This is the second in an occasional series featuring rooms in my parents’ charming Midwestern country house.

My parents’ bedroom walls were white for years. I always told my mom how soothing I thought it was, but she would tell me she hadn’t decided what to do.

Then one weekend I came home and the walls were dark brown. It was stunning. And dramatic.

That’s the thing about my mom. You never know how the house will look when you come home. The dining room might become the Christmas tree room. The hallway ceiling might be painted mint green. She’s always thinking outside the box — and it’s always beautiful.

I think the large-scale floral art gives the room a personality. They balance the moody walls with a more playful, relaxed tone.

And her pops of yellow are carefully selected and happy.

That’s my mom, brother, me, and dad in the left picture. And that’s the chubbiest four-month-old baby you’ve ever seen with Marcello, Dad, and brother, Chris, on the left.

She’s amazing, that mom of mine. Not only did she decorate the room, but she designed the floor plan too. How wonderful is that horizontal window on top of the other?