Middle of a Muddle

Here we go again. As you could probably tell from this blog (Guest Room), I am not an interior decorator. No, it is NOT my favourite thing to do by a long shot. I like the finished product but not the planning or the doing. Some people thrive on the thrill of picking paint colours and flooring and counter tops and putting them all together to change a room completely. But not me. My sister, my daughter, my sister-in-law — just to name a few, seem to love it and have a knack for it, but they all live too far away to help me right now. Drat! I don’t have the smattering of a knack for it, and I plain don’t like it.

Having said all that let me tell you that right now we are preparing to redecorate the kitchen as it is sorely in need of it!! Yes, the kitchen of all places. The hub of the house, my first stop for coffee every morning, the place where all the meals are prepared and eaten, the place where phone calls are made and the appointment calendar kept, and above all, the place where I make my afternoon cup of tea! Yes, the hub of the house. Oh dear! I am in the middle of a muddle supreme!

AC and I know that we can’t do the actual painting because of our backs, but we have to get the kitchen ready for the workmen, so this past week we have been be sorting and packing and cleaning the kitchen cupboards. Yuck! It is almost done now, thank goodness. Multiple boxes are stored in the basement; other “stuff” is spread out on tables in the living room and dining room and 5 boxes went out to the Goodwill. Today, we moved the last two items to the dining room — the microwave and the coffee pot, and now the hub is all set up in the new location for the duration of the redecorating. Whew!

The kitchen will get new cupboard doors, coats of paint inside and out, wallpaper stripped off walls, new flooring put down, new counter top installed, three new light fixtures added to brighten the place up and a new range hood to finish things off. We are not doing the work, but we have to live in the upheaval for the next little while, and I am not looking forward to that at all, but I am trying to focus on the positive. The light at the end of the tunnel — a bright, spanking new kitchen, does look and sound good to me. The end product will be really nice. My daughter keeps telling me to enjoy it. It is fun she tells me. I can’t quite see it like that, but I am trying Butterfly. I am trying!

You might be reading this and wondering what all the fuss is about. Why would I be so stressed out about a little redecorating? What is the big deal already? I am not sure why it is so stressful for me, but I think it stems back to what my house was like as a kid.

We lived in a tiny house that was bursting at the seams with four kids, mom and dad and my grandparents all living under one roof. Things had to change but rather than move into a bigger house, mom and dad decided to renovate and add on to the old house.

My dad was up to the challenge and set to the building project with gusto. He knocked down walls, put up framing, nailed dry wall into place, added windows and doors, put in new floors, along with myriad other things, but he never seemed to finish anything. For a large part of my childhood I lived with plaster dust all over everything; plywood floors waiting for linoleum, or carpet; drywall waiting for paint, baseboards and quarter-round; windows and doorways draped with tarps waiting for the finishing touches — like glass and doors; and, the endless mess and muddle of building supplies everywhere. My dad’s intentions were good, but he worked a full time job and did all the renovations and redecorating during the evenings or on weekends, and I think he just ran out of time and energy. My mom wasn’t the greatest housekeeper to begin with and the insidious plaster dust and mess broke her spirit, I am sure.

Yes, we lived in a disorganized, plaster-dust-coated-muddle and I didn’t like it at all. I longed for a tidy house with some order in it. I would go to my friends' houses when I was a kid and marvel at the finished walls, shiny floors and tidy rooms. I wanted that too. To this day even the thought of a redecorating upheaval gives me the shivers. I want to run away to a neat and tidy corner of the universe until it is all over.

I am not sure if I will be able to hide away in my little upstairs nook and write a lot while the transformation takes place in the kitchen, or not. We shall see. If I don’t post many blogs in the near future at least you will know the reason why. On the other hand I might find that it is my salvation and sanity to tuck myself into my little corner up here and write the next few weeks into history! I have stacks of books at the ready beside me to run away into if the need arises. Don’t you just love the way books can transport you to a whole new time and place when the one you are living in becomes too stressful? I did that many times as a kid.

In spite of all the cleaning, sorting and packing that went on last week, AC and I managed to bike out to the lake three times, and it was a great stress reliever. I have a feeling that if the weather permits, we will be out on the bikes a lot during this redecorating event. Pedal, write or read that stress away, will be my motto for the next few weeks.

Well, I must toddle down to the new hub and rustle up some lunch now. I hope you all have a great weekend and are able to pedal, read or write your stresses away too. Whatever muddle you are in the middle of, focus on the positive, focus on the positive, focus on the positive.

Take care. Talk to you all later.