While she talked with an intrigued guest, Nancy White was describing the high level of difficulty put into restoring old homes while keeping the feel of the old architecture and artwork.
"It's hard to do this work well enough so people can live and do justice in an old house but be contemporary," White said.
White grew up in a family of carpenters. She began specializing in custom window treatments in 1978 but moved into design consultation just one year later. She is the one-person show behind Custom Cut Designs, which was responsible for renovating the bed and bath suite in 616 E. Adams St., the main attraction of the Midwest Restoration Festival this past weekend.
"I live for before and afters," White said.
White would spend nine to 10 hours each day working on the walls, floor and ceiling. Initially, she worked with the ombre effect on the fireplace, where a brush was used between alternating strips of the fireplace. And after serious consideration, she decided to stick with keeping the green color scheme.
White also was in charge of finding local sponsors to assist with the project, including Norm's Paint in Muncie, Carson's in the Muncie Mall, Picture This, Architectural Antiques of Indianapolis, Saudra Swain, Bargaix Box in Muncie and Capel Rug in Indianapolis.
Elsewhere in the house, dozens of designers worked on the rooms and areas of the newly renovated home, including the family bedroom, nursery, studio, grand staircase, library and balcony.
In the family bedroom, there is a mirror that has a spiral pattern consisting of roughly 500 spoons. Coffee filters were transformed into lampshades, and old t-shirts were tied into a rug.
The studio on the third floor, used by the original house owner and local artist, Susan Marsh, has a sunroof and still has an easel. The original blueprints of the house, in progressive order, are on one of the studio walls.
Meanwhile, the festival outside provided interested visitors resources for home improvements, such as gutter cleaning and critter control. Papa John's was selling pizza, and Pepsi products were provided as refreshments. Designers that contributed to the renovated house include Abatron, RLD Stained Glass Art & Restoration, Sweetwater Interior Gallery, Lucinda's Interiors, Solid State, S3 Architects and Willowbrook Interiors. The Red Cross also contributed to the roof.
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