Serving Those Who Serve Us

Bob’s Discount Furniture helps makeover the home of an Army family in Virginia who have moved multiple times recently due to mold issues

An Army family based in Virginia had an extra special holiday season thanks to brand-new furniture from Bob’s Discount Furniture. 

Josh and Amanda Brewer, and their six children, from Fort Belvoir, VA, lost nearly everything they owned due to mold issues and had to move multiple times in 2019. Bob’s Discount Furniture teamed up with Coast to Coast Interiors and WUSA9 in Virginia to give the family brand-new furniture. The Invisible Hand Foundation, an organization that provides funds to Washington DC-area residents to meet immediate challenges and needs, donated $5,000 to the home makeover. 

Bob’s Discount Furniture presented the family with new furniture and accessories to update their home including a sectional for the living room, dining room table and chairs, bedroom furniture for the parent’s room and an electric fireplace.

Susan Bourassa, the owner of Coast to Coast Interiors, a home staging service in Virginia, styled the rooms. Her husband served in the Coast Guard and her family also lived in military housing. Bourassa said her experience as a military spouse and living in military housing made it easy for her to relate to the Brewer family’s situation.

“It definitely makes it more of an emotional connection for us,” said Bourassa who also dealt with mold issues in a previous house.

Style Inspiration

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Bourassa was able to get a sneak peek of the home with the help of the father, Josh Brewer, while his wife Amanda was out of the house. Since the family has moved multiple times and lost almost everything due to mold issues, the style of the house was more functional than a specific theme. 

After asking for style suggestions from the family, Bourassa focused on farmhouse chic. She said she wanted to keep a neutral feel to this style so the family could build off it in the future. 

Her first room to style was the living room and then worked her way throughout the house.

“It started with the big sectional because we wanted something that could accommodate the entire family in one room,” said Bourassa.

From there the room kept evolving. Bourassa placed the Monterey Sofa Table Set next to the sectional, providing an extra area for eating and additional seating.

In the kitchen, she added a table in the breakfast nook. Bourassa noted that Josh said that was his favorite element of the makeover.

Upstairs in the master bedroom, Bourassa kept the existing bed and added two nightstands, a dresser, a TV chest and new bedding.

Her team also added artwork throughout the house. 

All of the furniture Bourassa added to the home during the makeover was purchased at Bob’s Discount Furniture. The coast-to-coast furniture retailer donated $1,500 worth of furniture.

“I thought of Bob’s right away because I purchase the furniture from Bob’s a lot for my own personal staging so I’m very familiar with the inventory and the quality level,” said Bourassa.

Home Sweet Home

The Brewer family had a bookshelf in the previous house that was filled with books, including stories that Amanda would read to her children at night. Since many of these books were ruined by mold, Bourassa wanted to give the family an updated library in their current home. With the help of donated books, Bourassa created a new library in a little desk area. While Amanda was taking a tour of her updated home, Bourassa pointed out the new library with books for her to read to her children at night. 

“Amanda teared up,” said Bourassa. 

“It wasn’t even just about the furniture,” said Bourassa. “It’s just those little things in life that you don’t think about. All those little things you would miss if you lost everything.”