Christmas Home Tour 2010

Soooo again with the rush of exams....I didn't take these photos until after midnight, the night before Christmas Eve. When we were leaving at 5 the next morning to head back to SC.  Yep. So here goes....the Christmas tour of the Ferri household 2010! I'm positive I left things out, but here are the main areas of the house this year :)

I wanted to add some cheer to the master bedroom...since we already have a "hotel chic" theme of crisp whites, tans, and a pop of green, I figured I would add a touch of red by way of cranberries and red accent pillows and be set! Simple, but added a nice change and pop of color for the holidays. And no, the walls aren't gold...the lighting was terrible, you have been forewarned. They're actually more of a coffee and cream color.

In the kitchen, I just added some lighted garland above the cabinets and cranberry wreaths on the door...simple and sweet this year.

I generally hate clutter on the kitchen counters....but this holiday "clutter" of hostess gifts and warm drinks made me smile, and I let it linger a while :)

I normally change out the centerpieces with the seasons...always something pretty and different. In fact, sometimes I change out the centerpiece more than once per season :) But this year's was fun and practical...a serving dish/platter/thing with ornaments in the middle and treats on all sides...Eric said this was his favorite one yet :) We left up the berries on the chandelier from the fall.

The shelves above the table got candles, ornaments, and trees....we just put these up recently, and I haven't decided what I want up there permanently, do don't judge the array.  Any ideas? The only thing we know we want to stay is the bottle of wine we drank in Orvieto, Italy and a watercolor we bought from a little Italian man painting on a bridge in Rome (see red frame).

Annnd the tree! A 9 foot, tall, slender beauty...we used our wooden photo frame ornaments that I made last year...maybe this year I'll get around to adding wedding photos to the mix! We just have random shots that make us smile in the frames :) There was a really pretty wicker tray with a sleigh and all kinds of Christmas goodness that I arranged...and then we decided to start a puzzle. I think it kind of adds to the homey-ness, so I let it stay.

Winthrop, where we went to undergrad, decorated for the holidays

A shot of Eric proposing :) This will always be a favorite.

A shot going across the living room in the other direction! My mom bought us that quilt last year for Christmas, and I get compliments on it every time we have guests over. It's beautiful and warms up the space. The red damask pillows on the couch also add a pop of color and pattern that I love even more at the holidays. And speaking of using what you have...I had a couple of extra wreaths so I tied one right up on that iron artwork we have over the couch for the holidays. You can never have too much greenery at Christmas as far as I'm concerned!

Don't mind the Steelers snowman family smiling in the corner over there :) The playoffs are just a part of the holiday season around here!

And last but not least, my favorite part of the house to decorate because it's just so darn easy to change it up with the seasons! The foyer area right inside the front door! I adore this little table...keeping it simple this year, I used glass jars and pitchers that I already had and added some fake snow, bottle brush trees, and votives for a calm, bright vignette. I've expressed my love for this chalkboard before, but here it is again, decked out with a few cards from friends for the holidays! I was an English major and I love words and quotes and little lines that I think are well written...this chalkboard always gets a line of either Dickens or a line from a Christmas carol!

And a shot lit up, with the tree in all her nighttime glowing glory!

The stockings were hung on the staircase with care....a double strand of garland (why do they make that stuff so skimpy?) with some fruit added in to accent our traditional, Pottery Barn stockings...a good thing just shouldn't be changed sometimes!

And last but not least, the decorations on the front porch! Yes, I put a full 6.5 foot tree on my front porch :)  Decorated with just clear lights and a simple burlap ribbon with long tails, accented with a red ticking.

And there you have it! I didn't make it upstairs to take pictures of the guest room, office, and 3rd bath...they had very small touches of ornaments under cloches, tabletop trees, etc. You'll get to see the upstairs soon when I finish the office makeover and do a whole house tour! Small and simple this year...but with a mixture of pine and cinnamon candles, it was quite homey and we enjoyed the sights and smells of a calm post-exam Christmas at home.