The Top Secret Project Revealed!

My daughter lives in a utility closet under the stairs.  Yep.  Crazy, I know, and yet it is a pretty cool space according to Cinnamon.  Several years ago the girls really wanted their own rooms.  The problem was not so easy to fix.  We live in a three bedroom house and there was not really an area to carve out for another bedroom.  So we did what came natural:  we ignored the problem and hoped that this was a passing request.  Well, it wasn't.  Paprika's medical needs at the time really pushed us to look for a way to create some space; the want became a need. 

Then I had an idea.  A crazy idea.  Dan was going to be away for the week for work, so as he was getting ready to leave I asked, "Can I just try to create a bedroom while you are gone?"  There was a long pause, so I quickly added the clincher, "As long as it doesn't cost a dime?"  How can you say no to that, and yet there was a crinkle that passed his brow.  Without a pause I continued, "And if you come home and don't like it, I will put it all back, but you're gonna like it!"  Hook....line....and sinker.

My idea: to use the utility closet for a bedroom, naturally.  The room was completely unfinished: exposed beams, no sheetrock except on one wall, artificial grass carpeting, and pipes sticking out of the wall.  Perfect.  A crawl space went under the stairs and then opened up to an area you could stand in, as well.  This would not be easy, but I thought I could pull this off.

The fist hurdle was to get a bed into the space.  If I couldn't do that, I was finished.  After some manuvering I managed to get the bed in to the room, barely.  It fits perfectly from wall to wall.  So the room was a go.  I hung sheets to make walls: flat sheets, fitted sheets,  pillow cases (when I ran out of sheets).  I used blue and green sheets since I had several of them that I wasn't really using.  I hunted for furniture in other rooms to find a small desk that would fit in the space and a little night table.   With the limited square footage I needed to create space for her to put her things, but everything had to be on a small scale.  I hung some posters to make it feel roomy.  Hung sheer fabric from the ceiling to hide the exposed beams.  Moved a dresser under the stairs; I about killed myself doing that one!  I will tell you now, if we ever move, the new owners can have the dresser under the stairs!  Hung a rod for a makeshift closet.  Voila....bedroom!  Cinnamon loved it.  Dan approved it.  Cinnamon has been in the mismatched utility closet ever since.

But, lately I had been thinking, and that can be dangerous around here.  The room had been the same for the last five years and although Cinnamon never once complained, Dan and I wished her room was a bit nicer and more finished.  So I came up with a secret plan!  About a year ago, on a whim I had surprised Paprika with some updates to her room when she was gone for a weekend and she had loved it.  I could do the same for Cinnamon.  While Cinnamon and Paprika were gone to the International Dance Festival, I would fix her room.  I only had 24 hours, but I could do it with a little help.  Then Dan had to work. Okay, I could still do it with a bit of help from Allspice.  Then Allspice  had to work.  Okay, so I could do it myself, maybe.

We dropped the girls off on Saturday morning and I headed home to completely gut Cinnamon's room.  The clock was ticking!

See!  I told you it was a converted utility closet!

 
I began painting with Allspice until he had to leave.  I hung new sheets (Way harder than you think!).  I decorated.  I hung the "ceiling" (thank goodness, Dan came home to help with that!).  I smiled and I smiled.  She would be so surprised! 

Let me tell you, she was!!!  When she opened the door to her room she stood in total shock as she scanned the room.  With a grin from ear to ear she said, "I can't believe you did this!  This is the best surprise ever!" 

Cinnamon loves her new room.  Yesterday she said to me, "Mom, I can't believe that this is my room!  I never thought I would ever have a room like this."  She hugged me tight and said, "I love it, Mom.  It is absolutely perfect!"

My heart swells each time I hear the joy in her voice.  This was not about a newly decorated room, but rather a way my heart wanted to reach out to a teenage girl in her own love language and ask, "Do you know how much I love you?  Do you know I am always thinking of you?  Do you know I think about you when you are gone?"  This wasn't about stuff, it was about love.  It was perfect.  Mission accomplished.