We’re presently having our home spruced up by a wonderfully efficient and amiable team of painters, from top to bottom, inside and out. And we can see already that it’s absolutely going to be worth it, albeit that our minimalist tendencies (when we’re not talking library!) always stay with same old, same old white!

But one forgets how exhausting it is. Walls can’t be painted unless the furniture’s moved; bookshelves can’t be painted unless row upon row upon row of books are not first boxed and stacked – said boxes stacked neatly enough, but usually right where painter number two needs to be in five minutes.

And all the “stuff” in bathrooms, kitchen, lounge, dining room, study and bedrooms looks just fine when in its usual home neatly placed. But there seems to be more than you ever dreamed you owned when the painter’s brush is itching to get into every nook and cranny, quickly. Oh, and dry cleaning curtains. Did I mention the curtains?

Hey but the understairs cupboard has been bottomed too. Half a dozen good but unused coats were delivered to the charity shop this afternoon, together with a station wagon’s load of other surplus. And we’re seeing the merits of being able to find that which was lost forever in the blink of an eye. This is good. We are going to be soooo pleased with ourselves by the end of next week. And Marie Kondo would be proud of us – and come to think of it, the joys of being spruced up are such that I think I’ll re-read her inspirational book. And then there’ll be some more de-cluttering still!

Oh, and the light. Of the new white 😉 (but we’re not doing it again in a hurry!)