Decorating the kitchen over the past week has been hard work, as a year’s worth of dust and grime was removed from the walls, shelves, dresser, stove and floor…not to mention the ceiling!

Everything has been moved around and the walls and floor painted.

The off-white paint has brightened up the kitchen and as a finishing touch I have added some stencilling in the form of trailing ivy.

The stencil was easy to make, using card, a cutting mat and a craft knife.

The paint was from the tin used on the floor, so there was no expense involved!

That’s useful to note, as I am not a fiscally enhanced person, but have the means in my head to do without the dreaded lucre!

Of course I donned my arty hat and decided to prance around with the stencil, adding bits here and there…

This bit stays as I imagine it to look rather romantic…

The floor will need another coat of varnish…and should be tough for a good year or so!

This is just emulsion type paint and I used a home-made stencil and some gold spray paint left over from the Yuletide festivities. The cost overall was minimal and the labour was my own.

It has charged me with energy to move onto the pantry…the bathroom…my bedroom…you get the picture!