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Giving Hope, Love and A Touch of Whimsy

Local Interior Design Firm Gives Back

By Ronda M. Parag | Photography by Bos Images

Giving back to the community, while owning and operating a successful interior design firm has always been a priority for Ponton Interiors owner, Kylie Ponton. In 2018, Ponton and her design team launched the Savvy Giving By Design, Tampa Chapter, and since then have completed more than 25 room makeovers for children facing severe medical crisis in the Tampa Bay area. The mission is to provide comfort, support, and healing to families with a child facing a medical crisis by transforming the interior spaces of their homes at no cost to them.

“As a mother of three, some of my favorite rooms to design are for kids. As soon as I heard about Savvy Giving By Design, I knew I had to help bring this to Florida” said Kylie Ponton, Chapter Leader SGBD Tampa, FL. “My hope is these spaces will give the children and their families hope, love and a touch of whimsy.”

“We are a 100 percent volunteer run organization which means that all of the funds we raise for these rooms go directly to the cost of creating magical spaces for kids that need them most,” said Ponton. “Our incredible volunteer team includes vendors who donate some of the hard costs in the room like new closets, electrical installations, paint and flooring.”

“We’ve met some amazing children and their siblings and connected with beautiful families through this journey,” said Ponton. “When we design each room, we meet with the child and really find out what they love. Their hopes and dreams and favorite colors. We meet superheroes and princesses and artists and builders.”

Also addressed is the importance of a healthy space for healing by removing old carpet harboring allergens, adding wipeable hard surfaces, low pile rugs, organic bedding and easy to clean flooring.

“We are so lucky that we get to use our unique skills as interior designers to create really unique and personalized spaces that we hope will be uplifting and inspiring and create space for healing and growth,” said Ponton. M

For more information, visit www.pontoninteriors.com, www.savvygivingbydesign.com.