I have some basic ideas about how I want to arrange this year’s Christmas table. They all consist of simple, effective and practical details. There will be quite a few of us so I’ll want to save on table space but if you’re having a small gathering by all means go all out and fill that baby up with candles, vases of flowers and twigs and other decorative pieces! Take a look at the pictures that are inspiring me and whatever you do don’t forget about the kids! I can’t wait for Georgie and his cousins to see their little table setup, inspired by the last picture.
home and design
The walls of our guest toilet room are blackboards. You may remember when, over one intense weekend, I painted it myself. And may I add how I have not regretted it for a moment. Friends and family have a field day scribbling on the walls. Our family loves leaving notes and little sketches for each other. Georgie has been practicing writing letters and forming words and I adore finding his pictures and little designs. But there’s one particular space, right over the toilet, which is just for me. Every now and then I like to take the time to create something big and nice. So I’m looking for some inspiration this season.
Before making the move into our new home, papa and I made a deal: Nothing unnecessary would be coming with us. It seemed to me that our lives were drowning in an abundance of stuff we didn’t use therefore didn’t need. Migraines would occur whenever I opened my cupboard or looked in a drawer. Later on stress would build up and choke me as I failed to put the image of chaos out of my mind. We filled boxes, said ‘goodbye stuff’ and carried on with our lives.
Displaying Georgie’s art has been on my list of things-to-do for an embarrassingly long time. I have a folder where I keep not only Georgie’s musings but also my godson’s and niece and nephew’s. But there’s always one favourite hanging on the side of the fridge or sitting clumsily on the blackboard in the pantry. So it was about time I got some wire, two nails and a few pegs and created a little art corner.
From the moment we moved into our new home, I’ve been trying to think of the perfect space for a blackboard wall. Papa and I prepped and painted a board when we moved in, which we use as a monthly calendar – you can see it here– but I wanted more. So I purchased a few cans of paint and ran wild in the guest toilet, of all places. This was the only room we didn’t paint before moving in because thoughts of wallpaper were swirling in my mind. Painting such a high ceiling room was torture at times, definitely harder than I imagined but I am so happy with the result.This is so much more fun than wallpaper. Our house guests certainly think so. We’ve had r-rated graphics and football team slogans scrawled across the walls as well as little poems and cute sketches. It’s weird looking at what a blackboard can bring out in people.