Untitled
Crayon on plaster
Simon Morehead, 2009

So this morning I discovered that Simon had begun to install an uncommissioned mural. As precious as the artist is, the piece was just not what we had in mind for the dining room (thank goodness for magic erasers).

Simon was more than happy to demonstrate his technique for the camera.

He did not, however, appreciate being given an alternative canvas . . .

and banged his head in protest, claiming that Mama was trying to restrain his creative spirit.

One of the first decisions Jason and I made about “when we have kids” is that we would have a Totoro-themed nursery (his idea). Finishing the nursey was truly a collaborative effort by Simon’s grandparents, and we couldn’t be more happy with how it turned out. Grandpa Carlson painted the walls. Grandma Carlson made the curtains. Grandma Morehead made the bedding. And the wall hangings were a team effort—Grandma Carlson made the pattern, Grandpa Morehead cut the wood (and spearheaded the installation), and Grandma Morehead painted them. They each did such an amazing job, and I am so thankful to have such a special room for our little guy.

When it comes to most creative endeavors, I find that I am far more interested in the planning stages—especially if there is some sort of mock-up involved. Whether it be a laid-out quilt or a half-finished painting or a first draft of writing, a bunch of paint chips or carpet samples or homemade “blueprints,” I love all the hanging threads and rough edges, so to speak, before they are smoothed out into the finished product. My theory is that the rough draft, the concept drawing, has so much potential, and the unfinished bits are easily transformed in the mind into the ideal version. Although a finished project holds its own satisfaction, it somehow makes me a little sad when the (almost endless) possibilities have all been determined and fixed and all the loose ends have been tied up. (No fair pointing out mixed metaphors here.)

All that to say, I’m excited about where we are in the whole nursery planning process. My mom came down yesterday and helped turn our ideas for the Totoros and Catbus on the walls into paper mock-ups.

And we also bought fabric to make the bedding and stuffed it in the crib to get an idea of how it will look.

Soon my dad will come down and paint the walls, Jason’s parents will turn our paper mock-ups into wooden wall hangings, and the fabric will be transformed into crib bumpers and curtains, but for today I am loving the possibilities, the fact that we’ve finally gotten started, and the promise of how cool it might all turn out to be.