Hello, and welcome to my eclectic Christmas tour part 2! Today I am joining Lindsay’s Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours to share with you my kitchen and porch. If you are stopping over from Mallory’s glamorous and gorgeous home tour, welcome! Her house is a tough act to follow and I won’t even try to match it because our styles are extremely different. That’s what I love about being on Lindsay’s tour… there are so many unique homes! We’re going to start today’s tour in the kitchen, which is the heart of our home. If you’d like to see part 1 of my tour which features living room and mantle, dining room, hallways, and bedrooms, click here.
I am also linking up to Jennifer Rizzo’s house walk party and Nesting Place.
(At the end of this post, I’ve created a shoppable gallery for you featuring items from the tour. These are affiliate links).
Our kitchen island serves as the hub of all activity… homework, card games, dinner, and breakfast are most often eaten at this island.
Typically, I have some sort of seasonal item in the center of the island, but I decided to keep the decor minimal this year. At the far end of the island, I’ve added a basket tray, vintage amber bottles with greenery from a pine tree in our yard, vintage gold ornaments, and a disco ball… and I found this little brass partridge that I thought was perfect for the season… and a partridge on the kitchen island! (The two brass turtle doves are on my mantle).
With the center of the island being clear, it’s now perfectly ready for holiday baking, which we’ve already started.
Our kitchen opens to our dining room, as you can see above and below. We had the dividing wall knocked down a few years ago and the space is now perfect for entertaining or just spending time together as a family. We have three dogs, and they can most often be found with us in this space as well.
In this space, the open shelving is where I have the most fun in creating a seasonal look. I often work at the island, and from my seat, I love to see the shelving. I think that’s why I enjoy having art and prints to look at… they inspire me.
This year I’ve brought in several vintage touches, but haven’t much changed the shelves overall since the fall. 
Over a year ago, I found several vintage bottle brush trees at a yard sale. Last year I used them on my mantle, but this year I thought they’d pair perfectly with my amber tones. I brought in little vintage deer I found earlier this year as well and my numbered jars from Anthropologie to mark the date.
I’ve also added some vintage white reindeer I have had for a few years, as well as some “snowballs” in my pottery colander.
On the countertops I have also brought in a couple of minor seasonal tweaks. We use the area to the left of the stove for food prep, and with baking in full swing, I like to keep butter out softening for cookie recipes. This deer butter dish is the perfect way to do that.
On the other side of the stove, I’ve started keeping artwork there… it makes me smile! I created this little “Elf” inspired piece and just printed it out at home to use for the holidays. I’ve also made it available for you to print for free here. Elf is one of our family favorites, so it seemed like a perfect fit for us.
Before we head out to the porch, here’s one more look at the kitchen…
Now we’re going to head out that side door, which is the door we most commonly use in our home which makes the kitchen the first room most people see. Oh, and if you are wondering why there is a “hole” on the bottom shelf of our island, our puppy loves to curl up there so we reserve the space for her.
Time to head outside! Winter chill is in the air, and the breezes are blowing in our little house on a hill. Grab your hot cocoa and come on out!
By the way, how awesome is this shirt? It reads “Ima deck those halls so hard.” I saw it on instagram from Mrs. Emily and had to have it. (It’s $30 plus free shipping right now- you could have it next week!) When it arrived, I think Chris was actually more excited about it than I was… we both love it! It’s unisex, so he could wear it, but Ima not gonna let him.
If you aren’t familiar with where I live, I am in a rural area of Maryland out in the country, and we live in a small Cape Cod style home up on a hill. Because of the style of my home and the rural and woodsy surroundings, my porch decor is always a little more rustic than the interior. This year was the first year that I added fresh garland from Lynch Creek Farm around my doorway.
In my planters I added small and skinny evergreen plants (read affordable!), and added some firewood for easy access and to fill out the look. I draped the ends of the garland around the plants. A little vintage bucket reads “EBRIGHT” but I turned it so you can see the “bright” part, perfect for the holidays! Now I just need a “merry” bucket. 😉 
On the right side of the door hangs my bull skull, and he was adorned with some fresh greenery from the yard as well.
Our porch settee kept its green pillows and blue mexican blanket, but I added a cute little Christmas dog pillow my parents gave me years ago.
In front of the settee sits a little farmhouse bench we use as a coffee table. I’ve set a vintage coleman jug out there that we will fill up with water and make into a “Reindeer Drinking Station” so Santa’s reindeer can quench their thirst here. We’re hoping it helps to win the reindeer’s favor… 😉
Although this is our “side” entry, as I mentioned, it’s the one we use most often, so I want it to be warm and welcoming, even if it’s cold out there.
To the left of the door, I’ve added a vintage sled and skates, a giant handmade snowflake, and a really cool upcycled wall adornment my parents gave me last year for Christmas. I truly don’t know what it is, but it was perfect to hang outside and fill with huge pinecones and greenery.
To the left of the side entry on the porch is our eating area. Of course, we don’t eat out here once the weather is too cold, but there have been parties of yore where we did hang out in the cold with our drinks, so I am not ruling it out.
I’ve added layered vintage plaid blankets for a cozy feel, a vintage sled and some more greenery to bring in the season. And a concrete antelope head and silver mushroom fit any season at my house. I also added a disco ball in my birdcage that typically houses candles. Disco balls everywhere!
There’s a new addition out here as well. I painted this dresser a while back and it hadn’t sold do I decided it was meant to be mine and perfect for my porch. My parents gave me the manger I grew up with after I mentioned loving it. I put it out here as it seemed to be the perfect space for it.
I was mesmerized by these figurines when I was young, and to be honest I still am (mesmerized, not young). They’re colorful and beautiful. As a child I loved rearranging the animals.
Next to the dresser sits a crate of firewood with a modern white vase filled with greenery. And next to that sits my vintage wicker chair with a sheepskin throw for the season.
Following the porch around the corner, we get to what is technically the main entry even though we don’t use it often.
I’ve added a tinsel tree that lights up at night, a vintage log cabin look house a friend gave me, a basket of firewood, and a vintage Mexican blanket. I hung a reclaimed wooden star on my teal vintage window. The tree has a sheepskin as a skirt, and sits up on an upside down bushel basket to give it some height.
And now I am going to take you to the part of the outside I was most excited about adding a little festive feel to this year. Let’s head to the back yard, but first, let’s move this vintage red bike someone left in our way… kidding. I love it here, but I have to keep moving it out of my own way. 😉 I’ve hung a small wreath on the gate into our back yard.
And I’ve also hung its mate on our chicken coop– I could not leave the chickens out of the christmas decor! Also, you might notice that this coop locks up tighter than Fort Knox, but we’ve had predator issues, and we like to keep our hens safe and happy.
In front of the coop, outside of the gate, sits a panel that used to hide firewood. The previous owners used it, but we had the yard fenced in. The posts are solidly in the ground, so rather than pull it out, we use it in our decor.
On that panel, I hung a grapevine wreath snowman with an old scarf… obviously I was going for a tone on tone look here (not on purpose!). Emmy and I added colored lights to make it fun and festive.
At night, it feels so cheerful out here… I love this addition this year! I don’t know about the chickens, but this little scene makes me happy.
Well, that is all I have for you today. If you would like to catch part one of my tour to see the rest of my holiday home, I invite you to check it out here. Now head on over to The Makerista to see the beautiful home of Gwen.
Today’s lineup also includes The Makerista, House of Hipsters, The Curated House, and Craftberry Bush.
If you liked what you saw and want to shop the post, I’ve gathered a collection of the same and like items for you below. Thank you so much for visiting today and happy holidays!
