My Room

The subject of clutter came up on the forum this morning. As I'm a pack rat by nature and inclination, this set my little bitty brain a'twirlin'.

To give you some idea of my environment I should start off with the house. It's a single-wide 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom mobile home in a "mobile home park." Why they call this a park I still haven't got a clue. I do have a little space that has grass, and I attempt small gardening tasks when I'm up to it. (Which is rare enough to be an event.)

There are 4 people living in this almost-40-year-old house. Each of whom need their own bedrooms. My mom gets one, my 17-year-old daughter gets one, and the smallest bedroom is for my 14-year-old son. Are your math skills as horrid as mine? I'm only counting 3 rooms taken by 3 people who MUST have their own spaces. (We tend to get quarrelsome when we can't escape to our own spaces.) That leaves me.

Yep, I sleep on a daybed tucked into the tipout in the living room. Right next to the TV, 4 floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, 2 recliners, a couch, 3 dressers, an end table, approximately 30 plants, 2 lamps, 3 small bookshelves, 1 slightly-larger-than-a-chair computer desk, two 7-foot cabinets, and a slightly-larger-than-a-postage stamp kitchen. (Of course there's the usual kitcheny type items. What? You were wondering if I was a redneck? Only a little bit. Yes, I've got a 4 wheel drive and a pickup.)

Whew! Where do we walk? Single file usually, thank you very much. There's actually an area in front of the chairs and couch big enough to put one of those blow-up beds. I wouldn't recommend it though. There's a lot of traffic through that space!

Every surface is covered in books, plants, and the general items of living that people have to have.  You'd think with all this "stuff" in such a small space that my house would look or be dirty. I surprise myself when I actually look around. The dishes are usually done and put away. The cupboards are clean. The books are generally shelved with care and order. The movies are in their cases and shelved neatly. The tables and desk surfaces are free of too many "extras." The floor is clean. The bed is made religiously. (Mom wants to make it look like a couch or something. I think a bed is a bed and I'm not ashamed!)

Of course, there's no peeking in the hall closet or in my dresser drawers. The usual accoutrements of life have to go somewhere you know. (Shhh ! It's a secret, but I use my son's closet for my dress clothes.)

The funniest part of not having a bedroom is that I have more space available than anyone else in the house!

Other than being parked in the middle of EVERYTHING, my ROOM is perfect!

Did anyone besides me notice that "Christmas Tree and Decorations" aren't on the list of "stuff" in my room? My daughter is currently trying to convince me to dive into storage and find them. My thought is... can't we bypass that this year? There's a lot on my plate and putting up and taking down umpteen boxes of Christmas may be fun for some people, it's a huge chore for me. Besides, I'd have to move my plants from in front of the windows. They'd be unhappy. There's not a lot of light in the winter as it is and I'm out of shelf space. Hmmmm... maybe I can carefully and solidly place my distal lower extremity on the floor.... maybe.