I was attempting to compile my house renovation and remodeling photos (the before’s and after’s) with my Holly & Mistletoe Holiday Homes tour images, but it was just becoming a “lot.” I’ll be posting our before and afters soon however, because those are SO fun and a little humorous at times. And really my main source of excitement on this holiday homes tour, was sharing the before and afters in each room. Sometimes a HUGE difference. It’s a lot of work, but our goal was to A- give myself a deadline to get my renovations completed by (I didn’t sleep for a few weeks, maybe even months) and B- to inspire people with a more modern, simple and clean holiday decorating style, a lot of it being affordable DIY and sentimental pieces from my family. I wanted to show that you can take things you already have in your home, and make them festive. I spent very little on decor (although I had to buy my main tree and ornaments, since I haven’t acquired much only being in a house a year or so).  It was a half a year of planning in my head, for only a couple of weeks of decorating thanks to my “up to the last second” renovations: i.e. plumbing, tearing out walls, stripping wall paper, fixing plaster, mudding, painting just Thanksgiving week (when the homes tour was Dec 3, 2015). But I made it happen. And charming it was.

It was a blessing being a part of this event held by the Independence Young Matrons. I collaborated with a really kind hearted staff who was overly thankful of our home donated, I enjoyed creating and pinning and pulling sentimental pieces from both sides of my family, I enjoyed meals with the fundraising crew, private tours with friends and family as we decorated, and the BIGGEST reason I wanted to be a part of this was to help raise money for the IYM. They give so much back to the community and this was one of their biggest fundraisers of the year. It allowed us to really be up close in the fundraising process. With all of the homes being located here off the historic Independence, Mo square, it was only fitting for me to join in this season. It brought a lot of people back to the old homes with tons of character. Believe it or not, mine was the YOUNGEST of them all at age 108. I think because all of the homes were so close together and all of them with so many stories to them, also with the weather being nice, it brought in a TON of guests.  At 10am when the doors opened, I had a line out my door and down the sidewalk. Cars lined our streets for a few blocks. Sun shining and breakfast early, women and men rolled in with groups, in buses and big vehicles making it a “day out” together with friends and family. I knew almost everyone who walked in my door. I just couldn’t leave. (I really didn’t want to to be honest. It was fun reconnecting with my elementary teachers, high school teachers, friends and parents I grew up with, church members and more.) It was fun hearing everyone talk about their favorite “things” in our house too. I left for awhile, but came back before I headed out on the tour ourselves, and I made a lot of friends in our home. I’ve never seen so many people in the foyer of our house before [smiles]. Before I left at 10:45am, there had already been a total of 150 people in our home. Whew, that is a bit overwhelming just hearing those words. My house isn’t THAT big. But the holiday spirit and excitement was everywhere.

And people couldn’t stop talking about my overhung grapevine and evergreen lit art piece over the front door, my world wall map in the dining room and the circular mirrors hanging above our stairwell upstairs. Each with a story in themselves.

By the end of the day, the tickets were tallied. It was a record breaking year. Over 1200 had been through my home that day. It was only a one day event people. Can you believe it? That’s at $10-15 a ticket. They made more money this year for the homes tour than ever before. How exciting is that to be a part of!? Thank you to the Independence Young Matrons for putting on another great homes tour for friends and family to enjoy. I was so glad to partake with you!

Enjoy the images from the Dec 3, 2015 tour below. If you want to see the FULL gallery of images, click here.
Do you like my DIY $10 entry mat? An abstract Christmas tree print so simply made with some painters tape and white paint. Voila. Just make triangles and paint inside the lines.I filled my window planters with ornaments for a splash of sparkle and fun to match the indoor decor and front door wreath.Also a favorite, my “photo family history” wall. Images from the early 1900s all the way up to my childhood hung proudly as you went up the stairs. It’s been hilarious seeing people try to pick out who is who. My dads naked baby pictures are my favorite!I took some leftover dried greens from a previous wedding and hung them over our front door with some ornaments for a more green/earthy yet festive look.I took mugs I already had and filled them with marshmallows.. one of my favorite things.. snuggling up on the couch by the tree.My mother made this stocking when she was young. It is by far my favorite stocking i’ve ever seen. I also took some of my “travel themed” decor and used them on the bookshelves. Fitting as two of them were silver camels. And of course we just popped a Santa hat on the statue. I also loved the old vintage clown from my mom’s family. You take apart the big clown and there are smaller clowns inside each one, my old cameras I had collected and the wonderful snow globe with the tree atop the car after visiting the tree farm (from Target. I loved this piece.)I had LOTS of ornaments so I filled them and stuff them everywhere I could. I even used some of our house lights for a fun Christmas look.My moms childhood Christmas book we sat out on our coffee table. And don’t mind the elves. They are adorable yet creepy, I understand. I still love them and the furry attire.How cute is my mom’s old “little” red wagon? It fit nicely with our vintage photo reel next to it. Lots of color in my living room that coordinated throughout the house.Ah. This starts my dining room. One of my favorite rooms. That wall map was the talk of the day.PS. Pinecones are a FREE way to decorate and will last from fall all the way through the winter. A decorating tip: decorate for the “season” and not so much the Christmas holiday and your decor can stay up much longer. This is my TRAVEL THEMED room. With metal prints on the wall from my travels around the world, my pins on the map of all of our road trips, work trips and missions trips. And a fun color palette bringing in a unique pieces that still fit together with the browns nicely.I love my traveling Charlie Brown trees. I’ve stated collecting ornaments each year on my travels. When I make my huge road trips, its fun to remember the adventures that were happening when I bought these. A good tradition I’ve started.And here I am… most everyones favorite place in the house. My kitchen. I kept it simple and very clean and simplistic with a hint of silver and mirrored decor pieces throughout. The pinecone silver wreath that hung on the back was a great way to transition from the more rustic dining room as well. To see my kitchen before and after blog feature, click here.On to the upstairs. My latest renovation project. The entire hallway, tearing out the hall way closet, putting in a reclaimed lead window I dug out of the trash of our neighbors house, making the master bath bigger adding in that closet door as a now pocket door into the spare bedroom (which will eventually be the master bedroom). And those favorite circle mirrors everyone was talking about……. Oh, did I mention, I flocked our old green tree myself? It only cost about $50 and I had myself a beautiful snowy white tree. I’ve always wanted one. Thanks to Lindsay Letters for the holiday calligraphy canvas.There she is.. my beautiful new renovated bathroom. If you only saw the before’s, you would die. Soon to come, I promise.
One of my favorite shots and prints in our home. From my western trip, this was an image from atop the Trail Ridge Road in between Estes Park, Co and Grand Lake, Co. Mounted by WHCC.My kitty is obsessed with the sink.Hollywood style bathroom.I made the macrame to hide that ugly old closet. It was a nice touch to the mid century look in our spare bedroom I thought.A nativity set purchased from Bethlehem. Another favorite from my visitors. My great gpa made the wooden drawer piece and my mom the Santa. We have a lot of creatives in the family.She was part of the decor most of the day 🙂 Another great shot from our sunrise hike at Bear Lake in Estes Park, Co.My master bedroom. Doesn’t it look so cozy?Old Angel from my mom’s Aunt Judy that used to sit atop her Christmas tree every year. I like to think she prays over us while we sleep.Thank you mom for the PERFECT floral display to celebrate our homes tour. What a great gift from a local florists Alyssas. I had a music room that had acted as our storage room for about 3 years while renovating. Last second, we added in a Christmas tree we had and made some ornaments to go along with the theme. The most relaxing thing about my house was hearing the grammy award winning Kansas City Chorale playing throughout the upstairs and music room for guests to enjoy.Yes, I made a music wreath in about 10 minutes. I had no idea what I was doing, but it worked for an extra flare 🙂 We filled some clear ornaments with old music we’ve had that we cut into stripes. A great way to keep the music around that we don’t use any more.My office/client meeting area. The white metal ceiling tile might be one of my proudest projects i’ve worked on. Doesn’t it look so amazing?This light is to die for. Another favorite piece in our house. With a mid century modern look, it hangs so elegantly above my clients coffee table.My glamorous mirrored bathroom. That was a bear to put in let me tell you, haha. I’m still obsessing over our white yarn wreath also, purchased from Joann Fabric store.This pink bell is from the 40’s i’d imagine. It was my moms mothers. Very delicate and so interesting.
And to end with a bang…. I only have some small outdoor images of our home. I’ll need to capture a few more professional images before we take our lights and decor down. I hope you enjoyed our tour and were inspired by simple decorating. Cheers to a happy 2016!