We're moving in two days. Just in town. Not that big of a deal (she says, as she pulls out clumps of hair). I'm trying to appreciate the aspect of it that's like turning the house upside down and shaking it...you have to put everything you own in boxes, which gives you an unusual opportunity to take stock, pitch things, organize things. But. We're moving into a space with about 150% the square footage as the place we're in now, which should dramatically improve our clutter situation. I'm taking one of the bedrooms as an office/sewing room, which is madness, and wonderful. That is probably 75% of what clutters up our one common room right now, so I am elated to be able to put it all in a dedicated area, organize my supplies on shelving and in the closet and be able to shut the door to the room altogether.
I've been thinking a lot about interior design, which baffles Mr. Terrible. I painted one of the rooms in the new place, pink for the girls, and got started painting the common area white, and he does not understand why that matters. I appreciate that. On some level, it really doesn't matter at all. But I'm at home all day with the kids, and I want, for once in my life, to live in a really nice space. A decorated space. That takes quite a bit of attention to minutiae. It takes fussing over paint colors. Moving little objects around. I'll try not to bore or alarm him, but I'm going to go ahead and do it.
One decision I made a long time ago was to keep all of our books in our bedroom. It happened for two reasons: first, we have such limited space that it became imperative to keep an extremely lean collection (the rule was: a book stayed if it held extraordinary sentimental value, was irreplacable, was re-read often, or was a relevant reference book) and second, it just struck me that a book collection might be a very private thing. It seemed that what I would choose to keep if I knew that no one outside of my immediate family was ever going to see it might be very different from what I would choose to keep if I thought my collection would be seen by anyone coming into my home. That's admitting a weakness, but there it is. I wanted to choose my books without self-consciousness. Without vanity.
Our collection is small, and silly, and lovely, and changing, and private. I love it.
I had very serious second thoughts, though, about having a public book collection after seeing these gorgeous Penguin Hardcover Classics:
Ain't no secret that I love me some P & P.
Image via Amazon.com
All lined up there, spine out. Oh man. Hmm.
Maybe in a corner of the new bedroom. Just for me.