The truth behind the door

I proclaimed yesterday National "Show Me Your Front Door" Day and it was a success...I think.  No one's sent me anything yet, but Nils posted pics of his lovely 19th century farmhouse on his own blog. It made me think of Louisa May Alcott and warm fires and long afternoons with a book.

Anyway, a couple of people claimed that their entryways were too cluttered/boring/ugly/whatever to participate and I guess the front entryway left a wrong impression. Family and most of our good friends come into the house via the side door (leading to the kitchen from the side garden). The reality of the clutter, I thought, might put everyone's mind to rest about just how clean Wordgirl's house is. That is to say...not so very much. 

What emboldened me to reveal our seamier side of life to you is due, in part, to the fact that I just paid $184 to the pharmacy for acne medication for one kid. I thought I was going to have to ask the cashier to "get out the paddles" to restart my heart. No, the dermatologist (our first time to go) didn't say anything about the possibility of remortgaging our home in order to pay for the prescription and the thought did cross my mind momentarily. I told the pharmacist that, in addition to curing acne, this solution had better wipe out cancer and raise the dead, because if it didn't I was going to drive to the doctor's house, throw the medicine into his front yard and back over it with my car.

Anyway...after that kind of shock, I guess I'm ready to throw caution to the wind and let you see a sampling of how bad things can get. First...the door we use:

Next, what's behind it. The "mud room" which isn't supposed to get muddy. Actually, there's a little courtyard/covered porch area for that. Whatever.

Jackets, the Ozarka water dispenser, books, a soup tureen, bike helmets and, when the season is right, motorcycle helmets.

Magazines my mother collected (this is only a portion of the eleventy thousand magazines she has in her house) and gave to me IN JUNE!!! They've been on the floor since then. The in-house recycling bin and the dry-erase board with everyone's memos and reminders on it.

Muddy garden clogs, and a 9x12 pan with all kinds of tiny items gleaned from the console of Mr. Half's truck. Time spent in this exact place: approx. 3 weeks.

Part of the kitchen after breakfast today. Newspapers, a bag of Halloween candy, a Nalgene bottle of water. There are approximately a dozen-plus Nalgene bottles around our house at any given moment. Like my new skeleton placemats? TARGET, baby.

Front living room. This one's okay.


My grandfather's army trunks. Dragged from the closet to look for Halloween junk. No one put them away afterwards.

This is especially indicative of the junk that piles up around our house. This is the piano in the rear living room. Here we have some freebie pens leftover from a the goody bag from a 5K we ran last week. There's a GPS device. A map. A roll of toilet paper...I have no idea why this is here or who put it here. A mailer advertising the need for identical twins for a medical study. We have no identical twins here...no twins at all. Why is this still here? One of several hundred cardboard coasters we have from a local bar that our friend owns. These are ALL OVER THE HOUSE!!

I've spared you the worst parts. The tragic condition of our bedroom closet. The boys rooms which would only make you want to run for a sharp object with which to plunge directly into your eyes. Oh...and... the smell. Yes...that, too. The spare room where someone spread out newspaper upon which to experiment with red food coloring and Elmer's glue in an attempt to make a concotion to spread over his face and simulate a 3rd degree burn (for a First Aid lesson). The laundry room (Oh..the humanity!) , and the bathrooms (not without your shots)

So there you have it. It's not perfect, but it's home. I've posted again at "Imperfect Parent" This one might even make you laugh a little. "Happy Cheeseburgers Come From Happy Cows...or something like that"

Comments

[Heather]

Now THAT'S a little more like it! Now I might attually dare to show you MY clutter! :-)

Your house looks very friendly and inviting.

[V-Grrr.]

Ah, the mark of a great blog is its authenticity.

I'll send photos--don't give up on me yet!

[elise]

Me too! I will send you pictures. I would have done it already, but I have been behind on the reading.

I'm a participator!

[Susan]

This is lovely. Your house looks so warm and comfortable.

[mb]

atta guuuurrrrrrrl
I can identify with this!
>^..^<

your house looks absolutely wonderful - seriously. The wonderful comes from the life within and that is all that really matters!

[Gina]

Your house is very pretty. As always, love that fireplace.

And clutter will be the death of us all!

[Chris]

I've always loved the glimpses of your house. Previous commenters are right - it looks so cozy.

[platypus]

I promise I will send photos but I haven't been home in daylight for a few days except for yesterday when it was tipping down with rain and I'm a wuss so I wimped out... If not before then definitely at the weekend!

[Mignon]

Ahh, I love door pictures. Excecpt for my own. It is so unremarkable and subdivisional that it pains me to go in and out of it. Which is why we don't leave the house through it. We just use the windows, like C-section kids (blatantly stolen from Steven Wright).

[Tink]

I think the whole dang thing looks cozy! I can't wait til I have some clutter. Ever since I put the house on the market, everything feels so sterile. Bleh.

[Nina]

Did I hear someone out there in NEED of clutter? Man, I am going to post a sign in my front yard like those ones that say "Fill Dirt - you haul for free". Mine will say:
CLUTTER - YOURS FOR THE TAKIN'!

Think I'll have any lookers?
haha

[CartwheelsAtMidnight]

OH! I'll play too! I missed reading yesterday so I'm a little behind. Standby for my door!

[kim]

I'm drowning in vomit. My husband and daughter have a stomach flu. I will try and send pics tomorrow. You have a lovely home.

[Kristen]

1.) I'm thrilled to see your clutter, and I never thought I'd have reason to say that to anyone.

2.) Your. house. is. awesome.

[toyfoto]

I've done as you requested. I think.

http://ittybit.blogspot.com/2006/10/behind-door-no-1.html

[sweatpantsmom]

Your house is beautiful. And what I wouldn't give for a mud room! Here in L.A. there is no such thing (I don't think. Or I've been gypped.)

And what it is with things near the front door that become invisible and stay in the same place forever? Right now there's a water bottle there that seems like it's been in the same place for years. I keep meaning to take a sip to check out it's freshness, but now I think it's got a green tinge to it...

[Nils]

Since my house is always utterly pristine, I can't relate at all to this nasty clutter.

Seriously? I love you a little more now that I know you accept (without necessarily encouraging or condoning) a lil mess in your life. I've always felt that life was too short and dustbunnies too plentiful to spend time chasing them.

[Ortizzle]

Ah, Wordgirl... that's not a mess. It's "Comfort Clutter." Or as a friend of mine used to say, what gives a house a "lived in" look.

I love the coziness of your home. And I especially like the loo roll on top of the piano. That's just begging for a caption. ;-)

[Mommy off the Record]

Your house is great - clutter and all. I even think I like the door to your mud room better than your front door. It looks like it has a history - like lots of people have come and gone from that door, like it could tell stories.

[platypus]

I was going to post a door picture today, honestly, but the car thing happened so I didn't. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow....

[Debbie]

I love the identical twins thing and the roll of toilet paper.

The day my house is perfect, please kill me. I would hope that I am always too busy and having too much fun to have a perfect house.

[Mignon]

Ha! Ortizzle said 'loo roll.' Now I will never think of Lou Rawls in the same way...

[jouette]

I love your home, it is so homey and enviting and artistic and beautiful -I'm not one for pristine cleanliness in a house, I want it to be lived in- and yours? it is my dream house. tfs.

[Marsha]

I love seeing glimpses of other people homes. It makes them seem more real to me. I might just have to do this on my own blog.

[Suebob]

It's not that I don't love you. It's that I CANNOT GET YOUR BLOG TO FEED!!! I have been reading in bloglines and you are never there and I forget...sniff...