Holiday Home Tour
I'm so glad you are here! Please join me for a little tour inside our home, decorated for the holidays. Bentley is excited to welcome you, he's wearing his holiday collar {not sure how long that bow will stay on!}
Right on the other side of the front door, our little demi lune table is decorated with a bowl of clove studded oranges, an antique porcelain baby Jesus that was given to my grandmother as a child, and small antique bottle brush trees. Our child's size French mannequin wearing feathered wings stands guard.
We have a modified open floor plan, with a bank of large windows on the back wall with a view of the garden.
The furniture is neutral, our white couch is the perfect starting point for pillows. This year, I have silver and grey, the Malibu Cable Knit Blanket is a beautiful and cozy addition.
My favorite new Holiday Pillow is the black one on the chair next to the tree, with the stag. It even has a beautiful name, "Looking for Winter Deer", I bought it from Jen Rizzo, isn't it gorgeous?
A small white {faux} fur covers our French bench, I know that our little people are going to love that. My daughter's family just got a small black and white Bassett Hound puppy, I'm sure on Christmas day he will love this snuggly furry bench too!
I've had a lot of questions about our tree from many of you. It's not real, my husband is extremely allergic to real trees, while our children were young, he "suffered" for having a real tree, but quite a few years ago we bought this one. We are in the market for a new tree, but haven't decided which kind to buy yet, so until we find one of this quality and size, we are keeping this one. I do decorate the tree myself, and yes, we do have ornaments our kids made, macaroni angels, hand colored pictures, styrofoam balls covered in glitter, it's all in there sharing branches with antique ornaments.
Many of the ornaments are antiques, I especially cherish those that hung on my grandparent's and Mom's tree. Now that my Mom is no longer here, I usually have a few tearful moments as I hang up some of the ornaments I bought for her tree over the years. I especially love the old wax angel shown below, I bought it for my Mom a few years ago because it is just like one we both remember from my grandmother's collection. She is missing parts of her feathered wings, her paint is almost off, and she has bald spots in her hair, but to me she is the most beautiful ornament we hang on our tree each year.
For this year's mantel I kept it simple, I wanted the 18th century Italian Gilt Altar Cherubs to be the focal point, I layered the mantel with a cedar garland entwined with a small silk garland, and wired on pinecones. The topiaries are usually next to the kitchen sink, I tied a simple burlap ribbon on them edged with a small strip of gold, three votives touched with gold, and the mantel is done. I try to opt for elegant, simple and peaceful for Christmas, letting our antiques take center stage.
On an antique wall bracket, a small sterling child's cup was planted with this sweet lily of the valley, topped with bright chartreuse green moss.
The French commode is a soft beautiful sage green, this year I hung an antique gold mirror on the wall above to reflect the tree. Our French Tian Bowl is filled with clove studded oranges and greens, and a few silk flowers and berries. Nearer to Christmas I will add more fresh oranges from our tree in the back garden and take out the flowers.
This beautiful antique Christ Child Santos stole my heart. He has a sheep on his shoulders, you can see his sweet little head in the mirror reflection below. The santos is still wearing his original velvet clothing, and gilded crown. Not sure if they will ever be for sale, for now they're staying home with us, shining brightly!
A shot from the couch towards the fireplace mantel.
Here are a few random shots around the living room. I love this articulated French mannequin, for the holidays she is wearing an amazing French Gold Bullion Lace Collar, and a small boxwood wreath encircles her neck.
A peek into the antique silver cabinet, where I keep my small collection of antique china miniature dolls and my little antique sheep. {and legs!}
I hope you've enjoyed seeing our living room decorated for the holidays! I will post some photos of our kitchen soon.
Are you done decorating? Or do you add layers as Christmas comes closer like I do?
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June
December 22, 2015
I meant to write that your tree is amazing Lidy!