My parents have been handing out the same tired line for Christmas, ever since I can remember.
“Don’t buy me anything,” Mom or Dad will say. “I have everything I need. Find something more important for your money.”
Wouldn’t you know it? The first year my Mother has ever responded to our pleas for an actual Christmas List is the year we had something else in mind. Something I knew Mom would never do for herself.
The weekend before Christmas, we (my Dad, my brother and sister-in-law plus me and my hubby, and with financing from my sister in Austin) contrived to have my mom go to St. Louis to visit her mother for a few days, thereby leaving us an empty house for our own version of Extreme Makeover.
Actually, we didn’t do the whole house. Two rooms was enough for one weekend. Here are the results:
Before…
After…
Before…
After…
Before…
After…
The weekend was way too short and a few things were left for us to finish up. The glass table and chairs are temporary until the rest of the new furniture arrives (another armchair, plus a console table and cocktail table). Wood blinds are in the works. I also have my heart set on new lighting fixtures.
The artwork is now finished, except for the piece that will hang over the mantle with a few more odds and ends I have yet to arrange. Plus, the dining room will be getting new paper below the chair rail (a casualty of the idiots before us who put wallpaper on without priming the wallboard!).
Even so, we felt great about what we got accomplished in such a short time and Mom — fortunately — liked it. That is, as soon as she recovered from the shock. Here’s her reaction upon arrival:
Love you, Mom!
Anonymous says
Abby: What a superb job y’all did. The new rooms are such a delight! I should have been suspicious the minute your dad agreed I should take a few days to visit my mom. It was entirely too easy. What, pray tell, are you going to do the next time I’m out of town?? Love, MOM