Spouse and I have been procrastinating once again on a project. The spare room, once First Born’s room, has been idling in repaint mode for the past several months. Around October we started to paint that room but we only got as far as 1 1/2 walls before we closed the door and promptly “forgot” about it. You would think we’d have found the time and motivation to finish it, especially after painting the kitchen and hallway as well as the kitchen cabinets. But, no. We haven’t really needed it since there have not been any visitors as of late, so closing the door and putting off a project that neither of us relishes doing seemed the logical choice. Sooner or later, though, we’re going to need that space.

For the past few weekends I’ve force myself to step into that room and work on the one part of this project that has been the bane of my existence.

Finding a place for everything that has been dumped on the bed.

You might think this would be a cinch. How much can one bed hold? You’d be amazed. This bed has become the go-to spot for the past year, which was the last time First Born and The Groom stayed with us. 

My foray into finding the bed became sort of a treasure hunt, though one person’s treasure is another person’s trash. Beneath the rubble of spare pillows and old notebooks I found a missing glue gun and an unopened package of hemming tape. These were good finds, but that was not the case for the most part. I had to relocate several binders of notebook paper that I’m fairly certain Second Born managed to “lose” at the end of one semester or another. I could supply half a fifth-grade class with the amount of notebook paper my kids have abandoned in this house. 

Fortunately, I knew better than to try and tackle this task all at once — it was easy to become distracted by other finds. By finds I mean, “Where did we even get this?” 

I can’t even blame our youngest on a good chunk of this stuff. First Born left behind several ‘mementoes’ such as paintings she did with friends (and wine), books and photos. I guess I just kept shifting these things around whenever we needed the room, but my new goal was to make the end result not look like a museum. Thank goodness there was a bit of room in the closet. 

Naturally, in this process you may uncover items that you’re torn over saving or tossing. I came across a small cloth bag that must have been tucked into a suitcase during our trip to India more than a year ago. Too small to be used for shopping or storing mementos, it served no purpose other than to be found years later in a drawer or closet. For most, this is not a tough choice. Then there’s Spouse and me. 

You should know Spouse and I come from opposite trains of thought when it comes to keeping or tossing. His family’s attic was filled with the smallest tokens of old memories. Passing things down to the next generation was major, whereas my folks had the polar opposite attitude. Growing up, I hid things I didn’t want to lose, and even then, my mom was like a vulture on a continuous hunt for pre-clutter. You would never find an unused notebook in our house. 

Spouse and I have had to find a compromise over the years. I try to declutter but he is more of the “Let’s hold onto this for now” mindset. This is why it’s taken months for one room to be cleared out — we have to agree on what happens to some things that are up for debate.

The bed is now emptied and moved off to the side so we can continue with painting the room. Most finds have found a home, at least temporarily … but I may be choosing the décor based on what I want to take back out of the closet.

— Janine Talbot is adjusting to her empty nest in southern Maine with her spouse of 32 years and two and a half cats. She can be reached at janinevtalbot@gmail.com.