At Home Imagineering: Hogwarts Express bed DIY Potter project

in Entertainment, Harry Potter, Movies, Movies & TV, Theater

Hogwarts Express bed

To help create a Harry Potter bedroom, a “Thomas the Tank Engine” is converted into the Hogwarts Express. Cleverly conjured by Gabriella Macchiarolo, the Potter-powered project is a perfect example of at home Imagineering.

The need to refresh their son’s room from nursery to “big boy” room, Wizarding World wonders provided the perfect inspiration. Handcrafted decorations and an impressive red locomotive shaped bed are just a few of the enchanting embellishments conjured up for the update.

Hogwarts Express bed

The boy who lived

When not creating crafty enchantments, Gabriella Macchiarolo works as a professional hairdresser specializing in weddings. She, her son, husband, and Mastiff puppy live in Naples, FL. The family has some very magical reasons for loving Harry Potter and the Wizarding World. Their son, Cash, was born with a severe heart condition. This required the newborn to be immediately airlifted to another hospital hours away.

“My son was born a month and a half early with a severe heart condition. He was immediately med-flighted out of the hospital in our city with my husband, to another city 2 hours away from us, to have his first and lifesaving open heart surgery. I was left to heal in the hospital in our home town overnight and obviously, I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to blog our experience over social media and call it: “Cash Carter Macchiarolo: The Boy Who Lived.”

I was immediately inspired by him and the Harry Potter series together as a whole because it hit such a sentimental note with me… his fight, our strength, his struggle, everything from the beginning and calling him The Boy Who Lived, to the time and post about us coming home for the first time after our 6 month hospital stay and 3 open heart surgeries later and calling it “All Was Well”(like the last sentence in the last book) it was all so inspiring and healing to me. So when it came time to convert his crib/nursery into a “big boy room” I thought what better theme than The Boy Who Lived!”
– Gabriella Macchiarolo

Hogwarts room - The boy who lived poster

All things Hogwarts and Harry Potter

Delightfully, all of the items within Cash’s cauldron of Harry Potter themed décor were handmade by Gabriella and her husband. Details like a “Lumos/Nox” light switch cover and faux brick wallpaper, cast their spell upon the magical room. Hand placed blocks from the tunnel from which the room’s Hogwarts Express centerpiece emerges.

Cash and his Hogwarts Express bed

Lumos/Nox light switch

Honeydukes

“My favorite part is the big book page poster hanging above his bookshelves of the first page in the first Harry Potter books because it reminds me of the first page in OUR story and it fits our son so perfectly, we couldn’t resist. I also love the handmade bed that we made from an old Thomas the train bed… I painted the entire thing and changed the front face plate to make it Hogwarts express instead of a Thomas face.”

book page poster

Hogwarts Express bed

train beds

(for those wishing to create their own Hogwarts Express bed: Thomas toddler bed)

A boy’s best friend

The family’s four-legged furry friend will soon be assuming the role of Fang!

“We also have a 6-month-old Neapolitan Mastiff puppy that looks just like Fang, Hagrid’s dog, in the movies… so for Halloween, we plan on making our son Cash into Hagrid so we can take our Fang trick or treating and have the pup be included into the fun too this year! I even bought a girly electric kid’s bike that looks just like Hagrid’s motorbike (it even has a sidecar!) that I plan on painting and converting to Hagrid’s bike for the Halloween costume.”

Hogwarts Express bed

Beyond Hogwarts

Cash’s Harry Potter themed bedroom is pure magic. The love and dedication delivered by Gabriella and her husband shines with this project. It’s easy to see that this is the same kind of magic which saved the “boy who lived.”

Thank you for sharing your home with Inisde the Magic!

Do you have an enchanting example of themed home, office or vehicle at home Imagineering? We’d love to share your story with the rest of the Inside the Magic family. Please drop us a line (michael@insidethemagic.net) to tell your tale.

Source and images: Gabriella Macchiarolo

in Entertainment, Harry Potter, Movies, Movies & TV, Theater

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