DECOR
NOOG ELAND
n the lower level of a house
ordered from a Sears cata-
logue in 1913 is a place far-
removed from reality —
called Noogieland — created for
fun, camaraderie and forgetting the
world outside.
Named after an old Saturday
Night Live sketch featuring comedi-
an Gilda Radner who died of cancer
in 1989, the Noogieland title repre-
sents both a meeting area and the
program created for children and
teens whose lives have been
touched by cancer.
"My design is meant to be a fan-
tasy for the children who use it,"
said interior designer Barbara
Wauldron, who established the cre-
ative theme for an area of the
recently reconfigured space.
The area is housed inside Gilda's
Club Metro Detroit in Royal Oak,
the no-charge, nonprofit cancer sup-
port community for adults and kids
and their friends and family.
Wauldron's magic turned plain
white hallways and walls into jew-
eled tone-colored murals that make
children feel they are entering a
medieval castle.
"Those coming down the stairs
into Noogieland are surrounded by
a rainbow of friendly, painted ani-
mals and people," said Joe Perry,
program director for Gilda's Club.
Medieval Murals
Interior designer Barbara Wauldron,
with Gilda waving approvingly, is
proud of her Noogieland design.
A nifty nook for kids inside
Royal Oak's Gilda's Club.
BY SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN
6 •
OCTOBER 2004 • PLATINUM
Working in the new area —
which leads to the existing
Noogieland activity and meeting
room — Wauldron began with the
creation of a drawbridge of sorts.
Visitors must walk on a base that it
is textured to feel like planks and
nails, and is surrounded by vinyl
floors superimposed with photo
reproductions of water and grass to
represent the moat around the cas-
tle.
"I want the children to feel that
if they can walk on water, they can
have hope of being cured of can-
cer," Wauldron said.
Wauldron hired muralist Kate
Paul, who painted the hallway walls
to look like the castle's countryside,
complete with villagers.
"She even painted windows to
look like what you might see if you