Some of you will know that we tried (and failed) recently to buy a house.  We were bitterly disappointed, as the house had modern fixtures and fittings and finally would have been our own (no intrusive inspections, no low-budget fixtures, no ancient carpets that are so full of grime and dirt that they make us cough etc).  It was a government scheme and we were about five people too late.  We got the approval but the scheme ran out of money allocation.  It is possible that we might get one in the new year, (still being built so we would move later on) but I am refusing to get my hopes up this time.

So here we are still, in a house that is cold, with wallpaper hanging off in every room because of part-decoration and because of damp.  But not in EVERY room….  My Christmas present from JT was a decorated dining room.  I started the dining room before my car crash but because of the whiplash injury, every time I tried to continue, it kicked off the neck pain and headache.  Apparently this should resolve in 6 months or so.

So I said to JT that instead of a Christmas present, I would like the dining room to be finished.  Look!

The walls are off-white and the alcoves have pink wallpaper with black and sparkly chandeliers on.  One day I will post how the theme runs around the downstairs.  The fireplace is still disastrous but not a lot we can do about that.  I have tried to balance out its offset style with some displaced pictures.  I sprayed up some cheap frames with black Plasti-coat and put some free postcards and 20p old sheet music in them.  We have not done the floor yet (so still a stained green shadow carpet for now!) as we were not quite sure what would happen with the house in the new year.  The landlady wants to sell ours and so I imagine it will only be a matter of time before her patience runs out, especially with housing prices set to fall in the new year (??!)  We also need different curtains as currently they are dark purple which clashes nicely with the wallpaper.

The mirror, sideboard and table match the black and white theme.  I constructed the table decoration from old bottles, garden foliage and a green metal candlestick.  Mark bought me a very cool glass coloured chandelier for Christmas.

I love it!

Merry Christmas all!  (Me off to a party in a room with wallpaper hanging off – doh!)