Warrior pride through interior design

Interior design students at Leyton High School received some hands-on education this year as they spent the last few months designing and decorating the district counselor's office at the elementary school in Gurley.

"They have done an amazing job," Leyton Counselor Mary Matsutani said.

Leyton's interior design class consists of seniors Amber Rosas, Jaedon Wann and Blake Draper, junior Kelsey Miller and freshmen Shelby Miller and Quentin Miller.

The project came about during a conversation between Matsutani and art teacher Ann Hurt, who had recently taken over the interior design class at the high school.

Matsutani suggested that the students take a shot at redesigning her office at Leyton Elementary School.

"It was stark white and really sterile looking," she said. "I said, 'Figure out what you can do with that.'"

Senior Amber Rosas said when she first heard about the project, she did not think they would actually get to redecorate the office themselves.

"I thought we were just going to put together a poster board and just design something," the 18-year-old said. "I didn't think we were going to actually do all of this, so it was cool to learn."

The students started the project in February by working in groups to brainstorm ideas for the office before coming together and deciding on an overall design.

Rosas said brainstorming took quite a bit of work.

"We had a week to design," she said. "Everybody put their own little thing into it."

Once a plan was together, the students then worked to create a budget and then presented their proposal to Matsutani.

"I had to approve it because it's my office," Matsutani said.

Rosas said the group had calculated the budget at $800, but were approved by the school to go up to $1,000 for the project.

"We ended up spending $956," she said. "So we did go over what I originally thought it was going to be, but not over what we got."

Because the office is housed in the elementary school in Gurley, the students had to travel from the high school in Dalton, about six miles, to do the work.

"We knew it was going to take a long time, because we had to do (the work) during our seventh and eighth periods," Rosas said.

Scheduling was difficult, Rosas said, especially with many of them involved in other activities at the high school.

"And then I work, too," she said.

To help speed the project along, the students were granted two full days by the school board to work on the office.

"They banged a lot out at that time," Matsutani said.

Senior Jaedon Wann said he was surprised at how much freedom they were allowed in the project.

"It really was a team effort," he said.

For the office, the group decided to go with Leyton Warrior colors, maroon and gold, which Matsutani was happy to see.

"I said I wanted it either in Husker colors or Leyton colors," Matsutani said.

Rosas described the painting process as "interesting."

"The yellow wall was the easiest, but then the maroon wasn't covering it," she said. "We had to go over it multiple times."

Wann said the painting took the longest time to finish, especially when they were limited in their time at the school to work on the project.

"It was difficult to work around it, but it wasn't impossible," he said. "But looking at it now from where it was before, it's just a night and day difference."

Rosas said her and Wann spent the better part of two weeks coming down to the school during their last two periods to work on the painting.

On one of the walls is graffiti text, designed by Wann, that reads "Leyton Warriors."

"That took me a really long time," Wann said.

Rosas said choosing furniture while remaining inside their allotted budget was tough, but she was ultimately pleased with what they were able to get.

"I wanted to have a couch in here, but it's hard to find one that's a decent price," she said. "The chairs and the rug (we went with) came out to $450, so that was the biggest cost."

While the chairs and desk had to be purchased, the office's shelves and coffee table were designed and created from scratch for the project.

"That was Jaedon," Rosas said. "And then Blake put it together."

"I just like the whole aspect of taking something creative and bringing it to life," Wann said.

Wann said they used plywood two-by-fours that they cut, burned and then coated with polyurethane to give the furniture a unique look.

"We completely constructed it ourselves," he said.

Rosas described the overall experience as equal parts interesting and stressful.

"But I like how it turned out," she said. "I hope (Matsutani) enjoys it for as long as she can. It was a lot of work, but the hard work paid off."

Matsutani said she had been impressed with the project every step of the way.

"I had seen it as it's come along," she said. "I absolutely love it. They did a great job."

Wann was a little more critical of their finished work.

"I don't think that it's perfect, but I think we definitely livened it up more and brought Mrs. Matsutani's personality into to room," he said.

With the room now complete, Matsutani said she aims to keep the design as it is for as long as she's there.

"This cannot be redone ever," she said. "These are my kids, and my kids did this. That makes me love it so much more.

"And I will be here ten years from now, so no one's touching it."