Unity Health Care’s New Children’s Reading Center at Former DC Hospital Will Open February 17th

Washington, DC – Unity Health Care will unveil a new children’s reading center at its clinic in the former DC Hospital, 1900 Massachusetts Ave SE, building 29, from 1 to 4 p.m.  Friday, February 17. The brief program will include remarks from Vincent A. Keane, President/CEO of Unity Health Care, key staff and city officials.

Unity is the largest primary health care agency in the Washington, DC,  area, providing health care services to more than 82,000 patients annually at 29 health centers and a mobile outreach unit. Unity at DC General has grown to a site that served over 34,500 clients in 2011.  Services offered range from primary care, for children and adults, dentistry, case management and specialty services such as neurology, ophthalmology, general surgery, infectious diseases, podiatry to name a few.

Promoting Literacy to DC’s Homeless Population

Unity’s goal is to increase literacy among children during the critical literacy skills acquisition years of six months to five years. Through a partnership with Reach Out and Read of Metro DC, Unity has developed the Key Corner Project. The Key Corner Project promotes early literacy by bringing new books and advice about the importance of reading aloud into the pediatric exam room, unlocking the door to reading success

Sherry Ways of Kreative Ways and Solutions has been heading the design project for the reading room, which will include new furnishings, books, murals and accent walls. Two members of the Kreative Ways team, Bretnage Blair and Shea Capri Bartley, have been working on the project for six months.  Shea Capri, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and an intern at Kreative Ways have painted two murals for the project. This is the second Unity Reading Room redesign that Ways has led. She coordinated the redesign of a reading room at Unity’s East of the River health Center in 2008.

Also participating in the project are Cindy Athey of Percision Tech, who has donated painting services; Benjamin Moore Paints, which donated paint; and Kate Smith of Sensational Color, who also donated paint.

Invited guests include Mayor Vincent Gray, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, and members of the City Council, Dr. Mohammad Akhter, Director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Health, Federal and District officials, community leaders and stakeholders.

About Unity Health Care

Unity Health Care, Inc. (Unity) was founded in 1985 as Health Care for the Homeless Project (HCHP) providing primary health care services to homeless individuals and families that resided in local emergency shelters or on the streets of the District of Columbia.  With a patient population that is plagued by low literacy, the promotion of literacy has become an important part of standard primary care, enabling children to grow up with books and a love of reading.

About Sherry Ways

Sherry Ways started her design firm, Kreative Ways & Solutions, LLC, in  2004. Ways earned a BS and a Master’s Degree with additional training in Interior Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art and the American Feng Shui Institute.  She holds a Certificate in Certified Color Therapy through the International Certified Aromatherapy Institute and has recently become a Certified Interior Environment Coach through the DeGangi Group.

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Interns from Kreative Ways & Solutions, LLC describe their design concepts for the Reading Murals at Unity Health Care at DC General.

Smart Cabinetry was used in this model home above we recently decorated.

Smart Cabinetry incorporates both solid hardwoods and hardwood veneers in it’s products. These are natural materials with inherent variations in color, grain, densities, and character amongst the differing species. These variations are at the heart of the unique and natural beauty of finished hardwood.

Smart Cabinetry in Newport Polar White – Photo Courtesy of Smart Cabinetry.

Smart Cabinetry® is committed just as much to the environment as they are to their customers. To leave the lightest carbon footprint on our environment is something every employee at Smart strives for. Protecting the environment is not just green, it’s Smart. They continually make every effort to improve our manufacturing processes and products to ensure environmental responsibility and a continual reduction of our carbon footprint. Many of the components included in their cabinets contribute to various LEED® credits including but not limited to recycled content, regional materials, rapidly renewable materials, and low-emitting materials.

Here is an example of the Brighton Honey Maple used in a bathroom setting.  Photo Courtesy or Smart Cabinetry.

Aside from the practical storage and aesthetic appeal, Smart Cabinetry® cabinets are designed to be environmentally friendly and reduce the negative impact on our environment. Far too many benefits to building green exist today including the cost savings from reduced energy, water and waste disposal costs; and a healthier consumer environment from cleaner indoor air.

If you are interested in learning more about their products feel free to e-mail us at interiors@kreativeways.com.  We will be happy to sit down with you and discuss their product line and the benefits to your home.

One of my facebook friends just posted this lovely photo of an interior and words in which the interior will reflect for an occupant.  I think the words that describes what this occupant would like this space to be is powerful as well as infectious.

Using this photo above as a starting point, take a minute to think about your interior for 2012 and what you would like for it to reflect and be about for you.

List all the things you would like for your interior to say, do and feel for you and your family.  Then start setting about and implementing it.. one week at a time.  Start to declutter and rid yourself of things that no longer bring you joy.  Start thinking about the colors and furnishings in your home.  Is it time to repaint and bring in a different wall color?  Does your favorite chair need reupholstering?  What about finally getting those beautiful window treatments you always wanted?  NOW is the time to begin anew- a clean slate.

Think about what your H.O.M.E. means to you and begin a strategy to create it to reflect your New Year Resolutions in 2012.  Here is a wonderful way to break down this powerful word:

HEALTH.- what do you want your home to say about your goals for good health this year?  Write it down.

ORGANIZATION.-what ways can you better organized in your home in 2012?  Write it down.

MEMORIES.- what lasting memories do you want to create in your home this year?  Write it down.

ENVIRONMENT.-what are some aesthetic changes you would like to make in your interior?  Write it down.

Remember Kreative Ways & Solutions, LLC is here to help you create a truly livable, feel good space that will last beyond 2012!  Give us a call today- 1-888-280-8318 or e-mail at interiors@kreativeways.com.

KREATIVE WAYS & SOLUTIONS, LLC ANNOUNCES DC CERTIFIED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE DESIGNATION

Washington, DC, December 22, 2011 – Sherry Burton Ways, Principal of Kreative Ways and Solutions, LLC (KWS), a interior decor services company located in Washington, DC is pleased to announce that the company has earned the highest-level Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) designation from the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD)- identifying Kreative Ways and Solutions, LLC as a DC- based business whose work directly supports and contributes to job creation and the city tax base, which in turn results in a much stronger local economy.

“We are excited and honored to have received the CBE designation in just a mere 9 days!  As someone who lives and works in the District of Columbia, I am pleased to be able to contribute to the local economy as a CBE certified business,” states Sherry Burton Ways.

Businesses with the CBE certification receive preferred procurement and contracting opportunities from the District of Columbia DSLBD.  The program offers incentives to other businesses that contract with a Certified Business Enterprise.

With a studio at 1341 H Street NE in Washington, KWS provides interior decor services that help to create healing spaces through color and arrangement. Their expertise is in model home merchandising, FF&E selection, and specification, space planning, art consulting, wall covering and interior wall color consultations, window treatment selection, design and consultation and implementation based on client’s needs, tastes and budget. The client’s participation is encouraged in every phase of the project. Each project receives personal attention from our experienced decorators, enabling clients to achieve excellent value for every dollar invested.

KWS personnel work closely with architects, real estate developers, contractors and clients to determine the needs of the occupants, and the style that best suits both. Kreative Ways & Solutions, LLC designs have been featured in MD, DC, VA Home and Design Magazine, DC Uptown Magazine, DC Luxury Magazine, The Washington Examiner and the Washington Post.

For more information contact by e-mail at interiors@kreativeways.com or 1-888-280-8318 or www.kreativeways.com.

This year Pantone the supreme color guru of the US has selected their 2012 Color of the Year- Tangerine Tango- 17-1463.

Pantone’s 2012 color of the year, was selected because, “there’s the element of encouragement with orange, it’s building on the ideas of courage and action, that we want to move on to better things. I think it would be a disservice to go with a relaxed, soothing color now,” as my friend and colleague Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, told the Associated Press.

Because Tangerine is such a bright and vibrant color, I would recommend using it in interiors as:

Accent Walls

Accessories

Artwork

Area Rugs

Window Treatments

In addition it makes a great combination with other vibrant colors such as red.  I like the word “optimistic” to describe this color as we are moving into 2012 with a different outlook on life and our interiors.

Check out our newest video about Kreative Ways & Solutions, LLC. Let us know what you think.

KWS designed this office space for a Holistic Healing Business which is thriving today.

For business owners, an important element of business marketing is the branding and image of your company.  We have branding coaches, read books, view branding webinars and work hard to get that business logo to reflect who we are.  However, whether or not you are a big company or small, whether you entertain clients or not, your office design should match your brand.  Successful branding requires you to look and “feel” the brand.  So take a few minutes to ask yourself what your office says about you:

Great example of a conference room design that inspires those who enter.

1) Do your office colors reflect the theme colors of your business or logo?

2) Is your space organized?  Do you have easy access to things you need the most when you need it?

3) If you have a nice glossy business card, does your office interior reflect it?

4) When you walk into your office space does it overall reflect who you are, your business mission?

5) Is your office space comfortable for your clients and visitors?  Do you get compliments from them about your interior?  Does your interior keep them coming back?

Here is a home office design that we worked with to reflect a financial planner's image.

Having glossy business cards and a high-tech image but out-of-date office furniture and equipment, will make you feel like an imposter and you will have difficulty projecting your brand to customers.  Our interiors are a reflection of how we feel about ourselves, our goals and intentions.  Ask yourself if your work environment is an accurate reflection of you?  If it isn’t, to the degree that you are able, what changes would you make?

While it may be a nice dream to transform the whole house and redecorate for every season or holiday, the truth is that most of us don’t have the time or resources.  But we still want a festive look in our homes.  The good news is that it only takes a few small, well-placed accessories to create a completely new look and evoke the joyous mood of the season.

Before you run out and purchase expensive accessories, look around your home to see what you already have.  Chances are that you have everything you need to create your own unique, personal decorations.

Create “custom” window treatments.  Have fun creating your own personal treatments for the windows at holiday time.  Ideas?  Hang paper snowflakes from invisible wire so they hang at different levels across the window.  Swag garland from the top corners.  Create illuminated valances by hanging a string of icicle lights from the top of each window (there are window-sized sets made specifically for this purpose).

Spruce up the entryway.  A festive entrance will create the perfect first impression.  What can you do to surprise and delight guests as they walk in the front door?  A floor mat in seasonal colors welcomes visitors with holiday cheer.  Fresh flowers always add comfort and brightness.  How about hanging decorative ribbon from the entry chandelier?

Got candles?  Take wide pillar candles and wrap them in ribbon, flexible twigs, or thin garland.  Arrange candles in groups of three to create a lovely holiday display on any table.  When guests are visiting, light the candles and turn down the lights for a warm, holiday atmosphere.

Create a centerpiece.  A simple holiday centerpiece will inspire a cheerful, festive mood.  Grab a large container, and fill it with colorful fruit or flowers.  Use a flat platter to display metallic ornaments.  Or create a “gift centerpiece” for extra excitement and color.  To make this centerpiece, wrap small, empty boxes in holiday paper or in colors to match your room’s décor.  Decorate each box with ribbons and bows.  Then place the “gifts” in a decorative container, or arrange them in the center of the table with fresh pine greenery.

You may be amazed at how easily and quickly you can add holiday cheer to your home!