Christmas Home Tour // Part One

WOW guys — I feel so guilty for missing three weeks of posts! The holiday season is always incredibly busy with events and family get-togethers, but this year has been something else.

My mother-in-law’s house was featured in a local holiday home tour in mid-November. When she was asked to participate, I eagerly offered to help — a chance to help someone else decorate their home, especially someone with a really strong sense of style and tons of decorating skills of her own, is basically my dream job. So for about a month and a half, Steve and I were there almost every day, helping them with painting projects, adding molding, and finishing lots of those pesky little projects that you put off until something big is happening at your house. About two weeks out, we really started on the Christmas decorating, and I was literally there morning and evening every single day! It was crazy, but I think we came up with an overall look that fits my mother-in-law and her home perfectly — and was just generally gorgeous and so festive.

We stuck with a silver and white color scheme to help the house feel cohesive, with lots of natural greenery and touches of deep purple and apple green to tie everything in with her existing decor.

I’m going to share all the photos here in two posts — first the front rooms of the house and then the back.

OUTSIDE

For the front porch we worked off of this inspiration photo from Pottery Barn, for the large silver hanging balls and the silver arrangement on the door.

We added greenery and lanterns for a warm, super lush look.

We painted the front door a beautiful purple that complements the siding.

All of these little silver sugar bowls and creamers are bundled together with a ribbon on top of a silver tray.

STAIRCASE

I detailed how we created the mirrored gallery wall in this post.

LIVING ROOM

We used stunning, winter-themed photographs by my mother-in-law’s cousin, Allyson Marie, throughout the house. For most people, putting art on the walls is an afterthought. This projects was cold hard proof that art can completely change the feeling of a home! It made every room feel so dynamic, so warm, and so “done.”

This little snowy vignette was so simple to create with a vase, fake snow, a vintage truck ornament, and bottle brush trees.

The (faux) presents were wrapped with plain brown paper, white thread, and cut boxwood and holly.

FOYER

We painted the sidelights black all the way down to create a dramatic entryway.

DINING ROOM

The dining room is directly across from the living room, so the colors we used complemented each other. Neutrals with lots of silver and white, natural greenery and touches of apple green in the hydrangeas and the velvet ribbon holding up the wreaths in the windows.

We used an ornate version of a back-of-door mirror in the center of the table — my mother-in-law’s idea — and it ended up looking so luxe with candlelight and greenery reflected in it.

Above the buffet we hung an assortment of silver trays using wire (on the ones with handles) and plate hangers (on the ones without handles).

We recovered these gorgeous old chairs (which belonged to my MIL’s grandmother) with a curtain panel from Lowe’s! (I can’t find the exact panels online, but they may still be available in stores. They are from the Waverly brand.)

We used dried hydrangeas throughout the house. We cut them fresh, tied them in small bouquets and hung them upside down to dry in the basement. When it was time to decorate, we lightly spray painted the ones that had turned brown with silver spray paint, but the ones that were still that gorgeous limelight green we left natural.