Saturday, June 27, 2015

Chaos


And yes, that lovely old window you see overlooks the ocean.

It's all very well to cruise around and plot colours and pick out lovely paints, make decisions on matte or semi or gloss but HELL. My painter is wonderful, one of those self-deprecating geniuses. And so far 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and 1 upper inner hallway are completed. By completed I mean: primer, ceilings, wainscoting and trim have all been meticulously applied, but to do all that he had to move stuff around. And hereby the chaos. He had a personal commitment for the weekend so wrapped up here Friday afternoon. He'll be back again on Monday morning first thing, to correct any small defects I might spot (none that I see) and then he'll tackle the upper outer hall and the lower main hall ceilings, on down to the living room and my office and back hall.

You might think I have a vast mansion of a place with all these halls but you'd be mistaken. The reason for the halls was to conserve heating in the winter in the good old days (and even now the freezing new days). So my little rabbit warren of a house has 4 halls and 5 tiny bedrooms with NO closets.

I sometimes wondered why I invested time and money into this place. And then I see the freshly painted rooms and I think - this is lovely, so badly needed and maybe, just maybe, these freshly decorated walls will extend beyond my lifespan and I won't have to do them again.

Meanwhile, I will trudge upstairs once again and survey the enormous amount of bits and pieces, scattered everywhere and question my own sanity: do I truly need all this stuff? And get ruthless, absolutely ruthless. Hear me, universe?

And this coming from a woman who discarded/recycled/donated 10 items per day for the last 50 odd days?

And felt so effing virtuous.

21 comments:

  1. Love the blue and green! Gorgeous. I enlarged the photo to see the detail and can tell your painter is doing an excellent job. What a wonderful gift to yourself ~ to make your haven beautiful and fresh and welcoming. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OWJ:
    Seems like some synchronicity going on here! Just filled a garbage bag with old and pitiful cosmetics and expired falderals. I was born when rationing was huge in Ireland, post WW2, and I do believe I have this thinking at a cellular level.
    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Sharon, actually it's the sunniest of lemon yellows, a gorgeous colour, funny how photos, no matter the excellence of the camera, can distort.
    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks fab! And stuff, well it just proliferates. I think of myself as not a materialistic person and yet I have books and clothes and yarn and fabric and magazines and photos and a kitchen full of pots and pans that I use constantly and love. I was contemplating buying some material to make some beautiful new cushions with but then what would I do with old ones? Too much stuff....

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks fab! And stuff, well it just proliferates. I think of myself as not a materialistic person and yet I have books and clothes and yarn and fabric and magazines and photos and a kitchen full of pots and pans that I use constantly and love. I was contemplating buying some material to make some beautiful new cushions with but then what would I do with old ones? Too much stuff....

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hadn't thought about the reason for all the hallways in old homes. I loved seeing the picture. Those wide boards on the floors are wonderful and warm. And I love the colors you chose, too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I like the two tones ... and your wood floors too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's a wonderful paint job. You chose a really good painter.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like your colors and the floors and, when I read your other post about the de-cluttering, I have been doing the same thing for the last two years as I've less than 800 square feet of living space and in my wheelchair, cannot have an obstacle course. Perhaps looking anew at your things will prompt you to get rid of more you might not need now. I am all in favor of finding things a new home and putting energy into having experiences rather than stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a lovely room with a beautiful floor.
    My mother was a WW2 irish hoarder and a non-thrower-out. Rubber gloves torn? Slice them horizontally into dozens of rubber bands of various sizes of course... xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Elizabeth, we have similar hoarding abilities. I was able to donate hundreds of books to the library I founded but still books still overrun the house and my DVD, VHS collection of movies is appalling. Photos, yeah. oh yeah.
    *Le sigh*
    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  12. E:
    Oh well said. Experience is so important. I am never happier than in the act of creation, whether knitting, photography, a play, a story, a poem. The rest is chaff.
    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anne:
    And stuff them in a drawer for your heirs to find. Of course!
    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nothing like humping furniture to start another round of clearing out. Trouble is we only realise it when we try to put the furniture back in place! I like the colours.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, 5 bedrooms! I've never lived in a house with more than four. This one has three.

    Hard to love with the chaos, but at least it's temporary and for a good cause!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, 5 bedrooms! I've never lived in a house with more than four. This one has three.

    Hard to love with the chaos, but at least it's temporary and for a good cause!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are welcome. Anonymous comments will be deleted unread.

Email me at wisewebwomanatgmaildotcom if you're having trouble.