Back to basics when things get hard on Day 11

It's the rooms we don't use so much that need the most attention in this process of letting go of stuff.  I manage to keep the living room, dining room, butler's pantry, and kitchen fairly clean and presentable so they can be used as they need to be used.  When we have company I work like crazy to make the other rooms ready. Our guests are gracious and have never complained.  Usually I'm embarrassed however.  My perfectionism and desire to have things nice always make me feel like I haven't done enough.  I have to work so hard to get things cleared off  and dusted there's no time for the little extras I would like to do.

It's time to start working in those rooms.  I hardly knew where to start when I stood in the upstairs guest room today.  I have pictures of "Before" but I am not ready to post them yet.  I'm not sure I ever will.  I decided to use the basic advice of most of the how to articles I have read over the years.  "Make three piles- sell or give away, throw away,  put away and keep"  So it begins.  I have a vision of the room I'd like to end up with.  It doesn't come from a Pottery Barn catalog, a Pinterest board, or HGTV.  I'm not really into all that.  My life is pretty simple these days with grandchildren, church, and running.  So my inspiration springs from one of those elements-Can you guess the source?

(a note after posting) I had planned to find the Little Golden Book I drew my inspiration from, scan the page, and post the picture.  But I can't find the book.  I've wasted an hour of "letting go" to look for something once again.  It's time to push the STOP button on that kind of thing and get with it.  So if your house is better organized than mind, go to the shelf and pick up your copy of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  When you find the page with Baby Bear's bedroom, the cozy little bedroom with a bed, a dresser, a lamp, and a chair, you will know what I want my guest room to look like.  Oh yes, there is a great, colorfully braided rag rug on the floor beside the bed.