Christmas Dining room... emergency warmth and window dressing
Still mid renovation (18 months after moving in). My husband has decided he is making a 600 mile round trip to fetch his parents for Christmas!
Thankfully, we DO have a nice spare room for them, and most of the place they will have to cope (especially the bathroom). Ah well, it's 5th December and I have not a stitch of decoration up and that is NOT me... I go all out... baubles and mistletoe to bang your head on everywhere when I have my way.
Upshot is, this is the room I am onto a mad rush with... nice thing is I can go MAD with grotto-ing it out as all temporary thus repairs are no consequence. What is happening here is the door/window to the bottom of the stairwell only just got installed last week, AND the loft hatch relocated to where the stairs will be, AND the only reason no decorations are out is because the other half is threatening to finally fill the house with brick dust by cutting that door to the far right.
All is in hand though, Ive nearly finished plastering, the floor will be levelled, the hatch will have architrave in the next couple of days, granite top on the half wall poished up, paint slapped on..... what I dont want to do is skimp on the window dressing, the floor can be bare, the skirting stays off, but the main Christmas celebrations are happening right here.
I'm struggling with how to dress the window. The one thing it needs is a little warmth and I'm keen to get the long term window dressing made. The room is open to the lounge, that has ceiling to floor curtains in the material posted, and the dark wood dining table has chairs upholstered in a leatherette ultraviolet purple and black seat.
The curtains need to accommodate (or be easily adjusted to accommodate) the bottom of a stair case in the end, a hallway, not a dining room. The gap to the left between the window and wall is very very small so a nightmare for hanging a curtain pole. To the right of the window will be a tall radiator, and the window sill is a good 30cm deep.
You may say don't curtain it, but right now, the neighbours can see in, and if there is ONE thing I want to resolve, it's this issue of 2 level window covering.
Comments (22)
Rose Williams
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
maya
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help us turn this house in a home for Christmas
Comments (45)Hi, there! What a great start to this room and a great friend you are for helping this gentleman. 1) I agree with what others have said about placing the two sofas facing each other perpendicular to the fireplace, with the coffee table in between and turning the rug. 2) I also agree that the artwork is what should go above the fireplace, not the tv. Then I think the tv could go on the wall opposite the fireplace, if there is enough room. But if placing the tv in the room with the artwork above the fireplace is difficult, then the tv could go above the fireplace. 3) It's hard to tell where the chandelier is located, but if possible, I'd swag it to be centered over the coffee table and centered with the fireplace. 4) I'd place a large tufted bench with roll arms and small side table or floor lamp in the bay window. This can easily be moved aside or in front of the fireplace during Christmas to make room for a large Christmas tree. 5) I'd go with a medium to dark grey on the walls, leaving the moulding white and LOVE the idea of the accent color of purple on the fireplace wall. I'd also paint all the radiators in the same color as the walls to "hide" them a bit. (You can also have boxes built around the radiators to make it look like a piece of furniture.) 6) If you move the artwork, you will have a blank space between the wall sconces. If those are permanent fixtures, you could place an assortment of mirrors on this wall arranged like artwork. 7) I would find a nice buffet (maybe something like this: http://www.westelm.com/products/parsons-mirror-console-g199/?pkey=cconsoles-buffet-tables&cm_src=consoles-buffet-tables||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_--_-) to place under the sconces, then you can place the chairs to either side of the buffet. It would be a great counter to have for entertaining purposes, to put out an assortment of appetizers. And a design like this, you don't have to be too concerned with covering up or getting too close to the radiator. And the chairs can be stored to either side, but be brought out into the main area for entertaining. Alternatively, you could place a large decorative floor mirror leaning against the wall between the sconces (with the chairs on either side) and place a nice buffet console table behind the couch across from it. 8) To either side of the fireplace in the "nooks", I would put some wood console tables or cabinets (they don't have to be a matching set) in a deep rich java. On top of those, I'd place a tall buffet table lamp and place either one nice piece of art on the wall above or an arrangement of smaller art. You could also do one piece on one side and an arrangement on the other. 9) I would straighten the back couch cushions to make them look more streamlined and place the accent pillows against the back in somewhat of a line, rather than haphazardly. So, there would be one small accent pillow for each of the back pillows or at least evenly spaced out. Golds and bronzes would also look lovely with the greys and purples and I like the idea above about adding something zebra print, too. You have such great pieces to work it, I think most of it will just take rearranging and adding a few things here and there. Good luck! I would love to see the "after" photos!!!...See MorePOLL: Tell us your Christmas style!
Comments (68)Being Danish, but having lived in the UK for many many years, and now living and running a small B&B in beautiful Provence, France - we have always celebrated the 24th December Danish style and the 25th English style, so getting the best of both worlds! On The 1st of December our house will be ready and decorated in many delicate, often handmade, bought or made by me, decorations. Flickering candles everywhere. On the first Sunday in December, ie the 2nd Sunday in advent, in the afternoon...until often late, our house would be full of friends and family, young and old, for our traditional Danish Gløgg Party, where everybody brings a little red Wine (for har gløgg) and a little something yo eat. We would make lots if gløgg and lots og æbleskiver, the twi bring served in private or in public places all over Denmark from the 1st of December! The tree itself will always be a real one, you will never ever find an artificial in any colour in our house! We get the fresh tree inside normally on the 22nd December, and it is decorated firstly by putting the brass George Jensen star on the top (always a star never an Angel), then the strings of warm white electric lights are spread around the tree. Then the serious decorating of the tree takes place, often accompanied by us eating some of the Danish Christmas nibbles I have made and drinking some Gløgg. The tree dekorations are all in gold, white, red and green. It takes quite some time to decorate, and finsly we hang the candle holders safely and not below any decorations, as c60 live candles are lit on Christmas Eve after our traditional Danish Christmas dinner and as we sit down around the beautiful tree and just before we open most of our presents. We open the rest of our presents just a few, sometime in the morning on the 25th either before or after a very nice brunch! The live candles are all safe as the tree is fresh, and because of the design of the Danish candle tree holders, and it us soooo beautiful, and we would absolutely have it any other way! On the 6th January sadly like all good things, the decorations cone down...and Christmas is another c 11 months away, and we'll do it all over again! Hope you all have a blessed, nice and quiet Christmas, and how lucky those if us are, who can say just that, and for us this will be our first proper Christmas in la belle Provence, and our Gløgg Party has moved to just before Christmas for varietes reasons! ;)...See MorePOLL: Win an iPad Air - pick an emerging brand from 100% Design!
Comments (293)I like the hamajima takuya vases, I find a lot of Japanese pottery is timeless, it goes equally well with antiques or contemporary themes, elegance is a prerequisite for a Japanese potter....See MoreStruggling with dining room - too many windows
Comments (15)I saw the Kmart and assumed the US, I didn't realise they were in Australia too (also wondered why you were up in the middle of the night but had seen the baby's bottle!). You've posted on the UK houzz so shopping is still tricky :( Dip dye is a great way to transform chairs but I don't think it will work with yours, painting them all over might though, in a shade of green or dark blue. Alternatively (blowing the budget on a light and chairs) you could look at replica eames. You may also be able to find green or blue ones as I've just had a quick look but the legs on these seem to tone with the floor and table. You could get another 2 when budget allows, perhaps with arms for the head of the table http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Set-of-4-Replica-Eames-Eiffel-DSW-Dining-Chair-White-/161431542551?hash=item259611db17:g:jMEAAOSwyjBW5lre i would also have painted the kitchen walls which would make the cabinets stand out a little more. Re the curtains they just seem to overpower the room. Perhaps a form of blinds fitted inside the recess would be better but unlikely to retain as much warmth...See MoreRose Williams
6 years agomaya
6 years agoWe don't have a pelmet. The rail is attached to the ceiling. You can have a string to move the curtains or just oust/pull by hand (as in our kids' rooms).
Rose Williams
6 years ago- PRO
User
6 years agoEither put one pole up and put the left hand side as close to the wall as possible without a finial. The wall will serve to stop the curtain from falling off the end, you can use a multitude of different brackets instead of the one supplied with the curtain pole. It just needs to hold the pole in place at the end. You probably wouldn't notice the lack of the finial on the left.
Or, and this is probably what i'd go for..................a blind for the short window and a door curtain pulled to the right.
wilmet45
6 years agoUser
6 years agoRose Williams
6 years agoEmily
6 years agoRose Williams
6 years agoEmily
6 years agoRose Williams
6 years agoTheyre UPVC, expensive convincing anyone to knock walls out in this place. Not fitted very well so had to go build up exterior render to look right, and it showed up how NOT square the left of the window recess was so had to build that out/ plaster too! It's more to make it homely/soft that I want curtaining, and it's only exposed between the neighbours back yards /our house because the new border was only planted this year and the end result evergreen privacy hasnt had chance to thrive yet... more planting in the spring. It is "the dark side" of the house so want to let light in. End game plan is there will be no ceiling and the area will be lit my velux roof window... but that's a LONG way off! The trick is to try keeping it nice and liveable in the meantime, it means more expense but rather that then totally lose my sanity!
Here is how is WAS out back... and a photo from earlier this year. The purpose of the door is to bring this area into use, not the forgotten inaccessible area it once was.
The half wall, it is the intention to have a surface behind that under the stairs, it doesnt have to stay in the end, but it's unbelievable how much use that little wall gets. It's in the "walkway" at the back of the lounge, and right across from the tv. It will just serve as bit of separation between under the stairs and the walkway/lounge.
Rose Williams
6 years agoEmily
6 years ago
rachelmidlands
6 years agoRose Williams
6 years agorachelmidlands
6 years agoRose Williams
6 years agorachelmidlands
6 years agoRose Williams
6 years ago
Emily