Dawn and Bobby Privette drive to and from Tahiti most every day. Well, it looks like Tahiti, but it's really their two-car garage in Zebulon. After learning a host of faux painting techniques, Dawn Privette (pronounced PRIV-it) wanted to offer her services in a form that might set her apart from most decorative painters and muralists. The light bulb that went off over her head spelled "fantasy garage."

Like many families these days, the Privettes use their garage not only to park their cars in but also to deal with "indoor overflow," as she calls it. Theirs comes in the form of Thanksgiving dinner for 28 guests. "We set up tables along the side with food and then a big L-shape of tables in the middle," said Privette, 49. "I know that a lot of men who don't have enough space indoors to have a media room put a TV in the garage and have people over."

So, she figures, why not spruce up the place, or transform it into, say, a hockey rink, a race track or whatever strikes one's fancy.

Time for change: Both Dawn and Bobby worked in the commercial printing industry for two decades. They were happy enough and made good money. Everything took on a different perspective three years ago after their daughter, Lori Anne Privette, was killed in a helicopter crash during a Marine training exercise in California. "She'd come back from Iraq and we thought she was safe," Privette said. The couple started to evaluate their lives, which included a reading of "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. "We wanted our lives to have more meaning and we started looking at different ways to become more involved in the community," she said.

Considering options: After Lori Anne died, in lieu of flowers or money, the couple took donations of flower bulbs and seeds. More than 100 people came to plant bulbs and seeds that took up about half the size of a football field. The family still welcomes visitors to the living memorial. Then last year, when Dawn Privette was recuperating from surgery, she embarked on another project -- decorating a long hall in their home.

Art always around: "All my life I've played with art," said Privette, who has worked in graphic arts and silkscreen while in the printing business. "I got a degree in commercial art from Johnston Community College, but my father said art wasn't going to pay the bills." She wanted to paint a mural on the hallway with images that would evoke a memory. "My husband and I had gone on a beautiful vacation in New England and we loved the little towns. We took a lot of pictures, including street scenes." She settled on a scene from the coastal town of Bar Harbor, Maine. "I started painting it and personalized it, incorporating our kids in scene. ... I loved doing it and realized that this talent God gave me was being wasted."

Mural magic: From there, Privette painted a mural as a volunteer with April's Angels, a Cary-based group that redecorates the rooms of seriously ill children. Wanting to learn more about the technique, she contacted Kenly artist Jean Pope, a faux painter and muralist. Privette ended up working with Pope for three months as an apprentice on a $10 million home in North Myrtle Beach being decorated to look like an Italian villa. Her husband decided to help as well and they quit their printing jobs to embark on a new career. Because the project was so large, Privette was able to learn many techniques, and even was asked to draw three murals of archways that looked onto faux Tuscan landscapes. She came home knowing she had found her second career. She and her husband continue to work together because he makes the furniture she paints. (Both will be at the Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce Strawberry Festival April 28.)

Pick your fantasy: Bobby Privette chose the Tahitian theme. "He told me, 'I always wanted to go to Tahiti, but don't have the time and it's too expensive.'" After a sketching out the job, "I turned on my Jimmy Buffet music and started painting." It took her a month to complete the 600-square-foot space with 20-foot-high walls. "It's pretty detailed," she said, ticking off images of palm trees, catamarans, crashing waves and a thatched hut that wraps around the corner. "Like IMAX, it's 360 and you can't see breaks." She made the stairs that lead to a landing and then a hallway appear as if one is walking onto a deck and down a pier. In March the Privettes had an open house for a few dozen families and friends. The most frequent response to the Tahitian garage was "I've never seen anything like this in my life."

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