new overlay pattern using some simple millwork to transform these doors from blah to beautiful. Thanks to Custom Hospitality Restoration for donating their time and expertise to create and re-install these amazing bypass doors for us! Painted in a high gloss black, these doors add a pop of wow and contrast to the color palette in Izzy’s room.
Izzy and Kinsley love their new space, complete with spotted black and white wallpaper and some greenery inspired by nature!
Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we were also thrilled to include Alex’s room in our makeover adventures. Izzy’s younger sister had a room that was previously a porch, so the lighting and ventilation were not functioning well. Our amazing donors at Erwin Electric were able to relocate her lighting to the center of the room and add new outlets, lighting, and a fan for better circulation. We added heat, light blocking shades, and beautiful faux roman window treatments, donated by the fabulous Creative Design Interiors to add an accent color.
Alex is just a little obsessed with unicorns, so we added the dreamiest unicorn wallpaper, a special reading nook, a desk for homeschooling and a wardrobe closet to store her clothes. She was so excited with her new space, cozy bedding and fun art!
Special thanks to all our #SavvyGiving donors who funded these rooms, our partners for the space, Painters on Demand , Finn’s Fighters and our Facebook heroes who send us all the Fund-A-Needs and accents to make these spaces delightful.
