5 in 5 - February 2018 - An itch to refresh and renew

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th of

each month I post 5 photos that I have 
taken in 5 minutes.

The New Year always gives me a spring in the step, and the itch to refresh and renew.  So, while my husband thoroughly cleaned the front room, I emptied a large and overfull cupboard under the stairs.  My work is still in progress as I mean to sort years of paperwork and accumulation, so I won’t share photos of the floor strewn boxes – I’ll let you use your own imagination!  Meantime the front room looks clean and tidy, and as I look with fresh eyes things stand out that I have had on my ‘to do’ list for a long time:

This armchair belonged to my FIL and I spent painstaking hours removing staples and the old covering so that I could reupholster it. Since then it has sat waiting for a back and seat cover as I have been unable to find a fabric that I like. I was glad to find this throw just before Christmas, so finally the chair is in use, with fresh painted legs and green upholstery hand stitched my me. It was a project of love, and for what it cost to reupholster I could have bought a good chair. It seemed a good idea at the time. I initially started this project so that I could practice and then do our large sofas. These look as good as new but I fancy a change of cover. I have decided to live with what we have or buy new sofas!  

 

This piano stool is another of my projects. Did I say I've had things on my 'to do' list for a long time?  Well, I wasn't joking!  There is a story attached to this antique stool which I told here, and it took me four years to make a new seat for it. That's because I wanted to do a good job, and it was another project at my upholstery class. I plan to use the same fabric as the armchair seat, so meanwhile it sits naked but happy waiting. Since buying the stool we have changed the pull down flap and turned it into a hinged door. More practical and it makes a good storage space.

A new addition to the room. I want this space to be restful and calm, and think this statue invites this.

As an avid reader and book collector my shelves are overflowing. I have started to rehome books that I no longer want to keep, and there is more sorting to be done. Lots of it. 

Pride of place are family photos. This is one of a collection given as a present and I've always planned to change the colour of the mount. Maybe it is also time to change some of the photos too, as I have lots more recent ones. But this project, with all the others, will have to wait until I have cleared the floor of paper and made the space under the stairs more organised and uncluttered.  I'd best get back to it!

Thank you for visiting. I'm interested to know if the New Year brings and itches or projects for you, please share, if it does. And it is always fun to have company in this photo challenge so a big thank you to Eileen, Karen, Mary-Lou, Liz, Melanie, and Borqna for taking part last month. And to all those who visited and left comments.

And YOU would be very welcome to join in too, so I hope you are inspired to get out your camera. Here is the plan:

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a timer for 5 minutes (I use my mobile phone).

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool below.

You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos.