About the new house

ελληνικό κείμενο

The new house we moved in three months ago is an old house. It is a prefabricated house of 1970 with a big garden.
For years we used to come in this house only a couple of weekends during the winter and for a month the longer during the summers, due to a shop we owned and made it difficult for us to find some free time to spend here. Three years ago as our professional situation changed, it became easier to spend more time here. Moving here for good was still a distant thought. So since we would be able to come here more often during summer and even some more winter weekends, it was time to do something with the living room to make it more cheerful and welcoming. Because until then it looked like this:

Yes, I know.

But believe me, there was a time when it looked even worse with a sofa and chairs from the seventies, upholstered with an ugly, strange (woolen?) fabric in a depressing beige / black combination. Though I suspect some retro lovers would love them.

The budget was really really tight. So I grabbed some buckets of green color. I thought I have picked olive green but it turned out a very vivid grass green. At first I panicked but when everything took its place I was really pleased. Because meanwhile I had opened my closets and drawers to take out old pillows, curtains, throws and decorative items I didn't use anymore, trying to combine them in a way that would work. Then I asked a couple of people "what you have hidden that you don't need?" Close people I mean, not passers by.

The result was not of course something extremely impressive but it made our living room cheerful and livable for the next three years. 

I want to apologize for the pictures that follow, they are bad. I took them when we decided to move here permanently before starting changing the house to become our new home. I didn't have the intention to post them, I just wanted to have a few snaps to show to my children, to remind them how our house looked when it was only our summer house. Because children forget quickly.

So after the quick makeover the living room looked like this.

We plastered the fireplace because I couldn't stand how it looked before. But never got to paint it as I planned.

I even hung a mini collection of plates, one belongs to me, one to my mother and one to my sister - in - law.

The little paintings are vintage, I only needed to repaint the frames and the wreath is made by me. The table with the iron legs and the ceramic tile surface was made for this house. I used to hate it, now I love it.

I even took these ugly sconces 

and just before I threw them away I thought "maybe I could paint them". So I grabbed my acrylics and brushes and made them look like this 

But I couldn't stand this

so I decided to make a new chandelier using branches from the garden which I painted white.

I made a frame with them, and tied them with rope in the corners and then my husband did the rest. I mean, adjust the lighthbulbs on the branches, the rest electrical work and the hanging. Pretty  much all the work (but I remind you I am the creative mind, right?). The bad thing is I thought of making a step by step tutorial only after we hang it. Too late, you will only see a few pictures from some very very strange angles but I 'm sure you will get the idea.

It is amazing how well sometimes things work out. Those days my aunt came to visit, bringing me a tablecloth as a gift, in just the right colors. So I cut them in two and ta da ... I had new curtains.

Couldn't be happier.

With only 40 euros (just the cost of paint) our living room became friendly and cheerful. Even the kids were happy, I thought they were too young to pay much attention but my older son who was 4 at the time kept telling me how much he liked it. What I want to tell is that, I know that living room was not perfect but it was much much better than before. It is certain you will need a lot of money if you want to achieve the house of your dream, but you can make something just pretty and satisfying with very little. Instead of torturting yourself by living in a place that pushes you away because you can't afford the ideal, see what you can make with what you have in hand. And start with some paint.

This living room now looks completely different. It is litteraly another living room. I hope I will be able to share it with you soon.