Holiday House Tour

I must admit that one of my favorite times for reading blogs is during the holiday season. So many bloggers go all out with decorating and share spreads of their beautifully decorated homes. Every day I find new inspiration for our house-- if only I had more free time, it would be a true winter wonderland over here. The Sailor is probably relieved that there's not more time for decorating though since he's not big on  Christmas "clutter", but I love the festive feel and almost wish we could keep the decorations up year round.

In honor of the season, here are some of my favorites from Jennifer Rizzo's annual Holiday House Walk followed by a glimpse into what our home looks like this season. So grab a cup of cocoa and enjoy!

Dear Lillie

This room floors me! It's the perfect combination of rustic and modern with the wooden ceiling beams, hardwood floors and gray walls with white trim, Click on over to Jennifer Holmes' brilliant Dear Lillie blog to see the flow of this open space. I love her use of paperwhites and amaryllis throughout and hope I can find some to replace our poinsettias. 

Finding Home

I'm pretty impressed by the galvanized tub here. I don't think I'm alone in this sentiment-- One of the most stressful parts of Christmas is trying to get our tree to stand up straight in our tree stand. How Laura and Dana of Finding Home managed to get this to work is beyond me! Their farmhouse decorated with antique finds and greenery is simple yet so pretty.  

Thoughts from Alice

Thoughts from Alice's decor tugged at my heartstrings as it's reminiscent of grandparents' home. Alice and her family live outside Rochester, NY, where my grandparents lived, and the design of her home is so familiar. Add to that vintage treasures, like this Santa mug (I had an identical one!), and many family memories flooded back with joy.

Liz Marie

This porch in North Carolina is the perfect welcome to a rustic home tour. It's such a cozy spot to snuggle up and stay warm in plaid wool blankets.

And now... It's far from a house tour with professional quality photos, but here's a little peek into our holiday decor. This year, I incorporated more natural elements like grapevine, boxwood, and pine cones rather than some of the store bought snowmen and Snowbaby figurines. Although it won't be the same festive feel without all of their sweet cherubic faces on every possible table, shelf, mantle and other surface space, many of the porcelain figurines will remain safely packed away, far from the paws of our playful angelic Lola. And despite my enthusiasm for over-the-top fall decorations on the mantle, I'm keeping it simple with pine boughs, birch logs candle holders (from our wedding) and white pillar candles.

Let the holiday season begin!