There’s lots to be excited about today – it’s really, really close to Friday, it’s my B-day (woo hoo!), and I get to share the rest of my holiday home with you guys as part of the 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes. Thanks so much to Jenny of Evolution of Style for hosting this great home tour and to Lisa of Shine Your Light for creating the graphics!
If you’re new here, welcome to our Connecticut home – I’m so glad to have you join me and my sweet readers. Come on into our home office where I’ve added a few simple holiday touches:
I made our advent calendar a few years back (you’ll find the how-to {here}) with numbered mini galvanized buckets (bought {here}) hung on a live tabletop tree. Each bucket gets filled with either a little treat or note to make the countdown to Christmas a little more special for my girls.
I gave my little brass elephant the important job of holding the Christmas day bucket (which is actually still empty – I need to figure out what I want to put in that one this year!).
A few wrapped presents, a poinsettia, and a festive ribbon on my horse head statue are the other quick and easy holiday additions.
Ready to move on to the living room?
I dressed up our large china cabinet on the far wall with a holiday wreath I found at Stop & Shop of all places (I love the little bundles of cinnamon sticks!).
Those of you who are regular readers know that I just finished a big makeover of our living room fireplace last week (see the before & after {here}). I had all sorts of big plans for holiday artwork and lanterns adorning the mantel but I couldn’t bring myself to take down everything I had just put up so I just worked with what I had, adding some berry branches to the floral treatment and backyard clippings of boxwood branches and berries along the length of the mantel.
A few other holiday details that were added to the room include a jingle bell bottle opener
a holiday bow on our girl “Hope” :),
a few wrapped presents,
and a bowl of apples mixed with boxwood clippings:
Our last stop is the kitchen! I’m late in putting together the hot chocolate bar that we set up every year so right now the only holiday changes are some red & green napkins and fresh greenery added to my nesting herb crates:
Do you notice anything missing in my Christmas tour? Maybe a Christmas tree?! Can you believe that we haven’t put ours up yet?! It’s been a busy month and I wanted to wait until all four of us had time to do it together so it’s on tap for this weekend – stay tuned for pics! And if you missed the first half of my Christmas home tour, I shared pics of our front porch,
our entry,
and our dining room – you can see more and find the shopping guide for those rooms {here}.
Now hop on over to my friend Lisa’s house {here} because she’s sharing her holiday home tour today too – I can’t wait to see it (her Christmas trees are always perfection!).
And if you want to catch up with the rest of the tours from the talented bloggers participating in the 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes, here they are:
12/1 Evolution of Style | Dixie Delights
12/2 Life & Home At 2102 | Provident Home Design
12/3 Simple Details
12/4 The Pink Clutch Blog | This is Happiness
12/7 Bless’er House | The Tale Of An Ugly House
12/8 Classic Casual Home | This is Our Bliss
12/9 Primitive and Proper
12/10 Shine Your Light & me!
12/11 Suburban Bitches | Our Storied Home
12/14 Simply Sarah Style | Rough Luxe
Enjoy the tours!
Home office: gallery wall art – see {this post} for a detailed source list | horse head – HomeGoods| mini galvanized buckets | desk – World Market (no longer sold) | buffet – vintage | desk chair – Restoration Hardware
Living room: sofa – IKEA EKTORP – more info {here} | linen swivel chairs & ottoman – Lee Industries | fireplace tile – Sterling Row Wingtip Charcoal c/o Walker Zanger | firewood basket* | rattan bar cart* | jingle bell bottle opener*
Kitchen: nesting herb crates
kris, it is just beautiful! first of all, i love hope’s little ribbon. 😉 and second of all i am always a huge fan of your office. and third… THE MANTLE AND FIREPLACE. be still my heart! that tile is a showstopper, and your decor is just perfect!
Kris! Your home is so festive – even without the Christmas tree! 😉 I love your new fireplace all dressed up for the holidays, and everything is just so classic and beautiful, it’s perfect. Thanks for joining in again this year – looking forward to seeing your Christmas tree!
Hi Kris, really enjoyed your home tour this morning. Your fireplace tile is stunning and isn’t it lovely when your best laid plans for your mantle are set aside and the result is unexpectedly perfect! And as an elephant lover, couldn’t help but notice all your elephants and how they were lovingly festooned with ribbons for Christmas. Your home speaks ‘calm’…really lovely.
Thanks for sharing, Lynn
You have a beautiful home Kris! Love all the sweet Christmas touches!!
Oh, and Happy Birthday!! 🙂
Love the wood bowl with apples is it from world market.
Sorry I’m so super late to respond Sylvia – that bowl was a HomeGoods find!
Aw, the tour seems great!!
Lovely pictures!
Kisses,
Taislany
Love everything so much! I’m ready to move in. Your living room is really gorgeous with that new fireplace and I love how you left the art and added the Christmas touches. The garland with the berries is so pretty and Hope looks adorable. Happiest Birthday to you! Enjoy trimming your tree this weekend.
So lovely, Kris!! Your fireplace is fabulous and I wouldn’t have taken down that beautiful mantle styling either! I love the fun details like the elephant holding the bucket and the bell bottle opener! Enjoy the tree decorating and rest of the season! 🙂
AHHHHH Darling Hope with a bow. What a sweet girl. Just a magnificent job with your home!! Love those nesting herb crates…great color and texture. And the touches in your home office are perfect.
Merry Christmas, Kris!
Mary Ann
Beautiful Kris. Love your dining room.
No doubt, your home is the epitome of stylish form and function in and out of the holiday season! You know how much of a fan I am Kris, but I am blown away as always on your decor! LOVE the apples and all the natural elements you added thru out your home this Holiday season, your style is just something I strive for but somehow never manage to achieve! So hard to pick a fave spot! I am so honored to share this Blogger Tour series with you! CHEERS and Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family!
Your fireplace looks great. I am glad you didn’t change the mantlescape it looks wonderful All of your Christmas Decor is lovely. I sure was tempted to leave my tree bare this year, but I caved in and decorated it. An OH HAPPY BIRTHDAY the squirrel is on it’s way..just kidding I couldn’t afford the postage!!
So cozy, Kris! Love the new fireplace surround. Happy holidays to you and your family! 🙂
Gorgeous. I love that gallery wall and it is always so fun to see how you change things up a bit. Your Christmas decor is as stunning as everything else in your home and I love, love, love that Advent tree. Amazing.
Kris – You never cease to amaze me with your clever concepts. I absolutely love what you did with the advent calendar. I’ll have to keep that in mind for our future children.
As always, a gorgeous tour!
Kris – You outdid yourself. Everything is just perfect! I think I pinned every single picture on your post 🙂 Thanks for welcoming us into your beautiful home. Merry Christmas!
Truly beautiful details! I have loved looking at every picture, and good explanations–thank you. Happy recent birthday, too!