We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.
E. B. White
I have to admit that I love doing laundry. It's one of the only chores that allows you to watch TV at the same time. It's also that little bit of order from chaos that we all need around the house.
We've been repainting our downstairs, which includes the family room, the laundry room, and, behind a little pocket door, a half bath. The floor is a dark green tile--somewhere between avocado and forest--and the walls had been painted a greeny white. Like most paint colors chosen by the previous owners of our house, the intent was to match some other element in the room, and the result was slightly off and kind of, well, ugly. Greeny-white is NOT a good color in a room that has no natural light. It sort of reflected itself onto your skin when you were in there and made you look like you had cholera or typhus or some horrid 19th century wasting disease.
On the pocket door was painted a Mondriany geometric pattern in burgundy and green. Again, not the SAME green as the tile, but ALMOST. It was so poorly executed that the paint had bled under what had been the taped off portions, making every line uneven and amateurish, and the pencilled-on guidelines HAD NOT BEEN ERASED.
Listen, I get the whirl of excitement that happens when you see something on HGTV and want to imitate it in your home RIGHT NOW. But why not erase the pencil lines?
And, more to the point, six years later, why hadn't *I* erased the pencil lines? Instead I just pushed the pocket door into its, er, pocket and tried to pretend it wasn't there.
Now, though, there was a lot of satisfaction in primering over that and painting it a smooth, warm color of creamy white. (Malted Milk by Behr from Lowe's, in case you were wondering.) We've got plans for shelving and/or cabinets, and I want a little drying rack for my handknit socks, and some bins for sorting lights and darks, and (can't you tell?) I'm just giddy with excitement for a little laundry oasis to be ready.
What's your favorite household chore, and why?
1 comment:
I love this: "We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry." E. B. White. I think that too often in this world people are chasing some high matters and have forgotten how to find a joy in something simple, like laundry.
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