Hello December!

What more could the 1st of December bring than snow?

It’s just properly hit us here this morning and I couldn’t ask for a more perfect start to December.

Tonight, I shall be warming up the mulled wine, eating chocolate coins and unpacking all the Christmas decorations.

I have been incredibly strict with myself this year and have only bought a glass dish (on sale) for holding chocolates (it isn’t Christmas without a glut of Quality Street) and fabric for my homemade wreath which I shall be making tonight.

My street is beautiful here right now – the old houses look warm and cosy under the thin blanket of snow and I’m so happy we chose this place to live. Nothing brightens up my day more than entering a beautiful street when I walk to and from my home. I guess being choosy about my street really did pay off.

Happy December and have fun getting those decorations looking gorgeous!

A Long Hallway Table

Remember when I showed you my hallway? I had just found a huge table that would fit in it. Well, it arrived I was at the office. "Bloody hell this table is huge!" was the text I received from Matt. At first, he wasn't convinced by the table. Hell, even I was a little unsure when I saw the unsightly thing in our hallway - but I knew I could see the potential.

Still - it's pretty ugly.

We'd already chosen the paint as I had already created my display case so I got to work painting two layers of primer and followed it with two layers of 'Aladdin'. I picked up some inexpensive dust sheets to protect my floor - way cheaper than thicker sheets and much larger than bin bags. It took well over a day to get the finished result - and I got very impatient - but it looks a million times better!

I really love how the mini cabinet creates an added feature. And you get a little glimpse of the decorative paper inside when you walk past!

It's definitely livened up the hallway and I hope it will continue to grow with decorative objects as the months pass.

This is the first time I've ever painted a piece of furniture - and I'm so pleased with the results. It's so easy - and I still have loads of paint left over so I can create matching items.

Don't dismiss an item of furniture on first glance - just think of the possibilities!

Being Nice to your Landlord (And Playing Detective)

When we viewed this flat 8 months ago, there was one small obvious flaw. And that flaw was on our living room wall.

A huge damp patch creeping down from the ceiling. I was told by the agent that it had happened just recently and that the problem had just been fixed (there was scaffolding outside the house so I believed her). In a couple of months, the wall would dry out and it would be re-painted and that would be that.

Perfect. I thought.

2 months later we had the wall painted. A few weeks after that, the mark came through again. This, I was told, was because the cause of the problem hadn’t gone away and no matter how much we painted it, that mark would come back.
I decided to do some investigating and in the summer, I popped round to the flats next door to see if they had a problem, too. Both the flats next to mine (on the same level and below) had damp problems on that wall and it all started to appear once a fire escape had been installed a year ago. I went out onto the fire escape and took some pictures of the mould on the wall.

The source had been rotten leaves that had been removed the week before by our neighbour’s landlord in a desperate bid to fix his own walls.

But this was good news. Their landlord obviously cared enough to get the problem fixed so I took his number and sent an email of my findings.

Hi Pauline,

I’ve been speaking to people in the flats next door to see if they’ve been affected by the damp on the wall. I’ve had the same story from both of them – that it started about a year ago and has something to do with the fire escape.

Apparently their landlord removed a lot of gunk from the fire escape and drains last week but isn’t sure if that is what has caused the problem. The couple in Flat K (ground floor and directly next to ours) are moving out in 2 weeks so I imagine he’ll want to try and fix the problem before getting new tenants in.

I’ve attached pictures of our wall, the wall directly next to ours in Flat K, next door, and the outside adjoining wall of both properties (13 pictures in total).

I got the mobile number of their landlord, Steve, 07*********, in case you think it’s a good idea to talk to him about it and possibly work together in fixing the problem?

I’ll give you a call to talk to you about it in more detail, but thought it was worth giving you as much information as possible.

Best regards,
Jenni

A nice email, I think. One that isn’t demanding or accusing and tries to be the nicest as possible when asking for work that will come at an expense to the recipient.

Contractors were soon sent out to take a closer look at the problem and I was told the best thing to do would be to re-plaster the entire wall. First they’d paint over it once more to prove that there is no other option and get to work on the wall in the New Year.

Today, the painter is here – giving me a bright new wall just in time for guests to arrive in December. I’ve been patient and polite and now my flat is becoming perfect.

If you have any problems with your rented property, be as nice as you can and you’re more likely to get help. Also – make sure you’re only making valid requests for work and can back up your reason to have it done. But it has worked with me and I am very happy. Bring on the wall!

CD Rack turned Ornamental Display Case

When Matthew re-arranged his room, he brought out a CD rack that has been hiding in there for the past 7 months.

We wondered about giving it to someone, and as we were talking about it, I said “and see, you’ve already sanded it down so it’d be perfect for someone to paint and…. no, wait - I want it!

I thought back to a post I’d read over at Cherry Menlove when she painted a pigeon hole, and hung it up on a wall in her hallway to display trinkets and sorts and I thought that was definitely something I could do.

I briefly wondered where I could hang it, and then a very clever idea came to mind – instead of adding yet more holes to the walls, I could display it on the new table in the hall! That thing is so big that it really needs something huge to be put on it – and this would be perfect.

So with a weekend of painting ahead of me, I started to get a bit excited. On Friday night I went to Wickes to choose some paint and we decided on 'Aladdin' - a deep purple colour - for the table, and I got some plain white for the CD case. But halfway through painting the case white I decided I didn't like it and cracked open the purple.

Once that was dry, I measured the squares and cut out pretty wrapping paper to decorate the insides with (£1 a roll - bargain). I chose two similar prints in different colours and glued them in place. Then decorated the shelves with some tiny ornaments.

Over Christmas this will be beautifully decorated with all things festive and after that I'll try and find little bits and bobs to display. Trying not to be too girly, of course, as Matthew still wants the hall to look a bit masculine for when his clients walk down there to his studio - although I don't think I've quite mastered that as currently there are 3 fairies and some stones.

Now just to get the table painted! Stay tuned!

The Hallway

My hallway is long. Very long. Over 7m long, in fact, and I have spent 6 months having no idea what to do with it.

Ideally, I'd like to have the walls covered in photographs but as I'm in rented accommodation, I don't think my landlord would be too happy with that amount of holes in the wall. Because of this, I've left it empty.

Which is a shame, really. Because it really is a large part of the flat, and one which is used multiple times daily to go from one end to the other. But because it's so long (and made to look even longer with my mirror at the end) it needs something huge to fill it, and I've never been able to find anything big enough (and which doesn't cost over £100) that would look right... until yesterday.

Spiral Charity Shop - where I got my chair - is the best place to find cheap furniture and I went looking without actually imagining I would find something. But I found a table that would be perfect. 190cmX36cm - narrow enough that it won't stand out too much and long enough that it will look as though it was meant to be there.

I may not get the table delivered for another week but I am desperate to get started on it (painting it up nice and decorating it for the festive season) so I wanted to show you a 'before' shot and give you a glimpse of the empty hallway before I start on my new makeover.

Oooh I'm excited!