Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree …. I’m already counting the days down until I can deck the halls! If any of you have followed me on Instagram, you know that I have an insane obsession with Christmas. Much to others’ dismay we decorate THE DAY after Halloween. Our new (OLD) house is just begging for a tree in every room. So that’s exactly what I did. I loaded up on artificial trees so I could leave them up for months and not have to worry about them dropping pine needles after they died 2 weeks later.
The trick is to buy trees when they’re ON SALE and to buy trees that look so real you wouldn’t know the difference. Now, last year was our first year decorating this house, so I MAY get a real tree for one of the rooms. But I just loved having the trees up through February (sorry, not sorry) so I’m kind of in love with the idea. Not to mention, spending $100 on a real tree every year seriously blows the budget. I’d rather spend that money on a fancy dinner out on the town! I digress… without further ado, check out my artificial tree favorites.
1. Kid’s Playroom Tree — Now this tree is an el-cheapo from Target. I’ve had it for years. I’ve had to restring the lights a few times, but no one sees this except them, so it didn’t need to be a show stopper.
2. 7.5′ Unlit — This is the Mac Daddy of all trees. It’s absolutely stunning! You would NEVER know it was fake. I get this one Unlit because this is the one we decorate. And, if you’re reading this close to when I wrote this post, it’s likely ON SALE!
3. 7′ Pre-Lit This is equally as beautiful but doesn’t look as real because of the spacing of the branches. This one goes in the dining room. I don’t even decorate this one. I just like the twinkly glow next to the fire!
4. 7′ Fur with LED Lights – And finally, this is one of my favorites. This goes in our bedroom. The lighting is simple and it has a Charlie Brown feel, which I love. I put a little tinsel and ribbon on this one and that’s it!
Well I hope this was helpful for all of you artificial tree lovers out there! Let me know your thoughts. I love to hear them all!
CLASSIC AND CLEAN
HOW TO REFINISH WOOD FLOORS
NEW OLD HOUSE – HOME TOUR
We’re officially in our house and I’m ready to give you a “semi-finished” new old house – home tour!! Check out the full story HERE,
We closed on our house the second week of October. Stew would work during the day on client renos and then come here in the afternoons for a few hours to knock out some demo. We also had our electrician in here rewiring the entire house (which is still actually happening, unfortunately) hoping to get most of the “dirty work” finished up before moving in.
We rented a cottage around the corner from our house from mid November to mid December in hopes that we’d be able to move in before Christmas. And… WE DID IT! We scheduled our jobs to start back up in January so we could be here working for the holiday break, which ended up being perfect timing!
Now, I’ll warn you, the house is NOT complete by any means. In fact, we’re living in the upstairs guest room because we haven’t even touched the master suite yet. But the rest of the house is turning out quite nicely! I’ll let you see for yourselves. I’ve linked to everything below. I present to you… our Old New House – Home Tour!
Before & Afters
The Kitchen
Fridge (similar) | Range | Faucet | Pendants | Tile | Cabinet Pulls
The Dining Room
Light | Mirror | Candle Holders | Rug (no longer avail)
The Living Room
very unfinished…. but here’s the vibe.
Coffee Table | Throw | Mirror | Chandelier | Rug | Candle | Wood Tray
Gracie’s Room
Sheets | Chair | Rug | Bed | Quilt | Chandelier
I hope you enjoyed our New Old House – Home Tour! There will be more to come, but this is all we have so far! Can’t wait to share the journey. Be sure to follow me on Instagram as I post daily stories on the happenings of our reno! Much love xoxo
TOP 10 PACKING TIPS
Happy Monday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. Ours was full of packing up the house, birthday celebrations, and good wine. Not too bad, right? It’s hard to believe we’re moving out of this house! It feels like we just got here. But, as I packed up over past few weeks, I thought of my top 10 packing tips, and I’d love to share them with you! Anything that can make a stressful situation a little easier is good in my book.
Top 10 Packing Tips
- Start Early – The thought of rushing and packing up an entire house in a week or two is beyond stressful. I like to take my time and pack over 4 or 5 weeks! Start in places like the attic and garage by organizing and labeling things in bins (like these) and purging a ton! Pack non essentials and stack boxes neatly out of the way. Pack a few boxes a day so it’s not overwhelming.
- Order Supplies in Advance – Order packing tape, paper, sharpies, a tape dispenser, and boxes (you can also search for boxes on Facebook Marketplace or other local apps) so you’re ready to go.
- Label Boxes Well – Label the top AND SIDE with the room and bullet points of what’s inside. That way when the movers stack boxes, you can easily scan and know what’s in each.
- Label The Rooms – Label the actual rooms CLEARLY to match what the box label says. Movers can put boxes in the corresponding room which will help with the unpacking process.
- Pack w/ the Future in Mind – Pack your storage unit or POD with your future in mind. By this I mean, pack the things you’ll need LAST, first and vice versa. For us, we’ll be moving in right before Christmas, so those boxes will be the last ones to go into the POD, so I can get my eager hands on them immediately!
- Phone a Friend – I’m WAY too much of a control freak for this, but I’ve talked to people who have made packing fun by inviting a girlfriend or two and enjoying some snacks and wine! How bad could that be, right?
- Pack For The Short Term – *this may not apply to everyone* If you are staying in a rental while you renovate, like us, pack and stack items that you need for your short term stay separately, so you can bring them straight to the rental.
- Pack Essentials Last – This may be obvious, but the things you use everyday should be the last to get packed. The final week we go to paper plates/utensils and plan a super easy menu (sandwiches, chicken nuggets, etc) so that we can pack up pots & pans, utensils, etc.
- Plan for Loner Than Expected – I hate to burst your bubble, but if you’re doing a reno, like us, it may take longer than expected. So if you’re staying in a rental, be prepared with MORE than you need rather than trying to rummage through your storage unit to find things. As they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry!
- K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple (you’re not stupid so I will end it there). I’m a firm believer in “less is more”. I’ve seen tons of cute hacks on how to move on Pinterest. But it turns out I’m more of the Amazon Prime mom than the Pinterest mom ;o) The effort I would use to color code and buy special stickers is one more step and expense (it reminds me of those holiday classroom parties you see for toddlers that make you feel bad about yourself. Just give them Chick-fil-A and a cheese stick. I promise they’ll be happy)! A regular old sharpie will do just the trick.
No matter how you slice it, moving is stressful and there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle! Don’t overthink it, take your time, use my top 10 packing tips, and stock your pantry with good wine. You deserve it!
THE MOST GORGEOUS LIGHT FIXTURES
Greetings Friends! Can I just tell you, gaining an hour this weekend was absolutely magical. I felt like Superwoman knocking things out on my to-do list! But that’s not why I’m talking to you today. Today, I’m sharing the most gorgeous light fixtures in all the land!
As you may know, we recently closed on our “new” old house (read about it here) and have officially begun renovating it. Now, since this home was built in 1930, I’m decorating it a bit differently, which is very exciting!
Our last home was, hands down, Modern Farmhouse. This will be more of a, well, I don’t exactly know how to put it into words. But it will be a mixture of modern-meets-Victorian with lots of character throughout! So, now that I’ve given you some background on my style, take a look at the most gorgeous light fixtures that will be perfect in our home!
Gracie’s Room | Gracie’s Bath Sconce & Ceiling | Kitchen | Living Rm | Turner’s Bath
I’m carefully planning out each room before I order things. This is not a process to rush! But I am definitely sold on all of these! I’m sure you can see why.
Since this house is older, we have to re-wire all of the electrical. So I’m keeping in mind that the rooms will most likely have lights and lamps. We aren’t doing any canned lights, because that look doesn’t match my vibe. So finding the balance of light & style was the tricky part. But I feel like these will all fit perfectly and provide just enough light! Stay tuned and follow along here for more on this epic renovation! XOXO
GIVING THEIR TOWNHOUSE NEW LIFE
A few months back, I got a call from a couple who wanted to renovate their kitchen. Stew and I set up an appointment to go meet with them and hear their dreams and visions of giving their townhouse new life. I was all for it!
I get giddy when I see an old space and immediately get a vision for what it could be. Honestly, the dumpier the better in my eyes! So, take a look at what this kitchen looked like before we got our hands on it…
Our clients wanted to open up the wall that their current fridge was on, so they would have bar seating in the dining room, they wanted to re-arrange their appliances for a better flow, and they wanted more storage! So I listened to their hopes and dreams and drew it out. They loved the proposal. So we got busy working!
It took about 4 weeks from start to finish. I am absolutely obsessed with how this turned out. It doesn’t even look like the same place! I’d say we were successful in giving their townhouse new life! What do you think?
Flooring | Range | Microwave | Refrigerator | Faucet | Cabinet Knobs | Countertops
Flooring | Range | Microwave | Refrigerator | Faucet | Cabinet Knobs | Countertops
I am thrilled with how this kitchen came out. And, what’s better, so are our clients! Another happy customer :o)
OUR “NEW” OLD HOUSE!
We finally made it! We closed on our “NEW” old house!!! The reason I’m putting “NEW” in quotes, is because it’s new to us, but it was actually built in 1930. It has charm for days! The kind of charm that only a 100 year old house could have. Check out the bones of this baby…
This house is not only gorgeous, but it has such history! It was built in 1930 as a winter home and hunting lodge for a man from New Jersey. The main quarters for the owner was downstairs where he had his own private entrance, library with custom gun cabinet, bathroom and closet. A second entrance to the home was for the staff. They even had a separate staircase that led upstairs to their bedrooms and provided easy access to the kitchen and laundry room. And to top off the charm of the house, it’s sitting on a super private 2.5 acre lot! So cool, right!?
Now, before you get TOOOOO excited, pictures make it look better than reality, of course. It needs some heavy duty work! That doesn’t scare us though! We are up for the challenge. Take a look at our ever-growing to-do list for our “new” old house!
To Do List:
- Re-wire entire house :o)
- Repair foundation (it may or may not fall over. But it’s fine!)
- Gut and remodel the kitchen
- Gut and combine current master bath with old library to create epic master suite!
- Re-finish the floors (done by yours truly)
- Seal and paint EVERY SURFACE… p.s did I mention it’s 4200 square feet?!
- Move in by Christmas!
No biggie, right? Except maybe for the “move in by Christmas” part.
So, we closed this past Monday, and it’s been game on ever since! We will be moving into a little cottage around the corner from the house so we can get the main stuff done before we move in. Stew has been working all day and then going to the house at night to get started on demo. I’ll repay him in steak…
I’m giddy with excitement over the potential of this house! I can’t wait to share our progress! I have my decor ideas already mapped out, so I’ll be sure to keep you updated on all of that.
If you are in the reno world yourself, I have some tips and tricks to share! First of all, check out my post on Top 5 Tips for Renovating on a Budget. Also, when it comes to planning out a house or room, I always use Pinterest as a tool. I create a house board with each room as its own sub-category. I like to pin exactly what I want, so when I’m ready to purchase, it’s all there!
Stay tuned for more updates as we go! I’ll be posting a TON on my instagram and stories, so be sure to follow me over there. And if you need to play catch-up, check out my Instagram highlight “New Old House” for the details! Much love xoxo