 "Photo:")
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - If you're stumped about holiday gifts, you can take a cue from a home-improvement project that changed Phyllis Leach's life.
The Kansas City, Mo., woman returned home one day to find her screened porch was no longer a dumping ground for old magazines and the lawn mower.
Now it's an attractive space where she drinks her coffee, reads her newspaper and plays with her beagle, Cooper.
"I cherish it," says Leach, a lawyer for Hallmark. "I've never received a gift like this and probably never will again. It went beyond any gift I've ever heard of. It was such a random act of kindness."
Leach's friends Dan Needham and Bill Damico were behind her screened-porch surprise. They snuck in to rebuild and redecorate the room last year while Leach was on a week long vacation.
"Sharing your time and your talents is better than buying a gift because it makes much more of a lasting impression," said Needham, a Kansas City florist who owns Needham Floral with his wife, Mary, in Brookside. Damico is a Kansas City handyman and woodworker who makes furniture and toys.
Of course, not everyone has the expertise to tackle a home-improvement project for their nearest and dearest. But there are other methods. For example, Nicole Gaulden received an interior design consultation as a gift from her mother.
"I was having a hard time about how to use my furniture," said Gaulden, a high school teacher. "My house has wide open rooms."
So the designer helped her arrange furniture and develop an action plan for new pieces. Gaulden was pleased with the results and bought a similar consultation for a friend to help her choose paint colors.
"It's a type of gift so many people wouldn't spend money on for themselves," she said. "But it's a gift they would enjoy."
Leach's friends knew a pretty screened porch would be a perfect gift for her. She has been friends with Needham for decades; they graduated together from high school. Leach met Damico when he worked at Needham's store. Their families and friends hang out in a tight-knit group.
Needham and Damico didn't think Leach's disheveled screened porch signified neglectful housekeeping or bad taste. The interior of her 20s Tudor Revival home is typically tidy and charming with its cottage-style decor.
But the porch did reflect Leach's busy lifestyle. It was a catch-all room where she stored bags of newspapers, magazines and catalogs that she wanted to read later.
She inherited the previous homeowner's decor: green Astroturf swathed the floor and gray paint covered the walls. Leach meant to change all of it after she moved into the house in 1995. "People were always joking with me about the porch's sad state."
Damico saw the porch's potential through the clutter and outdated decor. "Screened porches are great because you're close to nature, yet you keep nature at bay," said Damico. "I miss having one."
Needham also enjoyed the screened porch at his previous house. He knew Leach would use hers if it looked better. "It's one of the only rooms in the house where you're not trying to accomplish something," Needham said. "It's a serene way to spend time."
Needham borrowed the popular design-on-the-sly concept from television shows. But he made sure the screened porch echoed Leach's cottage style. On an earlier visit from Rhode Island, Leach's dad, John Leach, moved the lawn mower to the garage and recycled all the newspapers, magazines and catalogs. But Leach had no idea about the upcoming secret redo.
Be the first to comment on this article!