Christmas Decorating!

Decorating for the holidays is always fun, but you can imagine there's a special excitement when decorating a new house for the first time.  Here's some photos of what I've done.  I have lots of other ideas, but this year I used mostly decorations and supplies I already had, so this is truly decorating on a budget! As you will see, I'm still into the traditional red, green, and gold theme.  None of this bright blue for me!

The front porch:

My fall "Welcome" sign has been repurposed! Those are actually my old ice skates.

 Things I had, put together in a new way.  I really think next year this wagon needs a Santa, or something taller.

 The fall wreath has also gotten a new look for Christmas.

I did the two lights on the porch, as well as the three lights on our garage.  The greens are real, so this will need to be redone every year.

The mantle:

Appliqued stockings made from old jeans.  I made these MANY years ago.

An embroidered stocking I made for my grandaughter.

The tree:

My husband's family owns a Christmas Tree farm, so yes, it's real!

The kitchen:

I had this old sewing drawer with dusty things glued in it, so I repurposed it for Christmas.  

These are "new."  With the three big windows above my sink, I had to do something.  Grapevine wreaths, some painted letters, and some (fake) greens.  The gold hanging ribbon, I already had.

The Dining Room:

The goose basket centerpiece is something I made many years ago.  I also made the table runner a few years ago.

My chandelier got some (fake) greens, ribbons, and sparkly ornaments.

The sewing table is "Snowman City."

The stairway:

Nothing new purchased for this, just rearranged.

 Powder Room:

Well, it's red, so perfect for decorating for the holidays.

A quilted wall hanging that I made.

Another corner for snowmen.  My husband is a firefighter.

Other things:

The nativity on the TV counsel below the TV.  My daughter was shocked I put all that glass where her one year old can reach it.  She's been to my house twice since I put it up, and hasn't touched it yet! I made these ceramics when I was in high school!

The couch table gets Santa duty.

The church pew and hooks got a bit of an update.

An applique project from a while back.

Embroidered pillow slips are the only decorations in the master bedroom.

For all kinds of pictures of the new house, please follow "My New House" board on Pinterest.

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Coffee and Wine Bar

In "Another Chalk Paint Transformation" I showed you an old buffet that I transformed to use in the new house as my Coffee Bar.  I'm ready to show you the finished project!

This is now one of my favorite places in the house.

I have room for my coffee maker and espresso maker.  I have my coffee cups displayed and easily accessible.  The drawers have plenty of storage for filters, coffee, spoons, etc.

My kids gave me this stencil for Christmas last year. I bought the chalkboard at Michael's and used Martha Stewart's Liquid Chalk to "paint" it.  The chalk won't rub off, but is removable with water.

My son, @SmithBuilding, made this wine rack from pallet wood.  A great place to display my hand painted wine glasses!

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Mud Rooms are Muddy! A Tour of Our Laundry Room

I love my large mud room/laundry room.  It serves as a great barrier to keep dirt out of the main house.  I guess that's why it is called a mudroom.

This old washboard was painted by my mother, and she had this to sell in her garage sale!  Not a chance!

Drying space is an issue, since we flat dry a lot of things.  The drying rack above the sink was purchased on Amazon and it works well. We have additional drying racks in the basement, which we might need during sweater season!

The floor is tile, and easy to keep clean, but I still feel like it's always dirty.  I love my new high efficiency/high capacity washer and dryer.  And having a sink in there is essential.

On the other side of the room is a large pantry closet and my old, hand-me-down freezer.  The only appliance I moved from the old house. We purchased it for $50 several years ago.  

(still needs some organizing!)

The white bench was made by my son when he was in school.  It was unfinished, so I sanded it and painted it white.  Not fancy, but a great place to sit to take off your muddy boots (dear husband.) 

He also made the little step stool when he was in high school.  I'm vertically challenged and used this at our old house a lot.  Since I have so many cabinets now, I don't store much on the top shelves, so I don't need this as often, but it still comes in handy.

And my son also made a simple board with hook for jackets and bags.  Another essential, since we have no coat closet.

This door goes to the garage and has a dog door, so that's where she come in and boy does she track in a lot of dirt! I'm a big fan of rag rugs. I like the way they look, and they are so easy to shake and wash.  I got this one from overstock.com.

Her food and water are in this room also, which creates other messes.

And finally, we put in a pocket door from the mud room to the kitchen.  It saves so much space, and is really handy when you need to keep the dog in the mudroom for some reason (usually when she's wet and/or muddy.)

I forgot to take a picture of the ceiling.  We also have a pull-down ladder in this room for attic access.

So there's my laundry/mud room tour.  If you have any great ideas for me, or products you think would help, please let me know! It's always a work in progress.

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