Welcome to my Holiday Home Tour !!

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening ...?"  The countdown to Christmas is on (not ready!).  Have you finished your shopping?  Have you planned your scrumptious holiday menu?  And, are your stockings hung by the chimney with care?  If you have a moment or two to spare, please join me for our home holiday tour.  We went a bit overboard this year with our decorations because our home was featured on the local Christmas Tour of Homes.  (Feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

My wonderful Mom was kind enough to let us "borrow" the two whimsical trees flanking the front door.

Do you have an empty fountain shut down for the winter?  How about toss some inexpensive ornaments in there for a colorful touch?

Fresh snow is still dripping off of the sled (lol ... okay, faux snow ... the real thing is, unfortunately, not likely here in Myrtle Beach) !!  Come on in ...

A large, chunky garland greets you as you enter ... with one of my favorite sayings ("Home ... the place your story begins") peeking through.

And, thanks to my parents (again!), this beautiful Santa greets you when you enter.

Our humble dining room features all things traditional ...

I love Radko ornaments, gold/glittery snowflakes and the birds ... especially the Cardinals (we're originally from Virginia).

I wish I could keep my chandelier dressed like this all year round !!

The sitting room is done in a musical theme and the tree is filled with copper, green, red and gold ornaments with pheasant feathers, gold/glittery sprays and branches popping out everywhere.

The vintage carolers gently sing along with our guests, as the music notes cascade from the chandelier.

Let's skip on into the great room ... the tree is all things whimsical and splashed with Christmas card photos ...

I bought the jumbo box of ornaments from WalMart and used my chalk paint to write inspirational words (Joy, Hope, etc.) on a few of them.  A fun, inexpensive way to personalize your ornaments!

The Santa elves are eager to help decorate, finding just the *perfect* spot to place their garland and ornaments.

For me, it's not the holidays without a nutracker or two making their appearance.

As we leave the great room, we're in the kitchen. I decided to go whimsical in there, as well, with the tree on the island dripping with candy ornaments, elves, gingerbread and all things fun (and fattening) !!  It's been oh-so-hard to bypass the yummy treats just waiting to be devoured !!

I stole borrowed the chalkboard art from Aunt Ruthie at her wonderful blog SugarPie Farmhouse ... it adds a fun touch, but clearly I need art lessons !!

And, another chalkboard ... I was tired of my "blah" white pantry door.  Sooo, I had the wood cut at Lowe's ... painted it with chalkboard paint and then my husband and our friend cut the molding and nailed it on ... voila, a brand new look !!

Off of the kitchen is the breakfast area ... the table is dressed with beautiful red chargers and our traditional Spode plates, with smaller village homes (tying in with the village on our dry bar) surrounding the candle centerpiece.  The chandelier is decked out with garland (filled with pinecones, ribbon and red beds) and you can spot glittery snowflakes hanging down, along with hanging globes which have fresh cranberries and votives in them.

My son loves the village ... I love how the soft lights illuminate the precious homes and businesses.  Oh how I'd enjoy spending a day there ... shopping in the novelty stores ... taking in a movie ... stopping by the bakery for a Christmas goodie (or two!) and finally enjoying a horse drawn carriage ride home through the snow with my family !!  Oh, the simple life !!

Well, that concludes the first part of the tour. 

Happy Holidays and thanks for stopping by,

Becca

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Good morning,


Well, here I am at my second blog post (yay)! I still have SOOO much to learn, but am really enjoying this new adventure. One of the blogs that I've silently followed forever is Between Naps on the Porch (I'd add a link right *here* but I'm not sure how to do that yet!) ... talk about talent(!). She hosts Tablescape Thursday, and everyone is invited. I've never seen such beautiful tables all dressed up ... the time and creativity that goes into creating such warm and inviting spaces is enviable. I thought I'd join the party and link my humble dining room table dressed for the holidays ... please excuse my photography skills ... need to work on that, too !!

Chargers, dinner plates and tablecloth: Home Goods

Salad plates: Belk (Winter Greetings)

Wine glasses and goblets: Pier One

Stemware: Marshalls

Thanks for stopping by ... I'll be posting more holiday pics from around our house later on !!

Becca

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Greetings and Happy Holidays from South Carolina !! I'm excited to finally be dipping my toe into the world of blogging and sharing my addiction to decorating !!  I've enjoyed visiting so many creative blogs (Kristen's, Nesting Place, Between Naps on the Porch, Melissa's... the list goes on and on) filled with wonderful decorating ideas, recipes and witty (and often poignant) thoughts on life. I decided it was time to lose my blogger *virginity* and join the party, despite the fact that I have no.idea.what.I'm.doing. when it comes to creating a festive and fun blog. So, please bear with me, and forgive me that I don't know how to add a pretty Christmas background, Christmas music or a lovely, cursive signature ... I'm still learning (lol). (And, a special thank you to my friend, Beth (at momx2) for answering my many blogging setup questions!)

With this being my most favorite time of the year, I thought my first post should, of course, be about the wonderful holiday season. My husband and I were thrilled to have been asked to put our home on the local Christmas Tour of Homes, which was this past weekend. I jumped at the invitation because, not only do the proceeds benefit various worthy organizations, but give me an excuse to put my decorating obsession on overload and I'm ALLL over it !! Below are a few pics around the house ... I'd love to share more later on. Hope you enjoy, and I look forward to getting to know you all !!

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I decided to make our kitchen fun and whimsical for our three year old son ... I love how childlike it makes me feel (however, I *don't* like having to avoid the temptation to attack the sweets that are scattered around). The tree is dripping in elves, candy and other whimsical ornaments.\




The great room mantle is carefully being guarded by our nutcrackers; however, I don't know how protective they'll be when the 50 lb. garland comes crashing down (fingers and toes crossed that doesn't happen) !!



The sitting room towards the front of the house I decided to decorate in a musical theme. Please come sit in a wing chair with your brandy, hot cocoa, tequila (or whatever it takes) to make you want to pick up an instrument and start singing "Joy to the World" ... the carolers are carefully perched in the bookcase under the street lamp, ready to sing along with you.



I chose to dress the dining room in traditional pieces ... the tree is full of Christopher Radko ornaments, birds and gold, glittery (which equals messy!) ornaments. I love the Lenox Winter Greetings bird plates. As we're from Virginia, I wanted to have the cardinals surrounding us this time of year.




I hope you enjoyed the pics ... I'd love to post more later on.

Best wishes,

Becca

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My Guest Post at 'Once Upon A Tea Time...Design Stories'.

Hello Everyone. My first guest post ever is up at 'Once Upon A Tea Time...Design Stories'.

I am sharing some simple ideas with all the readers, so do drop by and lets also congratulate Priya on the 1st blog anniversary of Once Upon A Tea Time...Design stories.

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Some more greens...

In response to my post on 'Little plants in containers...' one of Rang Decor's readers Nivedita Kari shares her collection of plants.Here are some plants on her kitchen counter that she keeps changing

It's always great to hear from readers and it's lovely when they share their ideas with us.

This pot has been painted by Nivedita.

Thanks for sharing these with us.

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Events...

Rakhi Janardhan of Canvas Incorporated presents Myriad - a premier exhibition, showcasing the works of various artists from different parts of India at Alliance Francaise, Bangalore on the 14th and 15th of November, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.

Canvas Inc. provides a platform for students of art and upcoming artists to showcase their talent and creativity and help them with their initial foray into the world of art.

So if you are in Bangalore this weekend do drop in at:

Alliance Francaise

Thimmaiah Road, Vasanthnagar

Bangalore-52

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Little plants in containers...

It's been a while since there has been some action here on 'Rang Decor', so today let me make a start:-)

This post is in response to a query by one of Rang Decor's readers about plants in containers.

I love plants. I love plants that I can bring into my rooms and that enlivens each and every corner.

Rather than just place the plants as it is, I like to place them in little ceramic mugs/bowls or brass vessels or cane baskets. Try it and you'll see how beautiful the space becomes:-)

Here are some interesting arrangements at home.

Do share any other interesting arrangements you do with your house plants:-)

Happy decorating and have a great day!

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