It was this time last year. I was doing my house up for proper, all at once in one big push. It involved a rewire. All the carpets were thrown and wallpaper stripped off, and there was much knocking off and plastering. It was in a bad state to start with, like it had never been done for a hundred years. Windows needed replacing, cementing, rebuilding bits. Damp patches sorting out. floor boards up, the central heating packed up. bathroom suite stripped out. It was a lot of work going on. Much needed to dry before more could be done further, so i was working throughout the whole house.

You can imagine just what it was like, and in the depths of dark and cold dank winter; muck, deep muck all over everything, piles of debris in the rooms. It was very very miserable. It was like a house of horrors, like some diabloical crime had been committed and the very fabric of the house was doom and gloom. In short, it was very very depressing.

I had to live in it at the same time. This constant scenery of misery seeped into my whole being and made me depressed. Of course, I knew it was for the best, and only temporary. Eventually I finished everything, and all new carpets, and lampshades and curtains and rails and everything all new, without cluttering the place up with too many tables and chairs, etc. It is very minimalist indeed.

This experience brought it home to me that the scene around you can affect your morale very much, and clutter, too. I try to keep things neat and tidy and clean, like a temple. This helps keep my morale up.