Our First Christmas Home Tour!
I promised myself I'd do a Christmas home tour this year. I did that BEFORE I knew we'd be moving, before I knew we'd be renovating, and before I knew the renovations wouldn't be finished...but I set that goal for myself and I'm seeing it through, even in an unfinished house! The best part about this is that I'm not doing it alone. There are 5 other Canadian bloggers sharing their homes today, and if you read on you'll find links to their homes at the bottom of this post along with all the other bloggers sharing tours throughout the week!So lets get to it. This year's Christmas tree has been up since September, but because we didn't move into the house until late October, it hasn't felt too weird. The rest of the decorations in the living room, however, did change a bit because I just couldn't keep everything as is. Not to mention that we've had to move (and remove) some things due to ever growing and curious boys!Let's start with the entryway. This area of our house is extremely unfinished (stairs, painting, etc), but I couldn't leave it undecorated. The chalkboard has nothing to do with Christmas because apparently I used permanent marker when I wrote that! Orrrr...chalk markers become permanent when you don't wash them off after like 2 years. Yikes!
There's no closet in this entryway anymore, so having a basket I can toss my most used Winter items into was a must! Otherwise they'll end up draped on the backs of any and all chairs in the house. Anyone else do that? If I have a proper place to put things, it helps me keep organized and tidy! We also have a place to put keys, little random items and weddings rings/earrings so they never get misplaced!
The small Christmas tree was a find from The Real Canadian Superstore last year and the black chalkboard trees are from Walmart! I'm actually planning on using them for the boys' birthday party, but I loved their modern graphic feel as a mini forest! Plus, it adds to my entire house which is basically themed around black, white and wood tones!
We're skipping the kitchen because it's a disaster and heading right back into the powder room. Yep. I decorated the powder room! When you're THIS limited on finished rooms, you take what you can get! Plus this is one of the places almost all of our guests end up seeing, and I see no harm in adding a little cheer in this tiny little room!
You may remember that in the makeover post for this room there was no colour in here! I added the slightest touch with a little ornament hung on the towel hook and swapped the cactus with a candle and a gold ornament. My favourite part? The gold leaf wreath onthe window!
For more shiplap, we turn to the family room where things have changed ever so slightly. I simplified the mantle a bit and added some more lights. I also switched out the artwork above the sectional for something a little more green. Having so many pine trees in our yard has to come in handy for something, right?
You'll notice the coffee table is empty. That's because the boys love to play on it, and will essentially try to eat anything we leave on it (ask my wicker tray how we know that to be true). As for any lower shelves or compartments, pillows will have to do for now because they're safe for babies, plus it allows us easy access when playing on the floor with them.
The mantle lost its green garland and I opted for some black pom-pom trim and a white tassel garland I made last year. Above, I used empty frames for a little interest and height, keeping everything neutral, and I added a battery-operated string of lights to an old wreath to add a little twinkle on the other side of the room.
The artwork above the buffet was a DIY project and cost me about $3 to make. Plus, it took basically no time at all! As for the Christmas tree, it's like the rest of the room - neutral and textured. You can see how I made the olive leaves (also seen on the satirway garland) right here!
In my favourite little corner of the room, we have a DIY blanket ladder and a shelf which has been almost completely baby-proofed (for now). The pouf (and amazing HomeSense find) is the perfect height and makes great additional searting in here as well!
And the final spot in the house to get a small dose of Christmas cheer was the nursery. When I say small, I mean small - and not because babies sleep in there. I made them a Christmas mobile with a few ornaments and a twig I found at the beach a few summers back. So simple, and they love it!
You can see more about how I made the mobile and the rest of the nursery over on Hello Yellow! And that's about all I have for this year! Hopefully next year we'll have a bit more finished space to decorate for the holidays, but for now, I'm more than happy with what we have. It's been such a great season already, watching the boys delight in the twinkle of the lights.If you want more Christmas, don't worry. I did promise you 5 more for today, right? And if you check below, there are six tours every other day this week, so keep coming back to see what all of these super talented bloggers have up their surely very stylish sleeves! I'll leave you with a sneak peek of what you can expect...
Monday
northern style exposure The Learner ObserverThe Uncommon LawHeather In HeelsClean and ScentsibleTHE SWEETEST DIGS
Tuesday
Amidst the ChaosBrooklyn Berry Designslemon ThistleSuburbleLife is a PartyPMQ for two
Wednesday
Love Create CelebrateSatori Design for LivingA Pop of PrettySo Much Better With AgeVinYet ETCWoman in Real Life
Thursday
The DIY MommyFresh CrushTime With TheaA Pretty LifeHome To HeatherNalles House
Friday
This Little EstateCraftberry Bush The Happy HousieKimpowerstyleElliven Studio