But nearly everything else in Chris Kirk's downtown Olympia apartment was encased in aluminum foil when he returned home Monday night from a trip to Los Angeles.

The walls, ceiling, cabinets and everything in between now shimmer with a metallic glow, thanks to a prank by Kirk's longtime friend, Olympia native Luke Trerice.

Trerice, a 26-year-old known among his friends for his off-the-wall schemes, stayed in the apartment while Kirk was away.

"He's known for large-scale strangeness," said Kirk, who is 33. "He warned me that he would be able to touch my stuff, but it didn't sound so bad."

Trerice, who lives in Las Vegas, and a small group of friends draped the apartment with about 4,000 square feet of aluminum foil, which cost about $100.

They came up with the idea New Year's Eve.

"It was just a spur of the moment thing," Trerice said. "I really don't even consider it art. I consider it a psychology project. ... He (Kirk) seems to be upbeat, so I consider this a success.

"It's also an act of friendship. It took a huge amount of work from a lot of people. This is a labor of love."

No detail was too small or too time-consuming.

Trerice and his friends unrolled the toilet paper in the bathroom, enveloped the bath tissue in aluminum foil and rolled it back up again. They covered Kirk's book and compact disc collections but made sure each CD case could open and shut normally.

They even used foil to encircle Kirk's spare change -- each individual quarter he had left atop a living room bookshelf.

"It went surprisingly fast," Trerice said. "The toilet was hard. The molding around the doorways took a very long time."

And they left silver Hershey's kisses sprinkled throughout Kirk's home, sitting on bookshelves and kitchen cabinets.

Aside from "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends" -- which was a part of Kirk's collection before he left on vacation -- a portrait of Kirk's girlfriend in the kitchen, the bed and a bath mat were among the only items left undisturbed.

But with the exception of the new silver wrapping, all was exactly as Kirk had left it.

"He took special pains not to move anything," Kirk said of Trerice.

The pranksters worked around the clock after New Year's Eve to finish the project before Kirk arrived back home. Trerice wasn't completely done until two hours after Kirk's airline flight landed Monday.

"I would work until about 5 a.m. and then just fall asleep on his bed and wake up and do it all over again," Trerice said. "The only thing that saved us was that the guy who picked him up from the airport took him out for dinner."

Something amiss

A foil-encased picture hanging outside his apartment was Kirk's first clue that something inside was amiss.

"I heard him open the door and gasp and start laughing," said Beth Kelly, who lives an apartment down the hallway from Kirk. "I love the quarters. It's almost more funny realizing the things that were left unwrapped."

'Party atmosphere'

Andras Jones, who lives on the same floor, became curious about what was transpiring in Kirk's apartment during the past week because he noticed "a parade of strange characters" going in and out.

Since Kirk arrived home Monday night, the entire building has been buzzing about the apartment's glimmering transformation, Jones said.

"There's a party atmosphere down by the room," he said. "Of course, everyone has their favorite part. I think the kitchen is just amazing."

Kirk's awestruck neighbors and friends kept him up until late Monday night.

'A challenge'

He hasn't started unpacking his belongings and isn't sure when he will.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," he said. "As I was trying to sleep last night, I realized that, actually, it's creepy."

And as for whether Trerice will ever be allowed to stay again at the apartment unsupervised, Kirk said, "I don't know. We'll see."

But Trerice hopes Kirk will find a way to get him back.

"I'm going to be insulted if he doesn't try," Trerice said. "It's kind of a challenge."

Heather Woodward covers Thurston County and the city of Tumwater for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5435 or hwoodward@olympia.gannett.com.