::Happy Christmas::

::Christmas Kitchen::

I teased you with this pretty little aqua and red vintagey vignette in my last post.

It actually sits behind my big corner sink....one of my favorite things about our new house!

Some white bottle brush trees, epsom salt and red jingle bells nestled inbetween dollar store white poinsettas.

Looking the other direction toward our dining area.  Yes, that Ethan Allen piece will be painted. 

 The dining set will not.

Ornaments from Hob Lob last year.

Same stockings from last year, but I thought they'd look fun on the stairway instead of the mantel.

I took a bazillion pics, but it's raining out, and my daughter has my tripod, so everything came out blurry.
These were the only salvageable ones.  I asked Santa for a new tripod, so hopefully my camera skillz will improve!

Shopping is almost done, and I'm getting stuff wrapped around boxes and such.  Hope you're enjoying these last busy days before Santa arrives :)

::New House Christmasfication::

Well, we're moved.  Mostly.

Still have the cra(p)ft room to move over from the house next door, and some boxes 'o crap in the garage, but basically, we're moved and getting settled.  Mostly.

There's no curtains up, and I've lost my underwear, but by golly, the mantel is Christmasfied.

I only like (rein)deer at Christmastime.....the other trendy deer head thing creeps me out on the same scale as the Elf dude clogging up my Pinterest feed.  No offense if that's your thing.

We didn't do a real tree for the first time in years and years and years....

...with just 10 days till Christmas we went with my cheesy, white Walmart tree.....which is dwarfed by my new great room, but it's good enough this year.

Found myself using lots of red stuff this year.  Most of it I already had on hand, although some sah-weet vintage-type ornaments and red mercury glass candleholders found themselves in my cart here and there.

What I don't show you in this room is the lack of a couch, mismatched furniture that I will soon be painting now that I've finished up custom orders for the year, and a plethora of boxes yet to be unpacked.

So....you get snippets for now.   I'll get some pics of the festification of the kitchen soon.  Here's a sneaky-peeky:

Back to unpacking.  If you find my underwear, give me a shout.

Sharing at Cozy Little House, A Stroll Thru Life, Mod Vintage Life, Coastal Charm, Nesting Place,

::Need a Little Christmas::

Went next door to add a bit of Christmas cheer to the empty house.  I'm so beyond frustrated with our builder, I've spent the better part of 2 hours composing a scathing letter, engaging all my powers of wit at sarcasm to rail against the stupidity of it all.

And I'm a truth-teller.  I must speak truth.  When this whole mess is over, and I'm finally moved, I will write a whole series of posts about what to beware of when building a house.  I wouldn't wish this journey on any bright-eyed, bushy-tailed blogger/designer.

I flatter myself in letting them know in these ranty letter that I have a huge local following and wield much power in encouraging or discouraging their future customers via social media outlets like this blog and facebook.  It's the only card I hold at this point.  May not be an ace, but it's all I got.

Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend.  I tried to be thankful I've not spent the last 9 months in an apartment.  I tried to be thankful my grandbabies will live next door.  I tried to not eat an entire pumpkin pie.

Didn't have much success with that last item there.

::Christmas Past Pt 1: Mantels::

So I'm feelin' kinda sorry for myself 'cause I won't be doing much holly day decorating this year.  That would be thanks to my builder who is taking so ding dang long to get us closed.

I thought I'd get all my mantels together from the past 4 years of blogging.  It might make me feel more in the mood and give me something to post that fits with what everyone else is blogging.  Just want to be a team player, ya know. Links go to the actual posts with more pics and stuff.

My first Christmas blogging was 2009.  I attempted to go with the rustic 80's look of our fireplace at the time. Try not to be blinded by the shiny brass on the doors. I also about killed myself and anyone within striking range by making stockings.  Which I don't show in this shot....but they're in the next one.  So there.

Here's take two with the evil stockings...

Christmas 2010  was a totally different look as we completely redid the fireplace and mantel.  I glitterfied the entire thing and drank the coffee filter wreath kool-aid. I also made burlap stockings that I'm pretty sure someone from Country Living copied and put in their mag.  Whatever. It's still one of my most popular and pinned posts to date.  Voila!

(If you want to read about how we painted the fireplace, click here.)

Next up is Christmas 2011, which might be my favorite, but it didn't make a big splash in the blogosphere like the previous year.  I repurposed Dollar Store white stockings instead of making some from scratch. Hallelujah. I was also drowning in ginormous pinecones due to my middle daughter's rustic chic wedding a week after Christmas. Boom.

Loved it!

Last year's Christmas mantel was a study in aquas and whites.  I've gathered quite a collection of blues and whites for my holly day decor, so it was pretty easy to put this together.  Repurposed those white stocking from Dollar Store yet again.  Ta Da!

It was soft and wonderful.....

Which brings me to this year......in a temporary home with no mantel. :(

There's a really awesome one next door in our new house, so I hope there will still be time to decorate it once we close and move.  I may be posting Christmas mantel decor in mid-January.  You never know.

So which is your favorite?

::Tour My New House::

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

So, the house is pretty much done.

Unfortunately, today was the third scheduled closing that was cancelled. :(

There was a mess-up with the electric company, so we have no power....and with the storms that hit our area last week, they are behind.  So we keep waiting.  And waiting.

In the meantime, I thought I'd go over and take some decent pics.  Bogart decided to play Tour Guide Barbie....

Come on in.....

 Bogart notices  someone is waiting for us....Robyn Rose left her stuffed kitty to watch over stuff while we're waiting to move....

Anyway, this is the view as you enter my house.  One of the things I LOVE is all the arched doorways.  There's lots of craftsman details throughout.

They're yummy :)

Kitchen.....lots going on here, and I'm hoping it will all congeal once I get it decorated.  The builder dude did our walk-thru with us yesterday and mentioned that I should take pics and upload them to Houzz.  He thinks it looks super awesome.  He loved that we didn't do standard stuff.

 Laminate butcherblock.  Will replace with real butcherblock eventually methinks. Cabs are painted "Watery" by Sherwin Williams.

Didn't do a farmhouse sink, but did go with a single basin cast iron with this faucet....finish is called 'champagne bronze'....because obviously if they called it 'antique brass' no one would want it *rolling eyes*

Here's the other counter with some blue in it to coordinate with the cabs.  LOVE LOVE LOVE my antique brass pulls!  Not so down with the knobs, but they're easily changed out.

Floors are laminate too.

Uppers are a (bad) color match to Gliddens 'Antique White' which is used on the trim and walls throughout the house.  Not sure I like how taupe it looks.

Also, I have 2 industrial pendants to replace the ORB ones. Walls are Martha Stewart 'Spring Melt'...a sweet blue/green/grey.

Bogart is showing me where he'll be stationed much of the time...by the door to watch evil squirrels off the back covered porch.

Looking into the dining area (laundry/mud room off in the distance...)  Chandy will also be replaced with a super cool antique brass one I found on craigslist from a 70's house.  It's all kinds of awesome.

And here's looking into the great room....master is that doorway on the right.

Looking back to the entryway....to the right is the office/den...

See?

And standing in the office looking across the way is an alcove with a coat closet and our 1/2 bath...

They hung my gramma's antique mirror for me :)  This bath has a pedestal sink, but it's super modern and sleek.  I'll have to cottagefy it with a skirt.

Back to the great room...got big plans for it after we get settled.  It's a blank canvas now!

Love the vaulted ceiling and huge windows...which look small in this pic, but you'll have to take my word for it.

Looking back to the front of the house from the fireplace.

I think we may do a window seat for this corner.  Bogart is preparing to stalk squirrels....

That cut out under the stairs will be a desk area/family command center.  Or a piano.

No sure yet. 

Just off the great room is the Master suite.  Love the wee windows :)

Lots of light, so I chose Martha Stewart's 'Brown Alpaca' for the walls.  I used it in my old kitchen.  It's a marvelous warm shade of brown....not too yellow, not too taupey/grey.

Looking back out to the main part of the house.

Here's my bath!  I have waited 28 years to have a big tub....I've gone over to sit in it just to practice.
Pocket door is cool too :)

Marble-look laminate in here.

Reflection from mirror to stool cubby and walk-in closet with another pocket door.

Nothing fancy for the shower because we had to fit the big tub in the floorplan.  Yes, that's beaded board around the tub.  Duh.

Well, that's all I got for today.  Bogart's ready to go.  I'll show you the upstairs another time...as there's no power, it's kinda dark for pics.

It's been torture to see everyone decorating for the holidays when my new house sits empty next door....we were supposed to close Nov 8th.  I hope we'll be moving in the next couple weeks so I can start christmasfying it!

If you have any questions, give me a shout.  And hey, have a happy Thanksgiving!
Sharing at Start at Home's Furniture and Paint party