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A little peek at our house this Christmas

    I hope you had a lovely Christmas!

    We have spent the past two days doing absolutely nothing and it feels amazing. Especially after the weeks of non-stop work on the house to get it ready for hosting.

    bradyfireWhew! It was a marathon that turned into a sprint on those final few days.

    Thankfully, my mom and dad stopped by the day before Christmas Eve and we put them straight to work. We unpacked boxes, moved things to the new studio (I can not wait to show you how it is shaping up!), hung pictures and coat hooks, made beds, put up garland, vacuumed, mopped, scrubbed and – my favorite part of all – installed the open shelves in the kitchen.

    We are so excited about how the house is coming together. We are slowing making progress putting our touch in each room and it is truly transforming it.

    I’ve shared a few photos on instagram and wanted to share more with you here on the blog.

    I know it’s after Christmas and we’re all ready to take down the tree, clear out the garland and freshen up for the New Year, but the house looked so pretty and the sun was shining in and I just couldn’t resist snapping a few photos before our family came over on Christmas day. Enjoy the little peek into our house!

    livingroomThe living room went through phase one of it’s makeover with new paint on the walls, trim and ceiling. Just the paint changed this room completely (see the house when we bought it here).

    I’ll talk more about this room, our vision for it and what we’ve done so far more in detail in the new year so stay tuned for more details. I will say, though, that the deep green/blue/gray on the walls (Ancestral by Behr paired with the same charcoal trim color that we used in the kitchen (Iron Ore by Sherwin Williams) is doing just what we hoped it would for the room: it’s feeling so cozy and moody in there.

    fireplace sofapillows2We put our beloved linen chesterfield sofa in the living room and layered it with favorite textiles.

    *the sofa came from a shop that is no longer in business, but I’ve done a little bit of research and found that it is this one. The sofa is only available to the trade, so click around and you should be able to find a retailer near you.*

    furpillowThe stripe blanket was a recent purchase – it is lightweight and those corner tassels are so good. The green velvet pillow is from Crate and Barrel and comes in an assortment of pretty colors. The white goat hide pillow is available in our House + Home Shop and is even better in person.

    pillowsI love how the green and white on the left mixes with the blue ikat pillow (made by my mom with this fabric) and gorgeous modern leather pillow on the right. The leather pillow makes us want to add much more of that rich camel color in this room. I popped in an old Noel pillow for Christmas and will have to find a good replacement for it soon.

    trayontable livingroomfireI have fireplace makeover DIY idea that I’m hoping to get to soon. But seriously, it is pretty amazing how different and updated it looks with just a new coat of paint.

    cornerchairlivingcornerdiningtable Other than pulling off the wallpaper border, the dining room hasn’t been touched. It actually looked quite nice simply dressed with cedar garland, felt pom pom garland (no longer available from West Elm) and a runner made with wrapping paper, more greens from the backyard, white bottlebrush trees and candles in old silver cups.

    diningtablecenterpiecediningroomtolivingThe metal dining chairs from Restoration Hardware, doxology canvas is by Lindsay Letters, library shelf is from World Market.

    The kitchen is my favorite transformation so far. Kinda crazy since we were not even planning on doing anything to the room until the big rip-it-all-out remodel we have in mind (read more about that here).

    christmaskitchenI will do the official kitchen reveal with before and afters and the budget breakdown soon. I can’t wait to show you the whole thing!

    Ryan and I love entertaining and we’re so thankful for this place to welcome our family and friends in to. It was a mad dash to get things put together before our family came to celebrate and now that it’s over, it was worth every ounce of energy.

    52 thoughts on “A little peek at our house this Christmas”

    1. Hi Emily.
      Where is your coffee table from? I tried to look through your questions first but couldn’t find any info on the coffee table

    2. Hi Emily! DO you mind sharing where you got the shelves in the kitchen from. I’m looking at open shelving, but it’s overwhelming trying to find ones that can hold the weight of dishes!

    3. Congratulations on your beautiful new house! It looks like a Thomas Kinkade cottage! I love what you’ve done so far and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. It’s funny how this thing called the internet brings us all together – from Boston to Seattle. My husband laughs at me when I mention my “virtual” friends online! Wishing you and your family a happy 2017!!

    4. Love the direction you are taking this house. The dark moody colors make it look so new and modern! Love it! I’m curious if you like your rug from world market. I think before you said it sheds and wonders if it still does. Thanks!

      1. Thanks, Amanda! We are liking how the dark colors are making this place more modern, too!

        The World Market rug shed a TON when we first bought it. It has been vacuumed a million times and doesn’t seem to shed quite as much now. For the price, I’d say the shedding is worth it.

        1. thank you for answering my question about the rug! It’s so helpful to get “real life” reviews!! And thanks for sharing your home with all of us. As far as favorite Instagram accounts…yours is one of my favs!

    5. Sandi@theVintage http://letsgotothevintagecupboard.blogspot.com

      Hi Emily
      Love your new decorating style! I am thinking of painting my living room/dining room Ancestral. You mentioned that it has a blue/green/grey hue. I picked up a paint chip and am not seeing the blue green hue. I guess I will have to buy a sample pot to see the true color. I really enjoyed your 2016 home tour and am looking forward to seeing one of your new home. Thanks for all the inspiration:) Happy New Year!

    6. I love that you just jumped in and are working room by room but are still hosting even with everything not finished to perfection!

    7. Beautiful! Thank you for noting the Behr wall color…but that rug, I LOVE the area rug! Gray, nubby…where is it from? Happy New Year!

    8. Several months ago, I unsubscribed from pretty much everything – even things I LOVE, like your blog – in an effort to simplify my life on a daily basis. I’ve missed you, though, and as I sipped my afternoon coffee on this rainy Pacific Northwest day, I thought, I wonder if I’ve missed any Coffee Chats? I opened your blog to check it out, and saw the first photo of this post. “The fireplace looks VERY different,” I thought…then, “That’s NOT her fireplace! This isn’t her house! But this IS her house?” Oh, my! I’ve missed out on a lot!!! I currently have about fifteen tabs open on my browser for all the posts I’ve missed, and I can’t wait to catch up on what’s been going on over these apparently busy few months! :) Congratulations!

      1. It is real cedar garland. We had it on the outside of the house for a few weeks and brought it in to decorate for christmas, so it was still pretty fresh in these photos. Just a few days later and it is mostly dried out. Still looks pretty, but just not quite as fresh :)

    9. Love this masculine touch on things! I see your beautiful touch on everything. If I can ask, where did you get the mountain print from? Thanks, Emily. All the best in the New Year!

    10. Love love everything you’ve done in your new house…I especially love the cabinet/trim color and I plan on copying you ( the highest form of flattery I’ve heard) and painting my bathroom cabinets …thanks for sharing your painting cabinets tips as well

    11. Emily! So happy you and Ryan are returning to color on the walls! This is where you excel! I remember when I first started following you. I called a statement color of your Emily blue! Congrats on the new home. It’s a great community across The Narrows ?! Happy Christmastime!

    12. LOVE your style…SO beautiful and welcoming. Would love to see this in person – bet its even prettier!
      All the best to you and your family in 2017!

    13. How do you get all your gorgeous Christmas greenery to stay fresh? I would spray it with water but don’t want to ruin the wood underneath.

      1. This garland was hanging outside on the house for a few weeks and then I brought it in to put on the mantle and windows. It was still fresh and looking great. Now, just a few days later, it is mostly dried out. I haven’t found any great way to keep cedar garland fresh … I don’t mind it dried out (like it is over our kitchen window), but I have been known to replace it mid-season to get that fresh look and scent back in the house.

    14. How do you get all your gorgeous Christmas greenery to stay fresh? I would spray it with water but don’t want to ruin the wood underneath

    15. E- new home updates looks fab! Glad to hear you enjoyed the holidays and hosting no less! Looking forward to more home updates! Best!

    16. Emily… I’m loving the feel of your new house! Plus, I absolutely love Gig Harbor. Quick question: Is your living room rug new? Not sure if it’s the same as your old house and just looks completely new in the new place??

    17. Hello Emily! I’m a huge fan. I love your style. We’ve purchased the jonesdesigncompany home design classes and I can’t wait to get started.

      Would you mind sharing details on the living room rug? Thanks and Happy New Year!

    18. It all looks stunning. Your style is so effortlessly elegant AND cozy. I love it all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

    19. The living room wall color is absolutely beautiful. I would have never picked that myself but after seeing it I am so inspired by it. Gorgeous!!

    20. Emily, I love it!! I can’t wait to see more! It’s really great to see your style go to the “Dark Side”, LOL! Our living room is dark green and is so cozy in person, but so hard to photograph. You did a great job capturing these pictures with the morning light streaming in. So excited for you and your family in your new house!!! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!!

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