Tuesday 17 December 2013

Christmas Past and Present

Today is the anniversary of a landmark moment in our development. Exactly one year ago today, we finally got central heating. After nearly 5 months of progressively becoming colder as the seasons changed, by December 17th it's fair to say we were ready to kill someone- the builders, the gas network, each other. If only those frozen fingers had the ability to grasp! 

Sometimes it feels like one step forward and two back but putting up the Christmas tree this year inspired me to look back at last year's effort and I realised just how far we've come in that time.

As you can see below, we'd tried to make the living room as homely and cosy as possible. It's definitely eclectic...

Our inherited and hideously in-efficient electric fire taking the edge off. Yes there are 2 sets of bath taps in this photo. Best not to ask!
Watching Eastenders 'cause we're classy like that. 

Fortunately, this summer we enlisted the services of a fantastic painter/decorator so the room is now a much more pleasing shade. 

As you can see the sunburst mirror is still occupying pride of place. As for furniture, we're just using what we have at the moment so it's not ideal or perfectly matching but carpets, cleanliness and festive decorations are making the space a joy to occupy in stark contrast to previous months!
Oka coffee table still going strong. You can see the fireplace has been painted. More on that to follow.
The infamous dresser in it's new home. The ridiculously large but supremely comfortable Andrew Martin sofa is destined for downstairs. Once we get some new streamlined sofas and have undertaken the necessary graft, the dresser will be shown off to it's full potential and hopefully won't seem so boxed in.
One new addition, my glorious buffet console (ignore the unsightly plugs). I decorated a plain wreath for a bit of pizazz.
'Whare' was a gift from a relative in New Zealand. It means 'Home' in Maori. Rory Dobner tile displayed under dome.

Next on the agenda is to get some blinds installed. As you can probably tell, we have a high tolerance for making do. Last year one of the sash windows had a 4 inch gap at the top, so the gale howled through into the room making for some bracing evenings. Blinds are seriously the least of my worries!

Hopefully these photos illustrate some positive progress. Lots still to do but it's moving in the right direction!







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