2012 Holiday House tour

 Welcome to my holiday house tour! This year I decided to enjoy the holidays... so I decorated lightly. I have been done with all the shopping, wrapping, mailing and baking for a few days now =) So WELCOME!

 I will greet you at the kitchen door, no one uses the front door! It snowed last night, just for your visit.

 I got this fun vinyl, wasn't sure where to put it and then the light bulb moment hit me when I decorated the kitchen entrance with the snow flakes, I LOVE it!

 In the kitchen I have my gingerbread tree, it also has some fun star shaped vintage tins. Kokos "stocking" awaits Santa to add more treats.

 Some dollar store wreaths, with a simple star ornament and some red ribbon added. The inside of the china cabinet is decorated with some favorite decorations.

 Large brown and white checked ribbon tied in a bow with a small bird ornament adorn the back of each dining room chair this year.

 Ordinarily I am not a huge fan of red, but this year... it just had to be. While shopping with my sister in October I found myself gravitating to Red, Brown and White for my Christmas colors, so I went with it!

 Would you like to stop for a cup of hot cocoa? The cocoa bar is all ready for you =)

 We have been lucky enough this year to have a few house guests, so I added a few Christmas touches to the guest rooms too. A simple dollar store wreath tied with burlap to the bed frame. A snowman on the nightstand.

 The guest bathroom got a few touches too. Another dollar store wreath, some red ribbon and an angel ornament made from an oyster shell.

 My grandmas carolers, a vintage look Santa ornament and a few sparkly red ornaments bring a pop of color behind the toilet.

 My gift wrapping station was just too cute to hide in the closet, so it sits in the corner, patiently waiting the hubby to wrap his last minute gifts. (Which I'm sure he hasn't even bought yet;))

 The master needed a wreath too, this one a much larger one, with a bow of the brown and white ribbon.

 I added a Christmas caroler doll my grandma made for me, and a star shaped box of blue ornaments on top of my dresser.

 The master bathroom got a large wreath,

 and a couple red ribbons tied here and there.

 We can go back to the second guest room now,

my friend Jessica and I each made 3 of these fun vinyl pictures. Each one is different.

 Just a couple more rooms to go... upstairs the media room didn't get a big tree this year, but if you look closely you will see quite a few smaller "trees".

 My friend Jessica made me this ceramic tree last year.  I LOVE it! I Love having it in the media room since we are up here every evening watching TV I get to spend a couple hours everyday enjoying it.

 A couple more of those dollar store wreaths, with brown and white checked ribbon...

 And lastly the hubbys office airplane tree.

 One last look at the living room looking over the balcony.

Come back when you can stay awhile, we can have some hot cocoa or tea... I may even break out some Christmas cookies =)

After finishing the guest bathroom renovation and having some issues with the contractor and the plumber I just was not sure about starting the renovation of the kitchen (I've always hated my kitchen), sooo

 I tried Cabinet Transformations from Lowes. I wanted the island to be black and the cabinets eventually will be white.

 It was so easy to use and turned out beautiful!

 The hubby added some trim from Lowes. He needs to finish adding the baseboard, once it dries.

We also added this wood decor from Lowes. Sorry about the glare, the sun was out today! I can't wait to get the white on all the cabinets!

 I thought I would post an update on the guest bathroom remodel. It is completely finished and I am in total LOVE with it! I bought the mirror at a local nursery, I waited 5 months before finally breaking down and purchasing it. It is perfect for this room. The "bathroom rules" sign came from Kohls and was on clearance. The towel hooks came from Lowes, the toilet paper holder came from TJ Maxx.

 The beadboard came from Lowes, the trim and baseboard came from a local wood shop. The shower fixture came from American Bath Factory. The marble basket weave tile came from The Builder Depot. The 8x12 marble tile came from Home Depot.

 The tub came from Vintage Tub. The white subway tile came from Lowes. The shower glass came from a local glass company.

 The cabinet came from a local cabinet company, the knobs came from Pick your Plum. The faucet came from Lowes, I think? The marble countertop came from a local granite and marble store.

 I reused the chandelier and mirror over the sink. The light fixture came from Lowes, until I can find one I like.

 Most of the accessories came from TJ Maxx, the birdhouse came from a shop in Oregon, the seashells were collected from various places including Mexico and home here in the Pacific Northwest.

 The driftwood frame was a clearance item at TJ Maxx that was broken without glass for $4.00. I hot glued it back together, added some drop cloth then glued on the starfish.

 The little table near the tub came from an antique store, the curtains I have had for years!

 The cottage picture came from a store near my sister in Utah, shelf came from Michaels, the mirror was made by my crafty sister in law, the seashell pictures came from TJ Maxx, the candle holder I made, the pumpkin I made, the bench I bought a few years ago at a vintage market. The towels came for TJ Maxx  and I would LOVE to find a few more of them.

The remodel went a little over budget, but we hadn't intended to buy a new tub. We hired a contractor to do the cabinet, beadboard, trim and oversee the project. We hired a plumber to do all the plumbing, unfortunately we wouldn't recommend him, he made a HUGE error in the shower. We didn't discover the mistake until it was too late =( We also hired someone to lay ALL that tile! He did an amazing job! Total cost $17,000.00. Gulp! It's beautiful though, and MY dream bathroom.

 It's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog. I will hopefully, be posting a little more regularly in the future =) Here is a brief update of things that have been happening around here. The garden guest bedroom is now a pretty shade of Lilac.

 I did try to paint it green first, since the hubby wasn't a fan of the lilac color.

 But the room just kept telling me it wanted to be lilac =) Does that happen to you?

 We've already had several guests stay in this room, picking it over the blue room, so I must have done something right.

 I shopped the house for the pictures on the walls, picked up the owl print at goodwill, painted the little owl on the dresser at a paint it yourself pottery shop. The chair came from a consignment store near my sister in Utah. I still need to recover the seat, but haven't found fabric I love yet.

 I collected the bedding, lamps and purple pillow at TJ Maxx, and made the coffee sack pillow. The comforter at the bottom of the bed came from Costco. The best part about this room is that it looks out onto the back courtyard.

 I love to bring a cup of something warm out here in the mornings and watch the squirrels and birds.

 Listen to the birds chirping and the water fountain. We extended this patio this summer, we added about 10 feet in length and took out a huge bed of plants and weeds. The hubby has been rebuilding the fireplace, he has a bit more to do to it before we can have smores.

 We brought in all new gravel to create this dining area under the tree, just so I could hang my candelabra from the branches.

 Added new gravel, extended the walkway and rebuilt flower beds.

 We had the house stained and all the trim painted. We had College Painters do the work, they were wonderful!

 We added all new gravel down this path also, we gave away our chickens and turned the chicken coop into a garden shed, for now.

 We fenced in the garden, built new raised beds and added hazelnut shells to keep the deer out.

 I bought the cute gated arbor at a store near my sister in Utah.

 We added blocks and pavers around the backside of the driveway and took out 2 trailers full of brush and bamboo.

 I can't even tell you how many trips to the yard waste dump we have taken, probably close to 10? maybe 12.

 All the trim was painted, along with the shutters.

 We cut quite a bit of the wisteria down, including all of it near the kitchen door. Moved a few bushes, and took a few completely out.

We also cut down a total of 5 trees! Whew! Oh, and I have 150 tulip and daffodil bulbs planted in the front and back of the house. It should be beautiful come spring! It feels good to be back! Have a wonderful evening!