Friday 14 June 2013

Making A Bold Statement


 A week of enormous trauma and upheaval at Hedges Towers. The Writing Garret has been painted, for the first time since we moved in, some 24 years ago. Because BH belongs to the 'White with a hint of reluctance' school of decorating, I decided to give up waiting for inspiration to strike, so Gill the Lady Painter arrived, with a shed load of filler, paint pots, brushes, and merry banter.

It has been definitely nice having a woman working in the house, and I mean that in the most sexist way possible. Loo seats stayed lowered, and I could slob around in casual clothes and minimal makeup and not feel awkward. Plus we have had some great chats about the posh houses she has decorated. And Life. And our children.


Clearing out the Writing Garret was an experience and a half though. I am sure there is some mathematical explanation for why books on bookcases expand when out of bookcases to fill amounts of floor space much bigger than the shelves they previously occupied. Same applies to pieces of furniture. And the cats have been totally traumatized. Stuff has 'walked' into or out of rooms they inhabited, their nap areas have been invaded and they can't get under the sofa anymore.

For a couple of days, they were so upset they took to stalking the corridor all night, like small vengeful furry versions of King Hamlet, voicing their discontent and keeping us awake, so that I have been arriving at my exam invigilating job looking like the Wreck of the Hesperides, which probably explains why I failed to appear one morning altogether, and handed out the wrong papers at another session. I am currently treading the'slightly incompetent but very endearing' path in the hope that my Exams Officer doesn't sack me.


One night, the cats actually brought in a (dead) mouse and laid it at the bottom of the stairs. We decided it was a kind of propitiation to 'the Gods that made such a pother' over their heads. However, all bad things come to an end (except for the Tory party) and by Friday, walls were painted, cats were mollified and BH and I no longer felt we were camping out in our own house. This is the result: I have vanilla walls instead of pale cold blue and a ''bold statement wall'' in geranium! The lovely painting is by Peter Davey, Twitter friend, writer and artist - check him out @PedroYeved. I bought it to go in the newly painted room. Everything else is as it was - just a whole lot brighter.

The PINK SOFA is not at all sure about the statement wall and feels there may be colour clash issues, but I have told it that I don't consult with furniture over my colour choices, especially when the aforesaid furniture is a figment of my imagination to begin with. Now all that remains is to sit at my desk in my newly painted room, apply my fingers to the keyboard and produce the next bestseller ....... ah, if only it were that easy.






37 comments:

  1. Love the geranium! I keep thinking about a statement wall, but that's as far as I get - thinking. I'm afraid I'm all natural calico - boring!!! Your room looks beautiful and bright, so fresh and clean. I've got geranium envy now : ))

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    1. I'm a BIG believer in the effect of colour on one's mood, Amanda. The main body of the house was painted peppermint green - very cold. Two years ago, I had it repainted rich maize. The effect was instant - I felt a lot happier! Love the vanilla and geranium combo in my room -lifts my mood.

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  2. I like the thought of a female painter,men always think they know so much when they do any work in your house and usually they are wrong. I love the colour of your wall it's nice to be a bit bold and creative. What a lovely view of your garden from your window,now go write that best seller so I can say I know someone famous.

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    1. The view - and you can't see the pond from the pic but I can, is why no work gets done!!

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  3. Sounds like your husband and mine went to the same school. My studio is as we moved in last year, and my statement wall is blue, except that its mostly hidden by my shelves. On the subject of lady workers, we actually saw a self-employed lady brickie while in Bristol earlier this week, her work was great - so good, in fact, that my misogynistic other half actually commented on it.
    Love your new studio, and looking forward to reading the new bestseller soon,
    Joy xx

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  4. The Pink Sofa is a figment of your imagination? Noooo!! As for the cats, when ours bring in dead bodies I'm always convinced it's because a mouse ran into their mouth by mistake and they didn't want to leave it outside for another cat to pretend it caught. When I first met Mr A he was obsessed with Magnolia. We still live in a predominantly Maggie house so I am lusting after your geranium wall.

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    1. See cooment to Amanda's comment. Gill said it was such a change to come into a house with COLOUR..mostly she just paints everything white...or magnolia...

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  5. What a lovely colour - and I so agree that colour has a direct conversation with our mood. You will be truly inspired in here!

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    1. Maybe I might even get my 'spacing' on blog posts sorted!!! Hahaha

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  6. Ahh...how splendid it feels to walk around your freshly decorated haven! It puts me in mind of being within the nurturing walls of a loving womb where inspiration is sure to blossom before delivering itself upon the page in a tsunami of creativity! Brace yerself Hedges!
    My decorative wants have never been applied...mostly because others...( for some bizarre reason )...can't desist from laughing long enough to seriously consider my suggestion!
    All I asked was for the Grim Reaper to be ...(tastefully)...painted on the wall behind the bed, arms open in a warm and loving manner...looking down upon us through burning red, hooded eyes as we slept.........................Anyway, that didn't happen for some reason so magnolia it is. Enjoy your room...and may the flavours of your prose forever flourish..x

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  7. Carol, I love the geranium. It's beautifully bold, just like the characters in your books! The Pink Sofa will just have to get relegated to the figment file and accept it. I wish I could see more of the painting though. (BTW I'm sure you're right about the cats' demo. That's what they do. Grumpy little gits that they are.) Your writing garret is full of fresh approaches now!

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    1. Thanks Val. A trip to your boat would just complete my joy!

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  8. Missed your e-mail this week, but found it when I logged into Google! So it does have its uses after all!
    Loved reading about your new renovation.. all your work is so endearingly familiar, so you instantly know where you are coming from.
    And as for your cats, that's just icing on the cake!
    At the risk of sounding a bit weird, I think we must have been twins in a former life...

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  9. Oooh. A female painter. I'll just take my clothes off and pose, shall I?

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    1. She was 6ft tall and would eat you alive...after covering you with paint!!!

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    2. Blimey. That sounds like fun.

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  10. Hi Carol, love the post and the room! And what is the view from your window - LA? (Local Amenity.) Can you keep an eye on Roman Snails and creepy councillors from the safety of your garret?

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    1. Welcome back to the blog, Juliet, and much missed!!!

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  11. Wow, you've been busy! I like the new room and yes, it seems to have been blessed now that the cat has made the obligatory mouse offering.

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  12. Thanks Tallii..it's a thought...

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  13. Hah! I like women, also. Pretty room.

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    1. YOU need to go stand in a bucket of cold water!!! Hahaha. Glad you like the room.

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  14. I love a newly decorated room and yours looks great. I have an urge to start looking at paint colours now...

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    1. Nicest part was playing with colours!! I love my new room!! Lifts my mood every time I go in!

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  15. I can't see Peter's painting clearly in your photos, but I love the one of the macaroons. Our house was completely beige when we moved in, but we're gradually re-doing it in proper colours. The geranium looks great! But have to say am devastated to find out about the sofa...

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  16. Yes,,, couldn't find a way to get pic clearly...but I have him a nice plug! The SOFA exists.....believe me.... I have to live with it in my head all the time.......

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  17. Love that rich pink wall color - geranium, you say? We all have to shake up our writing spaces, and it looks wonderful.

    You know, you can make your pictures bigger fairly easily - click on 'em and change the size to large, or extra large. Then check the Preview to see if that works.

    My cat is going to have to deal with a carpet cleaning in her future, so ALL the rooms are going to be invaded. Still, I will feel so much better when it is done.

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    1. Thanks Kelly and Beverley - I tried the different sized pics...but decided to stick with small. Looked neater and I had problems with the text wondering...see, I'm an oldie and technology bothers me!!!

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  18. We had our bedroom done recently and had to camp out in the spare room surrounded by two lots of furniture and all our junk - I felt like one of those hoarders they make the tv shows about. Decorating is too stressful!

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    1. It was 1 of 5 'project management things I achieved: new outside tap, new lights, new shed, new flat roof...and this. Now all I need is a new publisher...hahahaha I wish.

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  19. I bet the 'life' and 'children' chats were lengthy ones. ;) I love your bold statements, Carol. You make me smile!! :) xx

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  20. Looks really nice. You must be so happy that it is all finished now. I hate the distrubtion decorting causes and I am putting myself through it next week. Just will be so glad when it is all finished!

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  21. What a lovely room to write in I think you should send the picks and blog off to Novelicious.com for their 'My writting room' feature i'm sure they would like it.

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