Lauren’s Bedroom Makeover with Special Spaces Michigan Tri-Counties
Magic Murals has had the pleasure of working closely with Special Spaces over the years to help transform children’s bedrooms into magical healing sanctuaries. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Special Spaces is an organization created with the intention of supplying a “refuge for rest” for children with life-threatening illnesses.
We most recently had the opportunity to work with Special Spaces Michigan Tri-Counties chapter for Lauren’s Bedroom Makeover. I sat down with Brenda Townes (Director of Special Spaces Michigan Tri-Counties Chapter) and Kathy (Lauren’s mother) to talk more about this bedroom transformation.
Brenda, tell me about Special Spaces and how it’s impacting kids.
B: Special Spaces creates dream bedroom makeovers for children with life-threatening illnesses. We focus on children suffering from cancer, life-threatening heart conditions, brain tumors, and transplants.
Our goal is to create a space where the child can heal, recover and find peace.
What was the process like for Lauren when Special Spaces arrived?
K: It was really cool! A very collaborative process.
B: The team showed up the morning of June 9th – and whisked the family off on an all-day adventure at Splash City in Frankenmuth.
K: Once Brenda sat down with Lauren together, one-on-one, they began brainstorming. This made her feel like she was in the driver’s seat of doing something, for the first time in a long time, it was like she had a voice in what was happening.
B: Our team of volunteers painted, built furniture and created Lauren’s nature theme bedroom of her dreams. The look on her face was priceless.
How was the theme of the room created?
B: When I met with Lauren she already had a strong vision of what she wanted. Lauren wanted a room she could grow with as she moves forward. No “characters,” she said meaning storybook or television characters. She wanted a nature theme with hints of oranges and turquoise.
K: Orange is Lauren’s favorite color. She knew she wanted white furniture, a chandelier, and a vanity desk.
B: Once the room started to come together we could feel that something was missing. We needed one final piece to bring the whole place together. We couldn’t quite put our finger on what that was though.
I started browsing Facebook to see if I could get any ideas. That’s when I saw the mural from Magic Murals appear on my feed. It was perfect. I thought “Wow, this is it…this is what we need!” It had all the colors; it brought everything in the room together. It was a very serendipitous moment!
Mural | Kaleidoscope Trees I
The Magic Murals team was incredible. Once we connected and explained what we needed, you took it from there, and we didn’t have to worry about anything else.
These projects can be time sensitive, and the support you all provide is essential for them to be successful.
We ordered the QuikStik™ for Smooth Walls. This material was hands down the best to go with because once we received the mural wallpaper, all we had to do was pull it off of the backing paper and stick it to the wall. Speed and efficiency are components that help us achieve our bedroom redesigns in a 24-hour period!
Kathy, what were the days leading up to the redesign like for you all?
K: Our family received Lauren’s test results on May 17th, which came back CANCER FREE! It was beautiful, Lauren was able to celebrate all the hard work of beating cancer with Special Spaces. June 9th is when the team came in for the redesign, just a short 24 days after she got her test results back. Lauren’s treatment was very hands on. Our family was living day-to-day, week-to-week. We also started going to physical therapy three times a week to help build her strength back up.
Kathy, how did this experience impact you & your family?
K: You walk in, and you’re tearing up because people who don’t know you or your family, are doing something really nice. I was in awe. The support from others has been heartwarming. I always had this idea that I had to do everything myself. That’s just not the case.
This experience has inspired me to give back because I now know that giving back, even if it’s just a little, makes all the difference to those in need.
Before we had the redesign, Lauren didn’t want to spend any time in her bedroom, and now we can’t get her to come out of there!
I told her that all the stuff stays when she goes to college! She gave me the classic smirk and eye roll. This entire experience has been such a joy.
Updates on Lauren: As of July 3, 2018, Lauren concluded her physical therapy and the doctors concurred that she has her strength back! She is currently in her two months of remission and has been giving back by helping with the Special Spaces Tri-county 5k race.
Upcoming Special Spaces Michigan Tri-Counties room makeovers are as follows: Faith, August 4, 2018, & Elijah August 18, 2018 — follow along on their Facebook @specialspacesmichigan & support Lauren by using the hashtag #TeamLaurenOrangeCrush.