Our Christmas Family Room

Today, let's take a peek inside our family room, all decked out for the holidays. I already shared our new European Fir Christmas Tree in an earlier post. I love how much cheer this large tree adds to this space.

I decided go with a Classic Christmas look this year and kept things pretty simple on the mantel with a pretty plaid bow on the garland and the rocking reindeer taking center stage. Nothing on the mantel is new this year.

Most of the throw pillow have been collected through the years. The Woody pillow from Pottery Barn has been a favorite from several years now.

The chair by the fire is the coziest reading spot in the house.

I set up a little table in the corner of this room and it's become a busy spot to play games, wrap presents and do homework.

Finally, a sweet picture of Dax. What would we do without Dax?? We are all missing Keeper something fierce and I just want to thank you all for the messages about her loss. It feels doubly hard to lose her at this time of year, but let's face it, there is never a good time to lose a dog.

Thanks so much for all of your lovely comments about our holiday home. Every single one of them truly warms my heart! For my next post, we'll head up to our master bedroom and bathroom. I still haven't added ANY decor to the outside of our house. Need to get to work on that ASAP, but I think it might just end up being a wreath on the front door this year. Have a great day!

Our Christmas Living Room 2019

Our living room is always such a fun spot during the holiday season. I enjoy displaying our most treasured, collecting Christmas items in this space.

Our tree in this room is packed with all of our favorite ornaments. Nothing trendy - no theme necessary - just lots of fun and memories.

I added a mix of vintage Shiny Brite ornaments along with some newer red ones to our lamps. I found these lamps at Target last year and you can fill them with whatever you like. I usually leave the empty but these ornaments are a fun addition for Christmas.

The snowy red barn painting is a new addition to this space and I think it will leave it up past Christmas to add some color to this space for winter. It is from Kirklands.com.

I added five small wreaths to the front windows. These are the same wreaths that I had hanging in my kitchen windows last year and when I found them again at Marshalls this year, I bought two more so all the windows would have one. I love the simplicity of these.

I also added a new rug to this space for the holidays and I love how it brightens the room! It is the Invergordon rug from Boutique Rugs. Mine us the largest size, 9x12. Use code GOLDEN55 for 55% off anything on their site.

We will be celebrating Christmas Eve right here in this room so I picked up the banner to display that day and I just had to try it out.

And no Christmas home tour of ours is complete without a Golden smile. Dax is missing Keeper something fierce, as we all are, but we are holding her memory close to our hearts and moving forward as best we can.

Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow, we'll be headed downstairs to the family room. I hope you'll be back.

Our Christmas Kitchen 2019

Hello friends. Today, I am excited to share one of my favorite rooms to decorate for the holidays - our Christmas kitchen!

The old vintage sled is flying over the island once again. It's becoming a tradition for us at this point and I think we'd probably miss it if we didn't have it up there. I decided to go with a Gingerbread/Baking theme this year. I enjoy baking throughout the holiday season and it brings back memories of baking with my mom and grandmother. Like so many of you, we still use the same recipes each year that I did back then and I love passing that tradition down to my kids.

The End of a Chapter

I once heard it said that one of the wonderful things about having pets as a part of your family is that they help you to divide your life into chapters. I think that is so true.

Keeper joined our family at Christmas 9 years ago. We still had 3 young boys and her arrival was so exciting for us all. A highlight of our kids' younger years for sure!

She was right there with us as these boys turned into teenagers with so many lessons along the way. And love. Always love.

The next picture was to be our Christmas card photo this year. As you can see, those young boys have grown into young men. I think maybe we'll just skip the card this year. Some years are better than others and that's okay, another important lesson in life.

Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to our sweet girl. She had been slowing down a bit in recent weeks, but at first we chalked that up to old age, while quietly hoping she'd rally - we've had 2 goldens before, this wasn't our first time at this rodeo. But that doesn't make it any easier. This past weekend, it began to be apparent that something was very wrong - she was lethargic and not as interested in her food. We gave her lots and lots of love. We all just knew. Yesterday was the hardest day in any dog owner's journey with their dog.

Keeper's favorite thing to do was swim. In our backyard pool, in the lake and the creeks upstate - she was a magnet to water. She could dive to the bottom of our pool and retrieve lacrosse balls. She provided so many hours of entertainment for us with that trick! And she loved to soar off the diving board into the pool. This is what I imagined she did yesterday, free of pain and soaring off.

Thanks for the wonderful memories, sweet girl! You will be so missed.

And thank you friends, once again, for following along on our journey. Posts like this are so hard to write, but I know that through this blog, some of your have come to know and care about our dogs too. xoxo

Note: For other dog owners who are wondering, she developed a hemangiosarcoma on her spleen, which is never a good prognosis and their health usually deteriorates very rapidly, as was the case with Keeper.

A New Festive Fir for our Family Room

*I partnered with Balsam Hill for this post but, as always, all opinions are my own.

Today marks the official start of the most wonderful time of the year here on my blog! I am excited to begin sharing the Christmas decor that I have been hard at work on for this year. And today we are beginning with a wonderful new addition to our Christmas decor this year - our very first Christmas tree from Balsam Hill. Be sure to read through to the end of the post to enter Balsam's Hill Twelve Days of Giveaways and also to find a coupon code just for my readers!

Flea Market Decor Magazine and Christmas Planning

Hello friends! I've been fully immersed in decorating my home for Christmas for a couple of weeks now and I can't wait to begin sharing it! A highlight for me this past week was when Flea Market Decor magazine came out in print. It's available on newsstands and digitally now! Our Christmas home from last year is one of the homes featured inside.

Fall Decor in Our Master Bedroom and Bathroom

Do you decorate your bedroom with the seasons? I never used to but lately I have really been enjoying it. You don't have to add too much. Especially in a bedroom or bathroom, I think just a few changes with seasonal color can go a long way.