No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays, you can’t beat home sweet home

Perry Como

Christmas is my family’s favorite holiday. We love the spiritual meaning, all the Christmas music, the baking, etc. From the beginning of our marriage until our kids were about 15 years old, we traveled to my mom and dad’s place for Christmas which is about a 4 hour drive. It was a lovely time, but soon the kids wanted to be at home. It was extremely hard to break that news to my mom but she accepted it and I have to say, there is no place like home for the holidays! Better yet, my 90 year old mom is coming to spend Christmas with us this year!

I always decorate every little nook and cranny and today, I am taking you on a tour of our home.

The Living Room

When we designed our home it was always with the view in mind. That big wall of glass makes me so happy. Our tree is 9 feet tall and one year, I hope to have a 12 foot tree and place it right in the middle of the window wall.

Despite the size of the room, it is so cozy with the fireplace going and the soft lights of the tree shining.

The one thing I really miss is a mantel to hang our stockings on. We hang them to one side of the fireplace and it works great!

This is a cozy corner of our living room that I rarely show. The large metal sign was a birthday gift from Jenna one year that she had made for me when we built out home. When we first walked on this property, the peace that came over us, made us feel like we had found our refuge. This sign commemorates that feeling as it states:

“Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm,

a Refuge,

a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved

and where we can love.”

The Kitchen

My color scheme in the kitchen this year is red and a beautiful moss green. It is cheery and welcoming and makes me feel like I am in a Hallmark movie!

A new addition to my decor is this cute snowman cookie jar! Every time I see it, I smile.

Our flour and sugar containers even got a little sprucing up with Christmas ribbon and cookie cutters.

The Dining Room

This year the dining room was on a neutral theme of whites and golds with just a little hint of red.

I absolutely adore these old bells that I got this year and the gorgeous large metal Merry Christmas sign.

The Primary Bathroom

When I said I decorate every nook and cranny, well I really meant it. Even our bathroom gets into the holiday mood.

The Movie Room

This is an absolute first for me – I have never shown our movie room before. As a family we worked on all that paneling. Of course, Bentley did most of the work but we did help filling nail holes and sanding.

This room brings us so much enjoyment. We love our Christmas movies and have been bingeing on them ever sing the beginning of December. My all time favorite is “Love Actually”, Bentley and Noah love “The Grinch”. Jenna couldn’t choose just one but her top contenders are “Princess Switch”, “Love Actually” and “Holidate” – hmmm there seems to be a common theme for her 🙂

Other favorites of ours are “A Boy Called Christmas”, “The Christmas Chronicles” and “Klaus”.

The Mudroom – otherwise known as the entry for “the help”

I am sure I am not fooling you. I certainly wasn’t going to show you what our mudroom looks like this time of year with wet boots, huge jackets and an old rug that I don’t mind getting wet. So I asked Jenna for some help and she styled it for me and I think she did a fantastic job!

Here is how I wished it looked all the time. Did you notice we even have a hook for one of Mia’s little jackets?

The Laundry Room

Good news – we just got doors on our cabinets! I love the big window in this room – it makes doing laundry a nice experience.

Santa’s suit is getting a steam in preparation for the big day!

The Porch

The second best thing Bentley ever made me was this swing bed. You know the first is my greenhouse “Annie”. This porch swing is my favorite place to watch the snow fall, watch the sun set or storms roll through. It is so cozy with all these fun pillows and throws.

What is up next?

Next up on the blog will be Annie all decked out for the season and a tribute to my late mother-in-law. Tomorrow I am joining 4 other talented ladies for tours of their homes and in a couple of days I am joining a group to share our Christmas trees!

Links for some of my favorite decor

I always get questions about my decor, so here are links to some of my favorite pieces. Should you decide to purchase any of these items, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

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