Dear LPG

I was browsing the internet not so long ago, and I came across a survey which has found one answer to the question of just how much of this world will belong to me for the foreseeable duration of my lifetime.  They say that an Englishman’s (or woman’s) home is their castle, but it got me thinking about just how much of a castle I have jurisdiction over.

According to a minimal survey that I have researched, having taken my group of friends as the sample, I have deduced that many of us pensioners who still live in our own homes are now on our own in what once used to be the space shared by a much bigger family. Still, how long has it been since we took a proper look at what the average visitor sees when they visit?

I know mine looks alright until you get to the nooks and crannies, although some of the drawers and cupboards are crammed with stuff that seriously needs sorting out.  I have been going to have a go at it for ages, but other things keep getting in the way.  I did start when we were locked down, but when I stand back and take a severe look, things are no better now than they were then.  

Getting back to that website where the results of their study inform about the average amount of floor space in each type of typical sort of home, I have worked out that my terraced home has about 88 square metres of potential storage space and quite a lot of that is in the middle of our rooms and clear.  So, I will start working around each square metre of my house, having made a mini map that I can follow. 

I remember reading a past LPG article which suggested listing and then numbering all your storage cupboards and drawers before you get started so that you can work out where you are up to each time you get back to the sorting. Still, I have decided on a ground map of my home, which I have drawn on graph paper.  There are fewer squares than you think that need your attention that way, although I do agree with OL’s idea of setting aside at least an hour a week for the task. 

I am hoping that this more pictorial approach might help me be a little more successful, and I thought it an idea worth sharing for those readers who, like me, are happy with those pictures where the rooms of your house are in the background until you look at the corners in more detail.  

KB, Beckenham 

KB shares the site where she found the statistics mentioned in her message…

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