Preparing For Christmas Lunch

  In the course of  the summer I stated 


to my family members  that I would  have everyone  over for Christmas dinner. Then in September it suddenly  dawned on me that though  the rest of my home was in excellent  shape, my living room  was


in desperate need  of decorating. Somehow, time just seemed to fly by


and it wasn't until  early autumn that I started  to consider  what to do  with


the  room  . The deadline was quick 


approaching and I had to get cracking and ensure  it was ready  in time. My home  is full of   distinct  shades of teal as it's  my favourite colour, so I picked


a bold patterned wallpaper as well as a  deep shade of paint for the walls to tie in with the  other


rooms. I wanted to develop  an


intimate and welcoming room  full of character, and add a touch of


sparkle with a lot of  lovely 


glimmering silver accessories. Riping out the stone-clad fireplace was a pretty  messy job, so I hired a nearby  handyman to come


in  and chip the entire  lot off and replaster the


walls. It took two weeks before  the plaster was dry and I could commence  transforming the room  .


Luckily  , I managed to get  the painting and


wallpapering completed  in a day  , but stripping back the floorboards and staining them took the


very best  component  of a weekend. I actually  enjoy  the original floorboards and wanted to show them off, so I chose a rich  chocolate colour to disguise any marks. The concept


of a working  fireplace has been some thing  I’ve often  wanted,


so I had the hearth swept and checked by a expert ready  for the contemporary  wood-burning stove. It


makes a lovely focal point within the room  .


To finish off the living room  I wanted to treat myself to some new


sofas, but the  ones I liked couldn’t be delivered in time for


Christmas. So I came up with the concept  of sofa


covers, which could be  with me in a couple of 


weeks. It was such an straightforward  way of revamping tired-looking sofas - I’m genuinely  impressed with how excellent 


they look  . The gorgeous   pressed-metal chest of drawers arrived in plenty  of time


and it inspired me to add a lot more 


silvery touches to the  room  . I then picked up the tub


chair and silver Morrocan-style pouf so everybody  had


a place  to sit on. All I then needed to do


was choose several my favourite scented candles and that was that!








The author is owner of the Scented Candle Store supplying a wide range of roducts such as Yankee candles and True Grace candles