Monday, September 6, 2010

Tabula Rasa Next

The pink wallpaper looks better in pictures than it looked to me in person.

It was a happy day when Trish the Wallpaper Lady finished taking down the old wallpaper in the Pink Bedroom. More excitement begins tomorrow when the floor re finishers get here for their four-day spree.

The room is 16' x 13' 4" and it is now a big blank slate on which I can begin to paint my own picture.



I must have seen the room empty like this when we moved in long ago, but I don't remember it. Our mom papered the wall facing the window with a pink and silver stripe and painted the other walls shell pink. We found it as it once was, under the large pink print wallpaper we just removed.



The room has a real history in our family. My sister and I shared it when we were young, before she went away to college. Both of my grandmothers came to live here in the last years of their lives. Later, Mom redecorated and added new wallpaper and the room became the house's chief guest room. My sister's children stayed here every summer.

My niece Devon on a visit to her grandparents' house, one summer long ago.

Finally, in their last years, it became my parents' room. Early in the evening, my mother, in her funny nightshirt, retreated here with her crossword puzzle as Dad began to doze. The attached bath, which I have since repainted, was small and convenient.





The floor was damaged during those years by several plumbing crises--not mentioned to me at the time--but that is easily remedied and will be this week by the floor crew.



Lots of people, including my sister, have asked me about ghosts: whether this house has them and, if so, whether I am troubled by them. If there were going to be ghosts, this would be the room for them. Before I moved in, I did worry about this.

But now I don't believe in them. There aren't any here that have made themselves known to me. This may be because my parents were so happy here and lived here almost until the day they died--which was just the way they wanted it. I wish they hadn't left such a mess behind: but that is a small irritation. And as for my old bedroom ...



... the light is so pretty, drifting in, as it does, through the leaves of the Japanese maple on the patio. I'm looking forward to adding my own color and fabric and making it even more beautiful. I worked pretty hard on moving day all those eons ago: and now, I'm finally getting the chance to put my stuff just where I want it.

Moving Day, way back in the 20th century.

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2 comments:

Devon C. said...

What a cute picture of that little girl. I wonder if that's the first year I stayed by without my parents?

Robin Chapman said...

Oh I thought you meant the cute little girl with the wagon! Can you tell the year by your age?