We know that inviting residents to call our community their home is about far more than just providing comfortable apartments. It’s our honor to continuously seek ways to enhance all of the spaces in our building, ensuring that each room empowers seniors to live their lives in their style. Whether that’s exploring a new passion in our activity spaces or enjoying a delightful meal in our dining areas with new friends, we know a home is the space where everyday routines become meaningful moments.
We are excited to share about this year’s renovation and refresh project, which will update key spaces in our community so they better serve our current and future residents. With inspiration from our local area, timeless selections, and design expertise from a team that specializes in senior living, we hope you’ll join us in our excitement for our beautiful new community spaces.
SENIOR LIFE‘STYLE’
With over 40 years of tenure in senior living services, we know creating great places to work and great places to live requires thoughtfulness, expertise, and commitment to always put first the seniors who will call each space ‘home’ each day. We’re proud to share that our renovations are planned, designed, and managed by our own internal team of capital and design experts.
From furnishings to flooring, finishes to fixtures, carpet fibers to chair heights, our team boasts decades of industry knowledge that drives them to find the very best solution for each component of the process. We’ve invested in this team because we believe every detail in our community spaces matters, and we wanted to personally ensure our renovation process and results meet Senior Lifestyle’s standards.
Designer’s Note: “When I begin a project, I always start from the same place: who are the people using these spaces? What are they like, what do their days include, and what would feel like home to them? I want to capture that context so that I can craft even our initial concepts and plans with our residents’ dignity and lifestyle in mind. I’ve been honored to personally design and oversee dozens of senior living community projects, and I know those questions are at the core of each renovation. We can build something beautiful, but at the end of the day, what matters is whether we’ve created a community with spaces that empower the seniors we serve and make them proud to live here.”
Inspiration FROM YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
From colors and textures to furniture and flooring, our inspiration is rooted in your local community and the beautiy the area has to offer. Our team spends time researching and immersing themselves in your neighborhood, county, and state to allow the place you know to inspire the look and feel of our building.
COLOR CONCEPTS
Color is a key component in the feeling and atmosphere of each space. When we begin a renovation and refresh project, the Senior Lifestyle team starts from scratch, building a set of coordinating tones to perfectly fit the particulars of each community. We begin by researching the surrounding area to take in the sights and scenery familiar to local residents. We also consider any new direction needed, crafting a color palette that connects with the area while also updating and modernizing the interior for current and future residents. The result is a timeless palette that’s rooted in the local scenery and provides a foundation from which to build on for renovation plans.
THE ‘MAINE’ EVENT
With its wide variety of landscapes that produce the unique, diverse lifestyle the area is known for, Maine provided no shortage of natural inspiration for this project. Maine is known for its jagged, rocky Atlantic ocean and bay-shore coastlines - 3,500 miles of coastline in total - which are the source of its famous seafood cuisine. The mountains and wetlands found further inland boast a diverse range of flora and fauna with beautiful woods and greenery that make up 17 million acres of forest in total.
The state’s cold winters may result in harsh weather and rough soil, but it’s this exact environment that produces the hardy blueberry crop that makes up 98% of the nation’s low bush harvest. The result is a rich tapestry of costinspired tones, warm earthy shades, and a strong influence from the seasonality Mainers experience.*
Designer’s Note: “My favorite thing about this color palette is the interplay between soothing coastal shades and warm neutrals. The effect will tie the space into the unique Maine landscape while also creating a sense of warmth and home.”
Vibrant SPACES FOR LIVING LIFE
FORM & FUNCTION
While furniture and fixtures should create a beautiful, cohesive space, we will always prioritize the functionality and longevity of each selection in a renovation. We source and test durable fabrics with pleasing textures so residents are comfortable in pieces that last for years to come. We also prioritize accessibility, testing carpet samples for wheelchair and walker usage or chair height for ease of going from sitting to standing. The end result is a design that preserves dignity and enables our residents to think less about the practicalities of navigating their environment and spend more time pursuing meaningful moments with new friends.
SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
Much like the color palette, we allow the local architecture and design sensibilities of the neighborhood to direct the choices made in the planning process. Maine is a unique blend of coastal sensibilities and practicality, a retreat within the beauty of nature and a no-nonsense culture that craves functional spaces designed for connection. Drawing inspiration from the water and sand led us to seek bright spaces featuring organic textures that bring the outside in. Traditional touches reflect the New England sensibility of the area with modern choices that combine for a timeless finish.
You’ll notice in these inspirational images the traditional lines, the moody blues contrasted with bright whites and tans, the gold finishes, the textured rugs, and the combination of comfortable seating with functional living. We were inspired to craft spaces that, while beautiful, were also inviting and practical enough to encourage putting up your feet in the company of good friends.
Picture
YOURSELF HERE
As we begin the design process, our team draws on images of fabrics, fixtures, furniture, and textures to create a concept that guides each step. What you’ll see here are inspiration images that communicate a style, feel, and guide for what our spaces will look like.
You may not see any of these exact items present at the end of the renovation journey, but we invite you to use this imagery to imagine the style of our refreshed rooms and picture yourself enjoying an afternoon in our beautiful new spaces.
REFRESHED & TIMELESS
As the process continues, our design team uses all the inspiration imagery you see here to make decisions about details big and small. Colors begin to translate to upholstery and carpet samples, organic materials inspire wood stains and table finishes, and concept art turns into lighting fixtures and accents that tie the space together.
While our team roots each step of this process in local research and inspiration, we know that designing a home is a highly personal process, down to the final touches. That’s one of the many reasons we take each component so seriously, and know many of our residents and families may have thoughts throughout the project. We invite you to stay connected and curious, and use imagery like what you see here to identify your favorite components of the renovation. We hope the journey inspires conversation and even consideration of where your own style comes from as we bring inspiration from your area to life.
At Senior Lifestyle, no detail is too small when it comes to designing our communities.
You’ll notice our team personally attending to every component of this renovation so that the end result is a collection of cohesive spaces that tell a story and invite peace, wellbeing, and delight. We hope each room becomes a space you love to spend your time in.
Designer’s Note: “Maine’s coastal landscape and varied flora and fauna gave us lots of beautiful textures and natural finishes to draw from in our inspiration for the accents and wood finishes.”
Renovation EXPECTATIONS & PROCESS
The moment we announce the start of the renovation & refresh project, we anticipate questions related to timelines and expectations around construction. Know that our commitment is to continue communicating with our residents and families as we become aware of updates in the process.
While exact dates will change and fluxuate based on various components of the process, below is an outline of each phase we work through to ensure our residents receive the beautiful spaces they deserve.
PHASE ONE: DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Our team begins with a research phase, conducting a series of visits and planning processes to develop the initial design plan for review.
PHASE TWO: SCHEMATIC DESIGN
Design developed, the team moves on to the particulars, translating inspiration to actual carpets, furniture pieces, paint colors, and more to prepare for construction.
PHASE THREE: CONSTRUCTION & ADMIN.
The work begins as our team brings in the construction crew to map out and then complete the work outlined in the design plan for each space.
PHASE FOUR: FF&E INSTALLATION
FF&E - or furniture, fixtures, and equipment - is the final phase of the process, where our team installs the new pieces of each space following completed construction.
