I hope you’ll forgive me, but I’m having a moment.
I am SO going to regret saying this… But:
Not. Feeling. It.
This is likely blasphemy and when January rolls in I will reflect on my lost opportunity to white light the heck out of our house, which I normally looooove to do.
However…
Mr and I just spent the last month marathon painting walls and ceilings….after an almost year of marathon redesigning our house…
We’ve torn up floors, knocked out walls, stripped our woodwork, painted our doors, swapped out our chimney-fire-destroyed fireplace, and taken out nearly all of our kitchen cabinets…not counting our outside projects. The end is somewhat in sight, but there are lots of loose ends at this point…and given the undertaking, I am okay with that. BUT…
I am POOPED…(and apparently a little cranky).
I also hurt my foot (after straddling two ladders while painting a ceiling suddenly went awry…who could’ve guessed), and even though it’s not broken, it is entirely slowing me down. Ouch! I’d like to take a month-long nap, but I suspect that won’t occur until February, because there’s no time for that in December.
I have put up several trees…but it seems ridiculous to string lights and grapevines in my back hall when the photo ledges are filled with cabinet molding and lengths of quarter round,
How do you decorate the ceiling when you’re waiting for trim to finish the floors? Seems silly. This year, Christmas decorating seems like frosting a cookie without the cookie. Just a lot of icing with nowhere to go.
Phase 1 installation of our kitchen cabinets is in progress…and that’s awfully exciting…but we can only hope the install will be finished before the 25th….it’s a crapshoot as of today.
Is any of this a big deal in the grand scheme of things? Nope.
Everyone is otherwise fine and happy…despite my temporary funk, which will likely clear up when my foot stops hurting.
Because you’re kind enough to have read this far, I’ll give you a sneak peak despite the many missing deets. It’s a little shocking to us, given the way it used to look. It may not be your style, but we’re digging the modern vibe from our years of faux cherry “traditional.”
THIS WBL post is supposed to be about our favorite winter or holiday decoration. And ordinarily it would be the white light-a-thon with Christmas trees and creches in every room.
This year, I’m craving some low key… (which hardly ever happens when I’m involved) and nature offered the perfect winter decoration the other night.
So,here at the second Friday of December… I’m thinking this will actually be a low-key-ish holiday decorating endeavor… But THEN… I think to myself, “I’ve been decorating that ceiling in the hallway for the last 6 years….are you REALLY NOT going to do that this year!!!????”
I have NO idea…we’ll have to see what shows up on Instagram…
In the interim, let’s visit my festive, NOT cranky friends to collect some genuine holiday spirit! Kindly visit:
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings – (Iris is taking a break for a little bit ❤️)
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Welcome to “Where Bloggers Live.” It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers!
Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes?
The second Friday of each month is when this group of seven bloggers link up to share their workspaces,
homes, towns… or whatever our fearless leader, the fabulous Bettye, proposes.
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
Oh Em, the family room looks absolutely amazing! You really don’t need to do more this year but if you must, a few gentle suggestions: take the photos of the ceiling (and any other triumphs from Christmas’ past) and blow them up to poster size on foam board and prop them here and there, put the crèche somewhere important, and most urgently, MAKE RESERVATIONS to eat Christmas dinner out. I hope these will take so much pressure off you and your poor foot that Christmas Joy will be easier to find. Blessings. Anne J
One woman’s “phoning it in” is another woman’s “not until I am starring in my own Hallmark Christmas movie and I have people to do the decorating.” I am pretty much losing my mind over the magical ceiling lights – I mean, WOW. But isn’t it great when Mother Nature does some of the heavy lifting for us? Covering all those trees outside with just the right dusting of snow to limn the branches would be terribly difficult for us, but there it is, ready to go in moments. We got snow this weekend that I think is going to stick around and form the foundation for our outdoor winter wonderland so I’m definitely starting to feel the season.
Big hugs, sister. I am right there with you. Our artificial tree is in pieces in the living room with all the furniture and the area rug in there moved into the opposite corner. Not all of the lit up…we discovered after putting the tree together so had to take the tree apart, get a string of lights and as soon as Buffalo beats KC this afternoon, we are going to try to put the tree up again. We are not feeling it either. PC is never ‘feeling’ it at Christmas and I have struggled the last couple of years.
While I love your hall lights with the grape vines and branches…magical…I totally get why you might be tired. And it does seem kind of crazy to drag all of that stuff out when the house isn’t really finished. Just enjoy the tree and being a minimalist this one holiday. And think how dazzling your home will be next year this time. It looks A-Mazing from the picture above. Sleek and chic. We have wedged an even bigger and more obnoxious TV between our tier bookshelves and above our entertainment stand so we now have a six inch square area where we don’t have anything in this room. And that only because I don’t have my nativity up yet.
Let’s just go to bed, want to? Not together, of course. But we both could use a bit of a hibernation, I think. And then it will be spring.
Hope you can enjoy having the kids home and that your parents are both as healthy as possible. Rest, my sweet friend, rest.
My favorite part of this post:
Em: I’m just phoning it in this year
Also Em: I *have* put up several trees
Ha ha ha ha ha!
I think your living room is beautiful! Clean and modern…the beautiful tree is the cherry on top,
Happy Holidays, my friend!
xoxo Bettye
On one hand, I’m so glad you’re not my nextdoor neighbor because there’s no way I could compete with your decorations and love of DIY. On the other hand, I’d love to be your nextdoor neighbor because I think we’d create so much more chaos in each other’s lives by making impossible suggestions that we somehow make come true! And, I’d finally have someone else to obsess over picking the just right color for the hallway…any hallway…take your pick!
Em, if you decide to do that hallway, it will be glorious. If you decide not to do it, I’m betting you’ll still come up with something to make it twinkle!
See you on the Gram!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
It’s looking fabulous! Sometimes you just need to sit back and relax and not stress over the holiday decor! Hope your foot recovers! Enjoy the season!
You have the BEST reason for minimalism this holiday season yet you’ve still put up trees (MULTIPLE)??? That’s incredible.
And your poor foot. You definitely need to take it easy and spend time with the fur babies. Isn’t Christmas all about them and the kids?? LOL
OXOX
Jodie