Our Valentine Kitchen

Raise your hand if you're ready for Spring!  Hopefully, March will be here before we know it and bring warmer temps along with it!

And, before Valentine's Day comes and goes, I wanted to share our little ol' red and white kitchen.

I decided to "retire" the Valentine tree on the island that I've decorated the past couple of years and opted for something a bit more simple this year by just hanging a few ornaments on faux floral branches:

Glass apothecary jars are my favorite place to "showcase" anything, including these "2 cool" plastic hearts (from Michael's):

Inexpensive Valentine cookie cutters provide a fun pop of color to an otherwise plain canister:

If there's one thing that isn't "faux," it's the candy, which my son has been more than happy to empty a couple of times!  That's why there's only ONE apothecary jar sharing real treats!

Since I'm NOT an avid baker, these cute cupcake liners are better off being showcased, rather than actually used!

The pretty red/white plates I recently scooped up from Home Goods have fit in perfectly with our red/white Valentine kitchen decor!

Our breakfast table got a little hint of Valentine with more faux tulips from Michael's ... pretty soon, I'll "pluck" the red and pink ones so that only the white ones are left for Spring, which I hope gets here soon!

But, until those warmer temps greet us, I'll be tackling lots of yucky organizing projects inside!

Stay warm and dry and thanks for stopping by!

Our Valentine Mantel

Greetings, friends!

Can you believe we're already into February?!  It seems like Christmas was just "yesterday!"  As soon as our Christmas decorations came down, our Valentine decor went up ... it's fun being able to continue the splashes of red to celebrate the month of "love!"

I wanted to share our Valentine mantel before it's time to transition to an Easter/Spring one.

Nothing too fancy ... and, I mostly used things that I had on hand, with the *little* exception of a few, new purchases ... like this fun, shiny heart wreath (from Michael's):

And, since I decided not to decorate a Valentine tree this year on our kitchen island, I used the heart garland (from Michael's) on the mantel, instead!

I was even able to use our silver, Christmas votives ... "love, hope and cherish" ... those words seem fitting for Valentine's Day, too, don't they?

Both glittery and felt hearts nestle a small candle ...

Annnnd, nothing blooms more beautifully than faux tulips from Michael's:

These matching red, "chippy" orbs simply *had* to jump in my cart when I was at HomeGoods this past Fall!  I see these two traveling all over our home (both inside and out)!

A warm fire and a small string of white Christmas lights help give it just a little bit of ambiance at night time ...

All you need is love, right?

Thanks for stopping by,

"Wintery" Sitting Room ...

Happy New Year!

Ahhhhh, Christmas is now officially packed away, BUT, that always leaves me stumped as to "what's next?"  New vignettes … colors … and arrangements invade my brain at full speed … can you relate?

In our little sitting room, instead of going "coastal" for the warmer months (that I WISH would hurry up and get here), I decided to keep the greens and browns and stay a tad "wintery" for now.  

After the tree came down, I moved one of our garden seats in here to hold a few decorating magazines that always seem to distract me!

Before coastal birds fly over to our accent chest, a simple vignette sits there for now:

I took down the Christmas branches and added shed antlers and wintery churches to our bookcase:

Apparently, SOMEbody emptied the "cocktail" decanter … oops!

I couldn't resist adding one little piece of coral here … maybe it will chase this frigid weather away!

If "that" doesn't work, maybe these little teases of Valentine's decor going on elsewhere in our home WILL!

Just might have to splash a little bit of "l.o.v.e." in here soon, too!

Stay warm, friends, and thanks for stopping by!

More of our Christmas Tour ...

And, now, we're down to only FOUR days away!  Time to start wrapping presents and making my grocery list for our Christmas morning feast!

I thought I'd share just a few more pics of our holiday home before the big day! 

I always try to give our mudroom a little splash of Christmas!

Inexpensive canisters from Wal-Mart become the perfect place to showcase ornaments, Christmas cards and candy ...

This year, I decided to "hang" the Christmas cards from white clothesline and mini clothespins … thought that would be kinda fun since it's our laundry room!

My son's "little" bedroom got a matching "little" tree, filled with all things sports!

I love the tree in my son's playroom … he pretty much did it all by himself, with just a little bit of help from me.

And, while my husband hangs out with his NY Yankees Christmas tree in his "man cave ..."

"I" might just hang out on our back porch, especially since it's in the 70s right now!

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by,

Our Christmas Dining Room and Breakfast Area

Six days and counting … can you believe it ?!

While I *should* be out shopping, I've been here, snapping and editing pics to share more of our holiday home before it's too late!

I'll keep my *yacking* to a minimum, like I did the other day when sharing our great room and kitchen … just pretend Bing is serenading you while you first take a peek at our dining room, where red, black, white and silver have taken over for the season!

These wintry plates (from HomeGoods) were the inspiration for the colors in here.

Our glittery reindeer, mercury trees and red finials sure were happy that our neighbor was able to fix our broken table leg so that they were able to come out and "be seen!"

Mini lights, tucked into the garland placed on our buffet, help make our room glow at nighttime. 

A Christmas first for me … the addition of black!  And, I gotta say that I'm really liking it mixed in with the red, white and silver!

I spotted these wild sparkly poinsettias at a local Christmas shop and just *knew* that they had to come home with me!

While we never eat in here, I sometimes enjoy just hanging in the doorway and "visiting" this time of year.

And, now come on over to our breakfast room, where traditional Christmas colors have met up with tiny pops of deep purple!

See our new tree?!  It's a fun addition this year, as we've never had one in this spot before … wish I had done it years ago!

I'm a big fan of the box "Y" tree from Wal-Mart (which is a 7 ft, pre-lit Berkley Pine faux tree for only $68)!  We have a few of them around the house ...  they're the perfect tree for little corners and/or small spaces!

Mini wine glasses, grapes, cheese, wine bottles, corks, fruit and coordinating "shatterproof" ornaments cover it from top to bottom!

It's fun for us to be surrounded by lights and trees when "breaking bread" in here!

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit our holiday dining room and breakfast area!  I'll be back to share just a "tad" bit more!