Spring has sprung

It's that time of year again. The Dreaded Spring Clean. I say "dreaded" but it's not really. No, I do like to give something a good going over with a damp cloth and a squirt of bleach, it's.....theraputic. My mum used to have a Spring Clean and an Autumn Clean. April and October, there she'd be in the cleaning equipment aisle of Sainsburys wondering whether or not to buy Cif or something else.

Of course, I've chosen this time of year to do some decorating so, as well as being compelled to clean everything in sight, I'm also itching to get on with some glossing. There's nothing quite so satisfying as seeing what looked like a white glossed door actually turn into a white glossed door when you put fresh paint on it. Still, I'm consoling myself with the fact that decorating is a form of spring cleaning and that obviously I can do it all. To be fair, David has offered his assistance with a roller.

Oh, and de-cluttering! For a hoarder like myself it's quite traumatic but I'm trying to be minimalistic in everything. Clean lines, empty surfaces - David went into the kitchen last night and asked me if we'd been burgled.

It's amazing just how much stuff I keep just for the sake of keeping it. "Sixteen egg cups in various colours? Well, we might have sixteen guests at some point, all of whom want a boiled egg for breakfast". I've kept the lids to saucepans I no longer have just in case I "need" them. For what I asked myself as I consigned them to the bin. "Just in case, you never know!" I answered myself as I got them out again. One cup of tea and stern talking to later, I'd ditched them again and tried not to think "what if".

Drawers. Pardon me but every kitchen has a Junk Drawer. Doesn't it? My Junk Drawer contained, in no particular order: elastic bands: of varying sizes and elasticity, highly coloured food bag ties, a defunct lighter, a ball of string, a ball of twine, a pair of scissors that don't close, sixteen million pens, only half of them with ink in them, an ages old sachet of cappucino, post it notes (various colours), an old knife, an ancient ladle........it goes on and on. I consigned half of it to the bin and then had to have a sit down to get over it.

Still, I'm starting on the dining room today because while we are decorating the kitchen, everything will have to be stored in there. I'm going for Rice Pudding for the walls to make the whole room light and airy. David grumbled that the whole place will look like an operating theatre if I carry my light colour theme through the house. He's also moaning about the patchwork effect on the walls as I find a paint tester, go off the colour and go and get another one. I'm actually getting to like the look of the chimney breast wall to be honest.....

I do, however, have a bit of doubt over the colour I've chosen for the bathroom. It's Pale Pink which looks beautiful when it's first up but deepens in colour as it dries. They might as well have called it Candy Floss And Then Some.