HOLIDAY

THE HOLIDAY EDIT

 

The most wonderful time of the year is upon us, which funnily enough can also become the most stressful time of the year; decorating the house, finding the perfect gifts, making lifelong memories, honoring traditions, and your normal responsibilities on top of it all. Personally, I get insanely stressed when I see people start to decorate for the holidays before Halloween, so I tend not to share a ton of this content before Thanksgiving is over. I also tend not to buy too much new decor for the holidays because I think that this time of year is the epitome of traditional decor that you should be able to use over and over. Trendy holiday stuff can be fun, but then where does that leave you next year? Go to your local nursery or holiday stand for your greenery, use those brass bells in different ways year after year, and put up whatever ornaments make you happy on the tree!

Truth be told, I barely have any decor up and it kinda sucks. Our family left town last Sunday and I wanted to spend the week getting everything up and decorated, enter: work schedule and food poisoning. So I’m not feeling as festive as I normally am this time of year but I’m hoping this weekend I can change that. We do have a fake tree that we put in the living room from Balsam Hill, and I’d actually love t get two teeny real ones to put in the blue and white planters we have on our patio. A little touch of holiday without being a huge tree that ends up being so much work to put up.

 

 

 

I think this time of year is the perfect time to use those vintage silver bowls that you have! Last year I used mine for my interior fake tree in our entryway and have used it again on the bar cart in the library. Another new obsession is wide silk ribbon. You can never have too much ribbon; use it on your wreaths, on light fixtures, on mirrors, then of course gift wrapping. I used this antique gold satin ribbon on our wreaths on the front door and the color is so beautiful! Paired with a small set of bells and you are set! Honestly you can’t go wrong with gold ribbon, you can use it year after year in so many ways which is always my goal; get timeless holiday decor that you can use year after year.

But if you are looking for some holiday decor to add to your home every year, here are some classic finds! Including my new favorite ornaments year after year; little frames you can put a family photo in to mark the year.

 

HOLIDAY DECOR

 

MORE DECOR + GIFT FINDS

 

Another stressor? Gift giving.

Personally giving a gift just to check something off the list is exactly how we end up with too much stuff. Not to mention, I think it’s really obvious when someone doesn’t think through a gift for someone. I’d rather get something really small but thoughtful and personal to me than something that you could literally give to anyone. Here are a few idea for gifts by personality and interest to get you started.

 

FOR THE HOSTESS

 

FOR THE TRAVELER

 

FOR THE GARDENER

 

FOR THE HOMEBODY

 

FOR THE READER

 

 

WEEKLY EDIT

EDIT VI

 

This Fall has been a whirlwind, and getting Covid was for sure the cherry on top.But before we get to the good stuff (shopping), let’s chat about what’s been going on lately.

The biggest event being the announcement of The Manor Cottage as our first quick-turn flip! I’ve got a few posts out about it, including one talking about our plans and even a few design teases for it. I am shocked by how much quicker this kind of flip has already gone as well as how quickly (I believe) it will be done. Demo started this week and I’m told that framing will be done before Thanksgiving, so we might even have the new layout done before Christmas.

 

 

Managing two flips at the same time has been a balancing act, but I’m enjoying the challenge so far. Woodvale Manor is finally through the not-pretty part: electrical, plumbing and HVAC. Now that we are through those inspections, the Sheetrock for the drywall has arrived and I’m hoping drywall will go up soon! You can anticipate a full tour of the house once we have walls up, so stay tuned. The way things are going with both projects it looks like (fingers crossed) they will both be done pretty close to each other; we’re thinking February-March timeframe. Which means I’ll have just that much more good and new content to share this Spring!

I haven’t had the headspace to do much to our house lately except clean, but recently I’ve been focusing on the library (as I like to call it). My former office has turned into a formal sitting room and is currently where I sit down with my books to read, hence the name. I want to make sure that any furniture that I get and layout that we have we can fit in almost any sitting room/setup in the future so I’ve been working veeeeeery slowly. But one moment that happened out of nowhere was the one pictured below. We’ve had this sideboard from Chairish for a while now, and has always been paired with those buffet lamps but I found this vintage etched large bowl and instantly knew that this needed to be  moment in this window. I’d wanted to try out hanging artwork on the window casings in here since they are such a focal point, and Hannah Winters released these small originals and I instantly knew. Right now my plan is to put a settee in front of this sideboard to complete the furniture layout, but at the rate I’m going I won’t finish this space before we move.

 

 

Now, to the fun stuff! Shopping.

I am a victim of the too-many-sweaters syndrome and this time of year is always dangerous for me. But as I’ve gotten older I have grown to appreciate my staples, and just wear those in every capacity possible. I’ve also upgraded a lot of my staples, like a higher quality neutral cardigan that I can wear with pretty much anything and will last much longer. While certain all fashion trends come and go, I think there will always be certain pieces that never go out of style, it just might change how you wear it.

 

STAPLES

 

Buuuut that doesn’t keep me from shopping a little bit 🙂 a few of my most recent purchases have been from specific outfits that I have seen and loved, as well as trying to up my fashion game a bit.

 

NEW FINDS

 

To be honest, I’m getting exhausted by all the people putting up their christmas tree and the full on holiday decorations on social media. Sure, I’m thinking about it but I’m definitely not decorating anything yet. So in the spirit of preparation, here are a few items that I’ve got my eye on for when I do decorate.

 

HOLIDAY

 

A full Holiday Edit is coming soon! So don’t miss the full post then, as well as my cyber week finds + purchases.

HOLIDAY

ADD TO CART: THE HOLIDAY SHOP

DECOR

HOLIDAY HOME TOUR

 

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, and my house is feeling it for sure. I love decorating for the holiday season but have only really ever been able to fully go for it a few times. Now that we have all of our decorations in one spot, we know we’re not moving and all that fun jazz, let’s do the darn thing! Garlands, candles, wreaths, oh my! My favorite spots to work with are stair railings, fireplace mantels and front porches. These are really easy spots to be able to add a little kick of holiday cheer. And our fireplace in our new place is ssssoooo much better than our old house so I knew I had to do right by her. But first? The ribbon…

 

 

STOCKINGS  |  RIBBON  |  CANDLESTICKS (small, medium, large)  |  DOG BED  |  LOG HOLDER  | GARLAND

 

If you think that ribbon makes things too frilly or girly, I have three words for you: frayed, vintage, velvet. My goodness there is some gorgeous finds out there but the kind I’m using this year I think might be my favorite. I went with what is labeled as “brown” but to be honest it’s more of a beautiful rust color. I thought it would pair well with the new ornaments I got from Brooke & Lou that oooohhh my goodness you’re gonna die when you see them! I knew they were large, but these are the largest Christmas balls I’ve ever seen 😀 Right, back to the ribbon… and you can use it anywhere and you don’t have to tie it into bows if you don’t want to. It adds more texture and color without any frilliness (can you believe that’s actually a word?). It’s also a great way to decoratively hang your wreaths inside your house. If you don’t like command hooks or not sure how to hang them, I think that this is a great way to do it because it also adds a pop of color and ties the decor/rooms together.

I have to say, our mantel is my favorite. Our fireplace as a whole is kind of amazing and now that we have some decor around it and get to use it with the colder temps? Just makes me love it that much more. I didn’t want to do much with any height on the mantel because of the TV as well as the speaker, which, is unfortunately used a lot :-/, but thought that by adding some candlesticks to the opposite side of the stockings that would be a good contrast. I mixed in some standard pillar candles to give it a little more substance. The log holder is here all the time, but it fits perfectly with holiday decor. There are some fun festive finds that you could get to be creative if you’d rather. But I like the classic look of this one to anchor the space.

 

STOCKINGS  |  RIBBON  |  CANDLESTICKS (small, medium, large)  |  DOG BED  |  LOG HOLDER  | GARLAND  | BELLS

 

If you want to make sure your mantel garland is full, double up! I used the 9 foot and the 6 foot together. The 9 foot provided length so that I could drape it over the side, and after I layered it with the 6 foot and fluffed the greenery a bit, it was perfect. Fake garlands can be tough because most of the time they aren’t super full. Really good ones can be, but then they’re like $200 or more. I thought that these were affordable enough and I liked the cypress so thought that doubling up would do. And don’t get discouraged when you first lay out your garland! It’s going to take fluffing and playing with. And even when you think you’re done and it settles, you’ll have to fluff some more.

Now for the front porch! We haven’t gone all out yet since it is still only November, but added the slightest little changes to make it feel al little more festive. The best and easiest way to make a change? The bottom layer outdoor rug. I love this one because it has a subtle holiday vibe to it. I have used these planters all year long and was able to pop these outdoor trees from Target right into it! The coal bin is an old style from McGee & Co but I t think it adds a little charm, especially with the bundle of logs in it! Can’t beat it. I think the key to any good front porch is finding items that you can use several seasons throughout the year like this vintage crock and the planter. there isn’t anything particularly trendy or overdone about this set up and I think will work all November long! Might get a little more festive as the weeks go on, but for now I think understated is the way to go.

 

 

Check out the entire Holiday Shop to see tons more holiday decorations to add that finishing touch to your home. Still to come at our house? Putting the tree up and using our new tree skirt as well as putting up these wreaths in our kitchen. One for each 😀 and maybe even adding some garland to the beams outside. Stay tuned!

 

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