Our 2015 Christmas Great Room ...

Happy Friday, friends!

Thank you for your kind comments about our great room Christmas mantel that I shared earlier this week ... I'm back today to share the rest of the room.

I know I sound like a broken record when I say we still love our IKEA Ektorp white slipcovered sofa ... it just sets off seasonal colors so well, no matter what color palette you use!  

Speaking of IKEA, we now have a new set of twins because of that "dangerous" place!  Yes, I'm afraid these cute chairs made their way into the back of our SUV not too long ago.  They are really comfy, especially when you lean back against the added faux fur rugs. The cushions (purchased separately) are the same color and fabric as the sofa slipcover, which is a nice bonus.  I have a feeling these chairs will be making their rounds in our house!

Over on our sofa, a pretty holiday "noel" pillow from Home Goods dresses it up a bit ... Home Goods has the best selection of festive pillows this year!

Remember this oversized tray I found at Home Goods a few months ago?  Weeeeeell, I decided to give it a bit of an AS Pure White chalk paint "wash" and add it to our coffee table, filling it with candles, garland, an ornament filled canister ...  

and this cutie, also from Home Goods.  I really like the large size of the tray (it's perfect for adding lots of goodies AND for keeping my hubby's feet off of the table, too)!  Ha. 

Now that we're back in Virginia, it's seemed only fitting to add this pretty cardinal (our state bird) pillow to our holiday decor!

If I pan on around more a bit to the right, you'll see our Christmas tree,

which I decorated in lots of colors and filled with sentimental, whimsical and "filler" ornaments.

And, since I am NOT a bow maker, despite watching countless youtube tutorials, I go for crazy toppers instead, where I just stick things down into the top of the tree ... much easier! 

Now, over on this wall, I'm really excited to show you what we've been working on ... it involves IKEA (no surprise) and a couple of "Billy's!"

BEFORE:  I really like our buffet, but it just seemed to get lost a bit on this long wall:

AFTER:  TA DAAAAAA!  

What a difference ... still have a bit of tweaking to do, but we're really enjoying the change.  While the Billy bookcases are awesome "as is" when you put them together, we decided to "beef" ours up a bit by adding molding, black knobs and picture lighting (which really helps to brighten up this otherwise dark part of the room).  I'll share a more detailed post about the bookcases soon.

You know I love having more places to add "stuff," like our cute clothtique Santas and holiday plate from Wal-Mart.

We also really like how the height of the bookcases balances with the height of the windows on the other side of the room.  

And, speaking of the windows ... this year, instead of adding wreaths to them, I thought it'd be a nice change to add garland to the tops of them, resting them on the curtain rods.

Back on our sofa table ... since I added blue ornaments to the tree, I kept our blue/white vase here to tie in with it all.  Extra wooden trees (that match the ones on the mantel) help bring a bit of red to this side of the room, as well, and tie in with the fireplace.

And, there you have it ... our little great room dressed up for the holidays!

I hope you'll come back as I share more of our holiday home in the coming days.

Thanks so much for visiting!

I'm joining:

A Stroll Thru Life/Inspire Me Tuesday
Nesting Place/Annual Tour of Homes

Our Christmas Great Room Mantel for a Merry Little Christmas Blog Hop

Hi friends!

I'm happy to be joining several ladies as we share part of our holiday homes ...

all as part of a "Merry Little Christmas Blog Hop," hosted by the fabulously talented Pamela from "From my Front Porch to Yours."

While I *wanted* to share our entire great room today, a project involving IKEA Billy bookcases within camera shot prevents me from doing that.  Sooooo, I'm simply sharing our mantel, in all of its holiday glory!

As always, I was a bit stumped how to decorate this year.  Do you ever get "decorator's block?"  I sure do, but thanks to Dollar Tree and Target (and the love of plaid this year), I was finally inspired.

And, here it is ... dressed in crisp and classic red, white and green.

How cute is this plaid stocking from the Dollar Store?  

Plaid culprit no. 2 was this fun "Merry Christmas" banner from Target ... it came in one long banner, but I decided to separate the words and stack them to give it more "presence" in the center of the mantel.

These felt ornamental skates have made their rounds in our home for several years ... this year becoming a focal point layered over our mirror.  A white snowflake garland up above help to tie in with the snowflakes both on the skates and those that I tucked into the garland on the mantel.

And, then there are the festive, glittery deer down below, paired with a glass demi that just "had to have" fairy lights floating around inside.

I've really enjoyed having our newly made DIY "mdf" white backdrop this year!  I think it really helps all of the colors really stand out.

Oh, and I can't forget this cutie ... I love vintage trucks and have seen them shared several times by bloggers, but they were truly "vintage" and hard to find.  That is, until Target came out with their own version (yay)!

I love it when the sun starts to go down and the lights truly take over ... just one of the many joys of the holidays!

Thanks so much for visiting our Christmas mantel!

Please be sure and visit these incredibly talented ladies ... you will certainly be inspired!

Atta Girl Says

Chateau Chic

Edith and Evelyn

Far Above Rubies

From My Front Porch to Yours

Housepitality Designs

Shabby Fufu

The Everyday Home

White Lace Cottage

Happy Holidays!

Snippets of Our Christmas Decorations ...

Happy Monday!

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  Do you have your elastic waistband pants ready to go?  I sure do!

In the meantime, I'm sharing a few snippets today of our holiday home!  

I've loved adding in a few new members this year, like our cute deer from Home Goods ...

and this cute nutcracker from Target.  He joins our collection of a few others, and they have all taken over the dining room.

The beautiful flocked tree that my husband surprised me with is spreading "snow" in the sitting room and is now all decked out in red, black and white.

My favorite little reindeer from the Dollar Store (along with cute reindeer prints) helped me set the theme in our sunroom, where I've mixed lots of red, light blues, gold and silver.

Yes, it's all about the "JOY" of the season, 

Christmas songs from the carolers,

and, of course, lots and lots of festive red!

It's a good thing Santa remembered his sunglasses ... he needs them this morning with the sunshine streaming in!  

I look forward to sharing more of our holiday home and can't wait to see yours!  

Our New Breakfast Area Chairs ...

Greetings!

Sometimes, I'm slow to catch on ... like when it came to the French Tolix chairs that I've been seeing quite a bit lately.  I know that they've been around forever ... like starting in the 1930s ... BUT they seem to have made a serious come back in the last few years.

I love all of the fun colors they come in ... how vintage ... industrial ... and, simply cool chairs that these chairs are.

Source

I also love mixing old with new ... look how pretty they are in this dining area paired with those awesome wicker chairs.

Source

I knew I had to have a couple of these for our kitchen table.  So, after perusing the internet, I scooted up to Target and purchased two of their Carlisle chairs.  What a bargain at two for $99!

Unfortunately, when I get them home and put them together, the scale of them was a bit too small for what I wanted. Bummer!

Soooo, back to the drawing board I went.  After seeing many for $150+ a chair, I thought I'd have to wait awhile to purchase them.  And, just when I was about to give up, I stumbled onto Restoration Hardware's website.  Their version of the Tolix chair, the Remy, is on sale for only $79 a chair (originally $99).  It was the right height, the seat was a bit larger and the price was doable!  I added two to my shopping cart and anxiously waited for them to get here.

They arrived fast ... required no assembly ... and have wasted no time getting comfy in our breakfast area!

I love them so much that, on a whim, I painted our table top AS's Pure White (like the base) to allow them to take center stage a bit more!

Now, to add a bit more wax to the table ... enjoy our chairs ... and add a bit of Christmas to the newly painted table top!

Moral of my little story ... keep on clicking around the internet because, eventually, you'll find exactly what you want and can afford!

Have a great day!

It's That Time Again ....

Greetings, friends!

Now that Halloween is over ... you know what "that" means, right?  

Yes, dust covered bins are slowly making their way up from the basement ...

Trees are being placed, and mesh is slowly taking over the place!

Pinterest is "stuck" on my computer for fun inspiration!

And, I'm testing out new color schemes.

Even though, every year, I say that I won't buy anything "new" and use what I have, SOMEhow this new friend jumped into my cart and came home with me. Oops.

And, while I should be focusing on one thing at a time, I couldn't help but to stop and visit with Santa and our future hot coffee station.

Ahhhh, the joys of the pre-Christmas decorating madness!

I hope I'm not alone ... look forward to sharing our holiday home in the coming weeks!

Thanks for stopping by,