Let the sunshine in!

After a ”little” setback” due to soot and smoke, our TV-room is finished at last. The result is a lighter and brighter room, which is exactly what we wanted. 

Here you can see what the room looked like previously. Old darkened pine panel absorbed most of the sunlight, so even on a bright day, it was not possible to sit here and read without the lights on.

The ceiling and walls have been painted, the carpet has been replaced and the dark plaid couch has been thrown out, otherwise the room is basically the same. Still, what a difference this makes, don’t you agree?

The corner sofa and the chairs were left behind by the previous owner of the house. They were probably super cool back in the eighties when pink was in vogue, but, strangely enough, they fit in pretty well here now. The grey, pink and white colours match the new floor and walls quite well. With a brown sheepskin and a nice rug, we can live with it for a while.

Hopefully, it won’t be too long until we can afford a new sofa, but at the moment we decided to use the money on upgrading the electrical system. Now we have earthed sockets in the room, and what’s more - plenty of them. Behind the TV there is no longer a jumble of extension cords, now each gadget has it’s own socket.

On this wall there used to be a seventies-style orange lamp that controlled everything electric in the room. Not quite in accordance with regulations, one can safely assume. This new lamp has a dimmer and can be used both as a reading light and to create a cosy atmosphere.

The mirror was bought on sale last weekend. It also helps to reflect more light into the room.

At the other end of the room, we still have the old wall unit. It is not exactly fashionable either, but it provides a lot of storage space, and we have to have somewhere to keep all our CDs and DVDs. Previously, all of Hubby’s trophies were exhibited on the top, but now all but the most coveted is placed inside the cupboard. Actually, I would like to see them in a box in the attic, but we compromised. Now they're available if he should want to show them off, and I don’t have to dust them.

This stack of small trunks also provides a little storage space, which is something you can never get enough of.

With great technical skill, Hubby has fitted the room with a hi-tech sound system with full surround sound, subwoofer and all that goes with it. It sounds really great when we listen to music or watch a movie here. My only contribution to the house's musical content is this cool CD rack in wrought iron.

A couple of small souvenirs have found their place in the room: The elephants are from Namibia, while the shell is a polished pearl oyster that I brought home from Rarotonga. A black pearl was beyond my budget, the only thing I could afford was this shell, but it’s very pretty.

The large glass bowl is from the Hadeland glass factory. I bought it years ago and have never quite found a good spot for it until now.

Husfruen’s old TV-cabinet now houses Hubby’s whisky collection. Ideally, I would have liked to hide the TV away in a cabinet, but as big as TV-sets are these days, they do not fit in these cabinets anymore.

On top sits the old lamp that we painted. Looking good!

Now the room is so bright that the plants have started to thrive here. This flowerpot is something I found at the back of a cupboard, while the linen table runner was bought at a Christmas market many years ago, if I remember correctly. Hubby’s old coffee table was sprayed with black Hammerite paint. The original finish was not in good condition, but since the table is so large and handy, we wanted to keep it. Now it has a new lease on life and will probably be in use a few more years.

It feels good to be able to use old stuff that has been hidden away in cupboards and drawers or was on its way to the scrap heap, instead of just constantly buying new stuff. We have, in fact, not spent very much on our new room. All in all, it cost just under 600 GBP, and that includes carpet, paint, lamps, mirrors and curtains. The electrician cost more, obviously, but the electrical work was as much a repair as an upgrade, and was therefore unavoidable.

I am notorious for starting big knitting projects that I never finish. Just this once, I hope to be able to finish a nice fluffy blanket in brown and white.

I am very pleased with the curtains. They are light and airy and let in plenty of light. The plants seem to thrive on the windowsill where the spring sunlight floods in, and we too are very happy with our new TV room. It has become so nice here now, that we actually use it as a sitting room, not only as a place to watch television.