An Imaginary Room

I visited the Wandering the Halls of Soul Food page and found the prompt – Claiming Nooks at Soul Food.  This got me to thinking what my sacred space would be like if I started from scratch.

The room would be about ten feet square. Not too large nor too small. It would be positioned in the NE corner of the house allowing me plenty of light and air from windows in two walls. I’d have adjustable, wooden louvre shutters on the outside for protection from noise and weather – particularly the bone-searing summer sun.

The walls would be painted in a cool colour. A shade of either lilac, turquoise or blue, or maybe all three. Life’s too short for beige!! The floor would be tiled. I’m all for ease of cleaning, and you can get paint off a tile floor; you have more trouble getting it out of carpet. I like hard floors, and tile rather than wood. Wood scratches. I live in a ‘sandy soil’ place and it blows and tracks in constantly, and you can never get it all out of carpet.

I would have ONE large, comfortable chair; one that I can curl up in. I’m not very tall and find that chairs were not designed with me in mind. I can’t slouch in a chair and if I put my feet on the floor my back is nowhere near the back of the chair. If I sit back in a chair, my legs stick out like barrow handles. Therefore, I have to have a chair which will accommodate my legs as well.

There would be two (at least) bookcases. One for fiction and one for non-fiction. An adjustable lamp with a decent wattage globe. I find that I need more light on things these days to make reading easier. That’s the one thing that bugs me about getting older – my eyesight is not what it was and I need glasses to read these days, and to watch TV. Sometimes a pair of glasses would be good in order to look for my glasses!

A trestle table would hold my arty-farty stuff (some of it, anyway). I suppose a cupboard would be good, too, to store the overflow. I’d keep my sewing machine in there too.

A clock! Yes, definitely a clock. Not because I’m preoccupied with time – I haven’t worn a watch in years – but for the soothing sound of a ticking clock. None of your digital rubbish. I want a proper clock with cogs and springs. Possibly one that chimes gently on the hour. It resonates with times gone by when life was less rushed.

I think I might like one of those table water features too. Something tasteful, not tacky. The sound of water trickling is very relaxing – provided you don’t have a full bladder!

A large cork-board is a necessity for displaying items of interest, which would change frequently, and notes to myself. Something else which is useful now too.

One wall would display the works of art by my children and grandchildren. I have some lovely pieces they’ve given me from time to time. Some framed ones are on the wall and unframed ones are displayed on the fridge. The latest one is a red scribble by Lincoln, aged two.

My Buddha collection would be displayed on a shelf. It’s not a huge collection, and will get no bigger. Only eleven and one is too big for a shelf, so only ten would go in there. I have a Quan Yin which would also go into the room.

Oh, yes. An adjustable office chair to use at the table. Maybe a small rug, but I’m not sure about that. No phone; no radio.

The finishing touch would be a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign to hang on the door.

Sue - Toasted Knees