Snug as a Bug

Apologies to those of you who are finding these return trips to the snug a little on the yawnsville side, please bear with me. It's just that this room is probably (along with the hallway), one of the spaces in the house that feels the closest to being 'finished' as any room ever could be. I'm not sure if anyone ever feels that their home is 'finished' as there are always tweaks to be made, furniture to be rearranged, things that can be replaced/recycled/upcycled, and other things that get used up/worn out/or returned to where they belong. Also, the snug is the room we have been working on the most since Chair No.1 was delivered. So, without further ado, may I present the snug as of yesterday: Here's the tv, sitting on a gorgeous pine chest. This is bad for three reasons 1) the tv is too low; 2) you can't really see how lovely the chest is; 3) you can't open the chest to store more junk in it. And, actually there's a fourth bad thing - the tv is eeeeeeeeeeeenormous; I bought it in 1995 before nano-technology meant we could all equip ourselves with televisions as thin as a sheet of paper; it still works, but since the UK went digital, it no longer receives a signal as we don't have a set-top box or whatever else it is that we need to get a picture. As I type it has literally just occured to me that it's actually pretty pointless even having the tv in the room. Talk about dumb and dumber.
Anyway, while in dumb mode, we shifted the pine chest and put the tv on this lovely cabinet that my great-grandfather made. Yes, you read that right, my very own blood relative on my mum's side, made this gorgeous, and very useful, piece of furniture. He also made a chest of drawers in our bedroom which I'll have to show you some time. I always remember this cabinet being in my grandparent's hallway, and Gramps kept his hairbrush in it so he could smarten himself up before leaving the house. When my Gran passed away I asked if I could have this as a momento of them and their house. Unfortunately it's taken a bit of a battering over the years and even more so since DC made an appearance (hence the scratches on the front); it definitely needs a trip to the French polisher (who whoever it is who fixes up these sort of things nowadays.)But look at the lovely (but blurry) carved detailingAnd lovely handles.
As mentioned in my last post of things that still needed doing in the snug, we also moved in the bookcase which had been displaced from the living area into the dining area by the Christmas tree. And which can no longer go back to the living area since we moved the dresser in there. Are you keeping up with me?!Here's the 'can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs' shot - ie the room looks a lot worse before it looks better.See the little table/trolley to the left of the bookcase? I bought that in an antiques/junk shop in Axminster in December for the princely sum of £20. It came into its own over Christmas as the 'treat trolley' - I wheeled it into the living area like Mrs Overall with both 'wings' up and both tiers holding the masses of chocolates and biscuits which we devoured over the festive season.And here we have the lovely bookcase crammed full of my 'to be read' collection. Rather a lot of books for me to get through, including the entire top shelf dedicated to cosy crime. Bliss.And moving around the room, here's my lovely chair...And next to it, finally somewhere to put my coffee cup and magazine. This little bookcase has been acting as a bedside table in the guest room, but after a bit of a swap around it now lives in the snug.With a few little additions:Inlcuding this gorgeous candle which smells wonderful and looks good too - bought it in a little shop in St Andrews when we were on holiday in Scotland in October 2010, and it's finally found a home! And, best of all, when the candle is all used up, I'll have a pretty little cup and saucer to use.Ah, here we are, complete with all the dust collectors I could need and a magazine to read when the urge takes me.And a final look at the room all tidied upcompared to the same view just a few months agoBut wait, have you spotted one of the things that is still on our 'snug to do' list? You can see it in this photoAnd again hereAnd hereYep, that's right. We REALLY need to change the curtains. Look how well the orange and yellow check goes with the purple stripe carpet... I'm dreaming of long, purple velvet drapes, swept back with jewelled rope tie-backs. Although they are some way off as the purse strings are tightly closed for the time being. And it may involve having to move the radiator from under the window, which makes for an expensive job.Oh, and what's this? Just as I had my bookcase all nicely full (I say 'mine' because hubby has his books in the bureau along to the left), I discovered another box of my unread books in the garage. And nowhere to put them. There goes the tidy snug.