The Big House Countdown to Christmas

We do have a few things left to finish but in the main, December has all been about completing Phase 1 of our house clean up and redecoration project.

It has been about getting ourselves organised and getting the house ready for the holiday festivities and our second Christmas together. It was very close, as the Fella put up the mantelpiece on Christmas Eve, but we just about made it!

So, this meant that:

• curtains were adjusted and hung *;
  
• furniture was retrieved from storage, cleaned up and repositioned;
  
• some new furniture was acquired and assembled (that took a lot of gin and tonic); and
  
• a wreath, a Christmas tree, lights and decorations were put up.

The photos below are simple 'before and after' snaps of the hall, the Kid's room and the living room. They should all enlarge if you click on them for a closer look!

The full slideshow of our Phase 1 work can be seen if you click here. The photos are grouped so that you can see the rooms before, during and after our attempts at DIY.

Hall - Before:

The two photos on the left were taken with a flash, so the hall appears brighter than it really is - the photo on the right is a shot of the hall without a flash!

Hall - After:

Both of these photos were taken without a flash.

The Kid's Room - Before:

The photos of this room looked better than they were in real life, so I have inserted a close up of the trailing plug to illustrate what state the walls were in when you got close to them.

The Kid's Room - After:

The colours and the new furniture were chosen by the Kid.
All he needs to do now is personalise it a bit with some pictures and things!

Main Room - Before:

Main Room - After:

There are lots more photos of the room before, during and after decoration on the slideshow!

Reactions from some family/friends have been a little bit mixed - it seems that they have a deep seated fondness for pine cladding. However, the Fella is delighted with our progress and loves the results so far. His son never used to spend any time in his room and now it is difficult to tempt him out (although admittedly that could just be teenagedom and a batch of new Christmas computer games at work).

The best validation that I have received on our work on the house to date has come from quite an unexpected source - from our Canada Post mail delivery woman, actually. When I was out shovelling snow yesterday, she stopped, introduced herself and said thoughtfully as she looked over at the house,

"You know, I used to wonder if anyone actually lived here. Except - he does get a lot of post - too much post for an empty house. You can tell that a woman lives here now - the house - it has a spirit again."

With that, I kid you not, she quietly stepped away into the snowy slush and continued her postal round. I stood there for a moment, watching her walk away, wondering if I had wandered into a Coen Brothers movie set!

*Notes: Mum, do you remember this Christmas gift that you gave me 5-6 years ago? I am happy to show that it is alive, well and has given me staunch support and companionship throughout a month of drapery adjustments!