Be sure to read through to the end–we’ve got a lovely giveaway for you!
Hey, friends–welcome to our 2015 holiday home tour! I brought this one down to the wire, since I took my photos just yesterday (and it was rainy and dark–boo!) and was up until the wee, wee hours editing them and writing. BUT, the good news is that my house is completely decorated on December 1st and now I get to enjoy the month!
For those of you who might be new readers, we are a military family and move all the time, so I get lots of practice decorating new houses! We moved to this lovely home in North Carolina at the very end of July, so just over four months ago, and believe it or not, we’re renting it. I will confess that whenever we’ve rented instead of bought, we’ve been tremendously lucky to find houses that aren’t on the rental market, since we all know this isn’t a “typical” rental. Anyway, you can read more about this house {here}.
So, I’m the very first holiday open house in our 2015 tour–no pressure there, right?!
I decorated my front porch a few weeks ago in gold and twinkle lights {that post is here} and I worked with the pretty ivy that’s been trained around the front door instead of using the evergreen roping that I usually do. I love how it turned out!
Once you step inside our home, there’s an entryway that opens right into our two-story living room. {I’ll try to list sources under each photo, but just leave a comment if I miss something}
| Bust, lamp, apothecary jar: HomeGoods; Naughty/Nice pillow, anemone: Hobby Lobby |
I still use this chippy roadside rescue dresser to corral tablecloths (the dining room is to the right) as well as hats, scarves, and gloves.
| NOEL banner (I made it with letters from Hobby Lobby), tray: Michael’s, Curtains: Target|
The giant vintage dough bowl above the front door is filled with evergreen, magnolia leaves, and huge gold ornaments.
| Lamp, magnifying glass, black bench, gold and white fur throw pillows: HomeGoods, buffalo check pillow: Target |
Here’s a shot from the kitchen; the hallway to the right of the staircase goes back to the powder room, laundry room, and master.
| Bar stools |
Our tree is ten feet tall and it’s dwarfed by the two-story windows; maybe I need a bigger one next year?!
| Nailhead recliner; gold butler’s table |
My daughter and I decorated it with gold and white ting ting, feathers, and this beautiful ribbon that lists all the names of Christ on it. I love it!
Oh, and the paper fans are kind of a fun touch; I found them at HomeGoods and decided to use them on the tree as a whim.
| Noel ornaments and ribbon: Hobby Lobby; round ornaments, gold star, and ting ting: AtHome, paper fans: HomeGoods |
My daughter tends to be pretty traditional about our Christmas tree, but she adores this one. When we finished setting it up, she said, “Our house looks so happy now.” She’s right.
| Clam shell |
The gold color scheme is carried through to the dogs on the rug (LOL); they have to be right next to whatever I’m doing, so that means they supervise the photo shoots!
They would also like you know that they are very decorative; a golden retriever in front of a roaring fire is pretty much the archetypal Christmas photo, right?!
Here’s the tree at night:
Moving into the kitchen, I transitioned from black, white, and gold to a more traditional red, white and green color scheme.
| Santa mugs: my grandmother’s; red and white plates, basket, and bottle caddy: HomeGoods, Good Morning coffee mugs; copper lanterns; swizzle sticks: Wal-Mart |
We have a coffee bar set up on the counter (the “R” chalkboard tag is for regular–no one wants to grab decaf in the morning!!).
And, of course, we have to do a hot chocolate bar every year (doesn’t everyone?!).
| Boxwood wreath; chevron mugs; cake stand, to-go cups, and white platter: HomeGoods; Eat Me/Drink Me printable tags; silver mug: vintage |
| Topiary: Lowe’s; Bread Box; Plates and napkins: HomeGoods |
| Groceries sign and hanging chalkboard: Hobby Lobby |
| Naughty/Nice pom pom towels: Dollar Tree (seriously!) |
Here’s part of the view out of my kitchen window:
I just have to go on the record that I don’t think you can ever have too much vintage silver or boxwood in your holiday decor! Agreed?
We’re planning a Christmas party the evening of my daughter’s final Nutcracker performance; the theme is “Soup & Sweets” and this is the very small beginning of the sweets bar I’m going to set up. More to come!
I just bought 100 red and white paper straws for the party; they’re 50% off right now at Hobby Lobby.
| Apothecary jar and mini cupcake stand: HomeGoods; Gumballs |
The little Christmas tree in my kitchen is one of my favorites–that tiny stand mixer ornament!! #idie
You can see more of my kitchen {here} and the living room and dining room–which I somehow forgot to photograph (!) {here}.
The closet-turned-mudroom got a little Christmas facelift, too:
I wish it had been a better day for photographs; my office is the darkest room in the house and I really wanted to show off my Lilly Pulitzer tree and banner (thanks, Dixie Delights!). The colors aren’t as good as they would be in natural light…but you all have an open invitation to come see it in person!
The cute little printable is also from Amanda at Dixie Delights {here}.
Moving down the hallway to the bedroom, Harley shows off the plantation shutter doggie doors that we use when we need to corral the dogs (which isn’t very often!).
I strung a garland over the French doors that lead out to the deck; that was just enough for the bedroom.
The JOY banner is {here}.
Here’s a quick snap of our bathroom; I just added a bottle brush tree and a few pink touches. My very talented friend Ashly gave me that homemade lotion for my birthday and it smells SO good!
The laundry room got decorated, too.
Doesn’t everyone have a Christmas tree in their laundry room? I used dollhouse miniatures and tiny clothespins to decorate it.
Moving upstairs, I’ll show you my daughter’s room and then my son’s room. But first, here’s a bird’s eye view of the living room.
Annabelle’s room is decorated for the Nutcracker ballet from top to bottom.
The Mouse King and Clara double as bookends.
The Sugar Plum Fairy watches over the jewelry box. 🙂
We are drowning in dead pointe shoes, so I worked them into the decor.
| Mirror: vintage; Sugarplum Nutcracker: Target; “Joy” sign, jewelry box, bed pillows, and lamps: HomeGoods|
I’m not kidding; they’re everywhere:
We even have a few pairs that are purely decorative:
The white and pink garland is one of her favorite new additions this year.
She wanted me to show you how pretty it is at night, so here it is at twilight:
The loveseat is the one that I reupholstered; it barely survived our move but one of my jobs for the new year is replacing the nailhead trim that got torn off.
By now, you’ve guessed that gum balls in apothecary jars are one of my favorite decorating tricks. My kids are so used to having gum everywhere that they hardly ever eat it!
|Puffin in Bloom books (illustrated by Rifle Paper Co.); lamp & apothecary jar: HomeGoods |
We’ve framed the posters from the performances she’s appeared in; they’re fun memories as well as pretty decorations.
Here’s my little ballerina; she’s in Waltz of the Flowers and Russian this year, and is understudy for Snow.
| Tree on car pillow; Joy to the World printable |
Here are just a few nighttime shots of the outside:
And here’s a shot from the back deck:
All is calm, all is bright.
Don’t you just love decorating for this beautiful holiday? It’s my gift to my family to create a lovely, peaceful home, and it always helps us all to settle in quickly when we move to a new location. We’re so looking forward to hosting friends and neighbors in a few weeks and then celebrating quietly at home as a family.
I’m also taking great pleasure in our Season of Giving series this year–I hope you’ll join us if you haven’t already. You can read all about it {here}.
You can see more about this house {here} and our previous holiday home tours {here}. And be sure to check back every day for some seriously beautiful holiday homes!
Thanks so much for reading to the very end–phew–that was long! Now, here’s the giveaway we promised:
Linking up at:
