We are actually going to switch the rooms of our house, put up tall bookshelves, and get rid of the three huge desks that have too great a foot print. That way our over night guests will have a door and a closet, and we will be able to check the mail, do laundry and answer the front door without going through someone’s bedroom when they stay here. The computer room/study/sewing area/scrapbooking space/Mom fix it/pay bills area will be in the large room off the kitchen with the front door that currently the living room. Whenever we have friends over, they wind up in the computer room anyway, to fix something, or show us something on u-tube. It will give me better natural light for sewing, and put the computer in a more public space for when our kids are teenagers and presumably using the internet by themselves.
Our friend K, in moving to NYC, has given us his 72 inch tall bookcases, in 14 parts right now. They are everywhere. They are sort of an espresso color, stained black, with a bit of veneer showing through. I thought they’d be just too dark, but with the cherry colored mirror frame and rosewood futon, they look pleasant, they are the same value. We’ve calculated that all the videos, books and VCR tapes will fit on 4 of those shelves. So if we give the bookshelves we don’t need to the guy from K’s old apartment building, we can get most of them off of our front porch. (?)
DH is feeling so excited about the move, it is his mental vacation from other frustrations. I am trying to join him in the fun part, but am more nervous about the whole transition parts, being a less strong and energetic person in general. But nerves and fear are not inspiring, or respectful.
I know that even though K has moved away, and my cousins K and B have a baby now, we do have friends who can come help us haul stuff. I also know that we are quiet capable of organizing a barn raising sort of Saturday so that the inconvenience to our volunteers is minimized, and they at least get fed nicely. It is so hard to ask for help, and to maintain respectful boundaries while doing it. But we’ve done it before. Perhaps I feel weird about it because this move is to get me a better crafting area, and not to benefit one of my kids?
So, hopefully, here are some better questions to ask myself and DH as we make our master plan for the new move, then figure out how to do it:
What are all the activities we will do in this room?
Where in the house should the musical instruments go?
Where should the 4 plastic totes of manipulatives, Lego robotic parts, and Thomas Trains go?
Can we store them better somewhere else?
Since the workshop/study will be in so much more public a space do we really have enough storage space planned for DH’s big computer rebuilding storage projects?
Does it really have to be good looking, or if the colors are matching, can we go for friendly industrial?
What ideas do the kids have for the space?
What about the double kids desk that B uses right now for afternoon independent work? is there room for it?
Perhaps we’d be wise to keep the tall plastic utility shelfs?
what seating should we have around for those visitors who keep us company while we fix computers or laugh at u-tube?
Does a corner computer desk allow for over the shoulder laughing?
Do we need space for head to head competitions?
Where will the Jr F.I.R.S.T Lego team work?
What about the kid visitors, as B and M will start having friends who want to do computer games together or regular games?
What prep space do we need for wrapping presents at Christmas?
OK, I think that keeps things from oozing out of my head. K only got me up 3 times last night, and DH got up with her at 6AM when she was playful and hungry. My brain still wants to go on vacation though.
Well, I was just flipping through randomly and came upon your entry…and I laughed. First paragraph seemed vaguely familiar and as I read on, the rest seemed so also. I finally caught on..with a slight change of topics, you've written the mess in my head most days! Whew..saves me a post about trying to organize. :)
I don't know how you manage to think all that through with a baby waking you up at night. During that stage of parenting, my brain is always mush!
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