It’s safe to say that everyone was touched by the COVID-19 pandemic in some way.
While many essential workers had to keep clocking in like usual—and we're eternally grateful to everyone who has confronted the virus on the front lines, day in and day out—the luckiest of us were able to stay safe at home to wait out the worst of it. And sometimes that stay-at-home time presented new and unexpected opportunities for change and growth. Now meet some Lehigh Valley residents who found a path to productivity during many long months of social distancing.
A blending of lives also necessitated a blending of styles for Kathleen Oswalt and Veronica Bocian. It’s a process that’s inevitable for any couple that merges households, but the pandemic inspired the two to really dig in, especially since their Allentown home also had to double as a work-from-home space for both of them for many months. Oswalt, an executive assistant for PPL, first purchased the home solo in 2010. She’s always been mindful of the way she’s adorned the place, which she christened Candlewick Cape. “I love things with meaning,” she says. “I love things that tell a story.” Bocian, a communications and marketing associate at Allentown’s Swain School, describes her style as a bit more spontaneous. “I tend to be more of an impulsive decision maker,” she says.
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And yet the two found a lot of common ground in the projects they tackled, including a gallery wall in the living room that’s like a 3-D scrapbook highlighting memories they cherish. “It’s the first thing you see when you walk into the room,” says Oswalt. There’s a banjolele (think banjo mixed with a ukulele) that Oswalt purchased for Bocian during a day trip to the New Hope/Lambertville area. A drawing scrawled on a placemat recalls Oswalt’s thirtieth birthday celebration, and Bocian’s artwork (including a portrait of Oswalt) is in the mix as well.
The couple is also very much in the pro-wallpaper camp; Oswalt had previously used it in the dining room and master bedroom. With Bocian’s blessing, it was added to one of the walls off the living room as well as a bedroom-turned-office. Oswalt appreciates it as a means to mix patterns and colors. Adds Bocian: “You can try it out, play with it. You don’t have to worry about its permanence.”
Bocian took the lead on a backyard re-do, that, according to Oswalt, transformed the space into their own private oasis. While the couple entrusted the building of a new deck to the professionals, Bocian added plants, furniture and other touches like hanging lanterns to create a sense of coziness and intimacy.
As most homeowners know, once one project wraps up, there’s usually another waiting in the wings. “We have other things we want to do, but the vibe is very good now,” Bocian says. The time and thoughtfulness they’ve already invested has only reinforced the notion that one’s home should also be a sanctuary. “I think a lot of people have learned that during the pandemic,” Oswalt says.
One of the projects on Amy Bloom’s stay-at-home to-do list was a space her 17-year-old son, Max Coleman, could claim as his own in her South Whitehall Township home. The end result is a basement remodel that’s a far departure from a typical “man cave” loaded with La-Z-Boy recliners and sports paraphernalia. In fact, Max’s 19-year-old sister, Molly Coleman, also likes spending time in the space, even though he has decreed that she’s only welcome when he’s not there, Bloom explains with a laugh.
Bloom, a home stager, designer and artist who founded Spun Design, says she had toyed with the idea for the renovation for years. “I could never find the time,” she says. But, like many people, she found herself spending a lot more time at home in the early days of the pandemic and needed to find a way to keep the creative juices flowing. It was the first time she was really able to dive into a project for her own home. “I always do for others because it's my job.”
Step one was parting ways with the clutter in the basement, and Bloom applied the same criteria she encourages her clients to use: “Ask your kids, ‘If I died today, would you want this in your house?’ If the answer is no, why are you holding on to it?”
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The design itself is budget-friendly and ideal for a smaller space. Rather than putting up a lot of drywall, Bloom used a dark paint on the cement and cinder block walls for a textured look. She sourced bamboo from a friend’s yard as a divider. “It looks like a piece of art and it doesn’t close up the room,” says Bloom. A Murphy bed blends in seamlessly with the wall, and lights hung from the unfinished ceiling add a rustic flourish. Seating options include swing chairs and a giant Lovesac (think oversized bean bag chair). There are personal touches, too, like the buffet table that once belonged to Bloom’s grandmother which now serves as a homework desk for Max. And mother and son have been known to duke it out on a nearby foosball table on occasion. “I kick his butt all the time,” Bloom says. The neon sign reciting Stevie Nicks lyrics also means so much to Bloom. “My mom passed away when I was three, and I feel as if her music was my inspiration throughout my life.”
The entire project took just a few months, with Bloom doing a lot of the work herself with assists from Jordan Morales of Cutting Edge Contractors and Keith Fraley of Consolidated Carpet. And just because idleness isn’t her thing, she also used her down time to complete a weight room for her son as well as an art studio for herself.
Dina Hall and Gail Lehman found the answer to their storage problems on Facebook Marketplace: a free shed for the taking. All the owners of Bethlehem’s Back Door Bakeshop had to do was lug it from Leesport in Berks County back to the Lehigh Valley. With plenty of power tools and lots of spare time on their hands, they spent two very hot summer days dismantling the shed and hauling it home, where the work continued: new flooring, a new door, new roof panels and new stain on the exterior.
Even then, the job wasn’t quite done. Hall says one of the major challenges was making sure the shed was level, since it was sitting on an incline. She borrowed the tire jack from her VW Rabbit to lift the shed and then added stone underneath. The couple completed the project with a fence, gate and stone walkway. The total cost of the storage space upgrade was about $700.
Photo by Geoff Conklin
Photographer and Lehigh Valley Style contributor Alison Conklin was inspired to spruce up her home office space after seeing the changes being made in the homes of some of her clients—including Kathleen Oswalt and Veronica Bocian. “I was so tired of my boring Zoom background,” she explains, “and I’ve always been obsessed with wallpaper. I love all of the patterns and textures and breaking it up.” Conklin says watching The Queen’s Gambit also helped—anyone who’s binged the Netflix series about an orphaned chess prodigy in the 1950s and ’60s will tell you that the bold, patterned wallpaper featured in many scenes might as well get co-star billing.
Conklin had been eyeing a green and orange pattern for a while, and when she found it in a peel-and-stick variety, she took the plunge. She also painted the remaining walls in her office a dark navy, and now she’s loving the fresh look of her creative space. “I needed to make it my own,” says Conklin.
She also needed to find other ways to occupy herself during the earliest days of the pandemic. “This has been the slowest year of my adult life,” Conklin says. Many of the weddings that Conklin would typically shoot with her husband, Geoff, were either delayed or canceled. So Conklin also used her considerable down time to reconnect with herself. “I got to figure some things out, do some things for me, which I haven’t done in a long time.” That meant escaping from the relentless drumbeat of the 24-hour news cycle, limiting social media scrolling time and finally committing to often-delayed personal pursuits like reading, trying out new recipes and diving into DIY tutorials on YouTube. Another major perk? Extra quality time with her two sons, Jonas, 18, and Moses, 17, in the waning days of their childhoods. “Man, that was such a gift!” she says.
Dan and Chrissy Belk got to spend a lot of time together after tying the knot in May of 2020, just not in the way they imagined. Of course, the wedding itself wasn’t exactly what they had planned, either. “We were supposed to have a 225-person wedding,” Chrissy says. But large gatherings were an early casualty of the coronavirus, so the Bethlehem couple had to settle for a small, intimate service with 10 family members at a church near their home. International travel was also taboo by that point, so instead of hopping on a plane for a much-anticipated honeymoon in Dubai and Italy, the Belks found themselves stuck at home. Their plan B, according to Chrissy? “I thought, ‘We’re both off for two weeks. Let’s just do the kitchen.’”
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A kitchen remodel was the last major renovation project on the couple’s wish-list after purchasing their home in 2018. Just two days after saying “I Do,” they packed away their wedding duds and prepared to do some damage. And Dan says they had their work cut out for them. “It was a mess,” he says. “If you picture a bad kitchen out of the 1970s, that’s what it was.” The wood-panel walls, laminate flooring, drop ceiling and outdated cabinets and countertops all had to go. “We gutted it for two days, then just got to work,” Dan says. One piece of the past worth saving, though, was the original hardwood flooring the couple discovered underneath the laminate. Chrissy says they wanted to preserve that to help maintain the character of the home, which was built in 1910.
With the exception of the electrical work and the installation of the countertops, the Belks handled all the grunt work themselves—moving an entryway, installing new cabinets, drywall and tile, and coming up with a new layout for a space that’s now more conducive to cooking and entertaining. “We just wanted to make it as functional as possible,” Chrissy says. The project took about four to five weeks to complete. Now, with that in the rearview mirror, the couple is hoping that a honeymoon—a real honeymoon—can happen in 2021.
