Merry Christmas, everyone!
We are so enjoying being finished with the attic remodel and actually being able to enjoy the finished product now! It’s been a very busy autumn, and the feeling of having it completed is wonderful. I’m looking forward to showing some more pictures of the finished attic, but for now, here are a few pictures of the Cottage at Christmastime.
The Christmas Tour of Homes was a little over a week ago, and so I snapped some pictures on Monday when it was all over – not having time before (we were crunching until THE very last minute to finish everything up).
It was interesting, because earlier this fall I wrote an article for this magazine about Christmas décor and about wanting to keep Christ in the center. The very same autumn we were asked to be part of a tour of homes in our community. And the words that I wrote were being tested, because I heard that sometimes interior designers are hired for the homes on the tour and that it can be a rather big deal.
My décor is very simple, and I only pull out a box or two of Christmas décor from the attic while the rest of it is natural live greenery. My first thought was to be intimidated, and scared! My house isn’t interior designer style – it’s full of second-hand treasures, and thrift-store finds, and handmade. It’s what we done because of the budget we live with, but truly, it’s what I LIKE. I like the eclectic mix, the treasure troves from different places, the uniqueness of the things coming from many different places.
And so we made the choice to just offer the simplicity that we have. Not to make it something we are not, not to try to impress a certain group of people, but just to do what we normally do and not to apologize for it.
Like I wrote in the article, people are so different and God made us all like that out of the beauty of creativity. And as people are different, so styles will be different, and there is not a right or a wrong style of décor. Each person will have something that they like, and it expresses who God made them to be, and brings glory to the Creator because of that. The hard thing to remember sometimes is that it’s okay to be different, to like different things, to have a different style, as long as it’s not a try-to-keep-up thing, or a comparison thing that makes us feel better or worse about ourselves. The style doesn’t matter nearly so much as the heart behind it; what is my motive, the reason behind why I do I do?
All that to say, I had to check my motives during the house tour preparations. Different parts of our homes have been featured various places, but not a house tour before, so this was a new experience for us.
So, let’s just pretend you came for the tour, and are walking through the house.
Welcome, and please feel free to look around!
Please come in at the
front door…
Step inside to the
Living Room…
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
The Hallway
Hudson’s Bedroom
The Music Room/School Room
The Master Bedroom
And then let’s go up into
the new attic!
The Attic Bedroom
The Office
And that concludes the little Christmas tour at the Cottage!
I hope you all enjoy your Christmas Day, but even more than that, that you can truly worship and rejoice in the salvation that Christmas signifies. What an incredible gift! May the wonder of it never cease to amaze us!
This read by the Gospel Centered Mom is beautiful and inspiring in teaching our children the true meaning of Christmas.
Thank you for visiting this little corner of blogland and the encouragement you’ve been to me throughout this year!
A very happy Christmas to each and everyone!
This is beautiful!!!❤️ your new attic looks amazing!!
Your home is so beautiful! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Stunning, classy, lovely, a feast for the eyes! You and Ben are a great team and have accomplished a fabulous project. Thank you so much for sharing.
Joyous holidays in Christ,
Kim
Your home is PERFECT!!! I love the greenery…it’s sooo romantic!!
Merry Christmas and Many Blessings, and Many Happy Moments to Cherish Forever. Rose
That was beautiful! Thank you for letting us step into your home. It is so inspiring! You have a beautiful heart as well. Blessings to you this Christmas!
Your house is lovely! I like your creativity and how you express yourself. I really enjoy your blog… :) Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!!
I’ve been on a lot of virtual tours this season, and yours is in my top 5. Just beautiful!
Oh my!! I just love your style Clarita! It is beyond lovely but more importantly it feels so inviting. You have a gift my friend! Merry Christmas!! xoxo
Wow Clarita! You really pulled it together! Absolutely beautiful. We so enjoyed our time with your sweet family. Christmas blessings and love from Neil and Jamie. You probably have heard that Jesse got engaged on December 22. It has been a whirlwind here! Love to all.
I love the simplicity of your decorating!! ..& your attic is gorgeous!!! Merry Christmas to you & yours!!
If you hear something thumping upstairs, it’s me, moving into your new bedroom/office space. just a warning.
I love that desk chair and the rug in the office, not to mention the sliding barn door, and the use of lots of white throughout. Just fabulous.
this is VERY lovely!! you are so talented.
You have a beautiful house!!!
It’s absolutely beautiful! I know how you feel about thinking your house is not “tour” material. I had a lady tell me last year that I might receive a call to have mine on our city’s Christmas tour this year. I didn’t, but my thoughts were the same. My house is not fancy, but it’s decorated the way I like, with things I love. Yours is beautiful. I love the chalkboards with the names of God. I have a question…Did y’all add the staircase or was it already there? That’s one thing we are trying to figure out with our house. We don’t have a lot of space for stairs. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
I love it!! And love that you were true to who you are- down to earth and classy.
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!!
xoxo :)))
It’s absolutely beautiful, Clarita! You have such an eye for beauty and style!
This is so beautiful and refreshing! I love you- even though I’ve never met you! Your heart for Jesus and whats important connects- even though Ive never met you in person! Be blessed!
Beautiful! You are blessed with a gift and it’s lovely to see it used to glorify God. :)
I love using outdoor greenery for Christmas decor too…it’s so easy + budget friendly + green. The worst part is taking it down once the season is over…I just want to leave it up all year long!
What a beautiful home you have!
Clarita—you have so many special gifts and talents. Thanks for sharing!
just lovely! i especially LOVE all the fresh greens. here on the plains, very few pines grow as native trees, and we only have cedars here on our homestead. i MISSED not having the real deal this year. and, the canvas world map in Hudson’s room!! LOVE that! i’m eyeing some things like that on Urban Outfitters…i especially like the simplicity of yours being just two colors.
as always, a job so well done on your charming home.
♥
I just love every single detail. The best part of your home’s beauty is that it’s not overwhelming or intimidating – it’s just so utterly refreshing. I can’t wait to copycat your style in our future home! And by then perhaps we’ll be neighbors and I’ll just work your interior design advice into our monthly budget. :)
Designer? Meaning creative raw talent? Yep – you’ve got that. :) Amount of monies spent is irrelevant. Love it and love it that you bring Jesus into everything that you do. (Psst… we went to church together years ago… )
Hello hello! So nice to reconnect with you after all these years! :) I’m so glad you stopped by.
I just got a chance to stop by your blog again and view this whole post. Your house is SO charming and beautiful!! I have to admit to a bit of house envy. And you have such a great knack of pulling everything together! Love it!
Gorgeous.. Love all the green :) we live in south florida so its not something you see…palm trees just don’t work well ;)
Absolutely love your little guys room! Is the canvas world map a diy?? I have been trying to find/design something along those lines for my lil dude :)
Isn’t that map just so fabulous?! It comes from Urban Outfitters – it’s a giant fabric that comes in black/white or orange/white. I love it!!
I love the rugs in your kitchen. Can you tell me where you got them?
Also wondering about the kitchen rugs?
Hmmm, the kitchen rugs! :) They have come from an assortment of places, but most of the ones I’ve used in the kitchen come from Target. :)
You do a nice job on everything!
Whathis color was used on the walls in your lovely kitchen? Just love it!!
I absolutely love all of the white decor! It makes it so versatile. The whole house on South is darling!
How did you get your fork and spoon to stay on the wall? I have the sane but my fork keeps falling! 😕
We super-glued sawtooth hangers on the back of it. :)