{ holiday home tour} the living room

I know I said the kitchen, but it's a disaster. And the slipcovers aren't done. I'm thinking about taking those photos tomorrow, slipcovers or not.  For now, how about the living room?

This is the view from the entryway.  Yes, it's a fake tree.  I have had to get over this with all the allergics in the house, me included.  We deal.

Wait.  The door wreath is real.  That counts for something, right?

Last year I decided to move all of our red decorations to the basement and swap in some lime green, peacock blue, gold and white.  Our main floor is very light and I like it that way ... bringing in too many traditional dark colors makes it feel heavier than it needed to be.  The whites and blues were a welcome change.

The bannister is a combination of long-needle pine garland (that I got for a stupid good deal for $2 each and am kicking myself for not buying the case), cream burlap, and ornaments.  I have found so many at thrift stores in bags for $1.  Do yourself a favor and pop into a thrift store next November for decorations.  One of my friends picked up a 6' slim pre-lit tree for $12.  Stealio.

You can kind of peek into the kitchen in this photo.  I made those boxwood wreaths from the overgrown shrubbery in our yard. And there is a slim tree to the left of the cabinets.

The pink bag behind the couch is where my afghan lives when I'm not working on it. The bag was a gift from Beki last year.

I found so many glass (and plastic) balls that put them everywhere.  On top of candelsticks...

in bowls...

on the piano...

and even in a vase (with marshmallows) on my dresser. 

I've never added anything in our bedroom before but I like it.  We had a lot of vases left over after the memorial service in August.  I like that I can use some of the again.

The plastic snowflake was a thrift store snag. So were the cut plastic covered dish and the gold ornaments in the vase... I love it when that happens.

Decorating the house is something we did for the girls.  If it were just the mr and I, it would be difficult to get into things right now.  Setting up was a nice distraction and it was fun to use the same stuff in a different way this time around. 

The one thing I haven't been able to do is hang the stockings.  Fidget is begging me to, and my heart is so heavy.  We were supposed to add a new stocking this year. I go back and forth about what to do.

Enjoy your week, friends.  I know it's hectic and stressful, but I hope you can carve for yourself and your loved ones some time for peace.

xo

{ holiday tour } The Guestroom and the surprise appearance of an afghan

This is the slowest home tour ever.  My apologies... I've been preparing for company!

My folks are flying in later today, so this is already getting some use.  This guest room is in the basement.  One side of our house is walk-out level, so we were lucky to finish this room with bright full length windows.  Makes such a difference.

I got these three little linen trees thrifting last year.  They are perfect on the window ledge.

The afghan is a work in progress.  I'm using up my yarn stash (left over from the nursery's granny square afghan) on this king-width simple striped blanket that may take me the whole year to complete.  I've been adding a row or two every night since Thanksgiving as I'm watching shows with the mr.  It's ridiculously soft and I can't stop myself from bright pops of hot pink.  Some rows are single crochet, some are double.  It's completely random and I love it. 

 

Next up: the kitchen!  Which means I should finish the slipcovers for the chairs. Ahem.

{ holiday tour } the playroom

(Thank you so much for the sweet comments. That deer was quite possibly the best spent $6.  Local KC friends, I picked it up this past weekend at a west bottoms first weekend vintage mart event -- have you been there yet?)

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I thought I'd start the holiday home tour in the playroom because it is 1) pink and 2) clean.

It is also home to our pretty pink tree. The girls love it, and it really is the best showcase for all of the princess and barbie ornaments they have amassed over the years. The room faces the front of the house, so I was more than happy to put a tree in one of the front windows.

This is also the perfect spot for handmade art.  I love projects that showcase little feet, fingers and toes.

 

I picked up this little santa thrifting a few years ago.  He is busy flying around the world in his old toy truck.

The storage unit was a craigslist find last year.  Best purchase ever. 

I picked up Alicia Paulson's Santa Lucia dolls kit a few years ago, too.  These little girls make me smile every year when I take them out of the box.

You can kind of see the striped flat/satin wall treatment Ipainted when this was still an office.  This space serves us much better as a playroom, even if it is directly to the left of the front door and is usually a disaster.

The glow of a pink tree is totally, 100% like none other. 

Amen.

{ december }

I'm feeling quiet these days.  Words are a jumble. I'm keeping my hands busy by decking the halls and making cheer for our girls. Sarah suggested that I share a little of my busy-hands therapy, so I'm going to start a holiday home tour.

Unfortunately, my house is not photo ready.  So how about I tease you with two shots of new-ish stuff and just promise to be back later when the rooms are picked up?  Because that's all I've got.

(I picked up this little guy a a vintage market downtown yesterday.  He fits right in.)

The playroom has a cotton candy pink tree. It (and the tiny pink glass birds that I picked up at the dollar store 4/dollar) make me smile.