katiefoolery

One of the main sources of delight in moving to this three bedroomed house was that I was finally going to have a writing study. I’d be able to vanish to the other end of the house and sequester myself in a little room all of my own, complete with a rather boring view of the clothesline. There I’d sit, surrounded by books and writing my little heart out.

In theory.

In reality, it didn’t quite work that way. It started off promisingly but when Bindi moved in, a good deal of the boxes that were in the other spare room were shifted into mine. And that seemed to start a trend. The minute something was surplus to requirements, it ended up in my study. Boxes of books, defunct air-conditioners, the cat... And in Winter, the clothes horse over the heating vent is in constant use, making my study more of a laundry than anything else.

It’s not a big room and it ends up feeling a little cluttered and overwhelming and not at all conducive to sitting down and doing some writing. Here’s a visual aid:

You can see a lovely display of laundry, a pointless air-conditioner (at least until Summer rolls around again), the boxes of books (which I’ve covered in a red tablecloth in a vain attempt to disguise them) and a bonus shot of the rear end of Pickle. My ‘study’ is always kept shut, so she takes advantage of every opportunity to sneak in and sniff things.

Oh, and there’s my desk. If I sit down at said desk, this is what I’ll see:

Inspiring, isn’t it? I know they say that a nice view is more of a distraction than anything else, but surely a messy one is just as bad.

Nevertheless, I love escaping to my study. My laptop isn’t connected to the internet, so I’m free from that temptation. And it really is at the other end of the house, meaning I’m not distracted by the TV that always seems to be on. I was sitting at this very desk the other day, pondering my dilemma, when I suddenly realised that there was a ridiculously simple solution to everything. If I couldn’t get rid of the boxes and the laundry, then why didn’t I just block them out with a screen?

Thus, last Saturday, I set off on my quest to find a screen. It proved harder than I’d thought, but I eventually managed to track one down. It arrived today and I must say that it’s doing an admirable job so far. Let’s have a look at the evidence...

Now, if we peek into my study, we’ll see that it’s been neatly divided in two. One on side is the laundry slash junk room. On the other is my study. (Complete with the original of the fanart the good

flippyfrog drew for me. It’s on the far right-hand side, above my chair. Eeee! Fanart!!)

And if I sit down at my desk to begin writing, what do I see? Why, the very image you see below: a screen. A screen, blocking the view of the stupid boxes of books and annoying laundry. It’s wonderful!