Sponsors help contest winners transform rooms

Four Daily Herald readers got a taste of the "fairy godmother" treatment this winter when they won major improvements for select rooms in their homes.

All entered the Daily Herald Media Group's Room for Living contest last fall, sending in photos of the rooms that needed makeovers and letters explaining their situations.

Contest sponsors obliged with generous prizes that upgraded those rooms and possibly changed some lives.

There was a grand prize winner, a runner-up and two honorable mentions, chosen from a field of 90 entries.

Debra Ziemianin, a title company accounting manager from Mount Prospect, received the grand prize, which included $4,000 in furniture from Steinhafels Furniture in Vernon Hills, a $2,000 rug from Rugport in Palatine, $2,000 in lighting and accessories from Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg and a $100 gift certificate from Treetime Christmas Creations in Lake Barrington.

In her entry letter, Ziemianin lamented that the living room in their 1964 ranch home had been turned into a shabby play room by her 7-year-old daughter and before that, by her two older sons.

"I do not even step foot in there because, what is the point?" she wrote. "I run out to meet my kids' friends' parents so they do not come in and see what this looks like!"

The couch, she revealed, was 18 years old. The duck picture on the wall had been saved from a garbage pile. And the television was sitting on top of two end tables left behind by the home's former owner.

Since winning the contest, the ancient couch has been replaced by a beautiful new dark brown leather sectional with a chaise lounge at one end from Steinhafels. Ziemianin has spiced it up with teal throw pillows and a matching teal ottoman.

In addition, the plethora of toys has been cleared out and many have been donated to the needy.

She and her husband, Mike, an electrical technician with ComEd, also went to Rugport and chose an 8-by-10-foot area rug in shades of dark and lighter gray and then Debbie went on a fun shopping spree at Littman Bros. Lighting, picking out a lamp, a large mirror (which has replaced the duck print above the couch), an end table, an accent chair and a centerpiece for her dining room table.

"Now the living room is the nicest part of my house," Ziemianin enthused. "Everyone was extremely generous to us and we are very happy and excited by the results."

Gloria Bradshaw of North Aurora is a retired office worker who earned the runner-up prize of a $6,300 shower/tub makeover from Bath Planet in Streamwood.

"They removed my old green cast iron tub and replaced it with a new white one," Bradshaw said, "and covered the old tile with a tan granite-look surround including two-tier shelving, a soap dish and two grab bars. They also gave me a new shower rod, a fancy new shower head with many settings and a single faucet to replace the two that I had."

A widow since 1988, Bradshaw has lived in her 1956 ranch home for 22 years, offering shelter to many members of her family at various times.

"I have always wanted to get rid of that pukey green tub but I have never had the money to do it," she explained.

Now she is ready to list her house and move into senior housing and is confident that the updated bathroom will improve the resale value of her home.

"I am quite pleased and happy with the way that things turned out. It looks wonderful and the guy from Bath Planet cleaned up so well, you would have never known that he was even there," Bradshaw added.

Honorable mentions went to Susan Tyrrel of Elgin and Lynn Niemann of Arlington Heights.

Niemann won a $2,000 rug from Rugport and a $100 gift certificate from Treetime.

Tyrrel, a church pastor, and her husband, Arthur, an electronics technician, won $2,500 worth of new interior doors from HomeStory Chicago in Elk Grove Village and a $100 gift certificate from Treetime.

In her entry letter, Tyrrel wrote, "We have 1977-style dark stained inside doors, closets and baseboards. We would love to update and brighten the inside of the entire house," where they have lived since 1985.

The Tyrrels got their wish, ordering six two-panel Roman doors in downy white.

"We were able to order three bedroom doors, a bathroom door and two closet doors, with door knobs and labor for the $2,500.

"Unfortunately, to have them replace the frames, too, we would have received fewer doors. So, we went with more doors. Refinishing the frames will have to wait," Tyrrel said.

Now that the old doors have been removed and the new doors installed, Tyrrel emailed, "It is a total transformation for the hallway and a beautiful sightline from the front door. It not only brightened the space, but updated the look.

"I am extremely pleased. Thank you to The Daily Herald for this amazing gift."