What kind of Christmas are you?

There are a lot of choices for styles and themes out there when it come to Holiday decor. As you know from a previous post- this year I went with Botanical Christmas as my theme. There were two primary reasons for this choice: 1. I really really like botanical themed anything. 2. It matched the decor of my house well. I recommend always referencing those two guidelines when considering your holiday decor. It's your chance to take whatever style you like, and crank it up 100 degrees...but it's got to match the style of your baseline decor. It's very hard to put very modern christmas decorations in a classic colonial, and vice versa. You're probably starting to think about your holiday decor around this time, it's right around the corner. Here are a bunch of different Christmas themed houses. I'd love to see some of yours!

Shabby Chic Christmas. Love this kitchen! 

 Coastal Christmas- lots of pastels. So pretty!

Country Christmas- rustic and warm and cozy.

Modern Christmas. You gotta love those white silhouette animals!

Retro Christmas- funky and festive.

Another more traditional coastal Christmas.

Elegant Christmas.

Funky Christmas- I bet these guys throw good parties. You can tell just form their decor.

LOVE this one. I'd call this eclectic Christmas. The jewel tone greens and blues are simple stunning. I think I may do this theme next year. Spectacular!

Rustic Christmas. Look at the beautiful architectural element over the fireplace. It really ties the whole space together.

There's no place like my home for the holidays

It's cold out- there has already been an epic snowstorm, the eggnog is out at the grocery store. It was time to decorate for Christmas. This involves A LOT of work at my house. First I have to take all the christmas decor items down from the attic of my garage, and then take all the fall stuff down in the house, carry it over to the garage, and up the ladder to the attic, and then carry all the Christmas stuff into the house- all before I can actually start decorating. Luckily, I'm very organized and plan ahead- so once I get everything into the house, I know exactly where it will go.
      I'm considering this Holiday Stage One. It's subtle enough to not offend those people who don't want to know about Christmas until after Thanksgiving (weirdos). But it's enough Christmas-y to make me happy. Stage two will happen Thanksgiving afternoon and the next day, when I'll put up the outdoor decorations, the Christmas trees in the kitchen and jazz lounge, and hang liberal amounts of sparkly silver garland around. Without further ado- here are some select scenes from Holiday Stage One~

Looking into the kitchen from the pantry. On the island are potted paper whites that should be blooming right around Christmas. There's potted amaryllis on the kitchen table.

My white kitchen shelves! The little cupboard was a $8 flea market find. It was white with chippy paint and the door had no hinges. I fixed the door, added two interior shelves made of barn board, and freshened up the white paint. The Antiques Shoppe sign was $12 at the flea market, and my favorite find of the summer.

That's a real ivy topiary. We'll see if I can manager to keep it alive!

A closeup of a 1940s advertisement. I found a set of three at an antique store a couple years ago. What a saucy Santa!

In the dining room. See my victorian bureau painted light green? And the Tall dark chest and the reindeer I found free on the side of the road. 

Yea- i love this. 

My $1 folky stool/plan stand holding a mini tree. Another of my vintage christmas advertisements above.

Looking into the family room. The pillow just got re-covered in that amazing large scale botanical print. and there's a mini rosemary topiary on my vintage side table/ stool. 

When we get closer to Christmas I will switch to a lit evergreen garland. Look at how quickly that white brick got sooty. It's going to be high maintenance.

front porch. I am switch this orange chest (left over from the fall decor) to the white 1915 console table once I finish painting it.

Looking down the porch. I got that big metal sculptural piece at the tagsale on Saturday morning for $3. I think its beautiful and so interesting looking.

Current Projects

We've been working diligently on insulating our second floor in preparation for turning it into a finished living space in the next year. Insulating 16 foot cathedral ceilings is about as easy juggling flaming chainsaws, and about as safe. So that put a pretty big damper on all my furniture projects for last week. Combine that with the fact that most of the state of Connecticut had no power (no power= limited craigslisting) and I've really accomplished very little in November thus far.

But I have not been entirely useless. As winter steadily approaches, my sources of vintage and antique furniture will all but dry up. I've been working hard to build up an inventory of projects that I can work on until the tagsale/fleamarket season starts up again next spring. On this front I did VERY well last week. I picked up two awesome 18th century chairs off craigslist on Tuesday (one I'm keeping, one I'm giving to my mom). On Thursday I found a listing on craigslist for a load of free vintage furniture on the other side of the state. I hustled over there and scored two awesome matching side tables, an antique round oak dining table, a DATED April 1915 mahog veneer sideboard (keeping), four vintage pine dining chairs, and a small oak pedestal kitchen table. On Friday morning I went to a tagsale and got two amazingly cute chippy paint vintage chairs. Then on Saturday morning I chased another craigslist posting across the state and landed an awesome vintage solid oak round pedestal table with for matching windsor chairs (for free!). And THEN I went to the flea market on Sunday and got a really cute vintage maple night stand for $5.

vintage pine chairs. They're gonna get painted black gloss- which should make the cute and cottage-y rather than grimy and dated.

Oak drop leaf dining table. Staining the top dark and painting the base to match the chairs- so we'll have a set.

This is a the amazing antique solid oak table. I keep going back and forth on wether to paint it white or not- or just the base? Stain the top darker? 

the surface on these chairs was so great already that I considered leaving them alone- but then, I decided to paint them the lightest freshest dove gray- and I'm painting a console that I've had for a while to match. 

Just picture it light soft gray with the two matching chairs on either side, some bottles of wine and a rosemary topiary on top, and vintage ironstone platters held below. PERFECT.

SOOOOO needless to say, my workshop is packed to the rafters with upcoming projects and I am dying to get started. But what do i do yesterday with my day off? Decorate for holiday. So I'll start my projects tonight. Here are some of my recent finds in the raw. I'll include after pics when they're done!

Coffee tables with character

So, if you've been following my blog, you've seen my coffee table in a previous post (with the awesome "matching" side table I created for it). Well, that's just one of my three coffee tables. I also have a long enclosed porch on the front of my house that has two seating areas, both with their own coffee table. On one side is a c. 1870 wood and metal steamer trunk, on the other side is a c. 1730 blanket chest with bootjack legs. Both work great at coffee tables, both provide the extra storage that my drawer-less family room coffee table cannot offer. I really like the idea of an item repurposed to be a coffee table, especially a vintage table that's been cut down. (though you are only allowed to use this if you find a table with some serious leg issues. DO NOT cut the legs off a perfectly good antique table). Blanket chests, boxes, steamer trunks- and a card catalog. It's amazing what you can turn into a functioning and fabulous coffee table.

This is so gorgeous. I love the entire room!

A repurposed chicken crate of all things. So clever!

Also awesome- I would have never thought to use a card catalog- imagine how useful all those littles drawers would be.

A steamer trunk adds some classic flare to this room.

You can find these blanket chests at almost any flea market or antique store, often for less than a new coffee table. They were painted in all sorts of beautiful colors and are a so perfect as a coffee table. 

I'm such a sucker for anything with a marble top. This vintage and refurbished coffee table is so stunning.

Here are some great choices~

White shelves in the kitchen

When I took down the wall in the kitchen, there were two things I pictured the entire time we labored on the floor, the gaping holes in the walls, the wiring (what a mess!)- a kitchen island (you've seen that post), and vintage white shelves. Well I had the kitchen island before the kitchen was even finished. It took me months to find just the right shelves. I needed a pretty specific size, as I wanted to mount the shelves between two windows. I didn't want anything too country cute (no carved hearts etc), and, if possible, I wanted vintage ones. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that patience pays off at the flea market. I'm getting better at waiting for the right item (after settling too soon on things, and then finding one I like better down the road).
      Sometime around July I found the perfect pair. They're solid with wonderful rounded corners, the perfect size, probably date from the 1930s-40s, and just needed to be painted white. The best part? $4 for the pair! They were easy to mount and are so cute. I like to rotate what's on them based on the season. The pictures I've included are from my halloween decor. You'll get to see them with holiday decor in a few days when I post on the whole houses's new holiday look.
The trick is to keep the items on the shelf fairly similar and organized, or you'll end up with the dreaded wall clutter. It's a great way to display collections, and you can usually fit a set of shelves in just about every kitchen. Here are some options!

The combination of bead board, white cabinets and shelves, and the tremendous farmhouse sink equates to vintage kitchen perfection!

No wall space? You can always put the white shelves under the counter too.

These white shelves make the ideal display spot for a collection of stoneware mixing bowls and vintage mint green dish ware. 

I love the one long shallow shelf. It keeps a fairly petite kitchen from feeling crowded.  And the kitchen island is fabulous. 

The ornate shelf brackets and display of victoriana gives this kitchen a vintage butler's pantry feel. And those counters are so pretty. 

This rustic kitchen is balanced by a classy collection of cut glass decanters, sitting comfortably with the humbler kitchen accoutrements. 

Somewhere between vintage and modern lies retro. This is the cleanest and freshest I've ever seen a retro kitchen look. 

Milk glass on white shelves creates texture without clutter.  The chandeliers add drama while the utilitarian island keeps things from getting too frou from. 

One of the best kitchens I've seen in a long time. The chairs are my favorite green. The chunky white table serves as both an eating space and island. The band of dove gray paint setting off the white shelves is pure genius. But let me tell you (and I know from experience) white painted floors in a kitchen are impossible. I had to wash mine every three days and it made me crazy. 

And here are my little shelves. When I got them they were unpainted- so I threw some white trim paint on them. We've got extra drinking glasses, a vintage mixing bowl, an antique butter mold, and vintage and new jars on the top shelf. 

and a wider shot. The dark bookcase (which I found the side of the road and stripped and stained) is too heavy for the space, and will be placed by something lighter colored and cottage-y for the Holiday decor.