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Winter Eclectic Home Tour 2018

This year, I am so pleased that Jessica from Domicile 37 asked me to join herĀ annual Winter Eclectic home tour. The tour features bloggers showcasing a variety of decor styles. I have never done anything like this before, and I am completely blown away by everyone. What a talented bunch! I’ll link to all of the participants in the tour at the end of this post.

Welcome!

Today, I am sharing part of the first floor.

Kitchen

Our tour starts in the kitchen which is one of the brightest and happiest rooms in BHH. It has not changed much since we finished remodeling in 2016. Natural light streams in here even on the gloomiest of days, and I love it.

I do not put many holiday decorations in the kitchen because it already feels busy enough in here. This year, I made and hung a small rustic wreath on the vent, and I added a piece of plaid ribbon to the grey flower pot. That’s it.

Side note: Did you know that I am crazy for plaid, and I even keep a Pinterest board called Plaid Love? It’s true.

Almost every room in BHH has live plants now. They make the long winter more bearable. There is something soothing about having a little piece of nature inside when everything outside is buried in snow.

Every year, we hang the fabric advent calendar on the fridge. We have had that advent calendar for such a long time. I think it may have come from the $1 Spot at Target at least twelve years ago, maybe longer.

On the other side of the room are the chalkboard wall and one of my favorite places in BHH, the breakfast nook.

This is the first year that I put a tree up in the breakfast nook. We are typically a one-tree family, but this room is street side, and it needed a little sparkle. I love driving up to the house and seeing this little tree shine.

Day or night, this room makes me happy.

The chalkboardĀ wall is a family favorite.

We change the quote, menu, and song-of-the-day with some frequency. However, Glad Tidings by Van Morrison has been the song-of-the-day since Thanksgiving because I’m still not over it. When my oldest, the musicphile, comes home from college in a couple of weeks, he will probably change the song every day.

Dining Room

Next up is the dining room. I took just a couple of shots in here. If you look closely, you’ll see our Menorah ready to go for the fifth night of Hanukkah. I’ve mentioned this before, but I was raised with Christian traditions, and Andy was raised in the Jewish faith. We teach our children about both, and we keep the celebrations low-key.

The original chandelier is always the star of the show in the dining room. The diamond windows don’t hurt either. The little trees on the mantle came from Goodwill many years ago.

The plants all over the floor make it look a little like a forest right now. Typically, that is not the case. Our neighbors gave us some of their plants at the end of the summer, and I haven’t settled on a permanent home for them quite yet. (Fun fact: That mirror was a trash find. I picked it up off the side of the road.)

Living Room

Christmas kind of exploded in the living room. Believe it or not, this room often feels a little dark and cold, so I added a lot of lights, and a massive candle with six wicks in the fireplace. Unfortunately, we cannot burn wood in any of the fireplaces in BHH yet. We need to rebuild the chimneys, and that’s likely only part of the problem. Like many things, making the fireplaces functional is on the list.

Our tree is always for the kids. They like colored lights, so we use colored lights. We don’t stick to a theme unless “ornament explosion” is a theme. Also, our tree is fake. Surprise! (That’s not a surprise.) When I was taking these photos, I attempted to straighten the top of the tree, and I broke it! It’s barely hanging on in there. Oops.

I owe everyone a full update on the living room. The biggest news is that I finally found cushions for the bench. They are green velvet, no less. It’s like they were made for Christmas. Finding cushions was a four-year saga that deserves its own blog post.

The Foyer

Last up, is the foyer. Here’s a little peek coming down the hall from the kitchen.

It needs a lot of TLC, but it is still a stunner. What the foyer needs is another long story for a different day, but the short of it is that it is so unique that I have done nothing to it because I am afraid that I will ruin something on accident. In other words, I’m in the research phase. (That’s what I tell myself.)

Even though I am paralyzed by indecision, that green rug runner is going away this year no matter what. I’m determined. We only kept it because we did not have anything else, and it protects the stairs.

Garland, twinkle lights, and pinecones create the perfect distraction. I wish it were considered year-round decor.

Thank you so much for taking our winter home tour. If you were here, I would show you everything else, dirt and all. I’ll leave you with this bird’s eye shot from upstairs and a link to the rest of the Eclectic Winter Home Tour participants. If you love holiday decor, you are in for a treat.

Many thanks to Jessica for this opportunity. Also, if this is your first time here, I’ve been blogging for over four years. I can’t believe it. There are a ton of before-and-afters of many rooms here in BHH. At the top of the blog, there is a search bar. If you are interested in seeing more about any particular room in BHH, just type a room name in the search bar, and a bunch of posts should pop right up. Searching One Room Challenge is another great way to see more projects from start to finish.

For long-time readers, how do you like the updates? It is hard to remember how this house looked when we first crossed the threshold in 2014. I wish Dorothy could see it.

Monday

Domicile 37 | Bright Green Door | Jeweled Interiors

Tuesday

House Homemade | Made by Carli | At Home with Ashley | Casa Watkins Living

Wednesday

Designing Vibes | The Boho Abode | Monica Wants It | Banyan Bridges

Thursday

Brit & Barclay | Blake Hill House | Au Petit Salon | Up To Date Interiors

Friday

The Rath Project | House Haus Home | Domicile 37

21 Comments

  • Amy
    Posted December 6, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    Looks wonderful! Every time I see your breakfast nook, it takes my breath way. Truly one of the best ORCs of all time.

    We ordered some runners from Rugs USA during one of their 60% off sales and they make fantastic stair runners! Inexpensive but they make such a huge difference in our dark stairwells.

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted December 7, 2018 at 12:04 pm

      What a wonderful compliment. Thank you, Amy.

      Thanks for the tip about Rugs USA. I’ve been trying to find just the right runners, so I’ll take a look. I think the main problem is that I’m not sure what I want. Knowing that might help me narrow it down a bit. LOL

  • Holly R Layer
    Posted December 6, 2018 at 5:31 pm

    You haven’t seen ‘Christmas explosion’ until you see my living room! Or fire-place room, whatever that’s called. NOT the TV room. I love Christmas! Also, the house is gorgeous, and I’m so proud of where you are and where you will go. Lastly, I loved seeing the LLBean mug in the living room shot!

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted December 7, 2018 at 12:05 pm

      Haha! Your house is lovely. That LLBean mug is my new favorite. Thank you for passing it on to me!

  • SH
    Posted December 6, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    That bannister garland–a classic! I like how the lights on the breakfast room tree reflect in the window and look like outdoor tree lighting. Your cardinal hand towel looks vintage and like it belongs there. Nicely done!

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted December 7, 2018 at 12:08 pm

      I love that little hand towel so much. A cardinal used to nest right outside of my Grandma’s kitchen window. We could watch is while we washed and dried the dishes.

      Thank you for always encouraging me to take pictures in a new way. It has really helped me learn more about photography. Case in point: That nighttime reflection photo. That was your great idea.

  • Kalila
    Posted December 6, 2018 at 7:10 pm

    I’m so in awe of your home, Stacy. That foyer though, please post more pics of it on Instagram, it’s so beautiful!

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted December 7, 2018 at 12:08 pm

      Thank you, Kalila! I will try to share photos of it more often.

  • Erica
    Posted December 7, 2018 at 11:05 am

    This is all so stunning! I love your style.

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted December 7, 2018 at 12:10 pm

      Thank you so much, Erica!

  • Kathy
    Posted December 8, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    You have such a beautiful home! Love the Christmas touches and the foyer is gorgeous even with the green runner. šŸ˜‰

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted December 11, 2018 at 8:37 pm

      Thank you so much, Kathy.

  • Jessica
    Posted December 8, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    Stacy, can I say that I absolutely am in L.O.V.E with your house. I mean your home is goals for me. The carpet on the stairwell is perfection the toile wallpaper is what I use to dream about when I was in college. It is all so perfectly beautiful…even the crooked Christmas tree and the smudge on the wall. I love your home and this tour. Thank you so much for participating, so happy I found you.

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted December 11, 2018 at 8:41 pm

      Oh, Jessica. Thank you! I was so nervous to be a part of the tour, but you made me feel so welcome, and it was a lot of fun.

      The toile wallpaper was already here when we moved in. We suspect that the executors of the estate had it installed right before the house went on the market. I love it, and I never want to change it. It looks brand new.

      I had to laugh about the smudge too. I meant to wipe that off! Clearly, we live here. I mean we really live here. LOL

  • Heide
    Posted January 16, 2019 at 2:18 pm

    I have a random question for you. Are the steps of your main staircase painted?? I am planning on doing this on the house I am working on and was nervous about how it would look with a stained banister and handrail. Yours looks lovely! In the pictures it is not even noticeable that there is paint. Love you house by the way! A real gem!

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted January 16, 2019 at 3:01 pm

      Hi Heide, I am glad you asked. They are painted in high-gloss oil paint. At first, I didn’t love them, but now I like the look. The color of the paint is almost the same as the shade of the newel post stain. However, it’s in poor shape in some places. When I remove the runner over the summer, I’ll need to repaint them. I will choose something similar and definitely stick with oil paint.

  • Heide
    Posted January 16, 2019 at 3:16 pm

    Thanks for answering! The color I had my eye on is a very similar brown that goes with the stained woodwork nicely. I love the look of painted wood floors! And your bathrooms inspired me to paint my bathroom floor too! Now I am excited to get the project done and see how it looks!

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted January 18, 2019 at 8:51 am

      You’re very welcome. I am excited that you are painting your bathroom floor. What color did you choose?

  • Heide
    Posted January 18, 2019 at 12:35 pm

    Blue! A nice water blue. I love how it brightens up the bathroom! There is no natural light as they put the bath tub surround over the window??!!? It is also one of the smallest bathrooms I have ever seen and I have seen small ones! But it functions, so that is the important thing. And one day I will find that window again…ā€¦.

    • Post Author
      Stacy
      Posted January 22, 2019 at 8:37 am

      That sounds like a lovely choice! I’m sorry about the window that is covered up. That’s a bummer.

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