Creating a special space with objects from home plus other items to give life to an institutional room that is so empty at first can be done. In my case it was done in stages as I slowly got used to the idea my husband's room - 2 East F 242 was now his home. One of the first things my son and I did was move in two bookcases to hold some of the books (out of many!) that would create an environment he was used to. We brought in books about critical thinking, art education, film history, philosophy, and books about some of his favourite artists. He can't read anymore but at least we created a sort of "set dec" of what he used to love to surround himself with. I hung on one wall a cork tack board to post postcards and pictures of our garden back home. The other half of the board is a white board where I write messages for him. Family news bytes. He doesn't read then but they turn into prompts for his care givers for conversation topics. Slowly, over a period of a few months I started to add large photo enlargements on two walls and bathroom door etc. Images of his past and present too. Pictures of us together and pictures of our three grown up children. Plus scenes of what his home used to be beside the Fraser River out on our porch and views into the small garden. Costco has the best photo dept. 12 x 18 enlargements for like $2.99. Near his big windows that look out towards a park next door (and into a parking lot) I hung vibrant mobiles of coloured ribbons and a fish. And a tin silver Mexican dove. They move in the breeze when i open his window. On the window ledge, which is really big sits a family photo album, sketch book, rummage basket, plastic green ferns, and two vases which these days holds blossom sprigs and tulips from our garden. On his bedside table there is always a Japanese red bowl filled with fruit. Apples, mandarin oranges and sometimes grapes. Over on the book case we have a CD Player and a pile of CDs so the care aides can turn on music at night. Beethoven. Mozart, Bach, Meditation kind of music as well. One thing he can respond to is MUSIC. He is too far gone to have a telephone or television in the room. I'm grateful music settles him down. On the bookcase also sits a stash of We also hung large blow ups of a book cover - a book he wrote, one of his paintings, and a family portrait. None of what is now in his room happened over night. It took me time to slowly introduce these elements. I think in a way what we have brought into his room has always been about - let's keep his room filled with life. A real spruce tree at Christmas! (that almost croaked cos of the heat, My 2 grandchildren visiting from Haida Gwaii loved to spray it daily.) Because my husband is so confined to a wheelchair and with limited mobility I have never been concerned about what he might start to play with. One very nice comment my son told me around Christmas time was the room and mostly my efforts to make it meaningful and alive- has made his visits with his Dad way more bearable. Sorry this has turned into a long blog. My message is have fun, Break the rules. Experiment. ( I have taken things home that didn't "work") Turn a space in a home into something as personal as you can to honour the life of someone you miss. As well as make a space where you feel comfortable and happy too. into his room is