What color was your home, bedroom, living room as a child?

"The blue house, on the right, after the stop sign." That's what I'd say when friends' parents would drive me home. For a while, it was "the SECOND blue house" when one of the neighbors repainted, but I think I was driving myself around for the most part shortly after that. Or, maybe everyone knew by then which house was mine.

There were 3 bedrooms on the main level of the house. One was obviously always my parents' room. The other two rooms rotated. (The same thing happened throughout my current family's lives in this house, so maybe that's common?) One room, I'm told was where my grandfather stayed when he lived with my family. After he passed, and I was born, it became my nursery. My two sisters shared the 2nd bedroom. My eldest sister eventually wanted more privacy, so she moved into bedroom #1 on her own. (Why she had my dad remove the door so she could hang strings of beads in the doorway if she wanted privacy, I don't understand...)That put me and sister #2 in bedroom #2. Things aren't completely clear in my head, but it seems to me that the room was either pink or a lighter shade of lavender.

When I was in Junior High (circa late 1970's) we needed more space. The choices were to move into a bigger house, or remodel the basement, creating a family room, and another bedroom and bathroom. (Four females is a lot to put one bathroom through!) They decided to remodel. Sister #1 got first choice of bedrooms. She chose the new one in the basement. Sister #2 got the next choice, she chose the room Sister #1 vacated. That left me in only room I remembered, and really don't recall having a problem with that. I was going to be ALONE!!! That was the important thing. Privacy, personal space... After years of sharing a room, it sounded like heaven. I didn't care where I was!

Little did I know that years later, when Sister #2 and I were much older, we'd revert back to sharing a room (sometimes even a bed!) if mom and dad were gone for the night and we'd hear noises and creaks in the dark house. But, I digress....

After a short period of time, I started to contemplate repainting my room. My parents were hesitant of my choice of green, but they eventually agreed. They even had green carpet put in, which I'm sure wasn't their first choice. I never regretted the green, and I hope they were ok with it overall. I know that the freedoms they gave me allowed me to be more accepting of my daughter's choice of bright white walls with large black circles painted on them...and a black ceiling. Hmm. I even helped paint.

As for the rest of my childhood home, I really don't remember specific colors on the walls. Just the feelings of being in a particular room.

The family room: Watching TV with my family, playing bumper pool during slumber parties with my friends, playing cards and games at the big round game table we all helped my mom refinish, folding laundry while watching the Vikings on Sunday afternoon.

The living room: The more formal room of the house, that's where we hung out with "COMPANY" or aunts and uncles on holidays.

The kitchen: Wow. So many memories. Watching an old B&W TV while my mom made dinner, standing on a chair at the sink washing dishes, rolling Russian Tea Cake cookies in powdered sugar with my grandma, cleaning strawberries we'd just brought home from the U-Pick farm (we didn't eat too many while cleaning them because we'd eaten so many already while picking them!), the smells of certain foods coming from the stove or oven, sitting on the floor--covered with newspaper--carving pumpkins, being scolded for one thing or another, dyeing Easter eggs, getting help with homework, making homemade lollipops with my sister (#2) they day we skipped school together (she made me, I swear)... I could go on forever.

In fact, my oldest memory takes place in that kitchen. Sitting at the table with my mom dunking toast in her coffee. In my mind I see that "ritual" as something special she and I did after my sisters went to school, maybe so I wouldn't feel like I was missing out because I wasn't big enough to go to school yet. I don't know if that's really the reason we spent that little bit of alone time together, but that's the story I'm going with!