Lucy Kalanithi lost her husband, Paul, to stage four cancer in March of 2015. They shared an apartment home in California and a beautiful daughter. But Lucy confided to her sister that “I want to burst into tears whenever I think about returning to an empty house.” She wanted a fresh start for herself and her daughter, but doing so would be hard when there were hundreds of reminders every single day.
With the help of her interior decorator (and close friend) Jenny Komenda from Juniper Studios, Lucy’s sister went to work transforming the house into a brand new space.
They chose a soft, feminine color for the walls and hand-printed little leaves onto bright white curtains. Dark furniture in a dark room makes a space feel small and confined, but the bright colors and light furniture instantly transforms the room!
The entryway was small and cluttered, and not very functional.
They added hooks and condensed the photographs to one area, choosing favorites and putting the rest away.
With so much dark furniture and dim lighting, the room looked closed off and cluttered.
By opening the space with bright pieces and choosing large art pieces, the entire home is instantly transformed!
Lucy’s windows get indirect sunlight, which is beautiful and soft, but doesn’t give a lot of fresh brightness. So we instantly knew the walls needed to go white.”
Before, there was a giant black sectional. I love black, but it’s hard to have a dark piece in a room that’s a little dark itself. So we lightened up the furniture.”
They organized the books onto large shelves built onto the wall, and kept her late husband’s favorites. A piece of him was mixed into every space in the house!
It’s what Paul would have wanted.”
Grief affects us all in different ways, but starting fresh is a wonderful way to help the healing process along. This home is gorgeous, and while she’ll never forget her husband, she is free to move forward and build a new life with her daughter, remembering him along the way.
And that in itself is just beautiful.
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