That's another fine mess I've got myself into!

Why is nothing ever as simple as you think/hope/expect? Why did I decide it would be a good idea to sort out my workroom, get rid of the mismatched and getting-tatty bookcases, replace the too-small desk with a proper worktable fit for laptop/cutting out/sewing and buy a cupboard with a glass fronted door for my made-up crafts? Can anyone tell me the answer?

To begin with it was so simple. I would remove the six hundred books from the afore-mentioned bookcases, stack them on the floor, make up the new bookcases - well, my other half was going to do this, he blanches when he sees me advancing with screwdriver or hammer in hand! - and put back the books, in a more logical order since the bookcases would all be the same size and it would be easier. The other four hundred books are safely sitting on built-in shelves in one of the fireplace alcoves and had no need to be moved. That was the plan.

The desk would be dismantled, top and drawer unit being reused elsewhere, open shelving to be discarded or used in the loft. Floating shelves to be removed off the walls, holes filled, dab of paint to cover and since they were having bookcases that were being used for craft materials in front, nobody would see the patched holes.

In the other alcove a built in low cupboard and two shelves above were to be removed, again holes filled and painted. And this is where The Master Plan fell apart. The walls were painted this rich deep pinky red, called LULU, long after the cupboard and shelves had been built you see, and so when they were removed, there in all its glory was the original colour of pale blue, as this was youngest son's room decades ago. But I wasn't too fazed, simply get another tin of paint, slap it on, problem solved.

Ah, why is nothing ever as simple as you think? The paint isn't made any more of course... none to be found anywhere, not even the manufacturers could help. No paint currently on the market, ie in vogue, matches, or is anything like really. And so we came to the stark realisation that the room would have to be totally repainted, so BANG went the idea of seeing this sorted over the coming long Bank Holiday weekend. At this rate I shall be climbing over boxes and piles of books for the next week at least. Still, I thought with all these paints on the market, I should be able to find one fairly close to this colour that I love, and which I managed to find a retro lampshade to match perfectly, last year. I hadn't been looking for one, but you know how it is.. you see something and then realise it's just the thing you have been wanting/looking for, so you get it, bring it home and it's perfect. Try as I might I probably wouldn't have been able to find one that matched so perfectly. Now I love it so much I don't want to part with it. Which sort of made the paint-hunt even trickier.

Why is life never as simple as you think? There are loads and hundreds of pinky shades, reddy-pink shades, none of them right at all, not because they don't match the lampshade, they just weren't right. So I came to the conclusion that I would have to change the colour of the room TOTALLY.

Now that is an easy decision to reach, not so to accomplish because of course, there are zillions of paint colours... which to choose? I eliminated most colour ranges on the grounds that we either had a room in that colour - blues/greens/purples/pinks/reds/browns - or because I simply didn't like them - yellows/oranges/magnolias/whites - or because they would clash with the carpet and curtains, and of course, the beloved lampshade. I was left with very few as you can imagine, so decided I might have to be a bit more relaxed about my choice.

Another problem is that the colours on the paint charts differ from the colours on the websites... and neither may be an accurate version of the REAL colour, ie that in the tin. How often have you bought a tin on the basis of a colour chart, got it home, prised the lid off with a knife or screwdriver, only to be faced with a colour you weren't expecting, and you let out a small shriek of shock/horror or groan of disappointment? Well, if you are anything like me, that'll be several times then!

In the end, I have settled for a feature wall - the fireplace wall - and three pale walls, with fingers crossed that the latter is nearer the colour in the chart than on the website. The feature wall colour is picked up in the lampshade, though not the main colour, and all will go with carpet and curtains. It will be a complete change to this womblike existence in the deep pinky red room, but I am looking forward to a more grown-up looking space, with well-organised craft shelves, book shelves, stationery cupboard.

But before that can happen, I now have to take all the books off the shelves in the alcove so that we can paint the wall behind it.... I know it will take two coats of the paler shade to cover this strong colour on the walls at present.... and I know this will take care of this weekend, the rest of this week, and probably most of next week as well. On top of which all my seeds have germinated and need repotting and all the poppy seeds I haphazardly chucked in a pot of old soil, sorry two pots, have germinated... I now have hundreds of black oriental poppies and the fabulous thick and frilly red poppy that appeared in the front garden last year, from which I took seeds - the black poppy seeds came from a friend in Scotland. I never expected them to take, but as my gardening occasional emailer James says, they are tough old things and will grow anywhere. (He's at Chelsea this week, a rare treat to see him on telly on Monday night, and even nicer to see Nigel Havers last night... sorry James!)

Still, can't sit around here blethering all day, need to get on and move these books. Have a great long weekend, whatever you are doing.