I'm sharing my holiday home tour with the Jennifer Rizzo annual Holiday House walk 2015 link party! You can see more holiday home tours by clicking the image above or going here!
Well hello there! Come on in!
I'm excited to share with you my first ever full Christmas home tour! I did get a little bit of a jump start on my Christmas decorating last month in my living room that you can see here! Can you believe where all that gorgeous stuff was from?! You may notice during this tour that I use the same themes throughout - red, black, plaid, flocked, and simple. When decorating an open concept area, using the same theme will keep the flow of the room harmonious and consistent.
If you are visiting from the very talented Karen's Up on The Hill - WELCOME! If you haven't toured her home yet, you'll want to stop on by because she has gorgeous style! Plus, at the bottom of this post you will find links to over 20 other blogs sharing their holiday home tours! Let's get started with mine.....
So here is a view of our open concept living room and kitchen when you first walk in the front door. We went with very neutral colors for this space and wanted it to be as bright and airy as possible. The wall color is Mindful Gray by Sherwin Williams.
Walk a little bit further in and here is the view of our IKEA kitchen while standing in the living room. I don't like to go overboard on holiday decor. While I'm sure to some people this may seem like a ton of decor, to others this may seem like nothing at all. The amount of decor you use in your home should make you happy and comfortable. And of course that is different for all of us. I prefer simple holiday decorating and to me that is pops of red and black against a neutral room. A very bright room I might add. This room can be so bright that it's almost blinding! I recently ordered blinds and shades to help with that and I look forward to them being installed.
{Merry Christmas pillow; Kirklands}
So what do you think of the pops or red? I'm loving how I can get away with using very little Christmas decor in my kitchen because the red stands out so much.
{Reindeer plaque above cabinet; Kirklands}
I wanted to avoid overloading the counters and island with decor because those are the surfaces that get used most often.
{Reindeer sign; Kirklands} {Santa suit basket; Michaels} {Small sign; Michaels}
Do you see that "Warm & Cozy" mug? That mug gets used by me several times a day. Not to stay warm & cozy though. I use that mug to stay cool & hydrated by filling it with ice from our ice maker and then pouring the ice into my water bottle. :)
I made sure the island centerpiece could easily be moved all at once since the island is constantly being used in our house.
Since we eat at our island more than our table, I did go a little overboard on the table centerpiece. I created a little winter wonderland with the flocked trees and reindeer. The same flocked trees are above the kitchen cabinets, but I added red berries instead of pinecones.
If you turn around while you are in the kitchen, here is a view of the front entryway. And for those of you that went on my fall home tour, you may remember me mentioning how much I didn't like the table that was under the mirror. I'm sure you will all agree that this new table looks much better. :)
I reused very few holiday decor items from prior years from our old house since our new house is a different style. These Santa Claus and the tree have been part of my decor for a few years now and greet you in the front entry.
{Santa Claus figures; Hobby Lobby} {Resin tree; Hobby Lobby}
Speaking of my front entry, say hi to Sam. Sam is patiently waiting by the front door to go outside even though we never, ever take him out that door. He's such a goof.
That vintage steamer trunk that we normally use as an end table next to the couch fit perfectly on that wall. Even though it's there temporarily because the Christmas tree is in it's spot, I may end up keeping the steamer trunk there and finding something else to use as an end table.
{Mirror; World Market} {Black table under mirror; Gordmans}
Part of the reason I like it so much in this spot is because here I can enjoy it's beauty. When it's next to the couch, it's too hidden.
{Winter Wonderland wall hanging; Kirklands}
I love the way our barn board & black pipe shelf is all decked out for Christmas. Those deer look so majestic on the top shelf. The flocked trees give the space height and the pops of red make it festive.
The new deer statue makes a good place to display my Polar Express ornaments. I still need to pick up the 2015 Polar Express ornament and I'm not sure I will be able to display it on the antlers because this year's ornament looked much bigger!
{Deer statue; Gordmans} {Flocked trees; Tuesday Morning}
I'm still on the lookout for the perfect bookends for my Abraham Lincoln books. Mini cast iron Civil War cannons would look perfect.
{Joy & Noel LED sign; Kirklands} {Merry Christmas sign; Kirklands}
I need to share one more picture of our barn beam & black pipe shelf just because I love it so much. :) And for those of you that are curious about it, this was built by my handsome handy husband. One day I will get around to doing a post on how this was constructed.
Say hi to Sam again. He was very interested in what I was doing. :)
This may look a little familiar if you visited during my phase 1 Christmas tour but you will notice that the Christmas tree has more ornaments on it. I also found black and white snowflake coasters at the Dollar Spot at Target for the coffee table. Almost all of the Christmas decor in this photo is from Big Lots!
And there is Sam again. :) Hopefully next time I photograph this room the shade will be installed and the room will not be so bright. That wall behind the couch is one big window and we have nothing but fields behind our house so there is no shade at all during the day. I'm not complaining about it too much though, too bright is better than too dark!
The window in the dining area of the kitchen also lets in a ton of sunlight all day long and that window will soon have a bamboo shade.
Even though I'm all about inexpensive throw pillows, I did splurge a bit on this Merry Christmas pillow from Pier 1 Imports. It was just my style and too pretty to pass up.
Those reindeer from Big Lots are still some of my favorite Christmas decor for this year!
And of course, one more photo of patiently waiting Sam. :)
Thank you all so much for coming on my Christmas home tour! Be sure to visit the other blogs by clicking the links below!
