Curtains and blinds

Well, the Angels continue to smile as more boxes are dismantled, but most progress this week has been made on window coverings.

We initially thought we were very fortunate in moving into a house that had blinds on all the windows, meaning that we did not have to rush the process of buying curtains.  However, we did not appreciate how oppressive metal Venetian blinds can make a room feel.  So it quickly became a priority to re-cover the windows in softer materials.  It has made an amazing difference: more light is let into the room during the day, and at night the light is properly blocked out leading to more restful sleep!

Our hallway blind - soon to be replaced!

The top floor bedrooms - featuring small gable windows - were the first to look more homely with simple, colourful roller-blinds.  On the first floor, Leo opted for some black-out dinosaur curtains and I took the decision to buy Yasmin some plain off-white ('oyster') curtains.  Felix helpfully pointed out that they were boring, but bearing in mind that she already had a stripy, multi-coloured Roman blind underneath and fuchsia pink curtain poles, I thought that was enough colour in a space of 160cms by 185cms!

Yasmin's fuchsia pink curtain poles! 

Our bedroom and the downstairs reception rooms took a little more thought.  We wanted Roman blinds but decided (for now, at least) that we could use some perfectly good curtains from our old house.  My former neighbour, who is a whizz on the sewing-machine, split our sitting room curtains in half to make two pairs for the downstairs snug and study.  They were tailor-made for our old sitting room that had a large bay window, but it was really nice to be able to re-use them.

So now, having resolved the natural light issues, we are beginning to consider the artificial lighting throughout the house - what to keep and what to replace... I'll keep you all posted!

Priorities for sorting out a new home!

It must not be over-looked that both Chris and I are Librans and so quite obsessed with decor and aesthetically pleasing designs!  Rather than directing removal men as they unloaded the lorry, Chris was busy taking all the "fire escape" signs off the doors and walls, desperately trying to make our new house more like our home.  Ten days into the move and the nesting bug has caught me too - although the logical side of my brain still says unpack boxes first, then decorate etc, I had to put a few pictures up and what a difference it made to make our house feel more like home!

So although most of our time so far has been taken up by unpacking boxes, working out the boiler and oven and trying to stop the fire alarm from going off by accident, we still have time to dream about wallpapers and wet-rooms!  Our latest idea is cracking on with the hallway as soon as our boxes are unpacked.  It makes a big impact in terms of making this place feel more like a family home, because there is so much hallway space, but in some ways it is fairly straightforward - painting, perhaps some wall papering and eventually a change of carpet.

Meanwhile as decorating is still a little way ahead in our journey, there is a new motto in our house that is relevant to our unpacking frenzy: "Another Angel is smiling!" - this came from Chris who piped up while dismantling yet another box: "An Angel smiles each time a box is killed!" - I like that image that these Angels are looking down on us while we beaver away at making our new house our home and watch over us, encouraging us to keep going with all the work that needs to be done.

Moving Day!

Finally, we did it!  Moving day was a week today, so all packed up and ready to go - full of excitement and ideas:  One morning, a few days before moving, the entire family were all sat on our bed with paint samples discussing what colours our children will choose for their bedrooms.  A week later and we have already visited Homebase, and the kids have their colours and are now just waiting for Mummy and Daddy to hurry up and get painting!  Last time we moved house, our eldest was 2, so we didn't have the same situation where now everyone has their own opinion!  Felix at that stage was happy with blue and so it was - the boy's bedroom was painted a light blue colour.  Now on the other hand, they are growing up and have their own rooms for the first time and so more diplomacy was required on our part.

In theory, both Chris and I agreed that the children can choose their own colours.  The only veto was that Felix could not have BLACK - as was his first suggestion!  So we went through all sorts of elaborate plans of different walls being painted different colours and different combinations, but when we got to the shop, Chris found it harder than expected to accept his children's choices.  Not that they had chosen anything outrageous but simply that they do not have the design experience that adults have and were perhaps not choosing the best options for their room.  For example, Felix has a small attic room and wanted a blue/ purple colour called Lupin which was lovely but would end up making the room feel very closed in.  Yasmin wanted pink and purple and so far we have just bought pink, but she is not letting up!  So this is a learning process for us parent's too - letting go and allowing our children to make their own decisions and learn from their own mistakes.  Leo was "conned" dare I say into choosing a painted wooden curtain pole rather than the brash metal pole that first took his fancy as Chris persuaded him that it was an elven stick!  So Felix has come round to a paler blue and cream, Leo is happy with his green and Yasmin is still campaigning for her purple - I am sure it will all turn out ok in the end.  And this is only the beginning of our design adventure!

I promise some photos of our house next week - still struggling to get broad band set up! - Oh, the joys of moving!!!