Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Mess, Oh, The Mess

It's a sad fact of housewifery that everything you do will need to be repeated. Much like the shampoo bottle, it's all about lather, rinse and repeat.

In the Neverending Story of my life, I've been tackling our basement. It extends the entire length of our house, and is finished. Imagine, if you will, a steep staircase into a basement, which ends at a hallway. To the left, the utility room and all it's delights. To the right, an office/room-where-the-furnace-and-water-heater-live. This room is the only one with carpeting; we installed some of those stick-on carpet tiles when John needed a space to work at home. This is also the room, which, when water decides to make it's yearly foray into our basement, is the first the water visits. Carpet squares? Bad decision.

At the end of the hallway is our family room area. First on the right is our TV area, then our current office, from which I am writing to you as you read. We built it about 3 years ago. It has served as an office, guest bedroom, and, when we refinished the floors and rearranged bedrooms 2 years ago, the master bedroom. I can tell you from experience that it is the nicest of caves; something of a hobbit hole. Warm, usually dry, (remember that yearly thing) quiet, quiet, quiet. You could sleep deeply for days in this room.

On the left side, as you come down the stairs, you would first hit our bar. Not a wet bar, but a sink and refrigerator are steps away, in the utility room. The last space down here is a dining area, and a place for the kids' computer.


That's how I envision it.

However, right now, the utility room is piled with laundry and appliances that we use often but can't put away because the cabinets in that room are full of things we don't use often. I intend to clean those out, take them to the thrift store, and replace with the stuff we use, leaving the countertops available for...I can only imagine! I've never had them available for any length of time!

The bar is stacked with children's books that I have to find homes for. Some are spoken for, and some I'll keep. There may be children around here sometime that would want to read them. My intention is to clear that all off and use it--get this--as a bar. Novel idea, I know!

The dining area is stacked with more books, games, toys, and all the other detritus of a household with children. As our children become young adults, though, those toys are played with less and less. One cabinet that housed games has now found a new home under our stairs, where it'll house all kinds of things that I want to hide behind closing doors. The other remains, filled with school supplies, games we still play, and some science equipment. Eventually, like by the middle of next week, the mess will all be cleaned up, the dining table polished and decorated with a nice fall centerpiece, the computer desk cleaned and set up for a certain young lady to do her schoolwork, and some maps and pictures hung on the walls. In short, it'll become a more adult space.

The office is now stacked with books to be given away or sold, photographs of Grandma that need to be sent to my uncle, (no, David, I have not forgotten!) and a basket of baskets. These are the last of my collection of Longabergers; some lucky folks will be getting them as Christmas presents. If you like a specific one, let me know, before I give you one you hate! This will all need to be cleaned up and organized, so it can actually be used as an office and guest room. I will have to talk to John about this; his side/desk aren't any less gamey than mine, and I've been hearing how I need to get some things in order....

That leaves the old office, with it's 3 storage closets (one is cedar; one has a broken door.) That will need to be purged as well.

So, if you think I might have something in this messy space that you could use, drop me a line. We'll talk!

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