Sunday, June 24, 2007

Fun Monday - Oh, No, I am naked...


For this Fun Monday challenge, and I do mean challenge, Swampwitch of Anecdotes, Antidotes, and Anodes has asked to see bookshelves and where we put things out-of-sight when company comes.

For me this Fun Monday exercise is the most intimidating because Swampy has asked to see what we normally hide. So with great fear and trepidation, I will show some of our bookcases and my hide-stuff-from-the-guests places. I have decided on an abbreviated version of this Fun Monday for a few reasons. The main reason is that we are currently on vacation in Virginia. Second, if you have seen one of our bookcases, you have seen them all. Third, the same is true of our messes. If you have seen one mess, you have seen them all .
This is our living room bookcase. The furniture is Ethan Allen that belonged to my parents.


The door in the left of the picture opens to a closet where I store bedding for our fold-out couch, and the top shelf has cleaners and poisons hidden from guests and small children.
There is another closet in the living room that holds coats, games, a vacuum cleaner, photos, and old vinyl records.
Moving on to our basement, which is partially finished, meaning that there is wood paneling on the walls, and the concrete floor is uncovered. Our basement houses a variety of things including the washer and dryer. When our sons were young, we used part of the basement as a family room. As they grew to adulthood and moved out of the house, we turned one bedroom into a family room, and the other bedroom is our computer room. The basement became a room for storing stuff. You undoubtedly notice the cheerful Christmas stockings decorating this bookcase. You may be thinking, "Oh, this picture was taken at Christmas." Nope, the picture was taken last week in preparation for Fun Monday.

Do NOT be frightened for what you are about to see.


If you turn 90 degrees to the right, you will see this horrific mess. Before you think that I am a horrible slob, which is probably true, there are reasons (excuses) that the basement is so messy. One is that the basement leaks or seeps water when we have torrential downpours, which happens about once a year. Thus, things are quickly moved off the floor during storms. Another reason is that the basement is storing a few things for other family members. The third reason is that some of the mess comes from stacks of clothing and coats that are waiting to washed for two giveaways at our church. So there is a glimpse into my methods of storing stuff. As you can see, I am more like Ambrose Monk than his brother Adrian Monk. Ambrose stores all kinds of valuables or most would call it crap. Visit Swampwitch to see how other people display what they want people to see...and what they do with the other junk.

28 comments:

Margaret said...

I don't know of anyone who doesn't have these places. If you saw our master walk-in closet(turned into storage) or our garage, you would feel MUCH better. And I forgot about the bookshelves in the bonus room. UGH.

daddy d said...

The good thing about the bookselves is that those books are mostly read. Also, the give away coats and stuff goes away every year. Joy for others.

Luke said...

Sometimes stuff seems to multiply on its own, too. But I want to come and go through the old college stuff sometime this summer, as there are only a few things that I want in it. As for the rest of it, maybe Daddy D can help me take it to the Salvation Army or Good Will.

theotherbear said...

I feel so much better about posting my real mess. :)
Yours, by the way, is so not so bad. That might just be because of how bad mine is!
Love those bookshelves.

bichonpawz said...

I'm going to cheat and only take pics of the shelves that aren't in such bad shape. Yours look like the maid just stopped in!! Not bad at all!!

my4kids said...

I only gave a glimpse of my garage/junk area if you saw the whole thing trust me you would feel much better about your basement.

Anonymous said...

Yikes! You're already in Va??? Do you still want DC pointers? (sorry I took too long to share some ideas)

It's fun to leave your Christmas decorations up 365 days/year ;)...it IS the "most wonderful time of the year" after all :).

Nah...if we had a basement, there would at least be spots as "busy" as yours. Plus, the bookshelves--up and down--are in good order (I like Daddy D's thoughts on that).

Hope y'all are having a fabulous time, Molly (and let me know about DC...).

Beccy said...

If I had a basement maybe my house wouldn't look like your basement!

Hootin Anni said...

Looks to me that everything is in it's place!!! Why even the clothes are evenly spaced hanging in the closet!!

Mine's posted

captain corky said...

I enjoyed snooping around your basement! It was a lot of fun.

Anonymous said...

My basement looks like that ALL the time. Too many people, with too much crap and too small of a house. I think I've filled my "too" quota for the day.

Anonymous said...

We all have the horrific mess. It haunts us all.

Frema said...

I'm glad Luke commented about coming to go through his things. I'll be sure to keep reminding him. :)

ChrisB said...

mjd I do not think you are not a slob (if I did i'd have to admit to being an even worse one!) as you are pretty tidy compared to me!!

Beckie said...

You are not a slob!

Basements are unique and sometimes leak, but they are quite handy!

Have a good week!

Jenni said...

Hmmm...I guess I should have shown my other shelves as well. I've got books stashed in the kitchen cabinets and a very scary entertainment center (which isn't fully built) and storage room I could have shown.

molly said...

Wow! A real house. You're very brave!

MommaBoo said...

Well, my little "office" upstairs is my stash and storage place.

I think we all have these kinda places.

I love the fact that your coats go to people that need them..Kudos to you!

Thank you for sharing.

Happy Monday

Robinella said...

What part of the Old Dominion are you visiting? Hope you are inside and out of the staggering heat, as I am.

We all have "those" spots in our homes. My house is up for sale, so I had to rid myself of them. But they'll be back in the new home one day. :-)

Enjoy your vacation. ~R

Pamela said...

we've gotten rid of soooo many of our books. I've heard they attract book worms. haa ha ha ha ha ha.

hey... love your mess. Makes me feel so cozy and comfy like I'm home.

Anonymous said...

What mess? You should see my shed!
I'm not brave enough to show my closets.

Hope you are having a nice trip!

willowtree said...

Wow, Ethan Allen furniture. I'm jealous.

Karina said...

Your hall closet very closely resembles my hall closet! lol

Anonymous said...

Daaaannnng, Mjd! Your bookshelves are so clean they sparkle with the reflection of the books!

Your basement looks like my basement. Willi moved all of the stuff home from his office and it is still there in the boxes. Six months later. We just move around them!

Hope you are having an absolutely wonderful time...and taking lots of pictures for us! Hi Daddy D!

Anonymous said...

I love it!!! Our master bedroom closet is so jammed packed one can't enter it. As are the children's closets.....I mainly stash stuff in the attic...which will be organized this fall, or next winter, or in the Spring. I have lots of clothes for your giveaway...guess I should have given them to you last week end. OPPS!!
REM

Anonymous said...

I just have to smile at the stockings!

I hope you are enjoying your vacation. :)

debi said...

Ya know you have posted pics of your home before and I always feel so comfortable there. You and Gene both have homes that seem familiar to me. You are not a clutter bug as am I. I wish that I could stop saving things.

Unknown said...

Ahh, old vinyls....makes me feel kinda old when my kids have no clue what I'm talking about.

I love the Ethan Allen furniture -- very nice.