emilyfarish designs

Paint has the power to transform not just walls and spaces, but lives. I witnessed this transformation first hand when I was asked to join the Furniture Logic Design team on a project at the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living. When I first walked into the the skilled nursing unit, I felt like I was in a hospital. The walls were painted a colorless shade of gray, and the only art consisted of a few scattered pieces done by residents that no longer lived there. Once I reached the nurse's station, I felt disoriented. When I turned around, I couln't figure out which of the four intersecting, indistinguishable hallways I had just come from. I immediately realized that if I felt confused by the living space, then the residents, many of whom were in a declining state of dementia, must also get confused. Our first objective was to add color to the walls. The north and south hallways were painted a warm terra cotta and the east and west hallways received a coat of a relaxing, soft green.

The murals on the terra cotta walls had themes of community- town centers, flower shops, and cafes while the green halls got scenes of urban parks and lakes. The residents held a contest to name the hallways, and now the halls are referred to as Main Street, Park Avenue, etc. The street names are painted on signs at the tops of each corner. Now, the assisted living section is not only bright and cheerful, but the residents have a much easier time finding their way around!