DINING ROOM - ON THE WALLS

With Christmas only 23 days away, 
it's got me thinking about our first Christmas at The Manor House.

We were deep in the middle of having the dining room renovated.
Finishing off the room, was getting less and less likely as Christmas drew closer. 
Our builders worked frantically to finish but unfortunately there just wasn't enough time to complete it.

 In a mad panic and knowing we were having lots of family to stay, 
what could we do to 'spice up' the dining room for the festive time?

Richard had the bright idea to get Alfie and Jemima 
to paint the walls with all the family members coming to stay.  

These were the results...
 

We had a fantastic family time, lots of food and games, laughter and happiness.  

It was a lovely Christmas.

The room felt cozy and warm and the paintings added a unique fun element.

  

It was a sad moment painting over the 'art' when the room eventually got finished but I'm glad we have these photos to remember what they looked like.

Our dining room looked very different last year at Christmas and with a few more members added to the family (Scarlett 6, Albie 3 and Boo 2), we managed to all sit down around the table and have another happy meal together.  This time, my super talented photographer sister,  Charlotte took this image to capture the magical moment.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Christmas 2015 was a very special time for us.  

All my family came here over the Christmas period.

My wonderful sister, Charlotte took some amazing photos. 

Luckily for us, she is a professional 'children, family and lifestyle photographer'.

(You can find her website here)

Her style is natural, vibrant and full of warmth.

She used the house as a backdrop to capture our time together and here

is just a little taster of those treasured moments.    

'Princess' Scarlett on the hall landing.  

I love that Charlotte has managed to include the Christmas tree down stairs, 

in this shot as well.

Don't we all love a reindeer-themed-sweatshirt.

 

 Just look at Ben's chubby little arms and wrists.

 

Albie on the stairs with his favourite present....Spencer.

Fun, laughter, wine and crackers at the dining table.

 

and a Christmas birthday celebration too... 

Thanks to Charlotte and all the family for making Christmas at The Manor House so special.

The House can be hired for photo shoots or filming via location Company, Shoot Factory.

LOOKING OUT OF THE WINDOWS

We are so lucky to have beautiful and interesting views from each of our windows.

Take this one above...it's from the hall landing looking across at our neighbour's field.

The sun is setting after a warm summers evening, the grass has been cut

and bundled into hay bales. Is there anything more lovely to look at?

We look out of this window every morning as we walk down the stairs to the hall below.

Each day, after several years of seeing it, it does not disappoint. 

The lounge (above) looks towards the church across the road.  

You may not be able to see it clearly in this photo, 

as the shrubs and trees against the wall are growing fast but beyond them you can just see the roof of the church.

Richard's office has a special view looking past the conservatory onto the garden. 

The purple Catmint is in full bloom, lush green grass and a Corkscrew Willow.

We are very lucky to have dual aspect windows in the kitchen, offering us two very different views to look at. 

The sink (above) looks out over our neighbour's drive (always immaculately kept).... 

and the opposite side has views of our garden which has lots of green trees, bushes and grass too.

Looking through the windows every day brings a happiness....

it offers a new image to see as the seasons come and go.

BLACK PENDANT LIGHTS FOR THE DINING ROOM

We're turning to the dark side........

and going blacker in the dining room.  

After buying nine chairs for the dining room at the local auction a few months ago, we've now restored them with black paint and upholstered the seats with old grain sacks that have a coordinated black stripe running through the centre.  It made perfect sense to then add two black pendant lights above the table that the chairs were to sit at.

Returning from Swinderby Antiques Fair today, we were so lucky to have found the exact light fittings we were after. (above) These are the two rather lovely enameled black industrial lights, 'hot off the press' salvaged from France yesterday. With no time for cleaning, the sellers rushed them to sell today. 

The one on the left has been washed and scrubbed by myself.  It shows the black enamel which is in perfect condition. The one on the right shows the underside of the other light which once washed, reveals the white enamel. It also shows the original light fitting, which we will have to adapt to English electrical specifications.

(above) The underside of one of the lights, in the sink being washed and cleaned.

A top tip for cleaning these enamel lights and anything like them  ...... is to use Fairy Snow washing powder.  It has magical properties, that seems to shift any amount of dirt. I'm forever grateful to the friend who suggested using it in the first place.

I will update this post, when these lights are in position above the dining room table. Fingers crossed, that should be soon.

SIMPLE CHRISTMAS TREES

Oh I love, love, love these simple Christmas trees - some might say plain but to me there is no fuss, no tinsel, no baubles, just tree...and very natural.

Photos found on my Pinterest Christmas boards

CHRISTMAS TABLE DECORATION

The festive season is fast approaching and Christmas decorations are on my mind.

Just loving this tray of candles, trees made out of black card and walnuts. 

Great idea for a centre-piece on the table.
Photo with thanks to Abigail Ahern

CHRISTMAS POT POURRI

When we walk into the dining room, there is a smell of Christmas.

The aroma of spicy orange, cinnamon, cloves and cones.  It is coming from a wooden bowl on the table filled with Winter pot pourri.

UPDATE TO DINING ROOM

We've updated our table in the dining room.  This is it's christening - a weekend breakfast...

We chose a reclaimed teak table from Emily Readett-Bailey.  The teak comes from disused bridges in Java. It's very sturdy and will withstand a hardy family using it daily.  

We'll need to get some new chairs, as the ones we've been using are for the garden along with a couple from the local auction.  I'm thinking - high back with linen covers for the new ones.  

DINING ROOM RENOVATIONS

Our first project was the dining room. 

(after) Originally, there was a separate dining room with a door into the room from a corridor.

(before) A wall divided the dining room from a small, narrow and cramped corridor.  The corridor took us from the entrance hall at the front of the house ...

(before)to the kitchen at the back of the house. It had a window and a door.  The door opens into a porch, which goes into the rear garden.

(before)We believe the porch was added in the 70's by the previous owner.  It lacked any sympathy with the rest of the house and had to go!!! 

This lead us to our final plans.  Knock down the existing porch and add a new one (more about this later)..... take down the wall between dining room and corridor ..... this then creating a specious dining hall.

THE DINING ROOM

Our dining room as it is today ...

which is very different to when we moved in...