Caring Today Blog

MUSICAL ROOMS

Posted by Debbie on: February 3rd, 2009

In the latest post of My So-Called (Caregiver) Life, Debbie is in the mood for a makeover—a whirlwind project which involves equal amounts of paint and purpose with the end result being...respect all around.

Did you ever play musical chairs? For you twenty-somethings out there, it's a game we played at birthday parties-back in the day before a birthday meant a McDonald's, water-park or paintball extravaganza. I remember chairs set up in the back yard and musical chairs becoming cut throat. Actually, in my house musical rooms recently became cut throat. The death of my Dad created a valuable, tradable commodity that should be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The commodity? A room of one's own. 

I was the first to move. Age has its privileges. And frankly, if I am doing the moving, it ought to go my way. My Dad had the master bedroom, and my husband and I were moving out of the closet we called a room. To be honest, I was a little hesitant about moving in there. It was my parent's room, just a little too weird for me.

I became a creative whirlwind. I needed to revamp the room and fast. Our future as a family depended on it! I was on a mission: The Holy Grail of Color. I decided to be bold and vibrant, to take the white walls and turn them.........magenta! As I painted and obviously breathed in way too many paint fumes, I became dizzy with power. I eyed the walls and decided I needed more. I painted one wall the magenta but decided the other three walls could be a soft lavender. I did have to sleep there after all. 

Now once you have painted, the old carpet really looks shabby. I strolled into a carpet store and realized carpet has to be ordered and will take weeks. I was devastated. How could this happen? That's when I hit on the idea of "speed carpeting." I moved from carpet store to carpet store, asking what gray carpet they had in stock. No gray? Move on. I found a lovely carpet with swirls of grey and black-perfect. The following week, the carpet arrived and my masterpiece was complete! Or as a friend said, "Art therapy accomplished." 

But now for the other rooms. I rubbed my hands with glee and started moving the boys from one room to another. They would come home from school and ask where they would sleep that night. I had dressers in the hall, half of their clothing in one room, the other half in another. Even for me it was a little chaotic. My eldest son chose a bright blue, a beautiful shade that brightened his whole room. My youngest went for muted shades of blue-gray for two walls and a gray-blue for the other two.   

Once everyone was settled, I could sit back and review the changes. While I had changed colors and furniture placement, I realized the spirit of the house remained. It was still a place where we loved and cared for my parents-but now it was entering a new phase in its life, just as we are.