Holiday Housewalk 2018

Hello and welcome to this year's Holiday Housewalk hosted once again by the talented Jennifer Rizzo. For me, Christmas is all about traditions and I love that this housewalk has become a part of my holiday blogging tradition. For as long as I have been reading blogs, Jennifer Rizzo has been hosting this amazing line-up of Christmas homes. I am honored to be included once again. You can start this year's tour by clicking on the button below. The tour continues all week so be sure you visit ALL of the homes for tons of holiday inspiration.

If you are following along on the tour, you just landed here from Marci's beautiful holiday home at Lemons to Lovelys.

If this is your first time here, my name is Courtney. My husband and I, along with our 3 teenage sons, have renovated our split level home in a NJ suburb one room at a time. The heart of the home is always the kitchen so let's get started on the tour in there. I am super excited about our newly painted kitchen island and how much it has updated our space. The new color lends a cottage-y feel to our kitchen that works lovely with our Christmas decor. 

We decided to hang the vintage sled over our island for an encore year. We did this a few years back and our family and friends have still been talking about it. This year, I went with more of a "tree farm" theme for the sled decor. We usually have a pot rack hanging over this island so we simply used the hooks already on the ceiling to suspend the sled.

I always enjoy decorating a smaller kitchen tree with the food themed ornaments that I collect each year.

The three windows over our farmhouse sink are always a focal point in our home. I added 3 wreaths, purchased at HomeGoods recently, hung from the double hung windows with a red and white striped ribbon.

We removed all of the walls on this level to create a family living space that works wonderfully for our family.

I carried the festive and classic holiday decor over in our dining area as well. Nothing fussy, just cheery.

Over in our upstairs living room, I kept things bright and nostalgic, which is everything I think Christmas should be. The imperfect tree displays all of our collected family ornaments. I used our old LL Bean sled that we once used to pull all three of our little boys around in for years as the base. I simply set the tree base atop the seat of the sled and covered it with a plaid scarf.

 A sleeping golden just adds to the lived in feel of this room.

To tie things together with the newly painted island, I knew I wanted to keep a lot of blue in this room this Christmas. When I spotted this area rug, I thought it would work perfectly over our mantel. It adds both texture and color and is a very affordable option for "art" over the mantel. It picks up on the colors of our hat and mitten Advent calendar as well.

The bookshelves hold memories of Christmases past in the stories we read to our boys and the items we have collected throughout their younger years, like nesting dolls and snow globes. Even though they are older, they still love seeing these items each year, perhaps even more so? The magic of Christmas knows no age and I know they still hear the bell at Christmastime.

Next, let's head downstairs through our front entryway to our lower level family room.

Our small mudroom is always fun to decorate and I continued the tree farm theme in here as well.

I kept things more neutral in our family room and I like that this area feels a bit different than the vibrant colors in the rest of the house. I especially enjoy how the neutrals and sparkle work with the rustic stone fireplace.

I used a vintage sled atop the mantel and added some glam with the glittery Believe sign. Then I just added an assortment of trees and birch bark items.

Finally, let's head all the way to the top level of our home. I also enjoy adding some Christmas touches to our master bedroom.

I kept the tree really simple up here with just the addition of some candle lights.

I even add a few holiday decorations along with some Christmas scented soap and bubble bath to our master bathroom.

From our family to yours, we wish you Happy Holidays and a happy & healthy New Year! Next stop on the tour is lovely home at Number Fifty-Three.

Sources:

Kitchen:

Wreaths on windows - HomeGoods

Ribbon for Wreaths - Michaels

Small Wreaths on Glass Cabinets - Target Dollar Spot

Sled over island - Vintage, similar

Kitchen Tree - Target

Pendant Light over sink - Target (old)

Island Paint Color: Farrow and Ball's Oval Room Blue

Joy rug by sink - TJ Maxx

Chandelier - Pottery Barn

Bars stools - Wayfair

Baking Company Sign - DIY

Living Room:

Sofa - Birch Lane

Advent Calendar - Garnet Hill

Red and white check throw on sofa - Target

Master Bedroom:

Tree Farm Sign - Pottery Barn

Ski Lodge Sheets - Pottery Barn

Plaid quilt - old from Target

Candle lights on tree - Amazon

Green and white quilted shams - Vintage

Master Bathroom:

Santa Paws towels - HomeGoods

Bath mats - Target

Vase with Christmas picks - Target