Hello, and welcome to my 2014 Christmas home tour! I am so excited to once again be participating in Lindsay’s Blogger Stylin Home Tour hop. If you are hopping over from Scout & Nimble, welcome! I am glad you are here!
I am also participating in Jennifer Rizzo’s Holiday House Walk Link Party!
I thought we would start on the porch before entering the house. I actually made a conscious choice to scale down a little this year in the Christmas decorating arena, and it feels great! I still have quite a bit, but I love the simpler look this year. Simple does not mean less photos though…. prepare for photo overload!
Our side entry is the door that most people use. I decorated my vintage ladder with a couple of garlands (the snowball one was a gift from my parents last year), a chalkboard, a candy cane stripe picket, and then I added a useful crate of firewood. We have a huge stack on the porch, but being right outside the door gives us quicker access! Of course every porch needs a vintage sled at Christmas, too! And because we live in the country we actually get milk from a local creamery and we store our empty bottles in our vintage metal milk container until we go exchange them.
On the other side of our porch by our “main entry”, I’ve got a turquoise bench I draped with a vintage plaid blanket, and a couple of pillows (one from Drop Cloth Designs and one from the Elizabeth & Co vintage tag sale). On one side of the bench sits Sawyer’s old radio flyer scooter from his toddler days (sniff sniff), and to the right a stump. Above the bench I hung a found vintage window and I added a bull skull to it.
Sawyer loves that each year we pull out his old scooter.
To the right of the door, I added a wooden star from Distinguished Cottage, and I wove lights around it. And if you are wondering what that leafy contraption is, it’s a fairy house Emmy made at a birthday party recently. I had a bunch of Christmas mini decorations so I gave them to Emmy and let her add them to her fairy house for the season.
We also have a dining table on our porch, but we won’t be using it much this time of year. I do like to at least make it look presentable though! I added a vintage navajo runner I used on last year’s Christmas dining table, and some numbered jars to mark the date! And you can see that stack of firewood I was talking about.
Now let’s head inside to the living room! This space is my favorite this time of year; I love using the fireplace and relaxing on the couch with the family while the lights on the tree glisten.
Clearly, my pups love hanging out in this cozy space, too.
This year’s mantle is my all time favorite. I shared it last week on the blog here.
I painted the mantle black back in January, and I love how metallics play on it!
The tree is always the crowning touch to this space. We cut our own live tree each year- I look forward to that day so much each year!
The coffee table gets a vintage Santa book each year, and this year I added brass deer and red candles in my candlesticks.
Our tree is a combination of vintage ornaments and special ornaments as well as red wooden beads that belonged to my great grandmother. The skirt was made by my talented friend, Kathleen.
Both the dogs and the antelope approve of this year’s tree…
These beautiful mercury glass candlesticks were a gift from someone who I think has been reading my blog longer than even my mom- sweet Allison.
I do want to mention one thing…. Since I took photos I have added a Danish flag garland to our tree. I am not Danish, but I love the way it looks. 🙂 I purchased this from one of our vendors at Sweet Clover, Ms.Maria. It looked so lovely, that I wanted to add a couple more photos.
Do you see why I wave my Danish flag proudly now, even though I am not so Danish? 😉
Anyhow, I felt those should be added even though they don’t appear in all photos. 🙂
And finally in the living room, the chalkboard received a seasonal message. When I was a child I was petrified after hearing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and cried to my mom “He sees you when you’re sleeping! He knows when you’re awake!” So I left a little message for the man in red…
From the living room we head through the main entry hall (sounds so grand when I say that but it’s teeny!) I love changing out the chalkboard wall her have for every season.
Across from this wall sits the staircase and a very small space where I have an antique petite secretary.
I always add a few items here, and this year our pine cone car Santa landed there. I bought him several years ago and he is a favorite of the kids.
Heading through straight across from the living room is my dining room, which I’ve kept fairly simple this year as well.
I shared this rustic and glam centerpiece with DIY candlesticks just last week.
On the antique secretary we use for barware, Sawyer’s nutcracker collection is on display.
And on the buffet sits one of my favorite finds of all time, a midcentury sculpture of a sailboat. I added Christmas lights to it and am using it as our card display. Because of the light coming into this room, this is the hardest all to shoot.
Of course when I shot this, I had only received one card so far, but you get the idea! On either side of the boat, I’ve added evergreen branches in aqua glass bottles.
And of course, my wall mounted antlers had to get in on the Christmas action.
One f my favorite features of this room is my vintage seascape gallery wall. I added a simple handcut “Merry” banner to one of the paintings.
The dining room opens to the kitche, where again I’ve simplified a little this year. I set up a vignette on the island but other than that, there are just some easy touches
Because the dining room opens to the kitchen, the kitchen gets great light. (Of course it was a rainy day when I took photos).
This island is typically where I sit and blog from. It’s a pretty large expanse of table top, so I always love to have some sort of seasonal items on it. This year I purchased the A-Treat navy crate from one of my Sweet Clover vendors, and filled it with candlesticks, a little white tree my mom gave me, some greens, vintage ornaments and a globe ornament I glittered with “Peace on Earth”.
On the dining room side of the crate sits a vintage bug I found a few months ago at a yard sale. Last year it was trucks and trees, and this year, it’s bugs and trees!
And at the time I took these photos, our elf, Lolly, was hanging out on the other side, having just built a snowman the night before.
I hung the vintage deer mount advent calendar I created in the kitchen by the door we always use to exit and enter. This location helps us to remember!
As you can see I have a vintage porcelain bull head that hangs on that wall as well. His name is Oswald, and Emmy let him borrow her sparkly pink Santa hat. I don’t think she’ll be getting it back.
With simplifying the look in the kitchen for Christmas, I desperately wanted to redo my entire open shelving area…. If you recall they have been loaded with vintage aqua glassware prior. I did a ton of rearranging so that the shelving would be styled with mostly white and hints of blue.
Once I had all of the basics changed out, I added in my holiday touches, including evergreen branches, some white glitter houses, a sliver vintage deer….
a white penguin, a glass tree filled with marshmallows….
a vintage santa mug that’s missing all of its paint which makes me love it even more…
and do you spy the vintage tin polar bear? I purchased him from one of my Sweet Clover vendors as well. He sits in front of a winter painting Sawyer did in kindergarten.
And on the top shelf, front and center, sits two pieces of art created by each of the kids. Sawyer painted the snowman a few years ago, and Emmy painted the reindeer two years ago. These are two of my favorite pieces of Christmas decorating…. When I unpack them, I am filled with joy, and the kids are so proud to have them on display.
Every kitchen needs a hot drink station in the winter! I’m an avid coffee drinker (you can see I had just made French press coffee when I photographed these!). We’ve got another tree filled with marshmallows for the kids hot cocoa, and everything I need for my coffee. The elf mugs were a gift from a friend a few years ago, and I love letting them be on display this time of year.
In the corner sink area, I’ve added a few of my gold leafed bottles with evergreen sprigs.
And I’ve also addded a couple of gifts from friends- one being this scrabble “blessed” I’ve had for years, and I just added this gold horseshoe my friends at the Milk Shop sent to bring me luck. It just so happens that one of my all time favorite songs is “These Are the Days” by 10,000 maniacs, so I love having these items together to remind me that I am indeed blessed and lucky.
I also enjoy adding some elements of the season into the bedrooms. This year is the first since we moved here that our guest room won’t be occupied for the holidays, but I still decorated it. My mom will be here tomorrow for Sawyer’s band concert, so at least she will get to enjoy it for one night!
I added some vintage ornaments in silver and gold to the branches on the bedside dresser.
The dresser was given some “new” art as well as a tinsel tree.
I also added a simple star garland I created to the vintage art.
The deer sit on a vintage deer tray I purchased from one of my Sweet Clover vendors…. I had to have it!
The kids each have their own tinsel trees as well. Emmy’s of course is pink!
Last year I created this pom pom and bell garland.
Sawyer’s tree had to be his favorite color…. red!
We also keep Christmas lights up year round in here, but I added an Ikea tassel garland to his vintage flag.
And finally, this is the last space I will share with you…. I know it has been a lot to take in! Usually I don’t do much in our own room, but this year because of the puppy, I couldn’t put my vintage flocked tree up in the dining room. I love this tree so much, so I had to find a place for it. I hauled it up to the master and decorated it in blue and gold.
These colors on the tree work perfectly in our space. They happen to be my favorites.
Well, you survived photo overload! Thank you so much for coming along this tour with me!
Now be sure to hop over to Sand & Sisal to check out Kim’s beautiful coastal Christmas tour!
And one more thing today! I wanted to let you know you can also find me at designPOST today! Beth invited me to create a design plan for her living room- pop over to check out what I came up with!
And if you want to catch up with the rest of the tour, here’s the week’s schedule!
Monday, December 8th:
The White Buffalo Styling Co.
Inspired by Charm
Bliss at Home
Thistlewood Farms
Charming in Charlotte
Number Fifty-Three
Julie Blanner
Cuckoo 4 Design
Eclectically Vintage
Tuesday, December 9th:
My Fabuless Life
Scout & Nimble
Primitive & Proper
Sand & Sisal
DecorChick
The Chronicles of Home
DIY Playbook
This, That, & Life
Wednesday, December 10th:
Desert Domicile
Design Post Interiors
Southern Hospitality
In my own style
Retro Ranch Reno
Iron & Twine
Thursday, December 11th:
Jones Design Company
Finding Home
Jen Rizzo
Home Stories A to Z
Dimples & Tangles
Simple Stylings
Run to Radiance
The Thriftress
Friday, December 12th:
Inspired Room
Beneath my Heart
DIY Showoff
Just a Girl
Rain on a Tin Roof
Eleven Gables
Burlap and Lace
Sarah M. Dorsey
Sharing here:
Inspiration Gallery, The Nester’s Tour of Homes, 12 Days of Christmas Link up
