Dear LPG, 

One of the posts on this website succeeded in getting my conscience doing a bit of serious overtime when I read what NM had to say in a recent post  (►►►).   

I took on board everything that was said about one’s house being the one place where you can please yourself, and I feel fortunate to be able to do that.  Like the writer of that other message, I live alone now, but people visit me, although few get much further than the front room.  Even a visit to the loo only necessitates going to the room just behind the front door.  I put the Hoover around twice a week, and all is good.

Well, all was good until recently.   Another LPG post sparked a conversation with my children about making a Will, which I have been going to do for ages, although I have just started.  It does not matter whether you are filling out a solicitor’s questionnaire, one of those do-it-yourself Will kits, or an online application form; the big question has to come up before too long. 

I am talking about the one where you are supposed to state the current value of your house if you own it.  Well, I had yet to learn, and even though you can get a rough valuation online, the question got me wondering what mine is worth.

I decided that there was only one way to find out.  Many house owners get those letters from estate agents offering a free valuation because their surveyor will be in the area.  I usually ignore them, but I wanted to entertain an expert opinion.  It was then that I realised that my downstairs reception areas are lovely, but upstairs never gets seen, and the thought of a stranger looking at what has essentially become one big upper-level storage area was not going to happen.

It is funny how the thought of an upstairs visitor got me thinking about tackling the upper level of the house.  I mention this in case any readers had accumulated an upstairs hoard, which had yet managed to trickle downwards because, when I mentioned this to a couple of other visitors, one said my house looked immaculate.  He said it could not be that bad and that I didn’t need to worry because everything looked ship-shaped to him.  But the other mentioned how embarrassed I would feel if I got ill and had to have the doctor in.  That got me thinking, and I initiated a plan of action.  

I first stood at the door of the four rooms upstairs and took a photo of what they looked like.  I now dedicate one hour a week to sorting it out to raise the standards upstairs to the level of what can be seen by my downstairs visitors.  

When I started, my weekly sort-out session would leave me working hard for over an hour, but I would look back at what I had done and see no difference.  But take a new picture of the part you have done and another photo from the door of the room you have worked on at the end of each session. You can see the difference without inviting a stranger to offer an opinion; somehow, it is easier to show a friend the pictures if you need outside encouragement.  Whether you rent or own, giving back to your space is essential. 

I made a start in my bedroom, and although I am not planning to get that sick in the near future, and while there is a lot of work still to be done, I think that I will be less embarrassed about what the doctor will see if he ever has to climb the stairs now.   

OL, Sydenham.