Our dining room...

Today me and D rearranged our dining room and messed about with the bookshelves. Its one of those things which ive loved doing ever since i was a child - i was always changing my bedroom around or sticking up new posters, and picked out my own colour schemes and paints. I shall have to scan a few photos from my old bedrooms to show you. Today we weren't redecorating (although i really do think that this will be the year when the whole house gets done insha'Allah) but we moved furniture from one side of the room to the other and switched books and trinkets about on the shelves.

Back in the summer i picked up this old shelf at auction for about a pound and painted it in my favourite shade of green (which i mixed using about 3 old paints from a house clearance). Then we had it put on the wall with two other shelves bought cheaply at the DIY store which i painted in the same shade of green.

Under the shelves is our Ikea dining table and chairs. The little knitted house is a holder for boxed tissues but we put a toilet roll in there. Its funny when people go to take a tissue and it just keeps coming and coming! I covered an old piece of chipboard with a 40s table cloth to cover the fire (which we don't use) and eventually we will rip the whole fireplace out. The photo above is from before we rejigged the shelf contents today. The photos below are how it looks now, perhaps too chaotic for some but i really love it and its actually one of my favourite parts of the whole house.

There are books on those shelves that ive owned for years and years, before i even left home aged 18 (ten years ago now!). I bought the blue floral tins from Laura Ashley whilst i was in the early weeks of pregnancy three years ago, the very same day that i told my Dad and Step Mum that i was expecting. Three of the books and some of the magazines were all bought brand new too, oh, and the Paperchase postcard stuck to the shelf, but everything else is second hand. Lots of these things have special memories attached and i can remember exactly where and when i bought them, and for how much.

Opposite these shelves is our crafting storage area and a comfy armchair. I made the armchair covers from old pillowcases with one seam ripped open. Ive done this for years with various pillow cases as our sofas are in need of a little TLC (but too comfy to replace). The unit on top of the draws is a bread bin which holds glue, glitter, ink stamps, zig zaggy scissors, colouring books and things like that. In the draws we have pads of paper for D, stickers, scrapbooking style embellishments, more colouring books and images ripped from magazines.

I don't decorate the house for Christmas but keep some decorations up all year round because i like a little bit of sparkle here and there.

In the next corner is our bookcase. I bought it for £5 at auction about five or six years ago, behind that area which looks like two draws is actually a big sturdy pull out table. The bottom cupboard has all of my scrapbooking and papercraft stuff in it. In the top half of our bookcase we keep all of our Islamic and religious books, as well as our photo albums. Its also a dumping ground for random things as you can see in the pictures.

My great Auntie gave me this brass incense stick holder before she passed away when i was about five years old. Its one of the items which i have owned for the longest time out of everything in this house.

On the bottom shelf i have some Bibles which are almost a hundred years old, another one of those Laura Ashley tins, and a plastic basket which i bought from the Body shop when i was about twelve. (I now boycott the Bodyshop). Theres just something i love about it even though i prefer pastel colours. Even the battered and outdated AA Leicester Street map book is special to me, ive had it for so many years and its taken me to so many places that i wouldn't part with it. I still take it with me all the time instead of using my satnav. Its full of little pencil marks and highlighted streets, and i made a pocket on the front cover to keep written directions in and bus timetables.

Whilst i was taking photos D was making traffic jams. I like the way he propped the last few vehicles up onto the shelf and the fireman is investigating something back there.

On the bookcase door handle is another decoration which cost me a few pence in a charity shop this Christmas.

On top of the bookcase is a wicker picnic basket which i bought from a lonely old man selling off his house contents to move into sheltered accommodation. Next to that is this beautiful carpet bag which holds all of my embroidery threads, needles, kits and hoops. 

I bought our light fitting for £1.50 from a car boot sale in the summer, a few pains of glass are cracked but you cant tell. Ive been after this light fitting for years but always been reluctant to pay the £100+ to get one.

 And lastly our rug. I LOVE this rug and hope to never get rid of it. Its an Axminster one from the 50s which cost about £25 on eBay many years ago. Its one of those things that id consider running back for in a house fire. Id love to find another one like it for our living room. 

 I know i shall probably look back on this blog post in years to come God willing and see how much our house has changed between now and then. I always like our decor to keep evolving. Its one of those Earthly things which has little impact on my afterlife but that i just cant help being passionate about. I just have to keep it all in perspective that's all. I'm working on it.