Before
In a government apartment, two boys aged 12 and 13, shared a very tiny bedroom. It measured about 9′ x 9′.
They had beds with drawers underneath, a bedside table and shared a chest of drawers.
Their window leaked badly and the room was very cold in winter.
In some places when we tried to sand the rough wall, it just crumbled and fell out This demonstrates years of water damage.
Other walls seemed to have never been primed prior to painting. The paint just came right off.
The good news was that just before our visit, new windows had arrived outside the building and installation had begun on the top floors. We would return to do our work when the new windows were in. It took 3 months.
.
After
The window installers repaired and plastered around the window. We patched and sanded the other 3 walls. Then we primed and painted the room. This room is still small, but it looks so much better and it will be warmer this winter. We hung their curtains on a new black wrought iron rod.
We moved the dresser to a large storage closet beside the bathroom. This made room for a solid wood desk with a lamp and a sturdy chair. We hung a calm water colour print and a mirror for the boys to use when getting ready for school. The mother of these boys had already saved to purchase storage solutions and door hooks for them.
This was a situation where the mother was available and interested in helping us. So we gained an eager volunteer and she gained some new ideas and skills. This is an ideal win-win situation!