room makeover

Keeping my room clean is not always on the top of my priority list and I often put up with the chaos that stems from a lifestyle of only stopping at home or in my room enough time to sleep and then grab whatever I may need for the oncoming day on my way out (resulting in the dump-and-crash method at the close of the day). This general pattern is punctuated with the occasional whirlwind cleaning (usually when I need clean laundry) on the odd Friday. These cleanings merely scratch the surface not dealing with the problems of finding place for miscellaneous items or of sorting papers instead merely stacking the mess into smaller piles (only to be scattered again the first time I need to find one of the papers quickly).

Last term was typical in this respect. Perhaps even worse than ever before since I was particularly busy and had but few Fridays free to spend even surface cleaning. Piled onto that, I have now been living out of this room for approximately five years and the number of miscellaneous items without designated place (so that I might follow the mantra "a place for everything and everything in its place") along with the piles of unsorted papers had reached unprecedented levels. Added to that (perhaps stemming in part from that) I was increasingly dissatisfied with the setup and dingy paint in my room.

Having set up a slight picture of the chaos in which I was living let me make a brief note on my sentiments on the issue. I love cleanliness and orderliness. I thrive in bright, clean, organized spaces. It is useless for me to note, then, that I was not pleased with the state of my room. I just did not have the time to do anything about it. I resolved that immediately following the end of the term I would paint the room and make sure, once that was finished, that everything I put back into it would be something that I had a good reason for keeping. I would then organize all these things (finding good places for them and ensuring they would be easy to put away--thus helping in those times when I have but brief moments to spare on such activity) and perhaps rearrange the plan of the room. I had a few ideas of what would be better and was eager to execute them. It was difficult slogging through the rest of the term with this liberating scheme percolating in my mind but being unable to follow it. I managed to write my papers only because Gma was away and I was able to move my activities and laptop to the kitchen and livingroom (places I easily kept clean).
The time finally came when I was able to start at the painting. I really enjoy painting but the prep work is not my favourite. Mom was able to assist me a little (on her birthday no less) by helping to move all the junk out and then start on washing the walls with TSP.

The paint was old and I had my suspicions that the last paint job was rushed since the coat underneath was a lovely bright orange that showed through the tiniest scratch. The result was not pretty. As mentioned before, I was alone in the house (Gma being away at the time) and eager to start but I knew that rushing the prep steps (as much as I disliked them) would merely result in a similar shoddy job.


I got into the groove and was finally able to begin my favourite part. I painted clockwise around the room starting the trim once the first coat was finished and the second coat once the trim was finished. I took a break to sleep upstairs partway through and grabbed one or two snacks but other than that I was on such a roll that I didn't want to stop until everything was done. During this period I helped the time pass by listening through all the Chronicles of Narnia radio theatre on CD. It gave a very unique feeling to this time. Looking back, I don't recall any normal sense of time. I suppose it is because I did not mark the time with any of the usual methods (meals, varying activities through the day, sleep...) but I have never had the opportunity of diving into Narnia so thoroughly before. I definitely enjoyed myself.

And now I have a whole new room to study in! It is much brighter, better set up, cleaner, much better organized. I even have tried in a small way to have a bit of a colour scheme and have framed and hung some of my pictures to tie it together. Things are looking up!