Winner now has a room she can show off to guests

Cindy Krizizke of Schaumburg is Facebook friends with the Daily Herald Media Group and that is where she first saw information last fall about our annual “Room for Living” makeover contest.

“I had never entered the contest before but I looked at my living room and decided that it was worth a try,” she recently recalled. “It took me only 10 minutes to take the photo and write up my entry and I didn't even tell my family that I entered because I figured that nothing would come of it.”

But, in this instance, the speech language pathologist from Community Consolidated School District 59 in Elk Grove Village was happy to be wrong. She learned in November that she was the grand prize winner, receiving a $4,000 gift certificate for furniture from Steinhafels in Vernon Hills, a $2,000 gift certificate from Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg, a $500 gift certificate from Calico in Barrington and a $100 gift certificate from TreeTime in Lake Barrington.

Krizizke's winning entry read as follows:

“We are a family of five. We have 16-year-old triplet boys. College is in the near future and, let's face it, feeding three teenage boys is costly enough. My husband and I both work full time and I have another part-time job. Furniture and room updates are just not in the cards right now. This is the room we have guests sit in and I just find it depressing. There is no color. I would love paintings, colored items, etc., but it's just not on the list of things to buy for the family. All of the furniture is hand-me-downs. My living room needs to be revived.”

“I did it on a whim and kept it to myself,” Krizizke said, looking back, “but when we ended up on the list of finalists, I finally told my husband, Kevin, and our triplet teenage sons. My husband's reaction was to look at the living room and say, ‘Wow. I guess the room DOES look bad!' Then, when I got the notice that we had won, I immediately texted everyone I know.”

Soon after winning, Cindy and Kevin, along with a friend who has an eye for design, took a field trip to Steinhafels furniture store in Vernon Hills to spend their $4,000 prize.

“It was so much fun. Our consultant spent three hours with us, walking around the store and picking things out. We used every cent of that prize and I was amazed by all that we were able to get,” Cindy admitted.

“And even though the furniture didn't arrive until early January, it was a great holiday season because I knew that it was coming and would soon be improving the living room of the 1968 ranch home where we have lived for eight years without changing anything,” Cindy admitted.

“She was really excited,” Steinhafels design consultant Anne Hildreth recalled about the happy winner. “They are all tall so she wanted over-sized furniture with an organic rustic look and she wanted to do the entire room with her prize.”

“We bargain shopped for her. We went through the store to find the best possible buys, starting with the matching contemporary sofa and love seat. She chose a light gray in a plush chenille fabric that is nice to cuddle up on and chose chocolate brown throw pillows with blues and reds in them,” Hildreth recalled.

She also chose a pair of glass end tables to provide space for drinks and lamps and instead of buying a coffee table, they chose a large ottoman, Cindy explained.

Next came the area rug which has blocks of colors like gray, chocolate brown, red and cream with vines running throughout. It was purchased to introduce more color into the room and to tie the various elements together, according to Hildreth.

A distressed walnut wall unit with oil-rubbed bronze hardware where Cindy wanted to place the television and have space for displaying other decorative items was next on her shopping list.

Finally, they chose a pair of chocolate brown arm chairs featuring a bluish-gray leaf pattern and a distressed antique-look red storage table with bronze hardware to sit between them. These make up a secondary conversation area, apart from the L-shaped television viewing area provided by the gray sofa and love seat.

“That is my little area,” Cindy admitted. “At Littman Bros. Lighting I got a tiny little lamp to place on the red antique-look table to further enhance that area.”

She has also ordered two larger table lamps that are hand-made in Vermont but they are not yet in.

And from Calico, she obtained a colorful framed abstract painting for the wall above the sofa, as well as several additional throw pillows.

They used their gift certificate from TreeTime to enhance their holiday with a new Christmas tree skirt and additional ornaments.

“I used to avoid that room, Cindy admitted. “Now it is my favorite room in the house. It is so relaxing and a nice place to take guests because you can actually talk and see the television, too. It also looks much bigger than it used to look, even though there is more furniture in there now.”

Runner-up

The “Room For Living” makeover contest runner-up was Cindi Lamkin of Elgin. She won a $2,500 gift certificate for interior doors from HomeStory Chicago, a $2,000 gift certificate from Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg and a $100 gift certificate from TreeTime in Lake Barrington.

Room for living prizes

The Daily Herald Media Group named two winners in its 2014 Room for Living room makeover contest.

The winner, Cindy Krizizke of Schaumburg, received these prize:

• $4,000 gift certificate for furniture from Steinhafels in Vernon Hills.

• $2,000 gift certificate from Littman Brothers Lighting in Schaumburg.

• $500 gift certificate from Calico in Barrington.

• $100 gift certificate from TreeTime in Lake Barrington.

Runner-up Cindi Lamkin of Elgin received:

• $2,500 gift certificate for interior doors from HomeStory Chicago.

• $2,000 gift certificate from Littman Brothers Lighting in Schaumburg.

• $100 gift certificate from TreeTime in Lake Barrington.