We acquired a piece of furniture this morning that meant reorganising the front room. This is a room that daughter has overtaken for the past few months and was quite frankly a mess. It is a lovely room that I, in particular, worked hard to strip, paint and wallpaper to bring back it's Victorian elegance.
It has fabulous carpet and an authentic looking fireplace installed. Sadly, it had been looking grubby and tatty of late. But no more.
I worked all day with every nook and cranny cleared, dusted and hoovered. The furniture had to be slightly re-arranged such that it now looks amazing. I lit the fire and put the lamp on, now it is in a more convenient place, and have been sat all evening in my palace enjoying the splendour after all the hard work. The kids have strict instructions about keeping it tidy now and one can only hope.
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Sounds wonderful, would love to see!
Sunday, October 16, 2005 10:18:00 PM
Amazing that.... I did all that "house making" stuff today, blogged about it and then toddled over to your blog to find you have written about your dream house! Must be something in the water :-)
Sunday, October 16, 2005 10:22:00 PM
I'd love to see a picture of that. A fire (in the fireplace) sure sounds good right now.
Monday, October 17, 2005 12:44:00 AM
Doris:
Your description reminded me so much of my aunt's living room. She had a Victorian styled house built in 1890 that had the traditional parlor with a 10 foot ceiling and tall windows. But the fireplace was what gave it that certain ambiance, especially at night when we had a small fire going. It was great place to sit and read a book.
Thanks for visiting tonight.
Scot
Monday, October 17, 2005 12:49:00 AM
give it a week and the magazines, dvds, etc will all appear again ;)
sounds like a really stunning room though, congrats on getting down and making it into the room that YOU want :)
Monday, October 17, 2005 1:42:00 AM
The fireplace would be really nice right about now. I'm glad you have a cozy place for relaxing.
Monday, October 17, 2005 3:09:00 AM
I loathe cleaning BUT there's always that buzz of pride when things look wondeful at the end ... makes you want to walk past the doorway and just glow gently with pride that this belongs to you! And a fire, perfect for the rainy autumn evening we had last night!
Monday, October 17, 2005 6:32:00 AM
Yes, establishing a kid free zone is vital! Or at least an area which they don't bury in their stuff relentlessly. Our is a little oasis for the grown ups in a sea of clothes strewn all over the floor, CDs left out of their cases behind wardrobes, wet towels scrunched up and stuffed down the back of beds, carpets of soft toys under foot everwhere, plates with toast crumbs in the wardrobe...
Lay mines in the hallway, with some observation towers strategically posted...I find it works...
Enjoy your snactuary ;-)
Monday, October 17, 2005 10:51:00 AM
Hey - invented a new word...snactuary! Where grown ups can sit quietly in front of the box with a big bag of kettle chips!
Monday, October 17, 2005 10:52:00 AM
Sounds great - very satisfying work too. Am part way through Kebab & Intrigue, and enjoying it.
Monday, October 17, 2005 12:26:00 PM
Please come into my SNACTUARY said the spider to the fly..... I love it Jo!
Sorry no pics.... and already last night those dratted kids went off without straightening cushions, putting away the remote control nor removing hair styling products Grrrrr. They are close to being banned altogether.
The ceilings are high but only about 9 foot. It is not a grand house but is bigger than the average Vitorian terrace - which it isn't!
I might have cheated slightly on my fire description... it is a gas fire but such a good one that once it has been put on and warmed up and the coals are glowing, you could not be sure that it was gas. All the look but none of the effort. We don't get that real fire burning smell which is a pity. It is wrong to say none of the effort, as I have to periodically take the special coals out and hoover them and any residues that have crumbled over the gas holes - and that's what I also did yesterday.
It is lovely and cosy in there when the fire is on and the lights are on low, with gorgeous red and gold velvet curtains; red damask patterned vinyl wallpaper, Victorian fireplace with a light art noveau flower pattern tiles; cast iron surround; wooden mantle; black hearth; thick gold carpet and generous size sofa's with an Egyptian/Greek (it really doesn't know which it is supposed to be!) style pattern in reds and golds, and roll arms. And especially nice now the clutter and junk is gone. Instead it is strewn around other parts of the house awaiting despatch!
Monday, October 17, 2005 2:30:00 PM
Now all you need is the crisp golden twilight of an autumn Sunday. The perfect room for lounging with fire on during the late afternoon?
Monday, October 17, 2005 4:33:00 PM
There is SOOO much satisfaction to be got from sitting down in the room once you've tidied it ... . Now, any time you want to pop round here, you know you'd be very welcome ... :).
Monday, October 17, 2005 4:51:00 PM
Grubby and tatty is "de rigueur" in Bogsville. We tried elegance but it just turned out cheap and cheesy.:(
Monday, October 17, 2005 7:01:00 PM