Ronald McDonald House Idea Home 2011

Shelter. A home away from home. Ronald McDonald House Charities provide just that for families with children being treated at hospitals around the world. When one of our editors stayed at a house during his child's recent surgery, it inspired us to pay it forward by renovating our hometown house. We not only updated the aging facility but also created a calming, consoling refuge that helps make the days and nights a little easier for families coping with a child in a hospital far from home.

Click ahead for a tour, then see slide 19 to find out how you can help your local house.

To make residents comfortable—both physically and emotionally—we updated the kitchen and baths with modern amenities that better serve the multiple families using them each day. We also decorated public rooms with soothing colors and cushy furniture that provide a restful, homelike break from the hospital environment.