As part of my Christmas blogging today I am featuring my dining room! It is a very simple room, just a table and four chairs and an old dresser, plus a grandfather clock and a secretaire bookcase. Quite a Victorian room, I think, especially in candle light.
Christmas is definitely not a good time to cut back on clutter - if indeed you can call candles and sweetmeats clutter! I am a fan of multi-tiered bonbonieres/etageres, because one can display a large variety of sweets in a very small space. Currently I possess two of them, one in brass and one in silver. On special occasions I load them with bonbons and cookies and display them on my Welsh Dresser.
This Christmas the brass one features turkish delight, toffee fees, sugared plums, sugar plums, and four different flavours of fondant. The silver one displays marzipan fruit, Lindt chocolates, Plum & Rum marzipans, candied fruit, cinnamon cookies, shortbread, molasses cookies, and fudge.
Next year I plan to be even more excessive, because I bought another etagere. It is made of copper and will gleam very invitingly in the candle light, I hope. It is currently stuck in customs, but I expect delivery early in the new year.
I also have a bowl of fruit, with apples, organges, and quinzes. And a bowl of spiced pinecones and mandarin pomanders, which add a lovely cinnamon orangey scent to the room. Lastly, the bowl at the feet of my candle tree contains different types of nuts.
The other side of the room is less Christmassy ....
And don't you just hate what the flash does to my Christmas magic?
I trust these photos go some way towards enabling those of my absent friends who desire to celebrate Christmas with me vicariously to conjure up the necessary images! Tomorrow I shall feature the Parlour in all its festive finery.
