We turned this old farmhouse into a three-bedroom, with the fourth becoming a new walk-in closet and master bathroom. We didn't think we'd miss the fourth one much because we thought if we have kids, we'd like them to share rooms anyway. And there's a large attic where we plan to have an extra hide-a-bed for guests when it's finished.
For most of my elementary school days I shared a room with my sister Carrie. She is almost two years younger than me. I was bossy, and Carrie was sweet and would do almost anything I'd ask her to. We each had a twin-sized bed in our room, and we would rearrange it often, to keep it interesting. Sometimes we'd have the beds directly across from each other, with a night table in between, and sometimes they would be on adjoining walls so that we could whisper at night when we were supposed to be sleeping.
The color in our bedspreads was called dusty rose, and we each had a porcelain doll on a stand on our dresser. And we had lots of barbies, which we kept in separate boxes because Carrie liked to throw hers all together and I liked to sort mine, with their clothes and accessories carefully stored in their own places. And we loved to set up a mansion for them in our bedroom, with the little barbie doll furniture and clothes that Grandma June made for our birthdays each year.
My older sister Jessica had a room right across the hall, with a daybed and a blue comforter. From time to time I would get bored with my sleeping arrangements and decide to move onto the trundle bed in Jessica's room. As a middle child, I always felt kind of jipped because Carrie had a room and Jess had a room, and I would float back and forth between them. But I guess I maybe liked it that way. However, Jessica wasn't at all acquiescent when it came to my bossiness, so we usually didn't last too long as roommates. Besides, Carrie and I liked to keep things fairly tidy, while Jess wasn't as concerned about dirty socks on the floor and apple cores on the dresser.
When I was about 11 and Jess 13, Mom decided to move the washer and dryer upstairs. I was in Jessica's room at the time, with Carrie just across the hall, and the two babies in their room across from Mom and Dad. Anyway, with our room becoming the new laundry room, Jess and I thought it would be a great adventure to move downstairs, because you see we were all grown-up and mature by this time. Dad cleaned out the old room downstairs and painted the floor and set up the bunk beds he had built, and we carried all our belongings down and hung curtains and laid a rug.
And there was a big work cabinet on the wall in the room, and we thought wouldn't it be so hip if we put our stereo up in that cabinet with one door swinging open with the speakers inside, and then we'd play Bryan Adams really loud while we put away all our things in our new room. And when our girlfriends or the Bacon boys would come over, we decided we were just about the coolest thing since sliced bread, with that new downstairs room to hang out in.
So I guess personal space is real nice, but sharing was probably the best, when you can whisper in the dark with the lights out and learn to share your things and make sacrifices and have a sister to set up Barbie Doll mansions with or sing along to the
Best of Bryan Adams.
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