What an inspiring story and what a lovely transformation. I particularly like the sewing room and the soda bottle gardens.

Very cool!

What a fabulous story and darling makeover!

A well deserved (and beautiful!) makeover. Wish there more posts of tis nature on AT.

What an inspiring couple!

Love!

Love this! Such bright and cheerful colors! Puts a smile on your face just looking at the photos..such a transformation!

www.mymaison.squarespace.com

Muito bom!

what wonderful people! they totally deserved this awesome make over!

Awesome couple, awesome house.

This made my day! Thanks for sharing this story.

Very nice to see. The residents must be thrilled with this new, dignified home/ work space.

So what happened to all of the sewing machines?

Gee, I wonder who the corporate advertisers are for that show? ;-)

Actually, a nice makeover of a cool space. Bravo!

Wonderful story and makeover :)

I wished corporate advertisers would do much, much more of that sort of shows.

We have a very popular show here in France, where families send applications explaining why they can't remodel a house that absolutely doesn't suit them (or is in terrible shape). The production chooses the most desperate or touching cases and spend a week remodeling the house to suit the need of their owners. I remember an episode where they built a tiny house in the backyard for the grandmother who had been trying to find a place she could afford in the neighborhood. While definitely filmed to make it as sensational as possible, I find that show touching because whatever the editors may be twisting, they end up helping people who need it.

I love this TV show.The makeovers are so creative!

I love everything about the outside before, and I wish they hadn't changed anything other than adding the grass. I also wish there was a little bit more of the before left in the inside just to keep more of the character. But I do love the inside and it's wonderful for children. Who wouldn't love having that Coke crate rolling table!?

Wow, this story is so inspiring. I kind of want to be these people. How amazing.

And I agree--more posts like this!

I have to laugh. There really always is someone who says they prefer the 'before,' even when it is depressing and largely obscured by trees!

What a bright and cheerful place for the children and much improved working conditions for the parents.

I was wondering about the machines too, I wonder if they were able to move to another space or the tables were moved out for the shoot. Either way awesome home for some awesome people

If ever there were a family that deserved something like this, it would be them.

What an inspiring story and what a lovely transformation.

I'll agree with you on the "inspiring story" part.

this post made me smile!

@dearmisha - I have to laugh at your immaturity. There really always is someone who feels the need to be a jerk when someone offers a differing opinion than their own. "I have to laugh. There really always is someone who says they prefer the 'before,' even when it is depressing and largely obscured by trees!" Your comment was a dismissive insult directed towards me, but I'd take more offense if it wasn't so ridiculous that you claimed the before was "largely obscured by trees," when in fact there's been no change from before to after regarding the trees. What was done is great for that family. My personal taste is that I think the exterior of the before was beautiful, and I make no apologies for that. Perhaps just for you I'll only leave "Yay" comments from now on.

Love the colorful new digs, but am curious as to why the "sewing cooperative" space no longer exists. From what I gather, sewing is essential to the "cooperative" space the owners are trying to maintain for the socioeconomically disadvantaged women and children living there. Ostensibly, such labor helps the women residing there live in their own spaces one day, devoid of the narrow political constructs and people that caused them to be without home in the first place. The lack of sewing machines in the after photo, therefore, is not only strange, but ethically problematic. If sewing is as important to the lives of the women and children living there as the owners have stated, then the absence of sewing machines, and a sewing "space", must be explained in order for me to believe this place is not only better looking, but better for the humans who live there, if I'm to accept this after is "better." Without that explanation, I'm thinking the "sewing space" in the before photo is possibly a sweat-shop, a term I use with full knowledge of repercussion, that interior design aesthetics have happily challenged and revised, so long as the real dwellers are part of the design process, and not the passive inhabitants of. It's a good thing, I think, to design with principle, and with the people who are actually using in mind. I hope this is the case here, though I can't tell. The shifting and re-arranging of our public and private spaces, I believe, is always political. This place, before and after, feels esp. political. Design not only changes look of a place, but its use. I feel that strongly here, but am unsure why--what do to with it.

To everyone concerned about the sewing cooperative being gone: If you look on the show's website, which is linked in this article, at all of the pictures they have posted of the "after," you can see (in the last 3 pictures) that the sewing cooperative room is alive and well, just spruced up like the rest of the place. (The site is of course in Portuguese, but still very navigable.) So please, calm down, and don't fall as you step off your soapbox.

"Without that explanation, I'm thinking the "sewing space" in the before photo is possibly a sweat-shop..."

"The shifting and re-arranging of our public and private spaces, I believe, is always political. This place, before and after, feels esp. political. Design not only changes look of a place, but its use."

Very interesting comment, and similar to what I was thinking when glancing through the pictures.

So where *are* the sewing machines? maybe they're stored in the Coke storage bins? maybe the mothers take them home each night? Maybe they're put into a storage room for safekeeping at night?

While this is a wonderful transformation and that plant wall is truly creative, the sewing machine mystery looks like the house was sanitized of it's original purpose.

That bothers me- why can't good design encompass all facets of life? even the uglier and grittier parts of it- without hiding those parts away from view?

And if one reads the words under the photos above it clearly says the co-operative got a makeover, "a vibrant sewing room with machines..." as well as a website, branding help and entrepreneurial assistance.

To everyone who is concerned that the sewing co-op (The Sewing United) was eliminated during the makeover - this is simply not the case. If it appears that sewing machines are no longer at the house, it is likely due to staging for the photographs. The Sewing United is a primary component of Dona Eunice's organization. If you read the full post above, go to her website, the show's website and/or the architect's website, you can find out more about The Sewing United and the rest of the Costura Unida project. Also, I would disagree that the 'before' was a sweatshop - if you go to the other links included in the post you will find that these people were very low income, and made due with what they could.

I also wish to see more posts like this on AT.
This is indeed inspiring.

I agree we need more great posts like this on AT. I loved reading this.

I read the full-post, and briefed myself on Dona Eunice's organization before responding. I should say I agree what she is doing is inspiring on many levels, and that I wrote "Without that explanation" to qualify what it might appear to people if that bit of back-story were not included--this isn't to say the before photo is a "sweatshop," only that photos dominate as the language at AT, and that not all are reading the comment streams as actively as many of the people here, thus the potential for confusion, if someone were merely glancing. The use of the term "sweatshop," I should also say, was/is intentional on my end. I use it with full knowledge of ramification, and with understanding that women in developing nations rely on factory jobs to support themselves and their families, and that such places cannot be eradicated without compromising the lives of the women working there. If it's soap-boxing to discuss what real people do in real spaces that have been before and after-ed, and, because of, have in response shifted, then I'm a soap-boxer. Changing how people live, even if for the better, is critical to examine. We all act differently in different spaces, i.e. at home, on the road, in the court-house, the hospital, etc., and architects and interior designers think about this when they make their plans/choices.

What I suspect we are seeing with Sewing United/Dona Eunice's project is a true political transformation, as well as an aesthetic one--what once was ugly and uncomfortable and difficult-looking was re-envisioned by someone or ones to become beautiful, functional, and efficient. Interior design at its best, like all fine art, can do this, and I believe that's what's been done here. There should be a photo of the sewing machines for this reason; they're the things that make the "why after is better" thesis. If staging is to blame, then I wonder why the omission. Why not stage them? This, of course, is a question for the stagers, who use biography, history, psychology, and aesthetics to create ambiance and context. Probably not totally answerable in his thread, but maybe in another forum.

Really? Someone please make it stop! There should be a rule: No comments longer than 2 inches. This is getting out of hand.

i agree with deweydefeatstruman96, i personally much prefer the rustic charm of the exteriors before the transformation - though i can understand the reasoning behind the bright and cheerful makeover.
LOVE the coca cola crate rolling table(i want one now!!) and the planters made of recycled plastic bottles. what beautiful, resourceful, and educational additions!

Such a great story. Tks for sharing it!

What a wonderful thing is being done here. Very inspiring. I love how they found meaningful work for the mothers, giving them self worth as well as an income. The bright cheerfulness of the interior will do a lot to stimulate creativity and cooperation.

This is very inviting. Love what they did to the place. And such generous people to do this. I'm glad they were recognized for their hospitality and helped to keep going. Thank you for being so generous!