Monday, August 25, 2008

SURPRISE !!

DadToCherubs went to Bristol this past weekend for the Nascar races. He left Friday morning, and came home on Sunday afternoon.
And because he is such a great Dad / Husband ... the children and I conspired to surprise him.

This (below) has been his office since we moved into this house in March 2007. (Actually this photo was taken after I had started priming the room -- I forgot to take an actual "before" photo). What is tough to see here are the fluffy clouds on the dingy baby blue upper walls, and the dingy white wainscotting. Oh, and the Ballerina cows on the walls --- it was not exactly a "manly" space. He works from home, so he spends A LOT of time in his office. Yet he never complained about it at all.

Approximately 5 minutes after DadToCherubs left for Bristol, the children and I headed to the paint store.

We patched holes, removed the glow-in-the-dark stars from the ceiling (from previous tenants ?) and then primed the room twice (all oil paint on the woodwork, and years of "wear & tear" on the walls).

Next we painted the trim, doors, and wainscotting a nice light tan to match the woodwork and wainscotting in the rest of the house. It took 2 coats.

And then we coated the walls twice in a deep blue gray paint, in a flat finish ... we chose these in hopes of giving DadToCherub's eyes a break when he is working in there every night (he works with the computer, on the nightshift).

Here (above) is the room ALMOST finished ....

And finally, we reassembled his room, cleaned his office furniture, hung the curtains, and then put some of his awards and personal things on the walls like his Bristol poster from last year's race and all of his Nascar ticket stubs.
So, we hid when DadToCherubs arrived home ... and since the house was quiet, he went to his office to put his suitcase away and to check his email ... and from my hiding spot I heard "WOW !! THIS IS INCREDIBLE."

So, in the tradition of those commercials ...

$26 in primer

$70 in paint

Surprising a wonderful man with a freshly painted "man's" office

.... PRICELESS

Every time he goes in there, I see him just looking around .... he is so pleased and keeps saying THANK YOU, THANK YOU over and over again.

9 comments:

Kimi said...

No wonder he says "Wow!" What a change and it looks great. Way to go Beck's Bounty.

Kelly @ Growing.Learning.Playing. said...

That looks wonderful! Y'all sure did a great job. I am very impressed.

lazy susie said...

Wonderful! It must have been worth all the effort. And it is great that you and the little ones did it together. Your man must feel very loved right now.

Oh...and I had to laugh that your Great Pyr wants to be a lapdog! In his dreams, right?

Susan in MO

Pam said...

Wow!! Great job!! And how special that you and the cherubs did it together!

Blessings,
Pam in SE MI

Taylor said...

It looks gr8! Way 2 go, every1!!

amy in peru said...

oh, that is so SWEET. I love that he's so happy about it!

I love that you were able to get it all done in time, and it does look fantastic!

I do have you in my bloglines feeds, even though I don't comment all the time :)

I'd also like to invite you to my blog-warming party over at my new place. I'm even having a contest... come on over!
http://fisheracademy.blogspot.com/2008/08/win-subscription-to-tos-homeschool.html


Amy
Trujillo, Peru

Henry Cate said...

Great job.

Every year my wife goes to spend a couple days or a week with her sister. During the sisters' get away I just try to keep the house clean.

MommaofMany said...

What a wonderful surprise! I'll bet that felt 9and still feels!) really good! It looks fantastic!

Unknown said...

What a beautiful room. It looks so peaceful and calming. I really love the blue with the creamy color around the windows that contrasts with the white. What a neat surprise to come home to! Great job!!!