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Canton Christmas Tour of Homes 2010 – Part I

We finally made it! We finished the tour today, Patrick just threw another log on the fire, and I’m getting ready to crack open some frothy goodness. I’m going to give you the run through the tour (we didn’t open the guest room, basement, or attic to tourees) which featured the main rooms of the house and tomorrow I’ll post detail shots of the tree, garland, etc. Unfortunately or fortunately it flurried all day to day. Sadly, it decreased the usual tour attendance, but the flurries really made it feel like Christmas. Let the tour begin:

In the immortal words of Bill Engvall “Here’s your sign.” or in our case here is our sign.

As you rapidly spring from your car and rush through the cold you might glance at the entry way. The little alpine trees had to be held down with bricks to keep from blowing away. Of course I only figured this out after I reset the damn entryway three times. I’m a slow learner at times.

Then we have split the living room into an entryway behind the love seat. On the console table I created a snowy vignette in a wardian case that Patrick gave me a few years ago.

Moving on to the living room.

Patrick and I had some helpers in the form of “The Granny”, Papaw (not pictured), and the neighbors’ kids. Their house was also on the tour so they went back and forth between houses. The often come by and are a real hoot. It is so nice to live in a town with fun, friendly neighbors. I’m not sure if they are posting pictures of their house but if they do it will likely be at their blog 21 Penn.

The fact that their house is so radically different than ours, makes the Tour of Homes worth participating in. I love their breezy whites, pennant garland, and covet their black bedroom. If only I had the ceiling height I would totally steal their ideas. However, what works for one house doesn’t for the next. It makes each stopn on the tour unique. Back to the helpers:

One of the features we love most is that the living room opens into the dining room through a double set of french doors (we found in the basement and rehung). I like the open floor plan, but it is a bit of a challenge to unify the public areas of the living room, dining room, and kitchen. We chose various shades of grey for the wall color and metallics for the decorations.

Personally, I would like to rip out all of the cabinetry, revamp the floor plan, and basically start fresh in the kitchen. However, we are on a modest budget, so after painting the walls (the life of the cabinetry has yet to be decided) we opted for a warmer Christmas feel after all the metallic and used springs of bittersweet and oranges to fill out the space. We did use similar greenery to tie it to the other adjoining rooms. For more sensory input we boiled a mix of cinnamon, cloves, and star anise to give the hint of fresh Christmas baking.

There is a nice sized hallway that separates the public areas from the private bath and bedrooms. We decorated the hallway just for us. One of our gothic/nerdy habits is collecting gargoyles (grotesques for the history purists). We picked the first one up in France in the form of this owl from Avignon. We haven’t looked back sense. We used them in the hallway topping our copious bookcases.

The best thing about having a child is getting to do child-like things again. I wanted color and fun in the boy’s room. Since we haven’t repainted it yet (next on the list) we have not hung pictures. It is hard to add color in a white room with white walls. The granny had a cute white Christmas tree we borrowed plus she managed to find colored Christmas lights on white wire (no small feat). Then we added a lot of figurative glass ornaments, plus the family ones. We also used McClain’s toys and some Christmas beanies for decoration.

The bathroom was so awesome that we actually put a sign up saying it was “Still under renovation. Unless you like it, then this is how we meant for it to be.” So, here’s you obligatory picture of the toilet vignette. Nothing says Christmas like a sparkly toilet topper.

The bedroom gets two photos. 1. Because I actually made the bed (We almost always pull the bed straight, but who actually uses this many pillows?):

Don’t you just love those beige-pink walls? Especially with the red bedding. Trust me one of the two is on the docket to change… 2. I used my collection of green glass to add a touch of Christmas to the bedroom dresser.

That’s all for now, but tomorrow you can see some of the closeups and a more in-depth descriptions of the Christmas tree and vignettes. Then, maybe, we can be done with Christmas until the 25th.

To see part II click here.

10 thoughts on “Canton Christmas Tour of Homes 2010 – Part I

  1. Brianna – the house looks great! I’ve been trolling backwards through the blog and have seen both posts of the interior. Congratulations – I’m super impressed with your crafty skills. P.S. My mom has a green (bubble) glass collection – I recognize some of your vases. :)

  2. I love, love, love the first two photos the best. The wreath, the hanging ornaments, the vignette in that case, wonderful! I also love your little one’s room. This is my first Christmas as a mama and it is so much fun. I put a teeny tiny tree in his room and my sister-in-law gave me the fisher price airplane ornament and my mom gave me a key chain of the stacking rings that I pulled the keychain part off of (as she knew I would) to turn it into an ornament! We have the same big rings and block/shape sorter that you have under the tree. Great idea to gather the toys under the tree like that. Kelly

    p.s. I also really like the shape of your tree and the ribbon around it. Kelly

    1. I appreciate the positives on the decor/photos. I am still learning indoor photography, and due to the fact I work full time a lot of the photos are taken at night. So it is really hit or miss.

      I MUST know where your mom got the stacking ring keychain! It sounds awesome. I have a tiny fisher-price phone ornament and would love to collect more like that. I hope you have pictures on your blog. I’m totally going to check it out.

      The shape of the tree was a nice surprise. I bought it live from a giant stack and didn’t really take a long look. Also, I used some of the branches I cut off the bottom to fill in open spots. If you just stick them in it makes the whole thing look a lot fuller.

      Glad you came for a visit.

  3. I love your comforter set! Where did you get it from?

    1. Thanks, Kristin, it is an OLD duvet from Target. I want to say it is Fieldcrest brand. I did a quick search and couldn’t find it. Sorry! I did find a pretty red and white one at Overstock. Still it isn’t the squares.

  4. I hope we can stop in and see your house before you take it all down! We get back on the 21st. Are you guys available that week before Christmas?

  5. Your house looks so beautiful! Congrats! Your home tour must have been a great success. :D
    P.S. I adore your green glass collection!

    1. Well the tour would have been a better success if it had gotten above 35 and stopped snowing for a few minutes. :) However, everyone that did brave the cold was very nice and interested. They asked lots of questions so it was very fun.

      Unlike the blue glass in the dining room, some of the green is actually vintage. Well minus the grolsch bottle. It ranges from vinegar jars to vases. I just have this thing for glass. So, I’m glad you liked it, because I haven’t really seen many Christmas decorations made out of bottles and thought some people might think I was crazy.

  6. Love your home. It really looks great.

    1. Thanks! Wish you could see it in real life. Though i doubt your would appreciate the temperatures right now.

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