Wednesday 11 August 2010

a window of one's own

Something's been bothering me for ages. It's bothered me ever since we moved into our old house when I was vastly pregnant, and therefore not agile enough to stop my husband annexing what was in theory our joint study by filling it with guitars and great tangled snakes of cable and pointless bits of paper that CAN'T BE MOVED BECAUSE I MIGHT NEED IT ONE DAY.
It has bothered me probably more in this inbetween house, where there's no study and I work from the spare bedroom - surrounded by unpacked boxes, random articles of skiwear that haven't seen snow in years, and small people raiding the desk drawers.
And it is the main reason, if we're honest, I fell in love with the crumbling wreck of a house we are now attempting to buy. It's got enough room for a study, but even though I now work from home and my husband from an office, I'm resigned to it not being entirely mine. But what it has is deep, thick walls: and that means there could be windowseats.
Admittedly, the windows are so rotten they're falling out and the walls are crumbling around them but still: windowseats! I have ALWAYS wanted a windowseat.
There could be piles of cushions, and streaming sunlight, and ideally very long curtains to hide behind: and that might buy me easily three minutes with a book and a cup of tea before someone comes running to make me play 'truck games, mummy!' or ask where the phone charger is.
Everybody needs somewhere in a home to hide. Men have sheds, in which to smoke furtively and read motorbike magazines: children crawl under tables; my grandfather had a greenhouse in which to hide from my grandmother (I don't think he even pretended there was another purpose to it). I'm not even asking for a room of my own, just a bloody window.
Although don't get me started on the idea of a pantry....

6 comments:

  1. "my grandfather had a greenhouse in which to hide from my grandmother"

    Ha. In plain view. Like it.

    My mum acquired a pantry about nine months ago, aged 62 and 1/4. Probably not an exaggeration to say it was one of the main draws of the house, has changed her life and made it all worthwhile. I am unbelievably envious.

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  2. You totally need somewhere to hide. For me, its my greenhouse, but a window seat would be just as good, because you wouldn't even need to go outside!!

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  3. motorbike magazines? I believe him.

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  4. Bizarrely window seats are my own property porn dream too............... But it would need to be big enough to curl up on.

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  5. One day, maybe 5 years or so from now, my dream of a garden room will come true. The children will tire and grow bored with the climbing/slidy thing erected by the grandparents at the foot of the garden and I shall sneakily install a garden room from John Lewis or somewhere similar. There will be only 1 key on a long chain around my neck. If I call it a shed, B husband will want it...and that won't do. Completely understand the window thing but suspect it would only be a temporary condition on the way towards a proper room. Good luck!

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