Skip to main content

Welcome to our Christmas home (tour two!)

Hello there and happy Friday! It's the start of our favorite few weeks of the year! Our family is together, no one is traveling, no school, homework or basketball...it's a welcome relaxing time after a lovely but busy year. 

I'm joining in on another fabulous Christmas tour today and this time we're sharing our "welcoming" spaces -- front porches and entry ways. The lovely Chris from Just a Girl is our host and you NEED to go see her amazing front porch! Wow. You can see the majority of our holiday house from last week and the other wonderful bloggers involved in that tour here. Stay tuned at the end of this post to see the other ladies on this week's tour and be sure to check out the talented Jen from Tatertots and Jello next! 

I'll try not to talk too much and let you enjoy the photos -- I will link to related posts under the photos if you want more info!

Our front porch is super tiny and years ago I embraced it and decided to decorate it like a big porch. ;) I wish we had something bigger to dress up but ours always looks festive with greenery and red touches: 
greenery around doorway

I usually add more greenery around the door, but this year I put it around the railing instead. It's a lot quicker to do the latter and I'm all about simple and easy this year!

I LOVE our shutters and love dressing them up for the holidays. I just tack up the ribbon from both the top and bottom:
greenery and lights outside Christmas decor

I really wanted some lanterns for our extended steps this year, but haven't found anything I trust to leave outside. I'm hoping to find something next summer. 

Lynch Creek Farm sent me this gorgeous wreath this year and it is SO so pretty. I chose the traditional look with pine cones and red accents and I'm in love with it: 
Lynch Creek Farm wreath

The "merry" was a wood sign I found at the Target dollar spot that I spray painted red. I just nestled it inside and I love how it looks!

Of course I love the outside even more when the sun goes down! (Which seems like 4 p.m. lately.):
decorating shutters for Christmas

decorating a small porch outside

I love driving up to our home all year, but this time it's extra special. :) 

Here's a look inside the front door: 
black interior doors

That tile is coming up in 2017! Whoot! I've been waiting years to replace it and I can't wait! 

I was pretty low key with this space since just to the other side stands our giant Christmas tree
fa la la art

As you can tell, I have a thing with blue. A color I used to hate in my decor! ;)

I love our simple, pretty nativity set: 
neutral nativity set

The fluffy wreath was from HomeGoods:
foyer decorating ideas

You can see how I made those snowy candles with dollar store candles here: 
snowy DIY candles

You don't see our staircase right when you walk in, which was something different about this layout that I loved when I first saw it: 
black accent wall

I've had a lot of fun with these stairs over the years
white risers stained treads

Christmas decor on stairs

taking carpet off stairs

And in the evening!:
Black wall on stairs

I get asked about those grids on the wall a lot -- they are actually old window grids I found at Goodwill years ago. They sat in our garage forever until I made some changes to that staircase wall earlier this year:
JOY letters at Christmas

old window grids as art

Adding my jars filled with fake snow and tea lights is one of my favorite additions every year!:
lanterns on stairs Christmas

Just around the corner is the staircase to our basement. I dressed it up with a wreath on the mirror and then hung our DIY Pottery Barn count down
DIY wood wall

You'll notice the advent is empty -- it's been a crazy month. ;) 

I shared our newly painted mud room a few months ago -- I absolutely LOVE it. It was worth all of the work to paint every single surface in here!: 
white beadboard mud room

That room has been completely finished for some time and I need to share the full reveal with you soon! 

It may not look like it to some, but I really simplified our decor this year. I've said it before, but some greenery and pops of red are all a room needs to make it feel festive! 

Make sure to visit all of the following talented ladies as well! If you're slowing down this weekend, this is the perfect way to spend a couple hours...with a fire and mug of hot chocolate! :) I will be back over the next two weeks sharing plenty, it just may not be as often as normal. 

outdoor Christmas decorating


Monday


Wednesday


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Mediocre Life?

I read something a few weeks ago that really spoke to me -- it was one of those articles that makes you nod your head and yell "HECK YEAH!" as you read it.  It's called What if All I Want is a Mediocre Life and you can find it here -- it's a fast read and I'll wait while you go take a look. ;)  My only hesitation with the post is the use of the word mediocre. I could not agree more with everything she said, and it describes my outlook on life well. But my life is anything but mediocre. The definition of that word is "of only moderate quality, not very good." My life and what I do with it is anything but.  I have a content life. Replace "mediocre" with "content" and I'm on board.  I am not a woman of extremes, I do not always strive to be the best I can be. I do not tackle each day with intensity. I wake up and realize I get to do what I love -- be with my family, work on my home, visit with friends and write to you all. And I fin

Stuff We Love Round Up 2016!

YAY, it's the start of the best time of the year my friends!! Are you preparing for a week full of friends, family and food? I've gathered a fantastic group of bloggers and we're sharing our favorite products-- holiday-themed and otherwise -- over the next few days with you!: You can find the links to all 18 bloggers at the bottom of the post. I've gathered a talented group that spans beauty, fashion, decor and DIY! This has become a favorite tradition of mine for this time of year. I absolutely LOVE this week, don't you? So much to look forward to.  You can see my previous favorite posts here and here with all kinds of great stuff. This year I'm gathering some favorites I've shared throughout the year as well as some new goodies. I'm in love with all of them and use them all of the time.  First up, one of our more recent purchases. I have to first confess something to you all...there are times when I get kind of obsessed with the cable shopping chann

How to remove baseboards (the easy way)

Well I'm thrilled because a project I've been itching to start for years now has finally started!! Our loft is a great big space that has always felt underutilized to me. I really hate not using rooms to their full potential (even if my way is not how they're supposed to be used ).  When we knocked down a wall in our family room a few years ago I lost my office, which really hasn't been a big deal. I don't mind it (I blog from a comfy chair most days) but I would like to have a central location for all things office, crafts and wrapping. This room will be a space for all of those -- plus some.  My hope is it will be a fun work space for me when I need to "get away," for our boy to work on projects or homework, a craft area, wrapping station and we'll also have a sofa up here so we can just relax if we want. It will be a much more girly space though and I'm super excited about that!  Here's how this view looked about a year ago:  This room is th