We're in

After two days' concerted effort, reducing piles of paper to smaller piles of equivalent volume but sorted into "file;" "recycle;" and "shred" followed by much carrying to and fro, dusting and deciding exactly where things should be, we have formally reoccupied the study.

Don't get me wrong - it's not finished. The door isn't on and we still have piles of unsorted CDs, "to do" lists and things to take up into the attic. The wireless printer still isn't out of its box let alone powered up and connected, but the two main desks are in position and the two main computers are sitting on those desks, so I think we can legitimately say "we're in."

We need curtains; we need new lights; Nikki's fireplace is still a gaping hole, but we're in. It is sooo much warmer in this room (at the back of the house, and so South-facing) than it was in the dining room (North-facing) and we have natural daylight instead of an energy-saving bulb. Bliss!

I retrieved my desk calendar from the last bookshelf to move back into the study. As I remarked the other day, it was still set to May 25th. In another two days it would have been exactly 4 months since we emptied the study and began the long process of gutting and refurbishing. The last major project of our first year in this house and perhaps the most satisfying one since, for us, this room is where we will spend most of our time. During those months I've often reflected how glad I am that we chose to tackle this house one room at a time. Being able to close the door (metaphorically!) on a project like this is essential to me. It requires a greater degree of discipline to keep reopening that door in order to carry on with the project, but it allows you some respite when the day's work is done, to be able to move to another part of the house and forget about the dust and the mess.

Before too long, we'll be sleeping in this room while we redecorate our own bedroom. But for now it's enough to revel in its newness. Moving the furniture back in was in a way traumatic, with both of us desperate to avoid putting any dings in the new walls. We needn't have worried. All is in and no damage done. We can, at least for a few precious weeks, relax.