Brave new kitchen

SO WE clear out the kitchen again, in readiness for the decorator who is due to arrive tomorrow.

I take down the greasy curtains - a particular bugaboo with My Good Lady - and the curtain tracks; then disassemble the ill-fitting roller blinds - another of her pet hates.

By the time I move the dining table into the bedroom and the chairs into the study the room looks positively empty and echoing, and somehow - naked.

And, I must say, the tattered, faded old wallpaper next to the spanking new units and and appliances looks seedier than ever.

We've been leaving decorating the kitchen until now, but I can't help wondering if we shouldn't have done it years ago, and whether we haven't been just a bit lazy. One of those jobs you put off and off... It really is in a disgraceful state.

By this time next week, though, we should have a new look around us, and with a bit of luck we might even have our new carpet down.

Brave new world? Well, brave new kitchen, anyway.