2017 Deck the Halls Christmas Tour: Michelle’s Home

Hello, my name is Michelle and I am one of the sisters behind Diamonds or Pearls! This is the last of our eight homes for this year’s tour and it’s mine!   We are so glad you are here and thank you for all the views and kind comments. This is our capstone event of the year and this was absolutely incredible.

My family and I recently moved from Hawaii back to our favorite state of Virginia. As much as I loved the beach and the Aloha spirit, I am so happy to be enjoying the cooler temps this time of year. We purchased our home a few months ago and still have so much to do.  We don’t intend to move again for a long, long time so I am taking it slow this time and enjoying the process of making it home. I loved getting it ready for the holidays and implementing all of our family traditions again this year. I hope you enjoy what we have done so far in our Virginia home.

When entering our home, I want all of my visitors to feel welcome and experience the magic of the season. I want my decor to be welcoming and let even the random passerby know that we are having a great time and enjoying the holidays with love in our home.

My tree this year is full of red, gold, silver, and black ornaments. I used my favorite plaid and velvet black ribbon throughout with a few red berries.

I recently painted the french doors leading to my office “Iron Ore” by Benjamin Moore and think it changed the whole look of the entryway.

Seeing the tree lit up at night makes everything magical and whimsical throughout the holidays.

 

My formal living room is to the right after entering my home. This room holds so many of my favorite pieces and many of them didn’t make it to Hawaii, so I am happy to finally have space to start enjoying them again.

I always tell people that my style is traditional with a twist because I like to blend so many different pieces with my traditional decor. I love the neutral palette of this room and how my seasonal decor pops against it.

My collage wall is a collection of black & white photos that I have collected through travels, antiquing with my mom, or from local stores. I have plans for this collage to continue to grow and fill up my wall.

If you missed my post on “Collecting for a Gallery Wall” you can read all about it HERE.

This little vignette is a perfect example of how I love to blend old & new. The antique Irish buffet looks so lovely layered with modern accessories and a few Christmas touches.

The modern foxhunting feel reminds me of my favorite little town Middleburg, VA.

You may remember this antique Civil War era cabinet from my parents old home HERE. I was lucky enough to inherit this piece with their recent move and I think it looks perfect in the corner of this room.

 

Our Dining room is not complete but I still want to deck it out for the holidays. A festive table and a fun dinner with friends is something I look forward to every year. Growing up, my parents had the most beautiful dining room in an old Victorian house and it was my favorite room around Christmas. My design plans are inspired by my parent’s old dining room with wallpaper, color, and more pattern to make it a cozy & inviting where all will look forward to gathering in. 🙂

This silver nutcracker is my new favorite addition to my table decor.

I found these adorable, quirky, plaid plates at Home Goods and thought they would be the perfect touch to finish my tablescape.

You can never have enough ribbon around the holidays. I am crazy about black velvet this year and love the little plaid design on the reverse side.

 

The kitchen is our favorite space and the main reason we fell in love with this home. Our large island is the gathering spot for many get-togethers and the openness of the kitchen to the family room makes it a great area to be when entertaining.

I chose to keep my decor simple with an arrangement of greenery and fresh cut holly from our yard.

I collect silver and like to use it in different ways and thought this teapot would be the perfect spot to house our candy canes.

The best smell around the holidays is baked Christmas treats.

I love looking out our large window in our kitchen in the evenings and seeing the lights my husband hung for me.

We love to cook and try to use fresh herbs.  This Rosemary tree is a perfect blend of decoration and utility.  We just cut off a couple sprigs anytime we need a dose of fresh herbs.

The family room is our cozy space in the house to relax and enjoy the fire.

The bar stools I found at Restoration Hardware were dressed up with a simple swag and some ribbon. .

Not only do I enjoy implementing all of my family traditions each year, I love making new ones. Keli & I hiked the woods behind our house early one-morning cutting greenery for our decorations. We decided that our new tradition will be to meet early one chilly morning, have breakfast, and start out on our greenery hike.

The fireplace is where I display most of our greenery finds. I love how it makes my whole room smell like a forest.

My mom made these adorable black velvet stockings for me a few years ago.

Last year, I told you how my son Joseph and I have a yearly tradition where we decorate his room together for the holidays. You can read about that HERE. This year was no different and I love that he still looks forward to it. I tried to talk him into a bigger tree since his poor little tree is tilting a little to the right with an overload of ornaments…haha!! But he insisted on keeping his favorite small tree. It is still standing but burdened with so many of his special ornaments.

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This tiny antique chair was given to me by my father-in-law on one of my recent visits to MO. I think it looks perfect in Joseph’s room displayed with a seasonal pillow.

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This December has already been filled with so many great memories.  Our home was blessed with numerous visitors, including my parents and special friends from Texas, and we received our first significant snowfall.  My boys can’t pass up an opportunity to create some “snow art” and this big guy appeared on our front lawn.  And he’s still there, thanks to temps remaining cool [albeit a lot skinnier]…

Thank you for joining us on the second annual Diamonds or Pearls Christmas Home Tour.  I am so proud of all the supremely talented ladies that participated and would like to thank them for opening their homes.  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and we will see you again after the New Year!

May all the magic and joy of the season be yours.

Thank you all for joining us on our 2017 “Deck the Halls” Christmas Home Tour. We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have. If you missed any of the homes, you can view the tour below. Merry Christmas!!!

Linda’s Home – A Lake Cottage Christmas

Keli’s Home – Home for the Holidays

Kim’s Home – Simply Inspired

Lauren’s Home – Plaid Tidings to all

Charlotte’s Home – Traditional Williamsburg Christmas 

Cindy Hulsey – Bringing a Farmhouse Christmas to Town

Kellie Grant – A Patriotic Farmhouse Christmas

 

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