June 8th, 2008 Some catching up to do... While shopping in "Baby Style", Nicole and I saw a giant turquoise stuffed octopus, which is also a kid's chair. I thought about how cool it would be to have in his room...
...and then the idea came. What if his whole room was painted like an undersea world? As my mind raced with ideas about his blue bedroom under the waves, I got more and more excited about the project. But first, I bought that octopus. The following weekend, I tore out the piss-smelling carpet, and the next weekend Ross came to help me install the floor. Peter Madison drove by one night to help us restore power to the room -we'd knocked it out mis-wiring a GFI in the bathroom next door. So with the power restored (Thank you, Peter!), and the floor installed, (Thank you, Ross!), it was time to start painting. But first I needed a plan. So in true geek form, I modeled out the room in Maya, and made textures for the model in Photoshop. Then I modeled his furniture, and we played with arranging it on the computer -much easier than sliding real furniture around! I was also able to adjust the details of the wall painting according to the furniture placement.
Once that was settled, we bought all the main colors, and I spent the next two weeks painting his room. I had to mix the intermediate shades, and the whole thing took about 25 hours. But it turned out pretty cool! All I can say is it feels very "undersea world" in there now. While we were on Maui we bought a limited print by an artist named Thor. He used to design rides for Disney and now he does kid-themed paintings. It goes perfectly with his room.
Last weekend Ross and Chris came down from Canada again to help out with some more projects (and visit with Elliot). Nicole and her mom worked in our vegetable garden, while Ross and I re-wired the ceiling in the dining room. We bought a new lamp from West Elm, but we had to put in a new electrical box in the ceiling to hang it in the right place. And of course, after screwing up the wiring, we had to call Peter again.
-Rob and Nicole
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Almost finished! All that's left is to add a few details. We wanted all the pictures up and furniture in place before any detailing was done.
We still have two more shelves to put up on the wall in the left side of this image.
We found this glass ship lamp online, and hung it at the hight of the waves.
His painting and bookstand.
One of his happy mornings, which are much more frequent now that he's sleeping better.
"Ha ha ha! Yeah, this is pretty funny you guys. Guys? Hey don't leave me here!!"
Chris helps Nicole plant more vegetables in the garden.
Ross lays down the 14-2 wire that will power the new lamp in the dining room below.
Then he uses Torch Down and his big blowtorch to seal the roof back up.
Chris readies Elliot for take-off.
He's off!!!
Alex grabbed this great shot of him eating his hummus & peas.
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Elliot crawls around like a little polar bear cub, and paws at a few wary passers by.
Mom and her little bear cub.
I painted these cells when I was working for Viewmaster in Beaverton Oregon in 1990.
These jellyfish are from the gift shop at the Seattle Aquarium, and we hung them above his crib (just out of arm's reach)
"Hey dad, when do I get my own camera to aim at YOU all the time?"
Nicole labors in the fields, long into the evening...
Elliot presses himself to the door, trying to get even a few millimeters closer to mom.
So here's the dining room tonight with the new lamp. The painting in the background was sold to us by Scott Segal.
Elliot helps Chris make muffins in the kitchen.
Elliot & Dad, another shot from Alex. (Thanks Alex!)
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Remember when Disney's Sleeping Beauty came out in theatres? Neither do I, but that's the same time this dining room was put together. It still looked like "1959" when we bought the house -this is an actual photo from just before we moved in.
