RAVENSWOOD MANOR — When barista Annette D'Anna reported to work Wednesday at First Slice Pie Cafe, she couldn't believe her eyes.
"It feels like spring in a box. It's gorgeous," D'Anna exclaimed after the "big reveal" of Apartment Therapy's makeover of the Manor Avenue cafe.
Brown butcher paper had covered the windows at First Slice Pie Cafe, 4664 N. Manor Ave., since Sunday while a crew from the home improvement website Apartment Therapy and a team of volunteers worked their magic behind the scenes.
"It has been so delightful," First Slice operations manager Sarah Beth Tanner said of the experience.
"There's no way we could do this ourselves," Tanner said. "We might have been able to get a couple cans of paint."
Volunteers re-hang the cafe's menu boards. [All photos DNAinfo/Patty Wetli except where indicated]
Instead, courtesy of Apartment Therapy, the cafe received a top-to-bottom facelift and a deep clean.
"I really hope that it makes people feel more excited to be here," Tanner said. "I'm looking forward to it being a hip cafe space."
The project is a first for Apartment Therapy, which was looking for a way to focus on the "heart" of the holiday season instead of the "stuff," according to Rebecca Blumhagen, a video director for the site.
First Slice employee Brigid Keely answered a question posed by the site — "What would you do with $200?" — and her pitch for a coat of paint for the cafe struck a chord with Apartment Therapy, which was impressed with First Slice's mission to feed the needy.
"Apartment Therapy is about creating community and it's also about creating homes — this gets at both," Blumhagen said.
Projects editor Dabney Frakes worked out the logistics of the cafe overhaul in a matter of weeks.
"It's been a lot of quick decisions," said Frakes, who was ever mindful that First Slice couldn't afford to close for more than a couple of days.
"They trusted us, they put their cafe in our hands," she said.
Here's what those "big reveal" moments look like from the other side of the camera.
Her cheerful and homey design concept started with a bright, graphic-print wallpaper and grew from there.
To pull off the project on such a tight deadline, Frakes called in favors from partners like Home Depot and Tempaper, which donated supplies, and recruited volunteers from Apartment Therapy's legion of readers — something the site has never done before but Frakes hopes will become a tradition.
All of the volunteer slots were immediately filled and serendipitously included people with professional experience as electricians and painters, as well as a pair of fashion school grads who were a godsend when it came to sewing curtains, Frakes said.
"Great stuff happens when you reach out to people," she said.
Volunteer Eleanor Blackmer is a fan of Apartment Therapy but the Roscoe Village resident had never been to First Slice.
"I think this project is cool — it helps a lot of people," Blackmer said. "It puts my hands to use. I like to be handy and make things look good."
Albany Park neighbor Marti Palermo runs her own home improvement blog, Project Palermo, and has paid volunteer days through her employer.
When she saw a Facebook post about the First Slice makeover, she jumped at the chance to participate.
"This was perfect — it's in my neighborhood and it's DIY," Palermo said.
A number of the volunteers returned Wednesday to view the final results.
"I think it's such a fresh, new look," said Amanda Frederick, a First Slice regular.
Frederick had scrubbed walls and cracked open the first cans of paint on Monday.
"I can say, 'I did that corner,'" Frederick said.
Neighbor Renata Jasinski Laszuk joked that her daughter Simone Laszuk is "one-third pie" from eating so often at First Slice. The two joined Apartment Therapy's volunteer brigade while Simone is home on break from Northwestern University.
"I can't get over how cute the curtains are," the younger Laszuk said.
Jasinski Laszuk appreciated that while the makeover brightened up the space, the Apartment Therapy team didn't go overboard with swanky details.
"I like that they kept the floors," she said of the worn wood. "It still has that lived-in look."
Her daughter agreed.
"It kept its feel of being a community place, a neighborhood place," Laszuk said.
For her part, D'Anna was overjoyed, even going so far as to say she'd be happy to work seven days a week in her new environment.
"It felt like this place had a lot of potential and just wasn't reaching it," D'Anna said.
"It's such a giant transformation," she said. "Every time I look around, I see something new and beautiful."
The "before." [First Slice Pie Cafe]
The "after" at First Slice — "It feels like spring in a box," said employee Annette D'Anna.
The "after" at First Slice. Customers said they were happy that the cafe is brighter but still has a "lived-in" look that feels like a neighborhood joint.
First Slice employee Annette D'Anna (left) meets volunteer Simone Laszuk.
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