Holiday Home Tour 2017
Merry Christmas! It's Holiday Home Tour time. I'm so excited today to give you a peek into my new space and share some of the holiday magic I've whipped up.
This year I'm participating in Jennifer Rizzo's Holiday Housewalk. I believe she has been hosting this for seven years. This is my second year on the tour, and I am thrilled to be back.
In case you're not familiar with the Holiday Housewalk, here's the nutshell version: During a single week, 30 bloggers share their homes decorated for Christmas. This year's tour started on Monday with Jennifer's home and has been going on all week with visits to the homes of many other bloggers. The housewalk ends today with the homes of even more bloggers, including me.
If you've come here from Allison's home at The Golden Sycamore (the stop on the tour before mine), welcome! I am happy to have you here! After you're finished scrolling through my space, be sure to click on the next blogger at the bottom of this post to continue on the tour.
If you follow Inspired by Charm, you'll know that I'm decorating a new space this year. Back in June, life gave me a nudge to move from my big house in a small town to a smaller apartment in a big city. I loved decorating that house for the holidays, so this year has definitely been a transition (and challenge) for me. This also will probably be the first and last time I decorate this particular space for Christmas, and last year was the final time for me to decorate that large old house. (More bittersweet details on that loaded statement coming soon.) While I'm still tweaking my decor, there's definitely holiday magic around these parts. Let me show you.
Since I already shared a few of the festive touches in my office (my Rustic Modern Christmas Tree), let's start there.
About a month ago I painted a navy accent wall in this room. That has helped to inspire the rest of the decor in the office, including the tree. From there, my Rustic Modern Christmas Tree seemed to invite the addition of red and burgundy touches for a holiday feel. You can check out that tree in all its glory here.
Behind my desk, I hung these bulletin boards to display work projects and decor. A letterboard spells out some of my favorite holiday movie characters.
On the opposite side of the room (which I don't believe I've ever shared on the blog), I created a cozy nook for taking a break from work. I've furnished it with a love seat, leather chair, ottoman coffee table (which was repurposed from my previous home), and a big shelf for books and whatever else finds its way there.
Sidenote: I'll do my best to link things in this post. I also recommend visiting SHOP IBC where you can get more links to some of my apartment furnishings and decor.
It's been especially nice to have this extra seating area in my apartment. Blankets, pillows, and comfy furniture make it an ideal spot to read or relax for a bit. I just picked up a new bluetooth-enabled record player, so lately listening to holiday tunes on vinyl has added to the joy.
Not surprisingly, my kitties are digging this space. I was even able to incorporate my colorful DIY Christmas trees on the shelf you see above them. Remember those trees? You can learn how to make them here.
I also wanted to point out that fab red canvas. It's from Lindsay Letters, whose artwork I love. Her pieces can always be found in my spaces. In fact, she has kindly offered a coupon code to IBC readers. Use "CHEERIBC20" at checkout for 20% off your purchase from now through December 15.
Transitioning to the living room: For my Christmas decor, I played off the green and blue color scheme I already had in place. I was pleased with how it worked out.
In addition to the Christmas tree (We'll get to that in a second.), among my favorite new holiday decor items are these stained glass trees. I bought them back in October from CB2 when they first showed up on the site. I knew they'd be perfect in here.
And speaking of trees - Yes, I have another big Christmas tree in this space. It's the tree that graced the cover of BHG's Christmas Ideas Magazine, but it's dressed in a whole new way.
I'm calling it my "Not-Coco-Chanel-Tree." Why? Well, the famous designer Coco Chanel said something to the effect: "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory." With this tree, however, I took the opposite approach. It was as if the tree kept saying to me, "Heck no! I'm going to be my fabulous, over-the-top self. Add some more. Yes, more. Keep adding. One more thing. One more thing." Crazy, right?
As a result, this tree is loaded with ornaments. I'm guessing there are 200 . It might be a bit difficult to see, but a ribbon is also tucked in there. (Speaking of ribbon, you can get my "How to Put Ribbon on a Christmas Tree" tutorial here.) And I finished this maximalist look off with a felt ball garland . . . just because. (The tree kept asking for more.)
I'm hoping to capture the details of this tree in additional photos that I'll share soon in another post. Stay tuned!
On the opposite wall, I decided to have fun with this ceramic deer head I had in my B&B gift shop years ago. With branch antlers, ornaments, and a gold wreath, he's my little touch of Christmas quirkiness. A must in my decor. My little gold Santa made a comeback too. I just love him.
As you may already know, these little deer are precious to me. They belonged to my grandmother. They are especially meaningful this year because this will be our first Christmas without her.
Over in the kitchen, I brought in a few holiday flourishes as well. I'm doing my best to embrace these builder-grade cabinets. Festive touches. such as this canvas from Lily & Val (located here in Pittsburgh), make all the difference. (For those of you who might be wondering how I hang art on tile: I used these hooks from 3M. They work great for lightweight items.)
How cute are those vintage brass mice? Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.Though, it seems these two are after cake.
Little paper houses and bottle brush trees corralled on a tray and covered by glass domes add a bit of Christmas cheer to my dining table.
And finally, here is my bar cabinet dressed up for the season. This just might be my favorite vignette in the entire apartment. When I'm fretting about all the decor details, I look at this and immediately feel less stressed.
To put it together, I decorated my mirror with greens, added a trio of glass trees from HomeGoods, tucked in my trusty nutcracker (also a HomeGoods find), and finished it off with peppermint sticks.
I was also super excited to find a new place for my DIY wood bead garland. It draped perfectly on the cabinet and coordinated beautifully with the colors. You can learn how to make the garland here.
I'm still working on my bedroom, but here's a sneak peek. You might recall when I painted that black wall a month ago.
And yes, there's a tree in there. A small one. Thanks to gold sequin unicorn ornaments, it's full of quirkiness, too.
Speaking of ornaments, the other ornaments on that tree are from Tree Hopper Toys. (You may remember them from my Christmas Tree last year.) They are also offering special savings to Inspired by Charm readers. Use the code "INSPIRED" to get 25% off their ornaments now through the end of the year.
And that's a wrap for my Holiday Home Tour 2017.
I know this tour is a bit "different" from past years'. I'm struggling somewhat with that. I hope I didn't disappoint, BUT I am hoping that 2018 will have me back in a homier home. Thanks to all of you for following along and sticking with me through the ebb and flow of life. Your kindness and support are priceless gifts.
During December, I plan to share more details about each of these spaces, including a full tour of my bedroom decor. If you're new here, be sure to subscribe to the IBC Mailing List or follow me on social media (I recommend Instagram.) so you don't miss a thing.
In the meantime, please continue on the Holiday Housewalk and check out the homes of my blogger friends. Their homes are stunning and inspiring in their own unique way. Up next on the tour is Jeanne Oliver. I always love what she does for Christmas. I'm sure you will, too. You can continue onto her home here.
Thanks for taking time out of your day to be with me. I hope you enjoyed your peek around my apartment and picked up a few ideas to create your own happy place for the holidays.
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