Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Meet William!

William is a cool six year old boy who looks and acts like any other six year old boy. He has a freckley face and an endearing smile and he loves to play.

But what you can’t see is that William has an inoperable non-cancerous tumour on his brain stem. Which means that he’s had multiple surgeries to insert a shunt into his skull. And he’s undergone multiple MRIs to see if the tumour is getting bigger. And his parents have had to make multiple emergency trips to CHEO. So even though William looks and acts like any other six year old boy, he hasn’t been living the life of any other six year old boy.

Which is we wanted to do this special makeover for William and his family – mom Lindsay, dad Patrick, brother Aidan, little sister Gwen, and big sister Kristin. His grandma Beverly and his cousin Nelson are important people in William’s life too. Plus he has a whole bunch of other family members and friends who are rooting for him and sending him lots of love and good wishes.

It all starts with a floor plan…

We went over to the Greer’s place last Sunday to check out their basement. Being the right brain sorts, numbers and calculations aren’t really our thing. But luckily Sarah isn’t as numerically-challenged as Kelly and Candace, so she took all the measurements and drew up a rough floor plan. Isn’t it pretty? :-)

It’s a big space with lots of potential, and we can’t wait to put our design plan together! There’s going to be a family room area where everyone can hang out and relax together, as well as a school area for the kids and a crafting area for mom Lindsay. See those four little black circles? Those are posts. They’re going to be a pain to work with, right? Well, no worries, we’re totally using them to our advantage and transforming them into something really cool :-)

While Sarah was busy measuring and Candace was busy helping Sarah measure, Kelly was busy secretly getting information out of William. It turns out that he likes hockey – don’t hold it against him that his favourite team is the Montreal Canadiens ;-) He likes playing Wii games. Besides blue, his other favourite colour is white. And he and his brother Aidan and sister Gwen love their hiding place under the dining room table. All little nuggets of information that are tucked safely away and will be put to good use a little later in the design process :-) What does William think of that? He thinks it’s Super!

Coming soon – inspiration pictures!

The WillPower Project official press release

 
Sarah Kidder Design
JAX Décor & Design
Candace Plotz Design
willpowergirls@outlook.com

Ottawa decorators give deserving local family a fabulous basement makeover

Ottawa, Ontario – March 3, 2014: Three Ottawa decorators are joining together to help a deserving local family by giving their partially finished basement a fabulous makeover.

Six year old William Greer suffers from an inoperable non-cancerous tumour on his brain stem. Ongoing treatments to stop the tumour’s growth will take their toll on young William and his family; mom Lindsay, dad Patrick, four year old Aidan, and 21 month old Gwen. Big sister Kristen is away at school, but she comes over for family time too.

When Candace Plotz (Candace Plotz Design), Sarah Kidder (Sarah Kidder Design), and Kelly James (JAX Décor & Design) heard William’s story, they jumped at the opportunity to do something special for him and his family. They’ve joined forces to form The WillPower Girls design team, and hope to bring big smiles to the Greers by creating a space where they can enjoy quality time together.

“We were inspired by ‘Kindness Week’, but really, you can be kind anytime,” says Kelly James. “This is all at no charge to the family. We just want to help however we can.”

Local companies are eager to help the women complete the project by its end date in late May. “We’re counting on donations and sponsors to help us make this happen. We can’t do it alone,” says Candace Plotz.

PARA Paints will be providing all of the paint for the project, and Ottawa based companies Strokes of Genius Painting and Right Angle Renovations are on board for all painting and construction. Sarah says several of her regular suppliers have also expressed interest in the project. “We’re so grateful to the companies that have extended their products and services to us so far. We’re really excited about getting this project off the ground and helping such a deserving family.”

The WillPower Girls are looking for donations of construction materials, school and art supplies, furnishings, lighting, and financial contributions to ensure the project will be completed within the three month time frame.

If you’d like to help, please visit http://www.youcaring.com/thewillpowerproject, www.facebook.com/thewillpowerproject, or contact the design team by email at willpowergirls@outlook.com

About The WillPower Girls: Sarah, Kelly, and Candace are independent decorators servicing a wide range of clients, from residential to corporate, in the Ottawa area. For more information, please visit their websites at:

www.sarahkidderdesign.com
www.jaxdecor.ca
www.candaceplotzdesign.com