Lifting spirits, one bedroom at a time

When Michelle Chandler and her husband first moved to Hoover from Orange County, California, their 17-month-old daughter had to spend half a day at Children’s of Alabama.

Their daughter, Phoebe, walked away from the hospital well, but Chandler’s never been able to shake it.

“Children’s is amazing — I thank God for places like that,” she said.

But the young mother couldn’t forget all the others she saw that day as she walked the halls, the children and families fighting serious illnesses day in and day out.

“Being a mom, I couldn’t really imagine being in and out of hospitals with your young child, watching them go through treatment,” Chandler said. “It’s something I think about all the time. That had never been on my radar before. I felt very overcome with the emotion of that.”

And it was in her heart, she said, to give something back.

“That experience really just sent me kind of in a different direction professionally and personally,” she said.

Chandler, an interior designer, decided to start the Flower Child Project, a venture dedicated to designing bedrooms cost-free for local children battling serious illnesses.

“I wanted them to be able to come home to this really beautiful, bright, vibrant bedroom that looks like their personality,” she said. “It would be this tangible thing that I think is a huge deal for a child who is overcoming an illness. I want it to be somewhere where they want to be and it excites them and helps them recover.”

And once she got that idea, Chandler started to sketch it out, contacting vendors, setting up a GoFundMe page and reaching out to groups and individuals who could help her bring her dream into reality.

“Everybody really seems to get it and thinks it’s great and it’s different,” she said.

One of them was Joyce T. Spielberger, executive director of Magic Moments, a local organization that grants “wishes” for chronically ill children.

“Magic Moments has had several requests for bedroom makeovers in the past,” Spielberger said. “So many of our children spend an inordinate amount of time in their rooms, confined to their beds. To make that space a beautiful one can provide them a meaningful respite and really lift their spirits.” 

It’s been medically proven that a child’s outlook plays a major part in their struggle against chronic illness, she said.

“Michelle’s desire to give back in such a meaningful way has truly touched our hearts here at Magic Moments,” Spielberger said.

Chandler said she’s currently looking for her first family so that she can begin to make their child’s wish a reality through the Flower Child Project.

“Whatever a child thinks they want their bedroom to look like, I want to take it from there and really bring it to life,” she said. “I want them to be able to play in their room and have people in their room and it be somewhere they are proud of.”

Children fighting illnesses need a bedroom that they love to be in, Chandler said, one that makes them “feel as special as they are” and inspires them to keep moving forward.

She said she’s hoping to make that happen first for Clara Bragg, a 2-year-old girl with a terminal neurological condition that progressively destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Clara has qualified for a treatment that could save her life and reverse some of the disease’s effects, but as her family prepares for this journey, Chandler is preparing to give Clara a bedroom she can enjoy.

She’s in the process of raising funds and donated goods now to give Clara “a room that excites her and brings her and her family joy in the midst of the difficult days they are facing.”

Chandler said she’s aiming to install it in February.

As far as Flower Child as a whole goes, Chandler wants to stay small scale — just one room at a time, with the entire project from start to finish only taking a few days. 

“That’s really where we are — we’re at the very, very beginning, but I see this as something that could make a big, big impact,” she said. “I definitely have big aspirations for this project.”

One of them is to involve other professional designers, as well as crafty moms who have a knack for design. Another is to enlist community volunteers and vendors to meet specific needs for each specific room as the plans are made.

She wants to be cost effective, she said, but still spare no attention to detail.

“I believe a combination of money raised and donations made by design trade vendors for items such as furniture, bedding, art, decor, etc., will give me the tools needed to accomplish a full interior makeover,” Chandler wrote on her GoFundMe page.

Another future goal is to eventually start a children’s décor line with a portion of the proceeds to benefit children’s charities, she said. 

Through the Flower Child Project, Chandler said she will be able to “create a space that includes beautiful lighting, built-in millwork, layers of vibrant fabrics and any specific elements that will bring that child’s dream space to life.”

It’s full steam ahead from here, she said. “I just want to bring joy to these children and a smile to their faces. It’s a perfect combination of where God is leading me and what I’m trained to do and what I love to do.”

For more information, visit gofundme.com/flowerchildproject.