A surprise for Matt

Matt and I have always believed it is important for the kids to have peaceful, comforting spaces to play in and especially for sleeping. Rooms where they can be themselves and feel safe; spaces that reflect their personalities and the things they like.

That means that we have fixed up/decorated their rooms first and then left ours out, either because of cost or just plain energy ( and the lack of it) related reasons.

When we left NC, we left a house that had two wonderful kids' bedrooms, and the other rooms were nicely decorated, too. We had our room painted and all the fabric had been purchased to decorate it, but for many reasons the "plan" was never executed. When we left, I felt a sense of failure about that. Not only did we not get to enjoy a nice room, but I had wasted resources and money on a project that never saw the light of day.

I promised myself that with this move, not only would I unpack every single box in the first 3 weeks (which I did accomplish), I would hang all the pictures and I would decorate and enjoy the house before we left.

Mostly, I wanted to create a bedroom that would express to Matt how much I appreciate his hard work that provides us with such a wonderfully blessed life. We have many opportunities and material riches that we certainly don't require but we do enjoy, all because of his hard work. I want him to know how much I love him, how happy I am to be here. I also hoped a peaceful bedroom would give him a place to rest from the weariness of work.

Matt doesn't travel much anymore (Hallelujah!!!) so when I knew he would be gone for 4 days last week, I decided to execute my new bedroom plan. This was the inspiration:

We haven't hung this window since Walnut St. in Creston (2003),

but I have always loved it.

Matt's favorite color is purple,

and when I saw this color palette at Lowes

I knew I had found what I was looking for.

I was thrilled to find the perfect print fabric at JoAnn's

(had a 40% off coupon for that)

and the solid was even on sale for $3/yard. Score!!

In the interest of full disclosure,

here is what I was starting with.

ummm...that's really ugly.

Note the lovely pink towel thumb-tacked up

at the window to keep out the morning sun.

I'm nothing if not creative, huh?

By Thursday night at 11 pm, I had only curtain done, and knew this wasn't going to happen before Matt arrived. We hid all the stuff in the kids' closets and went to bed.

Friday would be a big day. Little did we know we would lose electricity with

one curtain left to finish, and I ended up sewing the casing of that last panel by hand, but by golly, we got it done!

I'll tell you, I could never do all I do without the kids' fantastic help!!
Here is the after, that Matt saw when he got home:

Needless to say, he was surprised.

He said he thought maybe I was making some curtains

but never imagined all of the room would be re-done.

I am so thrilled at the way it turned out

and have been just hanging out in there

soaking in the peace.

Love you, Matter.