A Parrothead Playroom

Have you ever had anyone do something for you that is so selfless and generous and so incredibly wonderful that it makes you want to cry when you think about the depth of it? I received a priceless gift like this from my friend Allison at HalfofVAMH this past month.

Ever since we moved into this house I’ve known I wanted to paint a mural on Garrett’s playroom wall. Trouble was I really had no idea what scene I wanted to paint. The room is a challenge because it’s a FROG (Finished Room Over Garage) and it has no natural light at all. It’s a large room with sloped ceilings, and it has a set of miniature doors on one end that allow attic access. I kept envisioning a barn painted on the wall with fields and mountains and lakes painted as scenery around the other walls. I searched high and low for ideas on the internet, but nothing really struck my fancy.

Then, my friend Allison went to Hawaii. And while she was there she texted me and said something like “You should totally do a Hawaiian surf’s up theme in G’s playroom.”

And the seed was planted.

But still I waffled on it because his bedroom is so woodsy/outdoorsy/rustic and I didn’t know if the two themes would be weird together in rooms that were side by side.

Here comes the best gift ever part–Not long after she got back from Hawaii, Allison flew all the way from Minnesota to Alabama to help me transform Garrett’s playroom with paint. How amazing is that? After she created all of Garrett’s monkey themed birthday invitations and party decorations for me I had joked around that I wanted her to come down and help me paint his playroom as well. But I never imagined that she would actually DO IT! But she did. And I love her for that.

The night before she arrived I was set on a rustic lake cabin and fish camp type scene. And the day she arrived I changed my mind AGAIN and decided to go with the beach. Best decision ever. I totally give Allison all the credit for helping me decide to do the beach theme. She was prepared to go in any direction but I know deep down she was rooting for the beach from the beginning.

So.

Two days.

Two women.

Too many replays of Rhianna singing about chains and whips exciting her on 103.7 the Q. (Seriously how many times can a radio station play one song over and over?)

We took Garrett’s playroom from this:

to this:

And now I have a tropical (soon to be finished!) paradise waiting for me over my garage.

Complete with a private dock…

A secluded blue lagoon…

A private yacht…

And a super cute monkey in a hammock.

This room is so freaking spectacular. I really want to hang an ACTUAL hammock in this room and sip on a fruity drink with some steel drum band music cranked up. Maybe I should turn on Garrett’s baby crack machine to the ocean waves setting and pretend I’m at the beach every time I cross the threshold.

I’ve been bursting at the seams to blog about this but my lazy hectic life has gotten in the way of me putting all the finishing touches on it and writing down all the details. Shame on me! But now things are settling back down so I’m on a mission to tie up all my loose ends. And this is one huge loose end that will get tied into a neat little bow very soon! I promise to give more details about how we painted it and show off the finished room once all the furniture gets moved back into it!

I don’t know if I could ever adequately describe how much I love the way the playroom turned out. It is just jaw-dropping in person. Allison is SO talented. She and I made a perfect team and really rocked it out that weekend. I cannot believe how much we got accomplished in just two days. And I can never thank her enough for giving us the gift of her artistic talent to brighten up Garrett’s part of the house. It means so much to me. I have the most wonderful friends in the entire universe. Seriously, I am getting verklempt over here when I think about it how much I love my friend Allison and her kind heart.

So from the very bottom of my heart, let me say THANK YOU ALLISON!! Garrett loves his playroom and he asks me on a daily basis where “his Awison” lives and if he can come over to your house and see what Charlie B. Barkin is doing. He is one smitten kitten over you.

Vinny needs to watch out! Three year old Eskimo kisses can be pretty persuasive, huh?

I love you!

Stay tuned for the 100% completed room! I promise very soon I will kick it back into gear.