Un-Decorate

I thought I was going to miss the Christmas tree and the little fairy lights.

Really, I did.  

I thought I’d miss the warm, magical glow.  Oh, and that fresh balsam smell.  But I don’t at all.  We took the tree down the other week and boxed up the rest of the ornaments over the weekend.  Luke thinks it is bad luck to leave anything Christmas-y up after Twelfth Night.

I actually love how empty and clean our rooms look.  In winter, I always love how the snow makes the outdoors look so clean and crisp.  A winter wonderland of glittering snowflakes sparkling like tiny diamonds on the ground.  Our house, with the white walls and simple style, feels the same to me.  Fresh.  New.

Well, this empty space is making me realize how with less in the rooms I’m enjoying our house more.

Simple, uncomplicated and fresh.  That is how it feels around here.  We, and our home, are ready for all that 2014 will bring – happy times, creative times, delicious times in the kitchen and fun times with upcoming birthdays and celebrations with friends.

As you can see we’re back to the combination I like best – blue and white.

We hung some family pictures in our long hallway upstairs, which I’ll share real soon. It is so nice to finally have some of our own pictures on the wall.  It feels more like our home.

This is on the landing at the start of the long hallway.  I’ve created a bit of a reading / writing nook up there.  The beautiful painting is from Chatham on Cape Cod and my parents gave it to us while we were on a family trip.  My mom thought it would look like John as he got older (he was only 18 months at the time) and it certainly does.  People think it is a painting of John.  So let’s just keep that between us.

Oh, and this.  This is all coming down….

The book pages  and the mirror behind it will hopefully be gone this weekend.  We tried to unscrew it before Christmas but it appears to be glued to the wall.  Luke and I are going to attempt to take it down without breaking it.  If successful, I’ll share our method.  I just really don’t want 7 years of bad luck!  Ha! Ha!  I laugh, but am not joking.

Once the mirror is down we’ll be painting the living room in the same color as the dining room – Mascarpone White.  I’m hoping we can do it all this weekend.  We’ll see….

The progress in the living room will be slow as I’m still saving up for that Chesterfield sofa my heart is set on.  But still don’t have enough money yet.

So that’s how things are looking around here.  How are things post-holidays around your house?