If you have long dinners, they are not particularly comfortable. I gave away a set years ago. Ok for quick meals.

I have two tortured willow trees...(sometimes I wish I didn't since they grow fast and get all tangled up in themselves...and everything else) BUT... if I harvest some of the more interestingly 'tortured' young branches, denude them of their leaves and young bark, I have the frameworks for Christmas wreaths and other interesting decorations. The young little branches, once stripped of their outer soft bark and when dry, can be painted and decorated with glitter or whatever and stood in floor vases. This year, rather than a Christmas tree, having a large mixed pot of coloured, decorated and natural tortured willow branches...and maybe a few wreaths here and there, maybe some of the sentimental tree decos that come out every year and...since this is a cat friendly house...lots of curly ribbons hanging down from the tortured willow 'tree' with the odd fluffy little toy to intrigue. I prefer to bring nature into the house for Christmas. In pagan times at Yule...branches from Fir trees were brought inside and hung with apples and oranges Use was made of dried pine cones and home made candles were an everyday thing only some special ones were made for Yuletide...and that harks back to the cold climate countries...hence the sleigh bells and snow etc. For Australia I prefer to use our native trees and leaves for adornment also for the fragrance these waft around the house. I lovely big frondy lot of gum tree leaves all tied and arranged well and sat in a metal bucket can be a lovely natural touch more in keeping with am Aussie Christmas. Personally I think the commercialisation of tree and home decorations has become rather....'ratty-looking'..fake green pine branches, gaudy baubles etc. Well in advance we go collecting dried seed pods, pine cones and any other nature-products for Christmas decos...all natural and really beautiful!

Hi Cecblake, Once your satisfied with your layout, you can firmly stick the postcards onto paper and fix or wrap it to the wall with a good quality double sided sticky tape, a generous strip across the top and bottom to hold it in place. Then apply the pre drilled Perspex over it ensuring you have left a 5mm border around the outside edge of the paper and screw it in (screwing into a stud or using plaster board screws if not) Perspex prices vary depending on the thickness, size and quality. It is a durable and flexible material but avoid using it in a high traffic volume area, for example foot level as it is prone to scratching. Look at some affordable examples in your local hardware store to begin with, I suggest a 3mm sheet which can be easily wiped clean, keep the postcards protected it can be replaced later with higher quality if your satisfied with your look. (Tip : apply the double sided tape straight onto the wall firmly, only removing the second strip when your ready to fix your paper to it. Also do not stick onto the Perspex, this way you can easily remove it or replace it later if you choose and still keep your postcard template undamaged.) Finally, Yes that was one of my works :) Enjoy!

I do not know whether you could paint roller shutters, but, in my opinion, once you have painted your front fence in woodland grey, that would make a a big difference to street scape. There appears to be colour, similar to woodland grey in the shutters. If you then planted greenery in garden beds, this will soften the hardness of your stone garden. The roller shutters are not a 80/90 disaster, they are still very useful for insulation, noise reduction, sun reduction. That is why they were probably installed in the first place. Stand back once you have painted your fence, then re-evaluate. Good to read you are not painting or rendering your bricks. Just soften with planting.