You know something is afoot as you approach the front door of Tommy and Jacki Huelsman's home and see a sign that says "Huelsmanor," a play on their name.
The Huelsman house is a theme house and the subject is Disney movies.
It started when Jacki Huelsman began collecting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs memorabilia before she was married. In their former home, they began incorporating Snow White into the decor.
Lumiere, the candlestick from "Beauty and the Beast," has become Tommy Huelsman's favorite character.
The first vacation the Huelsmans took as a family with their two older sons was to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and they've returned three times.
"We started collecting so much on vacations, so we have to display this stuff," Tommy Huelsman said. "And we love to go down there; it's so bright and colorful. We wanted to transpose some of it into our house."
He said their three sons think the decor's neat. "But I hate to say they're not into it as much as my wife and me."
The theme so far hasn't extended into the basement of the Louisville, Ky., home where Jonathon, 15, and Jacob, 12, have their bedrooms. Joseph, 6, has the movie "Finding Nemo" as the theme in his room.
Living room
The Huelsmans used the blue and yellow in Snow White's dress in the living room. The walls are bright blue. A sofa, love seat, chair and the ceiling are yellow.
*Bookshelves are filled with Snow White dolls, figures and cups. A display cabinet holds Snow White figurines, and a curio cabinet showcases Snow White water globes.
*A limited-edition print of Snow White hangs on the wall behind the sofa. When you look closely at the print, you can see the seven dwarfs hiding, Prince Charming in the clouds and the witch in the woods.
Kitchen
Parts of the two walls were removed to make the kitchen open to the living room and to make it feel more spacious.
Mickey Mouse prevails here. The black cabinets have Mickey pulls purchased from eBay. They were gold colored but were sprayed silver to match the stainless-steel refrigerator and stove.
*"Mickey Mouse" is spelled out in white on the red soffit. Two walls are yellow; the other two are white.
*Mickey's "Join the Jamboree" is spelled out in red on the white walls.
*Two black bar chairs have red seats with Mickey heads and the red telephone in a yellow base plays the Mickey Mouse theme song when it rings. If it's paged to find its location, Mickey's voice says, "Hey pal, over here."
Joseph's bedroom
Based on "Finding Nemo," two walls are orange, with the clown fish represented by black and white irregular stripes.
*Two other walls are a blue-green, representing the ocean, and sport decals of sea creatures from the movie.
*The comforter has an ocean blue background with deep orange clown fish and green seaweed.
Dining room
Tommy Huelsman painted a mural with a gold Lumiere dancing on pink, green, white, blue and lavender cakes. He draped it with red velvet curtains to give it a movie feel.
"Be Our Guest," a song the character sang in "Beauty and the Beast," is painted in purple on the doorway to the living room.
Master bedroom
"This is our romantic 'Aladdin' room," Huelsman said. He painted two murals in the Arabian-theme room: a blue genie on the wall behind the Early American dresser; and a palace in golds, white and a touch of blue on the wall by the poster bed. The walls are purple.
Office
Huelsman took family pictures on trips to Disney World and then scanned and printed them in black and white to look like a roll of film. He then used the creation as a border 5 feet up from the floor on three gray walls.
Powder room
The "Monsters, Inc." movie influenced this room. In an open closet with a dark lime wall is a "Monsters" poster. "Monsters" decals decorate the walls above the closet, which has sheer white curtains tied with green tiebacks on each side.
Bathroom
"Peter Pan's" Tinker Bell stars here, appearing on shower curtain hooks, towels, a towel rack with a shelf and an oval mirror. Yellow stars are scattered on the lime green walls and lavender ceiling.
"Now if we could get some of the Disney staff people to come and clean," joked Tommy Huelsman.
Gannett News Service
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