It all started this morning when I said to Jane if she minded me hoovering and mopping the floors downstairs.
Of course she didn’t mind!
A couple of months ago we had a cleaner — a wonderfully practical joint Christmas and birthday present from family. She visited twice — did a marvelous job — and then phoned to say that she’d had a nervous breakdown and was quitting. Was our house really that untidy I joked … erm, empathetically.
The most time-consuming thing with hoovering and mopping is the preparation: clearing the carpet, and ‘playing shipwreck’ with the furniture so that those items that normally sit on the floor are balanced on tables and chairs.
And so with everything stacked on top of the TV cabinet, the sofa and a couple of chairs in the middle of the room I was reminded at how much space we used to have.
And, well, one thing led to another and we spent most of the day rearranging furniture.
Under the stairs
It started with the ‘dumping ground’ beneath the stairs which was transformed into something practical.
DVDs
Next, the bookcase housing our rather pityful VHS (remember those?) and DVD collection came out from behind the sofa and sat proudly next to the television.
We might even get to watch some of them, now that we can get to them.
If you look closely you’ll see that Paddington Bear and Rubert the Bear even joined in; they are currently partying beneath the TV.
Toys
Finally, the bookcase that had been dominating the space beneath the stairs found new life as toy storage in the living room.
It’s been a very productive day. But there is still much to do …
