Must get carpet

Carpet. I have to sort out the carpet.

I have the electrician in the bag, I have the decorator coming on 6 June. The electrics need to be sorted by then so that the decorator's good work isn't ruined. The decorator is also painting the outside of the house.

When he can fit me in - and when I have the balance of my pay-off - the builder will be coming to flag and re-fence my yard. I'm also going to ask him to block up the ex coal hole in the side of the house, and sink a rotary line post socket into concrete so I can get rid of the full-length washing lines.

My next "treat" from me to me will be a garden set I can relax in or work at, with a big parasol. A Very Big parasol. My next new work space will then be a brand new outside office. And the best thing is it will be PRIVATE. No more nosy little brats that don't even live here letting themselves into MY garden and MY house while they're visiting their part-time parents.

But all that's separate. I need to arrange the carpet so that the bedroom and office space is done and attractive and motivational and nice to work in and ...

Do you remember the makeshift desk I made beneath the bedroom window, with a piece of wood balanced across 2 chests? I'm going to clear one of the remaining chests/work station modules and the decorator is going to take the "lid" off that and fasten it between the other 2 so that it's another modular work station. That will give me a little more room in the bedroom, with one more chest gone, and a more secure and much more attractive writing desk. The GIANT corner unit is where the electrical stuff all goes. Apart from one desk lamp on the writing desk.

And the colours? I'm going for terracotta and cream. Feature wall will be terracotta, 3 remaining walls will be cream, the cream will also be taken over the ceiling. I have a pair of terracotta curtains already in there that need extra curtain rings attaching. The carpet will be another shade of beige, just like the others. And the bedding will be the existing quilt cover sets I already have in various shades and patterns of terracotta. I have 2 chairs that will need their seats re-covering, but I shall probably see what remnants I can get that will do the 2 seats plus a cushion or 2 for the bed.

The bedroom furniture is pale maple; the office furniture is pale beech. It doesn't match, but it does blend and the 2 different types of wood differentiate between "work" and "relaxation". I have 2 bookshelf units to go on the walls, the existing noticeboard and a new one, and I think I'm going to get a full-length wall mirror as I don't have a "dressing" mirror anywhere in the house.

While he's there, the decorator will also hang the mirror in the lounge and put a few more things on walls.

I'm getting really excited, partly about getting a "new room" and partly because I'm giving up the rat race again and won't have to come back here. I'm not ungrateful, it's just not a very ... "nice" place to be at the moment, with so much uncertainty and so little communication. It really was my dream job, before the dream was ruined.

It can't come soon enough now. I want to lounge on my lovely new carpet, breathe in the smell of my lovely newly decorated room, and lie back and just look at it. For hours. I do that every time I finish a room.

The British College of Journalism accepted my enrollment on the course I'm doing as a refresher. That's also due to start on 6 June.