Helping Hands

I realize that by posting before pictures, I'm setting myself up with a task for sharing after pictures. Oh well . . . I'll do my best. So recently we've begun to work on Zane's room. We had hoped that we could make this room more normal by adding a real fourth wall, but since we were not prepared for the certain need, we've justified that Zane can be happy in this room for a few years, until we are able to take on a really huge project. Many have seen our "funky" room, others have heard about it, and still, a few have asked what our plans are. Zane is lucky to get Mommy's funky craft/sewing/teacher stuff storage room. Daddy is now sharing part of his man cave with Mommy so Zane can have his own space. Thank you, Daddy.

We've never touched this room since buying the house over 7 years ago. It still has its Disney carpet from the late 70s or early 80s. And there's a huge skylight that is right in the middle of the ceiling/fourth wall that slants at a gradual 50-or-so-degree angle. For how it was used, there was no need to really touch it until now. For the last 4 or 5 years a friend had been slightly interested in the Disney carpet for a friend of hers that has all things Disney. We even talked about how it might be a good item for eBay. But because the carpet is tacked and glued down so well, and because it is so old, it noticeably fell apart as we tugged ever so gently on it. So now, to avoid an extra huge mess, our plan is to leave it be and just add layers -- some padding and carpet remnant that can be puked on and destroyed with no major disappointment.

The color of Zane's quilt and crib skirt is sea foam or mist. We're planning to paint the room gravel. And the new blind for the skylight is subtle silver. Because we're limited on wall space, only a few things will go up -- a shelf with a special/personalized project and a canvas or two. Vanessa is excited about the transformation. She helped "decorate" a bit before we apply the final coats of paint. First she drew many Zanes in different colors: "Look at all my Zanes, Mommy." There was a pink, a brown, a grey, a purple, a yellow, a red, an orange, a blue, a black and a green Zane. Here's the first one:

We then painted using different media -- craft sticks, Q-tips, straws, tissue paper, paint brushes, and various body parts. And we didn't have to be careful!

By the way -- never disturb an artist at work . . . I forgot . . .

"Decorating" was enjoyable and it was quite easy to clean up with a bathtub nearby.

One might guess we had many helping hands with the first couple of stages of this transformation, when really we only had hers.