This weekend I had 4 friends over to dinner, so as you can imagine, I spent most of Saturday frantically preparing. I carefully planned out my day so I did the shopping in the morning, leaving the afternoon free to prepare the meal and clean the house. I always like to make a good impression when I have guests round and love to add those special touches to make my home look welcoming and beautiful. However, as this was the first time I’d entertained since decorating the dining room, I especially wanted everything to be perfect.
As a rule, I aim to keep one room, my living room, looking neat and tidy all the time – so if friends call in unexpectedly, at least I have somewhere nice for them to sit. As I’ve mentioned before, my sofa slipcovers do a great job at making my furniture look its best, and help give the room an inviting feel. And as well as making my sofas and chairs look attractive, my slipcovers give me peace of mind that my furniture won’t get ruined if friends call in whilst walking their dogs! No matter how hard they try to keep them off, it seems most of my friends’ pets can’t resist jumping up on the sofa. Muddy paw prints and that horrible wet dog smell are what I’m left with, but at least I can chuck a dirty slipcover in the wash. It’d be much more work to scrub upholstery clean.
Anyway, on Saturday my focus was on making the dining room look amazing. I’ve recently painted the walls and had a new carpet fitted, and hung lovely new curtains. I’ve got a couple of pretty houseplants that give the room life, and a few favourite pictures on the walls. However, in my efforts to decorate the room, I haven’t had time to buy a smart new dining table and chairs. I know the sort I’d like, but at the moment my decorating budget is better spent elsewhere, as I have a perfectly functional dining table that I use everyday. It’s good and sturdy, and is a decent size. But as it’s used daily, the chairs have a bit of casual, well-worn appearance, which isn’t really appropriate for the sophisticated dinner party I’d envisaged.
Fortunately I’d given this issue some thought earlier on – in fact, as soon as I’d set the date with my friends I started worrying about what they’d think of my tatty dining chairs! Thankfully I found the perfect solution from Sure Fit – dining chair slipcovers. I’d never tried this kind of furniture cover before, but given the success of my sofa slipcovers, I thought I’d give them a go. I opted for a set of deep burgundy ready made slipcovers, which are designed to fit over most standard size dining chairs. I chose ones with a straight skirt, ideal for hiding the scratched old wooden chair legs and for giving my everyday chairs a luxurious new look.
They worked a treat, fitted brilliantly and were the finishing touches that my dining room needed. The meal went really well, with lots of fun and laughter, and I could relax knowing my home looked its best thanks to those slipcovers!