Pages

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Christmas Week at Casa di Graziano

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Yes, it's still Christmas to us!  This is my favorite week of the year, between Christmas and New Year.  The stress is over and all that's left to do is enjoy all the hard work!  I took some pics of our house when it snowed, not on Christmas, but it put me in the spirit all the same.  

We had some kitchen remodeling done this season, and although the builder was finished a few weeks ago, I just finished up organizing the cabinets and clearing out the clutter.   It involved removing a wall, so I'm pretty darn happy to see the fireplace and tree from the kitchen now.   
(Plus I can watch my Hallmark movies while I clean up the kitchen, so it's a win-win).

  



Our house is decked, not perfect, not Instagram and Pinterest ready, just looking completely festive and well...happy.  I started to take pictures and realized there is endless amounts of dog hair and kid belongings everywhere.  You know what?  I don't care.  We live here.  I can't do fake, I just can't.   We are blessed to have these five beautiful kids, I refuse to apologize.  I am rebelling against all the internet decorating chicks and showing you what a loved, lived in house looks like.  I'm a firm believer in trying to make the most of each moment, live for now, not for tomorrow, or a month from now; try enjoying now.   This isn't easy to do, I have spent years of not living in the moment and realized it isn't as joyful as doing so. 

So anyway, let's get on with it.
C'mon in...



We were dripping in snow the weekend before last, and I was so hoping for a white Christmas but it was gone by then, sadly.  So it was a dreary day of picture taking and I'm in no mood to photoshop, so these pics are dark...



Somehow I always go for a relaxed, country look for Christmas.  I don't know why, maybe a therapist somewhere would say it happened in my youth, but I just need cozy and RED...lots of RED.  I can't have Christmas without it.  




The foyer...can I mesh rustic furniture and chic wallpaper?  Crystals and chalkboards?  Well it's done now.  Guess it's like wearing chandelier earrings with a T-shirt and jeans, and that works for me too.



In the Living Room... one of our two 9 foot flocked slims.  These are such space savers for our cookie cutter colonial.  I don't mind that they are strictly decorative because we have our "real" tree in the basement man-cave/movie room every year.  It's just a tradition that my kids prefer.   I have a rustic theme here in the living room and a more "fun" one over in the family room...





The ottoman has a winter coat on, well, it's really a piece of faux fur from the fabric store...very Jon Snow of him I think.



I added a little buffalo check in here to keep it from feeling stuffy.  The pillow covers (a steal from Amazon), a cloth napkin under the nativity,  and a yard of  fabric for the tree skirt tie it all together.



The dining room is finally cleared out.  When we had the kitchen project done,  everything from the kitchen went in there.  I actually love how sparse it looks right now because my brain can't handle how it looked for weeks, or how cluttered that table always gets for that matter.









My sister's nativity...I've had it on loan for about 3 years.  If she read this she could get it back.



I think I've made it clear how I feel about "table-scapes"   ; (   
My apologies, but I just can't have it.  We have 5 kids, this house is full of stuff, everywhere, all the time.  I need at least one surface to be cleared off in order to keep the chaos at bay!  No stuff, dust,  or clutter.  (My honesty is going to make me some blogger enemies, but I can't help how I feel people).





An un-traditional take on an old tradition;  our advent wreath is made of boxwood, pinecones,  and bottle brush trees (all from the Christmas bins) but I think it works.  Every year I have the best intentions to make one, so I improvised in order to include it this year.









The kitchen is another spot that makes me smile.  It's got a lot going on but it's a happy, fun place to be.  I clearly didn't stage this room...and by stage I mean:  toss-everything-behind- me-while-I-take-the-picture.



I'm still waiting for the hardware on the new cabinets.  (We can't make a decision people!)






The family room speaks for itself... no apologies...we live here.



That opening to the right...wasn't here a few weeks ago!!! It was just a doorway along the far left.  I love the light this brings in, although you'd never know it from this picture.



Going up the stairs, I followed the tutorial and downloaded the FREE botanical prints from Laura at Bless'er House blog to add some winter vibes.



And because I like to keep things authentic... a shot of our "real" fake tree (the one with all of our family treasures on it) in the basement where we have movies all season and Christmas morning!  I warned you, it's authentic all right!

Merry Christmas to you from us!  Here's to a fabulous New Year!


p.s.  The spouse bought us a new DSLR, because my Nikon bit the dust, so the days of dank pictures are ending.
Cheers!