My youngest son just turned 7, and like his mama, he is more in tune with the details. He has a say in what he wears each day, unlike his brother that seriously couldn't care less. He runs to the mirror to make sure I spiked his hair just right when we actually take the time to use a styling product. And he has a definite opinion about how he wants his space to look.
Yes, we're talking about his room. The four walls that he can call his own and represent who he is. And so, it was no surprise that he asked for a room makeover for his 7th birthday. A World War II room was on his mind, and it was up to me to make it happen.
In the days leading up to his birthday, his history-loving dad was all-too-eager to help him pick out a couple of WWII propaganda posters that would compliment his theme, and an order was placed online. The wait began.
The day of his birthday came and, since he already has furniture that I'm hoping will last until he leaves for college (this may be a lot to ask, but it's my hope!), we decided to start our room planning with the bedding. We set out on our search and ended up finding just the right quilt and pillow shams at Pottery Barn Kids. But because they didn't have the bedding in the size we needed, we placed an online order, but spent some time in the store looking at paint colors that would compliment the cool gray quilt that would arrive a few days later.
I have to give a shoutout to the folks at PBK. They worked with me through multiple shades of grays that we considered for the walls, helping me analyze the blue hue vs the green that was evident when you held them up to the coordinating pillow shams. Ultimately, it was my son's choice, and we left the store and headed to Sherwin Williams to get a gallon of Gibraltar.
The next morning, we got to work. Since it was the week of Thanksgiving, we started first thing in the morning and got quite a lot accomplished in one day. He helped me paint the wall below the chair rail white while I climbed the ladder and covered the walls above the chair rail in Gibraltar. The room was transforming before our eyes, and I have to admit, I was as excited as him to see his vision come to life.
What made this experience the most rewarding, though, was the time we spent together. No, he didn't last too long at any given time painting, but he would often be in the room with me while I worked and we talked. We talked about whatever came to his mind....what he hoped to get for his birthday, what he wanted for dinner, and how much he loved roller skating.
We talked about how redecorating his room was our gift to him, and in return, he said that a gift had to be wrapped. Ah, no, my son, it doesn't.
Our talk turned to the gift of time. The gift of love. The gift of energy and taking the time to do something for someone we loved. Because this room was an act of love.
In the end, we probably had three trips to the paint store, one trip to PBK, a trip to West Elm to get a gold blanket because gold is his favorite color and he just had to have it as an accent in his room. And, of course, we had to find the perfect color of paint to match his horseradish blanket in the striped Air Force insignia on the back wall in his room. In case you're curious, it's called Auric and he now says that's his favorite color.
Yes, this room was truly a gift. The back wall was an all-day (okay, probably two day) project, but to hear my son exclaim upon the completion of his room that this was "the best day of my life," made it well worth the time.
Yeah, he has a pretty cool room now. But, we also now have some pretty amazing memories to go right along with it. And, hopefully, an understanding that gifts don't always come wrapped.
