There are few things I love more than a good project and I actually go through withdrawal if I don’t have something to adjust or redo at least every six months. Aside from moving into our house last year and getting our landscaping shaped up, we haven’t really done anything to the inside of our house. The basement room we use as our shared office and my craft room is the most unwelcoming shade of peachy-brown I have ever seen.  It’s like stepping into James’ giant peach and seeing that as we all aged, so did the peach.  It’s pit becoming a random catch all with no form or function.  In short, it’s become our junk room.

On a whim I decided to entertain my wish for reform and added a request for Ikea gift cards and some storage items I knew would be useful to my Christmas list.  Even though I am often chastised for being far too practical with my requests, I figured if I got lucky I would no longer have an excuse and I could finally dig in and make that space not only work for me, but be more than the peachy brown pit of despair it had become.

This is the colossal mess our office has grown into since we moved a little over a year ago.

Fortunately for me, my family loves me and knows that once I get an idea in my head all bets are off until I finish it. I received the elusive gift card and some cold hard cash that will definitely help. Look out family! Mummy has a funded project!

Usually I will loft full-bore into these things fueled by my excitement and a dream, which is not the way any well planned organizational project should begin. This explains why my previous attempts never quite sit well with me. I’m convinced it’s also because I have some gypsy blood in me and I just need something to change often enough for it to different without affecting my need for stability.

In a rare moment of clarity and restraint, I decided to be reasonable for once, rather than just dive in and start reorganizing until I go mad from frustration. I had a table from Ikea in mind, so I knew the measurements and figured it would fit, but I wanted to make sure. When I move, I usually draw the overhead view of the room on graph paper and add the furniture in so I can make sure things fit. See, I’m not completely unhinged all the time. I assign one square per half foot so I have a more clear picture of spacing. It also helps with all the quarter and eighth increments. Round up to the half. Trust me. It’s not exact, but you’ll thank me for the wiggle room.

Please excuse my handwriting. I love pencil for this because it’s easy to change, but it makes my words so sloppy!

Since I was moving furniture around this time and we were going to be home for the last week of the year, I decided to really push my luck and put the peachy-brown wall out of its misery once and for all. We lived in a white-walled apartment for seven years and toward the end, I stared lusting for a paint brush. I wanted to paint so badly, I used to visit the paint section at Lowe’s and Home Depot to take the edge off. Pinterest is hugely helpful for simultaneously curbing and feeding that desire. The upstairs of our house was painted in colors we can live with and actually like, so I didn’t get to celebrate our home ownership by storming Lowe’s in a triumphant raid on their paint section as I had long imagined. I seized my chance as soon as I saw the opportunity this time.

So now I have a real project and time to do it. I am in heaven.  My husband is terrified.  We’ve never painted a room together.  Ikea is enough of a test of a relationship.  Painting is no less strenuous on a couple.  Wish me luck!