Holiday Home Tour

Hello dear friends.  Do I ever have a treat for you today!  One of my favorite readers, Jenny, opened up her beautiful home to us.  Although I have not had the pleasure of meeting Jenny in person, I have been corresponding with her for about a year now.

Jenny describes herself as a New England girl that is a southern girl at heart.  She has spent many years living in Connecticut, Ohio, and a short spurt in Pennsylvania.  But the North Carolina area was pulling at her heartstrings.  So, this year, she and her hubby who are empty-nesters, took the plunge and bought a house in the charming college town in North Carolina.

Recently, I asked Jenny if I could do a house tour and she happily complied.  She has included some before pics and her home is dressed for their first Christmas in North Carolina.  

Take it away Jenny...

   

Most of the house was painted in shades of golds, greens, and beiges/tans- and although it was beautiful- these aren't our colors! I am a BLUE girl all the way, (our last home had a big shortage of blue) so it was bring on the blue in our new Carolina home.
Chose to do the open living/ dining/ foyer area in a combination of creamy white and a soft grey/ blue. Ten paint samples later, I finally found that elusive light blue that was neither too much like a baby boy's nursery nor too storm cloud grey. It feels like an extension of the sky dipping right into the house.

I have always loved using lots of tartan plaid in my Christmas decorating - so really just upped the ante on the tartan plaid ribbon this year. One fun addition to everything was the sprigs of blue berries that I stuffed in the tree, mantle and stairway- it just picked up all of my blues throughout the house. Like most, I have a big sentimental attachment to each little ornament.

I am particularly attached to my collection of Byers Choice carolers. My husband and I got our first two the first year we were married- and we slowly have added ones through the years. My family laughs at my "particular ness" on my " family" of carolers!! They have to be decked out in cheery reds, navys and plaids or they just aren't quite warmly welcomed into the fold!! The mantle always has the same family of four carolers :)-and I like to think of them as my gang!

Love our new color.   Here we went from an avocado green shade to this periwinkle/cornflower blue!! Just makes for a happy& bright kitchen and the color all of our friends and family seem to like the most in our new home.  It really transformed the whole feel of the kitchen - made the woodwork and windows pop and feels very "Carolina"!!

My favorite piece to decorate and the first thing I do each Xmas is the hutch!! Love placing my Xmas plates and various nutcrackers, pictures, etc into place each year - gets me off & running to decorate the rest if the house!!

Maybe one of the most fun room transformations was the bonus room! Move-in day it was dark brown and really not very light & cheery. It has become our fun catch-all for family memorabilia, lots of our son's sports clippings, and awards, pictures of vacations, and special places. The goal was COZY and fun and we all loved chilling out together when the gang was all here over Thanksgiving. One fun addition was the small bar - wanted to go with my favorite navy blue on the bar and had a quote added above that has a funny memory associated!  For Christmas decorating, I sort of went the "moose and deer" route and had lots of fun with it!! By a stroke of luck there seem to be lots of MOOSE items tucked into the stores this year -who I knew?!!

 Another area where I've pulled in my love of a nautical/ seaside feel. From 10 years in beautiful Madison, Ct, coupled with a beloved family lake cottage in northern Ontario where I've spent a portion of every summer my entire life - I love all things that remind me of being near the water. Probably my favorite thing about our new home is how easy it has been to give it that feel!

Jenny has loved plaid since her children were babies!  

Jenny, thank you so much for opening up your beautiful home to us.  I told the Mister that now I want to move to North Carolina and be your neighbor!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jenny's Decorating Assistant, 

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