The carpet is pink!

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This week both our girls are away so I have decided to have a spring clean of their rooms. When they are here and we complain about the mess they say they are trying to tidy up, but honestly I think it’s got so bad they are overwhelmed! Little One’s room is covered in paper and various other odds and ends and her bed is full of soft toys, while Big One’s room is so bad that just getting from the door to the window to open the curtains is like a game of Twister, and even the spaces where you can just about put a foot down are only big enough to tiptoe. And the dust over everything is unbelievable! So I have spent two evenings trying to restore some semblance of order to Big One’s room. The floor was covered in clothes, books, and papers of all sorts and lots of other random bits. I picked up all the clothes, hung the clean ones in the wardrobe and washed all the others. I put every book that I could fit on the shelves, anything that looked like a notebook (of which she has more than a lifetime’s supply) or pad of paper together in a drawer, writing paper I put back downstairs with our stash of writing paper and cards, pieces of wrapping paper I put with the general wrapping paper collection, pens and pencils together in a pot, post-it notes and glue in the bureau, art materials all together in a basket, edible things together, beauty stuff and cosmetics in a drawer, sports medals hung up. Books of mine that she had borrowed I decided might as well go back on the shelves they came from rather than lie around on her floor any longer. I stripped the bed, washed all the bedding and replaced it, washed her pyjamas, put away the extra winter blanket, stuck the notice board on the wall, hung the bed curtain up again properly. Sheet music I took downstairs to go with the other music. School notes I put together on the shelf. I was still left with several piles of paper and nowhere particular to put them but I dusted those, vacuumed around them, moved them and vacuumed underneath, and put them tidily so we could actually get past. Once her exams are over maybe she will finally have time to look through them. I carefully dusted all the ornaments and the heap of random jewellery. I gathered up all the receipts for everything she has ever bought and put them aside so she can decide if she actually wants them when she gets back. The same with old ‘to do’ lists and lists of things to pack for various trips. I was careful not to throw anything away, even the inexplicable little strips of paper with one line of highlighter on (!) I carefully gathered together. At intervals I vacuumed some of the newly-exposed carpet. Then I vacuumed it again. I cleared the cobwebs from around the windows and behind the furniture, dusted the craft stuff under the bed, then I vacuumed the carpet again. Finally it is revealed as pink rather than dusty grey! Finally, after two long evenings, I think it’s as good as I can make it. The place is barely recognisable. I suspect she won’t be pleased that I have moved her stuff but I didn’t read it, I just glanced at things to decide what category they should go in. And when you open the door now it certainly has a totally different feeling, much more inviting and restful and not just total chaos! Little One’s room is next. I’ve washed and dried the bedding, but although there’s slightly less mess in her room it’s harder to sort because it seems random. I think everything may have to just go in one big box! Wish me luck! The picture shows the 'after' version - still a lot of stuff, but I wish I had taken a 'before' picture for comparison! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2024.