The clever (but cancelled after two seasons. Ain't that always the way?) TV series "Dead Like Me" featured a character called Dolores Herbig. Dolores' life outside of work consisted of keeping up her internet presence on her site: Getting Things Done with Dolores. She turns on the webcam and people enjoy watching her do things like alphabetizing her spice rack, organizing her socks according to color and changing her shelf paper in the kitchen.
I think that the writers intend that most of the audience feel hip and cool and far above this unglamorous middle-aged woman that likes to keep busy around the house.
Me?
I think Dolores ROCKS!

But maybe that's because I'm a middle-aged woman that likes to keep busy around the house and then post about it on her blog? Just an idea...

Anyway, today on "Getting Things Done with Beth" we are facing the Cupboard of Doom. (Don't be scared. There's a happy ending)

This cupboard is built into one corner of our dining room. When we bought the house, it was painted iron gray and the shelves were lined with old contact paper. We painted the outside to match the new wallpaper we put up and called it good. That was back in 1994.
Last fall, when I re-plastered the room, I (coward that I am) ignored the closet. I just had no idea what to do with it.
But two days ago, I gathered all my courage and peeled off the contact paper. Underneath, I found SIX layers of wallpaper and thick, black mildew. Getting all that paper off required lots of scrubbing, scraping and grimacing. I was mildly worried about toxic spores and premature death due to same.
Here's the bottom layer:
I managed to scrub off most of the mildew with a bleach solution. Then I treated it with a special product for problem walls.
Then I put on a coat of nice white paint and added cheerful checked shelf paper. It's not put on very well, as I was quite rushed at the end. We had just realised that the furnace was no longer working and I wanted to get done quickly. But still, it's a vast improvement.

And here is the interior of the cupboard, fulfilling its role as a mildew-free pantry.

The exterior? That's not really my problem. JP took over that project a while back. He has spent hours on it, carefully sanding and painting. He even had the paint custom-mixed.

The resulting color has earned the cupboard a new name: The Wehrmacht Closet. That's what we call it. Srsly. It's a depressing brownish-green color that gives the impression that besides storing organic pasta and olive oil, it just might hold spare parts for panzers.

But at least it's mildew-free, right?