Moving Forward

With Christmas Day officially behind us, I am doing my second favourite holiday decorating activity today.  I know some of you are going to think I'm nuts but bear with me.

 Today, I took down all out Christmas decorations.

Every. Last. One.

I organized them all into their tidy bins and tucked them away into the basement storage cupboard.  I took the gigantic tree down and threw it onto our front porch (that's Jay's part of the job).  I cleaned up a ridiculous amount of Fraser Fir needles and vacuumed and dusted the whole living room.

I almost love this part as much as I love putting up the decorations in the first place!

I like our home to be tidy with minimal clutter around.  I find all the Christmas stuff to be overwhelming to my eyes and almost stressful to look at after a while.  Overstimulation maybe?  Either way, the house looks so clean and spare now that everything is put away.  I love it.

You know what I also love?  Jay is upstairs right now sanding down the mud coat on Audrey's room so I can prime that bad boy tonight.  Woooohooo!  I'm so excited about working on her room some more.  We are taking a little time off this week to do some projects around our own home (as opposed to other people's homes like usual).

(Bird's Egg, BM 2051-60)

I finally decided on the aqua colour I wanted to use in there.  It took me a bunch of paint samples but we are going with BM Bird's Egg.  Here are a couple of shots of the colour in other rooms:

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I have to get back to painting now.  I can't leave Jay in there by himself forever.

Just so you know, I've really been missing my blog life lately.  We have been working against a really tight project deadline and things got a little hairy around here.  But I have lots of exciting plans for this blog over the next couple of months, including a fun guest series and some exciting reveals of rooms around this house.

xo Meg

Warm Wishes

  My family and I are taking some time off but I will return after next week.  We are looking forward to spending some time together and enjoying the simple things.  We'll be ice skating and sipping hot chocolate by the fire.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays this year.

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xo Meg

Good Morning Everyone!  Happy Monday!

   I have no idea why I'm so cheery this morning.  Perhaps it has something to do with the amazing fragrance the 10 foot spruce in my living room is giving off as I walk down the stairs.  Yep, we finally got our tree this weekend.  I will post some photos soon.

   Sadly, we did not get to decorating the tree on Sunday night as we had planned.  My little one has come down with a bug and we couldn't get her fever down last night, despite loading her up with meds.  She is sick, sick, sick.  That means she's home with me today and we get to stay in our pjs and watch movies.  Sometimes it's nice to get a chance to take care of her.  She's usually so fiercely independent!

I did link up my mantle today over at a la mode for the Holiday Home Highlights Tour.  You can find my mantle design here, if you want to take another look.



xo Meg

Holiday Mantle

I showed you guys the beginnings of my holiday mantle last week.  But I've made a couple of changes.

The left side was looking a little lonely, so I added this antique brass menu stand.  I just stuck the small Pottery Barn Kids letter to it.  It gives it a little gold flash on that side and a pop of colour.

Here it is now:

 I know some people are all about bling for Christmas decorating.  And while I appreciate that look in magazines and the homes of my friends, I have a hard time with it for my own home.  I'm all about restrained holiday decor.  I'm not sure why but at this time of year I just go for a 'less is more' approach.  Maybe it's the over-stimulation of all the lights and bright colours.  Maybe it's because there's so much that is going on over the holidays that I need calm in our home.  Either way, I'm so happy with how my simple mantle looks.

I've linked up this mantle to the Christmas Cheer Link Party at Ten June.  There are already lots of pretty mantles to look at over there so go have a look!

I've also linked this mantle up to the Holiday Home Highlights Tour over at a la mode.  

xo Meg

Happy Holiday List Progress

I'm still working away on my Happy Holiday List.  But I'll be honest, some of the deadlines have already been missed.  I'm a bit disappointed about this but I know I still made a good start, and am getting things ready way earlier this year than usual.

• I have to get the cards done for this weekend, cause we're going to this family party and I'd like to be able to give them out then.  That means the photos need to be completed and the cards put together.  I think I'll still be on time with those.
• I didn't bake any cookies last week.  I really planned to but the week just got away from me!  I'm going to try and get them done this week too.  I like having them for hostess gifts, parties and quick last minute presents.  I also still need to get the packaging for them ready.
• I went on a big shopping trip this weekend.  I did get many of the items on my list checked off but there are still more to do.  Because of Black Friday, many of the things I needed for the kids were sold out.
• I still need a wreath for my front door.  I gave up on the lights, since Jay is working a lot right now and our house is really, really tall.  I would need the giant ladder and am getting tired of harassing Jay to bring it home from the jobsite.  If they actually get done, that would just be a bonus.  

I'm just trying to keep it real for you.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to meet these deadlines and frankly, it's a fail.

I don't want to let that ruin my holiday spirit though.  After all, it's about the fun of doing all those things anyway.  I really have enjoyed working on the list and I'll keep going, even though I may have been unrealistic about the timelines.

Happy Monday!

xo Meg

Holiday Happiness!

I know my American friends are preparing for their Thanksgiving celebrations right now.  But here in Canada, that's been over for quite a while.  So I'm full swing in Christmas mode! This is the earliest I've ever started to prepare and it's giving me a wonderful case of Holiday Happiness!

We went on a hike this weekend and collected dogwood branches for our outdoor planters.  We had a blast as a family looking for the brightest red branches.  And Gilmore, our golden retriever, actually swam in the river despite the near freezing temperatures.

Now if it would only snow!  I'm having a little trouble with the photographs of the front of the house but I'll make sure to show you them as soon as I can.  They still need a little re-touching.

So, as for my list.  I've checked the first thing off!

Now I'm working on the inside decor.  I'm striving for natural, cheery and simple.  

Here's some of my favourite inspiration photos from my holiday pinterest.  

Usually at this time of year, I swap out the piece of art over my mantle with a mirror.  I like the way the candles and lights are reflected in the mirror and it looks better with my overall scheme.

A couple of years ago, I bought some 'faux snow' from Pottery Barn.  I don't know if they still sell it but I love the way it looks topped with real cranberries.  I do this every year.  It's the perfect hit of red on my simple mantle.  

I'll be back a little later with some photos of my planters!

xo Meg

Bye Bye Fall Decor!

Ok, I really didn't have enough time to do much Halloween and Fall decorating this year.  I didn't string garlands of leaves or put branches into a vase on my mantle.  I didn't really do much at all.  I did put out the white mini pumpkins, carve a few jack-o-lanterns and made my front porch look a little scary with spiderwebs and giant spiders from Dollarama.

I took all that stuff down first thing Tuesday morning.  This might sound crazy but I think I enjoy the removal of decorations almost as much as I enjoy putting them up in the first place!  I like how everything looks clean, fresh and simple once the decorations are put back into their tubs in the basement.

(my house before we moved in)

That being said, I'm already thinking about my plans for Christmas decorating this year.  Our house seems made for Christmas: the big bay window at the front begs for the tree to be put there, and the peak on the roof will look so pretty with lights on it!

I've been pinning some of my favorite ideas onto my Holiday Board on Pinterest.

First up, the front door:

     These wreaths are all lovely and I really like the idea of using an initial on the front door.  I happen to have a silver 'T' that would work perfectly but I would really love an aged bronze one.  I usually get my wreath from Costco.  They are made of several different types of greenery - simple and inexpensive.  Then I add my own personal stamp with ribbon, berries, etc.  I will also make a pair of festive planters to flank our front stairs.

The Mantle:

  
    I like the look of natural and simple holiday decor.  I know, lots of people go for the bling at this time of year.  I do like some bling - in the form of strictly white twinkle lights.  I love the little berry branches on the mantle above.  They add a little touch of red and the garland is perfectly simple.  These mason jars are filled with epsom salts - it really looks like snow!

One last shot:

Just 'cause I love the overall vibe of this room.  We have a huge galvanized tub to put our tree in too.

I might be insane for posting about Christmas on November 2nd.  But considering how late I was in decorating for Halloween, I need to get started right away!

xo Meg