Holiday House Tour 2015

Merry Christmas Week everyone!!

I am so excited I actually have a house decorated for Christmas to show you this year! With us moving in the middle of October and my due date quickly approaching (tomorrow!!) I honestly didn't know what we would be able to pull off in the holiday decor department this year. BUT thankfully, my mom is half Christmas Elf slash the Christmas decorating Queen (she typically has 8 trees of her own!) and swooped in to town to help us get our Christmas life together.

This is our third married Christmas and as you all know we decorated our house last year and the year before, so we really tried to use a lot of the decor we already had and then added to it as necessary.

Front view:

From the side:

I really love the  magnolia + the green & red on the wreaths... isn't it so southern and festive?

The formal living room:

We have the prettiest bay window just begging for a tree, so we bought a pretty flocked tree for this space and I love it. Snowy branches, red balls and a fuzzy skirt.....so happy. 

The foyer:

Brenta the horse head is holding down the fort alone in here right now, but I love how even the back sides of the wreaths bring a little Christmas cheer to this space.

The den:

And one more shot of the outside at night....

Christmas is going to be very interesting this year. I will have either just had the baby or be waiting for the baby to come at any minute, so needless to say we can't travel. Instead, Christmas is going to be AT OUR HOUSE! That's right,  our house is command central for Christmas, which is just SO exciting!! Now in all reality our entire family may be spending Christmas at the hospital as December 25th is a full moon. The first full moon on Christmas since like Jesus I'm pretty sure....lucky us...oyyy ;)

All photos are my own. 

Nursery Reveal

It is absolutely blowing my mind that Brent and I are weeks, days or maybe even hours away from welcoming our baby into the world. OUR BABY.....what?!? It is so crazy and exciting! Luckily some time over the past 5 weeks, since moving into our new house, we got the baby's room put together and I am so excited to show it to you today.

We don't know if we are having a boy or a girl, so our main goal for this space was to create a bright, colorful and happy room suitable for any child, or grown up for that matter. The red crib was our jumping off point and from there we really just layered on the happy. 

Brent free-handed the wording on the wall with a pencil and then went back and painted it; he has skills coming out his ears, I swear. And those hot air balloons...we made them! Can't wait to show you our DIY tutorial on those soon. 

The room gets great natural light, making the mornings some of the prettiest times to be in this space. We kept the curtains super simple so as not to fight some of the other louder pieces in the room. 

One of my favorite spots in the room is the bookshelf. We bought those fun brackets and shelves at IKEA and loaded them up with all of the books we received at our showers. The stuffed animals you see were center pieces on the tables at our first shower and look so cute sprinkled amongst the books. 

Over on the other side of the room... 

We kept things simple on this wall with the changing table and glider, both of which we customized. We added those aqua feet to the changing table which not only give it some pizazz, but it made the piece higher overall which we hear is a plus for taller people to change diapers with ease. Hey, just trying to make any and everyone who might be willing to help me change diapers' life a little easier. I'm a giver like that..;) My Grandmother & PapaJack gave us the glider as a baby gift and we were able to pick the fabric and piping. I love how the lime green piping pops off the cream fabric. OH, and the icing on the cake? It is THE most comfortable chair I have ever sat in, which is probably very much ideal seeing as how I will likely be utilizing it a lot. I hear babies like to be held and fed and rocked, all of which I can do from this big, beast of a chair. 

And because it is Christmas, we set up the cutest nativity scene on the side table. This was a gift from my Aunt Kathy and we were so excited to add a little Christmas cheer to our born-around-but-hopefully-not-on-Christmas baby's room! 

Well, there you have it. Baby Shearer's nursery. WE HAVE A NURSERY! WE ARE HAVING A BABY!! Somebody pinch me.....

All photos are my own.

About.com - November Recap

It's December 1st and do you know what that means? It's the baby's BIRTHDAY month!! I'm officially due on December 22nd but the doctor will only let me be 7 days late meaning between now and December 29th it's ON! December is going to be a fun month on the blog too! We are thiiiiis close to being ready to reveal the nursery AND we will be decorating our new house for Christmas for the first time. But before we get into all of that let's dig into my About.com kitchen articles from November.

Up first:

1. Don't be your own Road Block to a Great Kitchen

It's a good thing we are supposed to keep these articles around 600 words because I could of written a novel on this subject. In a nutshell I wrote up a few guidelines to ensure that if you do decide to spend your hard earned money on a kitchens designer that you don't go and get in your own way. It may seem ridiculous, but it happens all the time and it's such a shame. Especially if I'm the designer in that blue car and you are that giant fuzzy buffalo prancing across the road. 

2. Why an Ice Maker in the Kitchen?

To me ice is a game changer. You know how water is all good for you and everything? Well, I'm 100% on board with drinking water as long as it is ice cold. I do not like lukewarm water. NO! Most kitchens do have some form of ice maker built into the refrigerator but this article is talking about whether or not having a second ice source like an under counter ice maker is a good idea or simply overkill. And if it is a decent idea, in what instances would you even use it? Read on to hear my thoughts. 

3. Is a Second Sink in the Kitchen Ideal?

2nd sinks, like under counter ice makers can seem like an unnecessary luxury, but in this article I talk about several different scenarios where a 2nd sink doesn't just make sense, it's almost a must! *Fun fact, this topic was a request from a reader, if you have any specific kitchen topics you would like me to cover seriously let me know, I listen!!* 

4. Metal Accents in the Kitchen

I truly believe the prettiest spaces are those that are layered with various textures and finishes. Metal is great option to layer into your space and this article talks about several different ways you can do it. Notice the simple, yet powerful brass accent on the side of the backsplash above? SO GOOD!

5. 3 Navy Paint Options for your Kitchen Cabinets

I am such a sucker for blue, especially navy blue. I rarely meet a navy piece (clothes, shoes, cabinets, accessories) I don't like. In this article I'm dishing on my current top 3 navy picks in the paint department. 

UPDATED ARTICLES:

1. Is White Marble the Worst Idea Ever?
2. How to Select the Best Remodeler for Your Kitchen
3. Touch Faucet Love
4. Why Quartz?
5. Spotlight on Style: Shaker

To read more of my kitchen articles click here to go straight to my About.com Kitchens page.