I’m working with American Express to give away 150,000 Membership Rewards points and a custom Making it Lovely design plan. We’re looking to help people make over their social spaces; the spaces where they spend time with family and friends. Nearly three hundred people entered (here was the original call for entries), and it was no easy task for me to narrow them down to just ten finalists. There were poems and haikus, letters from non-persons, clever videos, photos with funny captions… it was a pleasure to receive so many wonderful entries (thank you)!
Below are the finalists’ entries. I tried to even the playing field by giving everyone the same photo/video space (500×750 pixels), and approximately the same description length (this symbol […] means that I edited the comment for length). Many of the finalists have additional photos and information, so I’ve included a link to them (and also to the original comment) with each.
Now it’s your turn to vote! The winner will receive 150,000 Membership Rewards points and a custom Making it Lovely design plan to help guide them in redoing their space. The second place winner will also receive a prize: a $100 gift card to The Home Depot. So here we go! The finalists, in no particular order…
Megan
Our front porch is a great place to eat dinner with friends, hang out after the kids are asleep, or just sit and watch the world go by. Unfortunately, it also has almost no furniture, a lot of peeling paint, and an ugly front door.
We’d love help making it into the beautiful space we know it could be – private enough for a cup of coffee on the glider, public enough for neighbors to stop by and chat any time.
• Megan’s photos
• Megan’s original entry
Mary Sue
“My name is Mary Sue & my original 50’s kitchen needs help! It has some really cool features like the original stove with a pullout range, and porcelain & chrome counters. My family of three spends lots of time in this tiny room cooking and dancing. It lacks some features (i.e- a dishwasher!)… We would love your help making it modern!”
• Mary Sue’s photos
• Mary Sue’s original entry
Charity
I’ve wanted a “silver bullet” since I’ve been in 4th grade, I dreamt of adventures, entertaining and camping out in style…my goal was to buy one by the time I was 40. Well, last year I turned 35 and decided there was no better time to get started than now. […] Let’s just say I’ve bit off a bit more than I had to chew, if you know what I mean.
Come to find out, this little aluminum camper needed more than paint, cute curtains and adorable prints from Etsy. I started the project by needing to replace the entire undercarriage steel cross beams, we’re talking major welding work. Currently she is completely gutted and now is the fun part of putting her back together.
• Charity’s blog post
• Charity’s original entry
Lisa
We could really use your help with the totally outdated LR in our new (old) apartment (just closed last week!). It’s a great space — will be the perfect LR/DR space for our growing family (2yo daughter + twins on the way!). But we have absolutely no mojo (or resources) left to design it to the fullest potential. We’d LOVE to have this major to-do off the list + host a proper housewarming/baby shower there later this summer.
• Lisa’s blog post
• Lisa’s original entry
Jayna
When my husband and I bought our house 6 months ago, It came with a lovely covered back patio and pergola that I immediately fell in love with. I thought it would be so easy to find my own inner Nicole and make my house as cute as you’ve made yours. But my back patio is in desperate need for help. Here is why you should pick me:
My husband has nowhere to put his lawn equipment other than on the back patio. My son has a zillion outdoor toys that are ugly eyesores. We’ve been trying to save for a garden shed as a storage solution, but we are not there yet.
• Jayna’s blog post
• Jayna’s original entry
Heather
Help! We’ve been remodeling the inside of our home for the past 2 1/2 years but have totally neglected the outside of our home – including our front patio that has a lot of potential but is just barren and boring! When we had our daughter Zoey 10 months ago we really stopped all work on our home and now that she is getting close to walking we want to spend more time outside with her and entertaining friends and family but have no place suitable to do so (our backyard is even worse than this, with a death trap back porch!) […]
• Heather’s blog post
• Heather’s original entry
Nicole
The room I have that needs your intervention is my living room. For (oh goodness) 7 years we’ve had my husband’s grandparents floral couch/chair set and I long for grown-up furniture. This space connects to our kitchen and is our main social area.
I also have 2 beautiful danish modern chairs that I inherited from my grandmother (I included a link below to the type of chair they are) in our basement that simply need new fabric on the cushions. Didn’t want to pick that out until new furniture was in the works to coordinate.
• Nicole’s photos here and here, chair here
• Nicole’s original post
Jessika
Hi Nicole! My husband and I just bought our first home early last month. It’s in a great location, but the upstairs… the upstairs needs love. Industrial carpeting, old paneling (poorly installed), and unsafe guard rails. It could be a GREAT social space for us and our friends, particularly during the rainy months– we live in Oregon, and the rainy months are MANY. But right now? We’ll leave the door upstairs closed.
We discovered WOOD FLOORS under the industrial carpet, so now we just need to put the funds together to sand, stain, and refinish the floors (and some pieces of furniture)! We’d have a GREAT space. There also is the possibility of having some exposed beams from the roof. So exciting!
(and as you can tell from our blog, oregonkaisers.blogspot.com, we’re not afraid of a lot of projects and elbow grease!)
• Jessika’s video
• Jessika’s original entry
Amber
HELP! We’ve been in our house for 3 years and I have no idea what to do with this room! It’s our entry living room (we mostly use the family room) and I hate that this is what people see when they first enter our house. We have our old college sectional which is disemboweled, an old C&B rug that’s seen better days and that’s IT. Please help!! I am at a loss as to what furniture, rugs or curtains to buy- I need you Nicole!! It’s a blank canvas and I need your artistic vision (and those AE rewards points!) :)
• photo and Amber’s video
• Amber’s original entry
Capitol Jams
My husband and I live in a 1 bedroom condo with our nearly 15-month-old daughter. I love our apartment for many reasons, not least of all for it’s open floor plan where we do most of our living. It has a lot of great style with the maple floors, exposed beams and the exposed fir (original firewall) that makes it look a little bit like a ski lodge meets loft. I love some of the personal and handmade touches: the knitted pipe cozy to the left of the window and the fabric book slings on the radiator covers come to mind.
[…]We don’t get much natural light with the big window and being on the ground floor of our building, and we’ve never known how to bring in more lighting into this space. The toys are a little out of control, and while we love the mid century furniture, the red chair in particular desperately needs to be replaced or needs to have fresh upholstery. While most of our home is pretty child-proofed, the shelves under the window are a slight nightmare – stacked and unkempt books and forgotten items, as well as a HUGE stereo that doesn’t function as it is designed […]. Besides a couple of sad looking bolsters I made for the couch, we don’t have any pillows and really need some help with accessories that would work in this space.
• Capitol Jams’ photos
• Capitol Jams’ original entry
So there you have it: all ten finalists! You can cast one vote for your favorite below. The voting period will end Friday, June 17 at noon CST, and the winner will be announced next week.
(Good luck and congratulations to all ten finalists!)
155 comments
Making it Lovely
After a lot of drama in the end, and a lot of data crunching this weekend, I can officially announce Heather as the first place winner of the Social Space Makeover Contest. I’ll be sharing her design board on Making it Lovely later this week.
After resolving some issues with the voting data, the second place actually goes to two winners: Lisa and Mary Sue. They were only six votes apart, and in my book that’s close enough to call it a tie.
Thank you all for voting for your favorite finalist in the Social Space Makeover Contest!
Making it Lovely
Comments are now closed.
Mike
Just crazy. First, Heather was up then the site crashes. Then the site comes up and gives more time than was actually lost which gave Lisa the extra time to come back. Then the voting doesn’t close when it should…Wierd. Maybe there should be a runoff between the two closest to winning. Nothing against Nicole either, but wonky survey monkey jacked this one.
Mary Simon
LISA WON! No splitting money-LISA GETS IT ALLLLLLLLL!!!!! She won when the polls closed!
Matt
The polls were supposed to close at 2:00 Eastern Time. Heather was up by 3% at the time the polls “crashed”. Repeatedly typing in capital letters doesn’t make you any more right.
Mary Simon
LISA WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emily
Wow this is a lot of drama! The whole end of the contest was a nail biter and pretty wonky with the polls going down about 20 minutes before the contest was to end. Then, the addition of the extra 40ish minutes above and beyond the original allotted time seemed to offer a definite advantage to one of the contestants. And then it seemed the polls didn’t actually close at the allotted time, or perhaps the actual display of results was delayed. Who knows…sorry Nicole that you have to deal with this, it was very nice of you to set this up in the first place!
Making it Lovely
The results may not have been as close as they seemed. As I said, I need to analyze the data further to determine a winner. This will take a little time.
joanne
Maybe you should split the money in half, to be fair to heather and lisa who were truly the top 2 winners.
joanne
Looks like Heather won and then you closed the poll. heather had 28.7 lisa 28.6
Ox
Lisa was ahead for 25 minutes after the poll was suppose to close and now she’s losing? I don’t understand.
Lex
It was 29% to 26% in favor of Lisa at 1:30PM CST when the contest ended.
Matt
And Heather was up by 3% before the contest was extended by a half-hour.
I second Joanne’s opinion and think a runoff between Heather and Lisa is in order.
Making it Lovely
I need to look at the data before officially announcing a winner. The results were very close.
Deridre
The results are showing a .5% discrepancy now…what is the final count??
joanne
I think you should split the money between lisa and heather 28.2 and 28.7 is very close. Heather was winning by points when the system went down 20 minutes before ending.
Lex
Actually several of Lisa’s team were waiting until the end to vote and would have lost out if it ended prematurely.
Matt
Your strategy isn’t unique.
Matt
Yeah, right.
Lex
It’s total strategy, Matt! That way the other sides relax and slack off.
Tommy
Congratulations to Lisa, although it looks like Heather may have won if the server did not crash.
joanne
Should have a runnoff between heather and lisa since you extended the time longer and changed the rules. A lot of our voters did not get to vote.
:(
Lex
It wouldn’t have made a difference – it’s a landslide now.
Matt
How is 1.5% a landslide?
Making it Lovely
SurveyMonkey is back up! The voting period has been extended for one hour (until 1:30 CST).
Thanks for your patience.
joanne
when is voting till?What time?
Nick
Still down, I cant vote for Lisa!
pat
System down could not vote for heather :(
Fred
surveymonkey.com is down. So the voting is not possible. Not fair.
Making it Lovely
Yes, I just left word about that in a previous comment. I will extend the voting period slightly when it is back up.
Brian
Go Heather! You are the best!
Lesley Lucas-Tolbert
I vote for Lisa Hooper
Lex
Voting is not working… 20 minutes left. Really disappointed!
Lex
Making it Lovely
SurveyMonkey, the service I’m using for the votes, is down! I’ll extend the voting period by however long it’s down. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it’s beyond my control.
I’ll update as soon as I know more.
Lex
Thank you!!!
GO LISA!!!!!!!!!!!!
joanne
GO HEATHER!!!
Becky
Go Heather!!!!!!
Heather
Charity! I’ve always wanted a silver bullet too! I would love to see it transformed into its cute potential!!
SIGNATURE EVENTX
GO HEATHER !! YOU ARE AWESOME !!
Shannon
Charity!!! Can’t wait for an adventure in Amelia!
Lynn Winter
i vote for Mary Sue
Sue Ann
I vote for Lisa!
sara
I vote for Lisa!!!
Josie
Heather!
Queen_bee101
I voted for Mary Sue. Good luck!
Helena Marriott
Heather!
Jennie Page
I vote for Lisa
Liora
Mary Sue all the way!
joanne
I vote for HEATHER!
Sheri
Voted for Mary Sue!
Rebecca Adkins
LIsa
Mary Simon
Can you imagine trying to re-do a space on a budget with a child and two TWIN NEWBORNS. YIKES. GO LISA!
Lamilo1562
I vote for Nicole. I too long for grown-up furniture and a comfortable space. I also have a chair just like that one.
Martha Stewart
Go Lisa!
Sandra Runge
LISA LISA LISA LISA LISA LISA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mary Simon
Lisa has TWINS on the way. That means DOUBLE everything. The other people can save up some money and take their time, Lisa is on a little bit of a time frame. Good luck to everyone, but Lisa should get this!
Sandy Chelko
I voted for Mary Sue!! Love you’re stove and counter top. Good Luck!
Brittany
I voted for Mary Sue! I’m all about restoring vintage spaces. Good luck, Mary Sue!!
Amy
It couldn’t go to a more deserving person! Good Luck, Lisa! I miss you!
Zach
How could you not love a Silver Bullet?
Charity for sure!!!
Andrea C
I vote for Lisa!!!! She deserves a little extra care while carrying twins!!!! Good Luck
shan
I vote for heather!
Karen S.
Mary Sue! I choose you!
Jack
LISA!! My whole family is rooting for her, twins on the way getting this space done would be huge for her!
Connor
LISA
Frank
LISA
Katie
LISA
Krista
LISA!!
Heidi S.
That was a tough decision! In the end I thought that Heather’s space showed a lot of potential and was different than what I have seen before. Although I thought that Charity’s project was very cool in its own way! My husband dreams of us getting an old airstream.
Sharon
I voted for Charity! Very unique creative different project! What a bold yet fun project for a young woman to take up!! Thumbs up!!
Don
I voted for Lisa! Pregnant with Twins! new home! small space! come on she needs all the help she can! VOTE LISA!!!!!!
Jewely
Voted for LISA! Good luck to all…
Janaya
I vote for Mary Sue
Grace
Mary Sue!
amanda
I vote for Mary Sue. Good luck everyone :)
Maggie
I vote for Lisa!
Chris
I vote for Charity……….
Heather
I vote Mary Sue!
marisa
heather!
Jessica B
Go Mary Sue!! U have my vote good luck
Erin
Charity!!
rachel
I vote for Amber!!
Lisa
Thanks for the nomination, Nicole! And for all the support folks!!! Everyone’s spaces/challenges are so interesting — it’s great to be a part of it :) Keeping our fingers crossed…
Michael Guerrero
Mary Sue!!
Mary Guerrero
I vote for Mary Sue!!
lindsey
I vote for Mary sue!
Making it Lovely
Wow, I’ve been watching the survey results and it’s a close call between the top four finalists so far! There was a clear frontrunner at first, but now the gap is closing. I wonder who will win!
Mary Simon
LISA LISA LISA
Mary Sue
This is nerve wracking haha! Everyone is so close & has such cute spaces!
barbara ferenzi
Mary Sue,
I”m Cheryl’s aunt & I know how much it cost’s to redo a kithen. I’ve been trying to for years. lol ~ Seriously, I wish you luck in winning the contest so post LOTS of pictures on facebook for all of us to ooh & ahh! GOOD LUCK! Barbara
Mary Simon
Go Lisa!
Lisa hazen
I vote for Charity!
Janny A.
I voted for Heather. I would really like to see what you can do with that space!
shellasaurus
Heather for sure! That patio has such potential!
Tom
Lisa
re
LISA
Vince
Wanted to vote for Lisa, but I’m not sure how to vote. Can you help me?
Mary Trentham
I vote for Heather. Heather’s taken that house from That 70’s show to tasteful mid century modern. Can’t wait to see that great patio!
Randi
Charity!
Jo Ann Glah
Charity has been a gifted and talented young lady as far back as i can remember. When she would visit at my house she could organize any group into a show or play of some sort to entertain any one present. Charity always does things 100 % . Charity has my vote
Kelsey
Megan
Carl
Lisa
Lisa
Lisa
Fredericka
I voted for Jessika just because she put a sign saying ‘dom dom dom DOM’ on her stairs. Seriously. I love that.
Kristen
I vote for CHARITY!!!
Heather Banks
I am so honored to have been selected as one of the finalists, there are so many cool spaces! Capitol Jams has an awesome mid century look to their space and remaking an airstream is a dream of mine as well! Our fingers and toes are crossed and if we are lucky enough to win, we can’t wait to show off what we end up doing on our blog (hopefully in time for Zoey’s 1st birthday party in late July!)
Lindsey
Umm hello, poor Nicole has had that godawful floral couch set for 7 YEARS. No brainer, imo. (and no, I don’t know her or any of the other entrants, but that space is seriously depressing in a way that none of the others are, and that fireplace has such potential!).
NicoleD
Thank you, Lindsey! We love our living room, but the couch set does cast a dark shadow on everything :)
Danielle
CHARITY!
Sandra Runge
…the cutest family I know and they deserve to win this fantastic competition….go Sonja, Lisa and Don……you are the cutest family to win this….big hug from stuggitown….
Dianne
I like all the selections. BUT, I go “weak in the knees” for an old Airstream. Hope you win because i can’t wait to see what Nicole has in store for it.
go Charity!!
Dianne
Megan
I’m voting for Megan:).
Megan
Aw, thanks!
Bob
Gotta go with Heather. You can tell that she will do amazing things with that front patio space just by looking at her entire house blog. She and her husband have done an awesome job, all while being pregnant and then having an infant around. WOW!!!!!!!!!
Mary Simon
GO LISA!!!!!
Michael Simon
LISA LISA LISA!
Rebecca
GO CHAIR! Live the Amelia dream! How exciting!!!
Amy Korland
I will vote for the cute pregnant lady, Lisa.
Linda Goepfert
I vote for Lisa. With a 2 1/2 year old and twins on the way, she could use all the help she can get!!!!
Comments are closed.