Interior designer transforms apartments into homes

By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

If you think moving to a retirement community means living in a small apartment that looks exactly like all of your neighbors’ homes— think again.

At a local retirement community, Monarch Landing, new residents can choose from a variety of unique apartment home models to suit their individual needs and preferences. But the customization doesn’t end there. On-site interior decorator Francesca Anderson is on hand to assist residents with all their custom decorating needs.

Whether they want a high-impact red accent wall or classic hardwood flooring, Anderson can make it happen.

“I do everything that has to do with interiors and custom finishes,” Anderson says. “I can even have walls knocked down for people.”

A trained decorating eye
Anderson has a design degree and had her own interior decorating business before joining Monarch Landing’s staff . She draws on her many years of experience to help people customize their homes.

Anderson’s services include choosing custom countertops, flooring, trim, lighting, sinks, window treatments, and just about anything else clients might want to change or upgrade in their home. Residents only have to pay for the cost of custom upgrades and installation labor; Anderson’s consultation services are free of charge.

“I help people come up with ideas and pull together different samples for them to choose from,” she says.

‘Not cookie cutter at all’
Mary Tendick and her husband Frank are one of many couples who have utilized Anderson’s services to make their new Monarch Landing home reflect their own personal style. Anderson helped the Tendicks choose paint colors for their bathrooms, upgrade their carpeting, and renovate their entire kitchen.

“She was just an untiring worker,” Mary Tendick says of Anderson. “She would get on the phone and call manufacturers, and we’d have samples the next day.”