A Military Family finds a House in St. Peter and With Some Creative Designs, The Twin Cities Team Makes it Home for Two Little Girls
I arrived to the Roemhildt’s two-day installation in St. Peter, Minnesota the day after the movers. Gabriela and her older daughter were fighting a cold and the family hadn’t had time to unpack all of their boxes, let alone set the girls’ bedrooms up. It seems I showed up right in time. Their 100-year-old home featured smaller bedrooms and almost no closet space. Our Design Consultant, Adrianne Sheridan, designed two beautiful, space-efficient custom closet storage systems and a platform bed in each of the girls’ rooms.
Gabriela’s husband recently retired from his military service and the family spent months traveling from Virginia to California in an RV. In December, after they had made it to California, he was offered a job in Minnesota — where they had passed through weeks before. So the Roemhildt’s turned the RV around and made it to St. Peter on New Years Eve.
I didn’t know the family’s back story until halfway through the first day. I was busy building a wardrobe and desk system in Rebecca’s room. After hearing the details of their move, and how excited the girls were to have their own beds, I immediately switched to building the beds. As I worked on assembling the platform bed, I remembered how much my bed meant to me when I was growing up. I shared a bedroom with one or more of my brothers for most of my childhood and my bed was the only space I could call my own. That’s what I was creating for these girls and that meant a lot to me.
With the help of my install partner, Glen, both beds were built on the first day and when we returned for our second day they were adorned with mattresses, stuffed animals and quilts made by their mother.
Gabriela was the best kind of client. She checked in early and often, and was always surprised and happy with our progress. By the time we finished she knew the systems better than I did, but that wouldn’t last for long. Soon, her girls would be the experts. As I write this they are probably unpacking their boxes and carefully designing the rooms they will grow up in. They’ll pick a place for their favorite toys and clothes and, if they are anything like I was, find secret compartments to hide the items most important to them.
My family never moved when I was growing up, so I won’t pretend to imagine what the Roemhildt girls have been through, but I can’t imagine moving to Minnesota in January is anything but unpleasant for them. I can’t fix the cold or the shock of being in a new place, but the happiness on their faces when they saw their new beds being built told me they were starting to adjust to the change.
Written by Sam Wigness | Designed by Adrianne Sheridan | March 2017
California Closets provides a range of unique and beautiful custom closets, closet organizers, and closet storage systems for any room in the home. Call us at (952) 844-0004 or visit our Edina showroom to get a firsthand look at the systems, finishes, and accessories offered.
