Merry Christmas!

Card Design by LLH Designs

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Greetings my friends!  Christmas is upon us, and I couldn't be any happier!  I had my decorations up the day after Thanksgiving.  Like many of you, I planned to listen to my Christmas music while decorating, but my i-Pod has gone kaput on me.  I did the next best thing and put on some great made-for-TV Christmas movies.

My Christmas colors are red, gold, and green.  I am such a traditionalist!  These colors have served me well over the years, and I truly love them more today.  My mantle has green garland with tiny gold beads intertwined.  I found the needlepoint stockings at Tuesday Morning many years ago.

Growing up my parents gave each of us a real hand-made nutcrackers as a Christmas present every year probably until I was out of college.  My mother put such thought into which ones she bought us...the year I was into horse-back riding, the nutcracker I received had an equestrian theme.  My brothers are both avid outdoorsmen, so many of their nutcrackers are fisherman, skiiers, etc.  You get the idea.  My mother graciously gave me my entire collection and even some of my brother's nutcrackers.  Neither have interest in them, so I gladly took them.  Not only are they on my mantle, I also have them on my dining room buffet and on the console in the office.  They bring back so many wonderful memories each time I see them!  

My mother in-law knows how much I love nutcrakcers, so one year she gifted her collection to me.  It is so fun to pull them out each year.

The vignette in my dining room is a favorite of mine.  The pedestal bowl has 84 candy-canes hanging from the inside with a beautiful ornament serving as the anchor.  The garland on each candle was purchased at my favorite home store while I was living in Denver (The Lark).

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!  When my husband and I first purchased our faux tree in 2007 (our first Christmas!) from Home Depot, we also purchased red and gold ball ornaments.  Those were our only ornaments that year.  I have managed to pick up a few ornaments here and there over the last three years and some friends have gifted us with some sentimental ornaments.  As I began to decorate the tree this year, my mother in-law rang my doorbell with a bag full of the most beautiful glass ornaments for our tree.  Boy am I a lucky girl!  If I say so myself, I think our tree is pretty spectacular!  Here it is in all of it's glory

Thank you for reading my blog!  If you can't tell, I truly love Christmas!  Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones!

Thanksgiving Table

Happy Thanksgiving friends!  The holidays...Halloween-New Year's Eve are my absolute favorite time of year!  This year I am having a small gathering at HSH for Thanksgiving lunch.  I use the same china each year (Woodland by Spode).  The bird motifs make it the perfect Thanksgiving china.  However, I try to change up the tablescapes each year.  This year I went with a burlap tablecloth, orange linen napkins, and orange candlesticks.  I purchased the burlap from JoAnn's and fused together four yards with Stitch Witchery.  Here are the photos of my table:

And, here's a close-up:

I really love the green and white flowers as a centerpiece.  I made three small arrangements using mint julep cups and placed them together on a footed silver tray.

On the other side is the buffet where we will serve desserts.

I hope you enjoy time with your friends and family.  Have a happy turkey day!

The Tour Continues

When we first purchased our home, there was a large formal living room and small dining room.  Many traditional ranch-style home feature this layout.  Mr. HSH and I like to entertain and have no real need for a formal living room right now.  We decided to switch the two rooms, making the dining room the larger of the two rooms.  To make the most use out of our house, we choose to make the formal living room an office for Mr. HSH.

So, without further ado, here is the dining room and office.

Here is the dining room as viewed from the entry.  You can see the office in the background.  We are much happier with the switch.  

Another view of the dining room from the office.  We can comfortably seat eight people now.  Before we were lucky to get four around the table.

This is the office.  Notice how small the room is.  Imagine entertaining in here!  We tried, and it was not comfortable for anyone.  The chandelier is left over from when we used this space as the dining room.  I like the touch of elegance amongst all of the masculinity.

Looking out into the dining room.  I really like how these rooms are tied together with the dark wood furniture.  I scored most of the furniture at an antique store in the Heights (in Houston) or a consignment store near our home  when we were living in Denver.  The ship prints are from Urban Market.  It is a must if you live in Houston!

There you have it.  Our Home Sweet Home.  Have a great week!

And, The Afters!

Hello!  It has taken me a little longer to photograph my house and then upload the photos.  As promised, here are the afters.  I will post a few rooms at a time.

Let's start with the entryway as you walk in the front door.

Close up of vignette in entry way.

Next is the family room.  This is the view from across the fireplace.  Fabric on pillows is Carleton V that I purchased from Designer's Attic.  I love it!  

The new and much improved bookshelves. The only thing Mr. HSH requested was this TV, so I happily obliged.  You can see the sofa peaking out of the right side of the photo.  The entryway is at the top right of the room.  

Close Up of Fireplace 

Close up of coffee table and Bergere chairs.  Room update: the chairs are going to be recovered very soon and two additional pillows are being made for the sofa.  I will show photos when finished!  

I hope you have enjoyed this brief photo tour of our home.  Next up...the Dining room and office reveal.  Have a wonderful week!

Welcome!

Welcome to Home Sweet Home!  My husband, two dogs (Andy + Enzo), and I just moved back into our home after being away for 2-1/2 years.  Mr. HSH's job took us to Colorado, and a new job for me brought us back.  I am happy to be home in Houston!  This is my outlet to talk about my passion for interior design, shopping, travel, and food.

We decided to do some projects around our home before we officially moved.  We painted nearly everything ceiling to floor, installed crown moulding and new interior doors, reconfigured our bookshelves/entertainment center, and replaced our hardwood floors.  Yikes that is a lot!  The professionals that we worked with were truly amazing.  

The before shots are below.  Separate posts featuring the after pictures are coming soon. Stay tuned!

Entry Way 

Looking into the dining room and office/sitting room.  

Originally the dining roomwas the smaller space you see at the

back of the photo.  We decided to switch the two rooms so we

could entertain comfortably.  

Living Room/Office 

Kitchen

Family Room 

The three bedrooms and guest bath are off the hallway. 

I can't wait to show our progress beginning next week.  Have a great Labor Day weekend!