Hannelore I was sad to have to sell my home, mural and all. It was a very special place to me. Rolling hills that drifted right down into a crystal clear lake. Ho Humm!!!
Here in this place, I have a den full of books and a fish tank and sleeper sofa. My spare room has one full wall of shelving filled with food, can and boxed goods etc. The big freezer and some storage, plus extra pots, pans and dishes. I use the closet in there for winter things and the vacuum. My master berdroom is huge filled with my bedroom furniture and my desk is in there right now. I have been slowly getting rid of junk and so the place isn't too crowded or messy any more.

I cleaned out my desk in the spare room yesterday. It's an antique desk that was handed down to me from my great-grandmother. Not very large, with a drop-front and a couple of drawers. Still, it was crammed full of things.

It's amazing how something you deem really important to keep at one point in your life becomes pretty meaningless at another point. I found dozens of magazine articles I'd torn out - almost all ended up being thrown away.

I also came across several old journals. Those, I'll keep, but not in the desk (especially since we'll be using this room for guests - I wouldn't want them reading all my old diaries!!!).

Oh my gosh. I can just see your guest staying up all night, reading your journals, then coming down to breakfast on the morning with a funny look on her face. Good move!

Somehow, the spare room got cluttered up again during the holidays. (I swear, I don't know HOW that happens!) That will be my project room these next few months. Clean out, fix up.

The spare room used to belong to DD#2 who got married over a year ago. Today I decided to clean off the bedroom door. She used to tape a lot of posters to the backside of the door and had some glow-in-the-dark stars on the front (her Galileo period). Well, let me tell you, that tape stays on good! I spent about half an hour cleaning that door with a plastic scraper and a baking-soda-and-water solution. But it's clean now. Onward! Upward! Oh shoot, the ceiling lamp needs cleaning too!

I've got a guestroom that's beginning to look more and more like a closet everyday. What is it about the holidays? I'm with you Dejavu, time to clean it up!

I use my guest room as my Santa HQ! Remainder of year the door remains closed from the pets! So, if ever my way, have the room! Must like cats, dogs & horses! Need a new matelase coverlet, have ya'll seen any good sales on them?

I used our ping-pong table as the Santa headquarters. It wsa the first year my back didn't hurt from wrappig on the floor.

When my oldest son moved out his room became my office. Then grandkids came along and I had to have a space for their toys and stuff. If they or visitors spent the night it was in my office on the futon. When my youngest son moved out his room became the kids room. My office became all mine. The kids room has the futon, a tv, kid size table and chairs and a box full of toys. We have a large family so there are always kids around. That room is exactly what we needed.

Hey, the spare room is finally repainted, a rich teal blue with white trim. I'm really pleased with how the color came out.

I learned a couple of tricks this time around -
1. There's a sort of plastic collar with a spout that you can buy to put on your paint can. No more drippy cans. The collar is cheap and reusable.
2. There are rectangular paint pads that come with a handle, excellent for the corners where two walls meet and for along the ceiling. The pads are replaceable. These are also good for small spaces like inside of closets.
3. Blue painter's tape works really well if you're painting your trim a different color from the wall, or if you have wood trim that you don't want paint to get on.

I'm so proud of my work - I keep dragging people in to see it!

New carpet should come next week.