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Affectionately referred to as "the room", (as in, "When do you think you're going to be finished with the room?" and
"Where's Mom? Oh, she's working on the room again.") Maggie and Silas's room is finally done!! What began
as a somewhat simple project of painting their room, soon took on a life of its own. Only the desire to get life back to
normal forced Hannah and I to pack up the paints and call it a day -- or should I say, call it six weeks. But we still
keep thinking of things we could have added (or still could I guess... hmmm.... where did I put those paints again?)
"Where's Mom? Oh, she's working on the room again.") Maggie and Silas's room is finally done!! What began
as a somewhat simple project of painting their room, soon took on a life of its own. Only the desire to get life back to
normal forced Hannah and I to pack up the paints and call it a day -- or should I say, call it six weeks. But we still
keep thinking of things we could have added (or still could I guess... hmmm.... where did I put those paints again?)
| Here are the built in shelves that Art made for the room. |
 |
Since moving here a year
ago, we have tossed
around many ideas for
themes for Maggie and
Silas's room. Nothing ever
seemed just right. We
were trying to come up
with something that would
be exciting for both a boy
and a girl, not too
feminine, but not too
boring. And the room may
not always be a boy/girl
room, as it may end up
being for just boys or just
girls in the long run.
Finally we came up with
the idea of a forest, and
lots of forest animals,
seeing as the kids really
love animals. We had also
thought of jungle and
safari and other themes,
but this seemed gentler
and a little more room for
creativity. But then the
question was how much
detail to use, what style,
etc. I didn't want it to
attempt to be realistic,
since that was not
"realistic" for us to attempt!
But then how cartoon-y
without looking tacky and
too juvenile? I wanted it to
look cool enough to grow
with them for a little while
at least.
So I bounced the idea to
Hannah who did that
voodoo that she does oh
so well and came back to
me with a bunch of
drawings of animals in a
two dimensional style that
she referred to as "minimal
realism" inspired by
Charley Harper's
paintings, with a little bit
more of a
cartoony/Nickelodeon flair
to it. We looked at things
like Miffie and Oswald and
the Nick Jr. shorts for
ideas. I thought her
drawings were really
creative and cool, and we
got excited about it. And
so began our design of
"Nickelodeon Meets
Charley Harper in the
Forest".
Once we sketched out the
basics of what we wanted
to do, placement and so
forth, then we selected the
paint palette that we
wanted to work with. After
that, I began by scraping
the popcorn ceiling off,
which, as anyone who has
done it can tell you, is a
very messy and
semi-tedious job. I hate
doing it, but I love having a
clean ceiling to work with
and paint on.
I began at the top and
worked down, painting a
blue sky on the ceiling with
clouds, and the ceiling fan
came down to be made
into a sun. Then came
layers of purple mountains
and green hills,
background trees, and
then the big trees
stretching onto the ceiling.
The original design was to
have more trees, but once
we got started we realized
we liked this better, and we
could put in more
creatures.
Next we began placing the
larger animals, and
sketching them on the wall
based on Hannah's
drawings. As we went
along we thought of more
drawings, and Hannah
would go downstairs and
make more sketches. All
the designs are pretty
much hers, and I just
copied and painted.
Meanwhile, Art was
working on the built-in
shelves along one wall and
corner of the room. They
turned out great, and he
even made a spot for the
TV and DVD player to fit in
with the cords hidden
down behind. It is working
out great and the kids love
it.
After the larger animals
were painted, we filled in
lots of smaller animals,
birds, insects, and a large
variety of flowers. With a
few exceptions, everything
in the room is based on
reality -- Hannah can tell
you the real name of every
bird and flower and
butterfly.
This turned out to be a
huge project that Hannah
and I worked on together.
But it was a wonderful time
together, a time that I think
we both will always
remember, long after the
room is forgotten.
So come and check out all
the rest of the photos of
the room, and a few
photos of the making of
the room at the bottom.
ago, we have tossed
around many ideas for
themes for Maggie and
Silas's room. Nothing ever
seemed just right. We
were trying to come up
with something that would
be exciting for both a boy
and a girl, not too
feminine, but not too
boring. And the room may
not always be a boy/girl
room, as it may end up
being for just boys or just
girls in the long run.
Finally we came up with
the idea of a forest, and
lots of forest animals,
seeing as the kids really
love animals. We had also
thought of jungle and
safari and other themes,
but this seemed gentler
and a little more room for
creativity. But then the
question was how much
detail to use, what style,
etc. I didn't want it to
attempt to be realistic,
since that was not
"realistic" for us to attempt!
But then how cartoon-y
without looking tacky and
too juvenile? I wanted it to
look cool enough to grow
with them for a little while
at least.
So I bounced the idea to
Hannah who did that
voodoo that she does oh
so well and came back to
me with a bunch of
drawings of animals in a
two dimensional style that
she referred to as "minimal
realism" inspired by
Charley Harper's
paintings, with a little bit
more of a
cartoony/Nickelodeon flair
to it. We looked at things
like Miffie and Oswald and
the Nick Jr. shorts for
ideas. I thought her
drawings were really
creative and cool, and we
got excited about it. And
so began our design of
"Nickelodeon Meets
Charley Harper in the
Forest".
Once we sketched out the
basics of what we wanted
to do, placement and so
forth, then we selected the
paint palette that we
wanted to work with. After
that, I began by scraping
the popcorn ceiling off,
which, as anyone who has
done it can tell you, is a
very messy and
semi-tedious job. I hate
doing it, but I love having a
clean ceiling to work with
and paint on.
I began at the top and
worked down, painting a
blue sky on the ceiling with
clouds, and the ceiling fan
came down to be made
into a sun. Then came
layers of purple mountains
and green hills,
background trees, and
then the big trees
stretching onto the ceiling.
The original design was to
have more trees, but once
we got started we realized
we liked this better, and we
could put in more
creatures.
Next we began placing the
larger animals, and
sketching them on the wall
based on Hannah's
drawings. As we went
along we thought of more
drawings, and Hannah
would go downstairs and
make more sketches. All
the designs are pretty
much hers, and I just
copied and painted.
Meanwhile, Art was
working on the built-in
shelves along one wall and
corner of the room. They
turned out great, and he
even made a spot for the
TV and DVD player to fit in
with the cords hidden
down behind. It is working
out great and the kids love
it.
After the larger animals
were painted, we filled in
lots of smaller animals,
birds, insects, and a large
variety of flowers. With a
few exceptions, everything
in the room is based on
reality -- Hannah can tell
you the real name of every
bird and flower and
butterfly.
This turned out to be a
huge project that Hannah
and I worked on together.
But it was a wonderful time
together, a time that I think
we both will always
remember, long after the
room is forgotten.
So come and check out all
the rest of the photos of
the room, and a few
photos of the making of
the room at the bottom.
| Buck |
| House wren and dragonflies. The leaves on the trees are wood cutouts to add dimension. |
| Here are some cardinals and a goldfinch, with bunnies romping amongst the dandelions in the distance. |
| Raccoon, barn swallow, cardinals and golden finches |
| Mama quail with babies |
| Hannah's fox design is my favorite in the room. She let me paint the fox. |
| Blue jay and monarch. |
| This is the door to the room, with a squirrel, a gray mouse, and a friendly grasshopper perched on the flower. |
| Grey wolf and robin |
| This is the bottom bunk where Silas sleeps, and he requested Hannah draw him a snake. There is also a salamander sunning himself on a rock. |
| I also love her oriole. |
| Here is a happy little toad. The flower is Queen Anne's Lace and you can't see the detail in the picture, but each white spot has risen lace detail. |
| Cougar and buckeye butterfly |
| Pheasant |
| Porcupine and arctic wolf. (So it's a Canadian forest, okay? That doesn't entirely explain the gecko on the bed, but as long as everyone gets along...) |
| Bunnies! |
| Red hawk flying on the ceiling of the room. |
| Mole and clover on inside of closet door. |
| Mrs. Possum and babies hanging out. |
| Armadillo, least weasel, black-eyed susans. |
| Turtle |
| These are dandelions ready to blow a wish on. I think they're adorable. Maggie calls these "candy-lions". If one of us started an item in the room, that person would usually finish it, but in this case Hannah started the dandelion tops, and I came in later with the leaves. I especially enjoyed it when we would collaborate together, bouncing ideas off each other about the flowers and creatures. It was a lot of fun. |
| Skunk on outside of closet door. |
| Woodpecker and caterpillar |
| Hummingbirds |
| Making the shelves. |
| Chipmunk |
| Canadian geese |
| Hannah sketching |
| Painters at work |
| Here is the sun-fan on the ceiling. |
| Black bears |
| Rose breasted grosbeak, bluebird, red-winged blackbird |
| The mess: a work in progress |
 |
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