422 13th St Xmas House Tour: Living Room

Judging by the number of views...the cloffice post wasn't what you're interested in. Sorry. It still had to be documented. ;)

On to the living room!!!

This room is a beast to get 'right.' I loved spending our nights together on our couch watching movies with nothing but Christmas lights on. I am having the HARDEST time taking it down. I don't want to say goodbye to it all for ten long months.

I will say...I think I'm ready to undecorate a little earlier than usual this year because I hit the ground running on November 1st...an entire month earlier than I typically decorate because we host Thanksgiving (we didn't this year). I don't regret it at all! Josh kept saying, "It's too early. This isn't right. I'm still working." But I got to 'perfect' everything and then enjoy it all SO MUCH MORE this way. I HATE the idea of hosting Thanksgiving in a Christmas Wonderland, but that just might be what happens next year.

There are a LOT of pictures coming your way...so if you want to know how I did something or have questions on where I found/bought anything, just comment or message me because I can't go into detail describing it all. ;)

This picture was snapped post-Christmas so the pretties under the tree are a little jumbled and doesn't look quite as perfect as it did pre-Christmas.

Did I already post my recipe for garlands? Here it is again:
1. Garland
2. Lights
3. Magnolia leaves (or whatever 'sprig' is your fave!)
4. Beads (they add so much sparkle)
5. Hymnals (texture & depth)
6. Berries (color!)
7. Banner (optional)

There's a shot of my pretty wrapping! Some years I've put my nativity under the tree, but thought that would just be 'asking for it' this year. I'm proud to report that sweet little MaverickWes did not break a SINGLE THING! ALL. THE. PRAISE. HANDS. 

I Instagram way too many pictures of our tree. I know ok.

These stockings were one of my favorite additions this year. Now that we're a 'real' family...you know with a kid and everything...I decided we were going to start doing stockings the way a 'real' family should. And filling them for my boys was so fun! And then going to Target on our Christmas Day to pick out goodies for my stocking because Josh forgot... was also so fun! ;)

Haha there's my lone empty stocking. Josh really did feel bad, but I was on a high from rolling out my new rug so the empty stocking didn't really matter. However...I will say, a shopping spree to Target to choose my own stocking stuffers was so fun, it's darn near close to becoming a tradition of its own.

I slept on the floor by our tree one night when we had too many house guests...and it was as magical as it was awful. I'm fairly certain I didn't sleep a single second all night. #worthit

Last Christmas I did an in depth post on how I go about 'building' our tree (and yes, it was written and posted in February). I'll leave out the details on this post, but link the old one here. I used the same approach again this year.

Already experiencing withdrawals and it's not even put away yet.

This shelf is so much easier to decorate now that it's WHITE! I just used a good mixture of vintage with new things to get the look I wanted on each of our shelves. I do my best not to overcrowd them because there's so much going on in this room. 

...because Christmas is always prettier at night.

...and because this is just a cute picture of our happy buddy.

Made this tree a week before Christmas and it might be one of the best I've ever made. You read that right...made! With the help of my sister-in-law, her glue gun, and the time we have while our babies nap...we made three of these in one easy afternoon. Then I just decorated it with odds and ends I 'borrowed' from other places in the house. I should probably post a tutorial on that sometime soon too to save you all from ever buying another tiny tree from a store again.

Another shot of the mini-villages I made this year. This is the one I kept for myself, but the rest did look really cute sitting around our house in the meantime. ;) This is a pretty old box I rescued from my mother-in-law's 'trash' pile and I think it fits in our house perfectly!

This is such a naughty wreath. It's always falling down and shedding approximately one million pieces of glitter and crystals each time it falls. I'm not even sure how it still looks this good because it happens at least once (or twice!) a year. Anyway, after falling down once I decided it should go somewhere other than directly above my Willow Tree nativity. Hung on the window above the tv (with TWO Command Hooks) is where it spent the majority of the holiday season.

Another one of my favorite things! These big jars filled with vintage ornaments, wrapped in garland and lights...mmmmmmmm. Yes. Already missing these too.

I realized I don't have a picture of our TV/shelf wall as a whole...and that's because it's nearly impossible to get good picture with all the windows in our house. Too sunny during the day and too many things reflecting at night. But if you've been reading around here for any period of time (or follow along on Insta) you know what it looks like. So here are the pretty 'up close' pics of each shelf.

I keep plenty of pictures in frames throughout the year (haha, that's an understatement) so swapping them out with each of our (seven!) Christmas cards is pretty easy to do. 

While I wander back and forth working on these shelves I have a couple main goals:
1. Spread out the black frames
2. Spread out the shiny ornaments
3. Spread out the mason jars
4. Add berries wherever things seem too 'bare'
5. Symmetry without looking too 'matchy matchy'

Josh made the mistake of telling me his favorite thing about my decorating was the 'old stuff'...at that time we didn't have very much 'old stuff' at all. In fact, he said this ^^^ box was his favorite part out of everything in our whole house and it was the only one I had...

...I have since, fixed that problem. ;) And maybe taken the box collecting to an extreme. But aren't they cute?!

Growing my old book collection, one $ book at a time.

I love the memories we recall about each Christmas card when they're displayed this way. This was the year we bought our acreage and nearly killed ourselves painting and cleaning and drywalling during the holiday season. ;)

See what I mean about the old books?! I had nothing else to put on this shelf, so I just started stacking books and it worked!

After I wrote all of that about the shelves, I ended up snapping a picture anyway. They're starting to look a little bare as a snatch things to pack away, but you get the idea.

Probably more pictures than you cared to scroll through, but this room is the HEART of our home...it's not huge or furnished with expensive things. But it's where we play and cuddle and read and Netflix and sing and nap and fall asleep watching Christmas movies and I love it so much.

MmB

422 13th St Xmas House Tour: Hallway+Cloffice

Here's our kitchen, dining room, and bathrooms if you missed my previous room tour posts.

Today I'll share what we affectionately call our 'cloffice' and our front entrance hallway (which is never used as an entrance). Josh tore apart and rebuilt a small table inside our front closet so we could utilize the space in our spare bedroom a little better. Room for a double bed was more important than having a whole room devoted to a small desk and a computer. :) Enter: Closet + Office = Cloffice.

As I've been taking pictures and posting these daily, I've started to feel the subtle urge to undecorate. So it's happening. Slowly. I figured I better take advantage of the mood when it hits. And what kind of music do people listen to while they UNdecorate, anyway? It's depressing to think about, so I'm sticking with Dave Barnes Pandora. Josh came out of the bathroom after his shower and casually (and nicely) goes, "So umm...how long are you going to be listening to Christmas music?" lol. Forever. Or at least until February 1st.

Remember when this little closet was painted lime green? Just kill me. SO much better now, right?

Who knew this hot pink tree I bought for my college dorm would look so perfect mixed in our house at Christmas? I certainly didn't. It almost ended up in the 'donate' pile a few years ago, but I'm glad it didn't!

I can't exactly remember, but I *think* when these wreaths are 50% off at Hobby Lobby, they're $2.50. Love them!

A little custom canvas art by Ellyn Reyes! I get a ton of comments on this piece and it looks so much better done by a professional than when I just blandly wrote it on a chalkboard. 

It's annoying, but I flip all my books around so the pages show and not the colorful binding. It's a trick I've seen Joanna do a couple times and I copied. At Christmas I put out our 3-month Mav book and this big gorgeous Santa book.

It seems like I have a ton of Christmas stuff...and I do! :S But 90% of my birthday gifts end up being Christmas decor. And I love it! ;)

There's our pretty little hallway. Tomorrow I'll share my favorite room in the house at Christmastime...our living room! I'll leave you with a little sneak peek...

Snagged this door for A DOLLAR at a garage sale. And note the pretty fans Josh and Maverick installed for me in December!

MmB

422 13th St. Xmas House Tour: Bathrooms

Did you really want to see our bathrooms? Apparently you did, because the title of this blog clearly informed you that's what you'd be getting. Christmas bathrooms!!!

They're not the most decked of walls in our house...but I always like to put a few 'lil Christmas touches in each of our bathrooms for people to enjoy. Right down to the amazing Bath and Body Works soap (you would be surprised how many comments people make after washing their hands here).

Earlier this week I posted about how I unexpectedly found this curtain for $7 at Wal-Mart on a day when I was not out hunting for curtains...it clearly found me. It doesn't even fit on the rod, I just sort of have it flopped up there. And shockingly it works. And that's a boxwood wreath I use around our house 12-months of the year for different windows, etc. Tied up with some green velvet ribbon they're super Christmas-y.

If you sat on this toilet this season and didn't notice the adorable Christmas wood sign behind you, you really missed out. ;) 

This little Christmas tree globe was a gift from my sister-in-law...which is where I got the amazing idea from.

This is a pretty low quality picture of a tiny bathroom...but unless you're bathroom is covered in floor to ceiling subway tile (#goals), I imagine that's how most bathrooms are. I used green velvet ribbon to string up some glittery stick-balls (found them on SUPER SALE at Pier One last January) for a little extra glitz in my bathroom. 

Josh's bathroom didn't get quite as much glitter, but that was probably for the best. He calls glitter 'the herpes of arts and crafts'...which isn't exactly an untrue statement. :)

Boxwood wreath + green velvet ribbon for the win again. I thought about stringing up our Peanuts and Grinch ornaments in here somewhere, but decided that didn't fit the vibe of our house this year. 

And here's the soap everyone loves. SO GOOD.

They aren't big and fancy, but they're good enough for us. ;) I'm a firm believer that even the tiniest bathrooms can (and should!) be decorated for Christmas.

Tomorrow I'll share our closet/office and front entrance/hallway!

MmB

422 13th St. Xmas House Tour: Dining Room

If you missed the kitchen when I posted it yesterday, here it is.

We have a really open floor plan, so the kitchen, dining, and living rooms are basically just one big room. But I'm posting them individually so this post isn't a mile long. :)

That wreath came crashing down a couple days after this picture was taken. And those trees didn't end up staying there once my nativity barn was added...but it's still a nice picture. :)

Favorite addition this year! Baby wreaths on the backs of our new dining room chairs! I eventually added three berry sprigs to each wreath.

I love my vintage table cloth, but sometimes it's just easier to eat from and clean up a bare table. I did a little bit of both this year.

I like to keep my centerpiece LOW so I'm not constantly having to relocate it whenever we host something. This is a trough we found at our barn, and it's wonderfully skinny, low, and useful (for both decor and beverage serving).

Here's a pic of my baby wreath with berries! I also like to add a little 'gift' to each place setting when we host something 'special.' These girls each went home with a galvanized last name initial ($1.50 from Hobby Lobby). If it's a bigger group I'll do a piece of chocolate or a candy cane...our connection group couples each went home with a mini tree globe!

Here's the beautiful barn Jamie had custom-made for me for my birthday! It's PERFECT for my Willow Tree nativity and I love that the garland lights it up so well. The Hymnal wreath is one of the things in our house I get the most comments and questions on...so maybe I'll need to post a tutorial on those soon.

Christmas in our house is pretty during the day, but I find it to be simply magical at night. :)

Here's that cute little brush tree globe I was talking about.
Step 1: Buy jars/brush trees (both insanely cheap at Wal-Mart), epsom salt, and glitter
Step 2: Pour glitter and salt into jar
Step 3: Hot glue brush tree to metal lid
Step 4: Screw the 'tree lid' on the jar, gently tip upside down
Step 5: Add twine or ribbon, and give away!

Don't be fooled...there's a nice layer of pine cones and vintage tinsel under all those ornaments...but I love how flashy and simple this centerpiece is.

And here is sweet LittleMav enjoying his after-nap-snack in his favorite spot. ;)

Tomorrow the bathrooms are up! ...which should be some good motivation for me to get them cleaned before I snap some pictures for you. :)

MmB

422 13th St. Xmas House Tour: Kitchen

I sincerely doubt many of you will read past the second or third edition of these 'tour' posts...but I LOVED the way our house turned out this year and I need to remember exactly what I did. This way, when I pull everything out next year, I won't spend five days wandering around with a berry wreath wondering where in the heck to put it (ask Jamie...this is how 90% of my Christmas decorating goes).

Our kitchen is pretty small, so this won't be a long post...but you'll get the idea. I like to keep our counters CLEAR of clutter and crap (ie: toaster, coffee maker, mixers are all put AWAY)...and mix useful stuff with pretty stuff in the corners. Enjoy. ;)

This picture has already been 'featured' on the blog this season, but I absolutely love this little nook. It's the first thing people see when they walk in our house and it's a perfect mix of everything I love.

This is a panorama pic I snapped right before we hosted a party...the island is moved closer to the sink than it normally is to help with traffic flow...but you get a better look at the decorations and their context.

I don't have room for a beautiful village collection, so I've started collecting little house ornaments to put in jars. Then I can pop them wherever they fit. I gave these away as gifts this year also (but used them to decorate my house for the majority of the season first!).

My super-easy cocoa/cider bar is still being used on my counter!

Another little corner of the kitchen that is usually much simpler...but at Christmas it gets special attention.

My garland recipe is the same throughout the house so even though we have a LOT, it looks less busy because it's all consistent.
Step 1: Garland
Step 2: Lights
Step 3: Beads
Step 4: Magnolia Leaves
Step 5: Hymnals
Step 6: Berries

Here's a peek at the cabinet we found in Galena! It's such a hard spot in the house to snap a decent picture. But it's PERFECT for this space...holds Christmas dishes and my cute ugly old china on the first two shelves...and baskets with shoes, hats, and mittens in the bottom. :)

I'm so obsessed with our Christmas dishes...and this year my parents added bowls to my collection!

The greenery I stuff all over the house has just come from garlands when they 'shed'...I gather and keep all the pieces in a plastic bag from year to year and it really comes in handy for little spots like this.

I found this sign for 90% off at Kohl's last April. #winning It sort of just said 'Josh' to me. ;)

This is probably a spot in our house that usually goes unnoticed...but I love adding Christmas cheer here anyway. :)

I can't take credit for this because I saw Josh's mom do it first...but I ran out of ornaments to fill this jar and just started throwing in other random Christmas stuff...pink icicles, a nativity, post cards work too...mounted it on a cake plate for a little height and ta-da! :) Some fridge-top beauty.

When the kitchen is in hosting-mode, it looks something like this...

That butcher block really comes in handy for adding counter space in our kitchen. I'd never done this before this Christmas and I LOVED the extra counter space it gave me.

I also used it as 'decor' a time or two...haha...who would have known that a dirty hunk of wood Josh found in the shed would be THIS awesome to use in the house?!

Note this galvanized bucket throughout the post. It came with my big glass beverage dispenser (we have two) and it has soooooo many amazing uses. I would highly recommend nabbing one the next time they're at Sam's Club.

This 'spread' was reinvented no less than four times this season. It was easy to remember what my 'menu' was, what I needed to grab at the grocery store the next time I went, and what I still had from the last party. Coupled with red plastic plates, cups, and silverware...our events this season were a breeze.

And there's the kitchen! I'm hoping to post the Dining Room tomorrow. ;)

MmB