Christmas on the Coast (Home Tour) 2014

It is feeling very merry and bright over at our house!  I’m so excited to share how our home is looking for the holidays.  It is our 2nd Christmas here and the house is decorated simply for Christmas by the sea!  Grab your coffee, tea or hot cocoa and join me for me for a little tour.

Along with all of you, I’m exited to be sharing my home as part of Jennifer Rizzo’s Holiday House Walk.  I’ve been enjoying all the beautiful homes shared last week and can’t wait to see all the inspiration at the link up!

First, let me show you the front of our home.  If this is your first time here, our home was built in 1927 in the Dutch colonial style.  Like colonials and capes this is a classic style home in New England, especially with the cedar shingles.

A simple wreath from Ballard Design adorns our door.  Vintage skis from Bent Nail Farm Antiques are propped ready for some winter fun.

Pops of red in the form of pretty bows and holly add a very Christmas-y feel!

Fresh greenery is tucked into planters on the steps and and into our window boxes.

I enjoy doing something different with our window boxes each season.

I’m particularly excited about our new deer outside!  I’ve always wanted one!  John told me, looking out his window last night, that he thinks it looks so magical.

For me, Christmastime is about magic!  A time to create memories with family and friends and to be thankful for all the blessings we have.

Please come on in and see how the rest of our home looks!

Here in the entry you are greeted with a few antiques and magnolia leaves.

Simple greenery goes up the staircase:

I also painted this primitive bench in milk paint to create a spot to pull on your boots.

I’ll share more of this bench in a before and after post soon!

Right off the entry is our living room.  It is a very long room and since moving in we’ve done a lot of work to make it feel more our style.

We made the tree skirt this year and it is no sew which makes it even easier!

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care.

I made them last year with drop cloth material, you can read the full tutorial here.

Vintage treasures decorate our mantel – a pie plate, a chippy sled and my mother’s childhood rocking chair which is over 70 years old.

I created this free printable to go with our hot chocolate bar earlier this month.

The rich woodwork (original to the house) is brought out with whites, greenery and simple decor.

Our tree is decorated simply with handmade ornaments and a nautical garland.

The garland is so sweet and easy to make.  You could actually decorate any room with it as you can see here in our guest room:

Opposite the fireplace is a simple French chair and a new antique print.  They reminded me of our dog, Poppy.

Another free printable sits on the black gateleg table.  Our boys loved the idea of a hot chocolate bar and I think we’ll be doing many this winter after sledding sessions.

A sweet deer pillow by my friend Lucy over at Craftberry Bush rests on our Ikea chair.

A simple crate and antique fishing floats with pine cones and espom salt make a winter centerpiece.

My kids thought it was  real  snow.

Through the columns is our dining room.

The table is layered with brown paper from Paperscapes which I embelished with a paint pen.

Beautiful pointsettas, magnolia leaves and more German glitter glass is piled on top.

The sun is always so beautiful in this room which you can see here.

The paper whites Conor and I planted, using rocks collected from the beach, are starting to grow!  I’ll share some more on that in a later post.

Each season I decorate this little milk painted armoire in a different way.  This year I used this beautiful printable that my friend Alice over at Thoughts From Alice drew by hand.  Isn’t it gorgeous?!?

I scattered pearls to look like snow and placed our tree star behind it.

The grey hutch is decorated simply with more magnolia leaves.

Simple touches of Christmas are inside.

The final stop on our Christmas House Tour is the sunroom.  This room celebrates our love for the sea.  From a coastal trunk which stores boots.

We enjoy taking the dog for long walks in the woods to collect greenery.

More greenery can be found over here with a driftwood tree:

While some handmade snow globes create a simple centerpiece:

I’ll share these in another upcoming post!

Thank you so much for joining me on this Christmas Tour! We wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!

Also, sharing with: