New Office and Guestroom

I have been busy for the last couple weeks trying to get ready for the guest season.

Those of you who have been to my place will know the problem with my having an office and a guest room; they are the same room. My office furniture was too big and bulky, the guestroom seemed to be cramped and cluttered. I couldn't really have guests and have them be comfortable.

Although I like the comedienne who said her guest room was small, but large enough that when her parents came to visit, they could be comfortable, so she was making it smaller, I have never felt this was acceptable. I suppose it is the background of hospitality of the Midwesterners. I love having company over!

To start with I replaced all my big and bulky stuff with the Scandinavian shelving units (pictured above - more pictures at the link attached) and moved all my audio-video and computer equipment onto the shelves. There is a nice extended shelf to my right (as I sit writing this) that makes a wonderful place to work with my laptop when I have to work from home. It sure beats working at the dining room table; I have a door so I can shut the dog out and get work done uninterrupted by Saga!

In a move that proves that (at least some) behavior is not genetically inherited, I painted the wall behind the shelving unit to a contrasting color. It is a dark green that matches the color of the futon and the sheets for the guestroom. I say that this is something that proves the break between genetics and behavior because it is something that my father would have never done.

The house I grew-up in (in Miami) was the same color inside-and-out for nearly twenty years. Every wall was a disgusting color of light green called "Ming Turquoise." It is a pale green about the color of a melted McDonald's Shamrock Shake. That is, every room but the kitchen (every wall was white), and my parents' room (every wall was powder blue) were this color. The standing joke was that Dad got a really good deal on the paint. It was when I was in high school that it was made clear that other colors of paint existed.

I stayed behind and painted the house while my parents went on vacation that year. (I had a job that summer and did not want to go to Juniper Springs… Funny, now that I have a real job, I think about going to Juniper Springs on a weekly basis… but I digress.)

So my parents went on vacation and I painted. One room beige, one yellow, one a nice sky blue. This was also when I discovered that the story about cheap paint could not be right. I moved the furniture in my parents' room and discovered huge patches of two walls (hidden behind the larger pieces of furniture) had NEVER been painted! They were still the bare concrete block construction of the house. Two gallons of paint were not enough to get that room even.
To this day I cannot stand two things: 1) Painting, 2) Ming Turquoise!

Well, I guess I should close this out. To my friends and family, just one more note: The new guest room is open. Come-on by!

Have a great day!

Don Bergquist – Lakewood, Colorado – 06, March, 2005