Holiday Housewalk 2018 (Christmas Home Tour)

Christmas by the sea! A Christmas Home Tour with twinkling fairy lights, garlands, shells, and a few coastal touches.

My good friend Jen Rizzo has been doing her Holiday Housewalk for 8 years! Yup, 8 years!!!! Each year I pour over these posts with a cup of coffee (or sometimes eggnog – my youngest loves eggnog) and fantasize about actually being in these beautiful homes with magical Christmas displays and lovely home decor. This is my first year taking part and it’s a pinch me moment for sure. I’ve always dreamed of being in this home tour. This year there are over 30 homes, a few being shared each day. You can start at the very beginning over on Jen’s blog. If you’re heading over from Fox Hollow Cottage welcome. Isn’t Shannon the best, I love her cottage style and she’s such a nice person, too.

Well, welcome to our home. We live in Scituate (Sit-u-it) Harbor on Boston’s South Shore.

I was hoping our walkway and yard would be covered in a blanket of snow, but it’s been pouring here for days. So just pretend there’s some pretty snow dusted around 😉

Our door and shutters are painted Buxton Blue by Benjamin Moore – I always get asked about the color – so thought I’d share in case you were wondering.

This post contains a few affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure policy here. If you purchase via a link I may receive a portion of the sale.

I love using lit greenery outside. The garlands and wreath are both from Balsam Hill but I added the pretty ribbon and starfish (for a coastal touch). The tiny lit trees in my vintage urns are new this year. I love how festive they are! I’ve filled the urns with beach stones and shells. The long window boxes are filled with a mix of faux pine, evergreen, holly and magnolia leaves. I used to use real and it just got so expensive. I think I’ve had these branches for 4 years now. You can read some tips for decorating window boxes here.

Poppy, our pretty lab mix, wanted to welcome you to our home.

Poppy is 8 years old and is such a sweet girl. Our other rescue dog, Max, wanted to say hi as well, but he’s a little bit of a rascal. He runs all over the place when he’s off leash, so you’ll have to say hi to him inside. Speaking of inside…

Our living room is to the right of our entry when you walk in the front door. Get cozy, the fire is on! We fell head over heels in love with the dark woodwork of our home. The original wood came from Canada and our home was built in 1927. We redid the fireplace last winter. It’s faced with fossilized ocean floor. You can read more about that makeover here. This is a favorite spot to sit and read. The dogs and kids also love to lay here on the floor by the fire.

I like keeping the mantel simple. This year I used some frosted faux greenery, pretty ornaments that reminded me of sea glass, and twinkling fairy lights. The mirror has a great coastal feel. It’s a new piece but I love how it feels old.

Also, on the mantel are birch candle holders we made. You can read more about them here.

Oh, Poppy, we see you again!

I love putting ornaments in ironstone bowls and using natural garlands, like this one made from driftwood, on our sofa table.

This is our Christmas tree! It’s NEW this year. It’s a Saratoga Spruce by Balsam Hill. I love how full it is and how magical it makes our living room feel. I keep the lights on all day. Do you guys do that, too?

I have two little boys (well, I really shouldn’t say little any more), as John is now 12, and at almost 5’4″, he towers over me. Anyway, they both still love decorating with me.

This year we’re using a mixture of ornaments – pretty sea glass looking ones, gold starbursts, and glitter branches.

You can read more about our Christmas Tree, here.

I really love these pale blue ones.

Oh, and speaking of Max, here he is!

He looks a bit guilty doesn’t he? Like he’s been caught with one of the ornaments. He did eat some glitter the other day…and while I was working on this post a felted snowman (sigh).

 

Now we’re in the dining room which is all set for dinner!

I love mixing natural elements with antiques. One can never have enough brass candlesticks or shells!

Over the weekend, while visiting Cape Cod, I found these lovely, antique candle holders.

Aren’t they different? I usually love white tapers but I thought blue candles were whimsical and a little different. If my front door and shutters, didn’t give it away, I’m a blue lover.

I couldn’t resist these plates either. They are reproduction from the 50s and were used at an old hotel on the Cape. I found the plates and the candlesticks at Atlantic Dry Goods, such a fun shop if your in the area.

I’ve mixed my mom’s old silver with an affordable Target grass runner and scattered shells and sea glass that we’ve collected.

The poinsettias are fake and came from the Dollar Tree a few years back. I’ve added some pops of red to the dining room with pomegranates, a red berry garland, and some red berry balls on the Welsh Dresser.

I store my collection of shells and ironstone on the Welsh dresser. Each year I deck it out with greenery for Christmas. The wall hanging is a free printable of the lyrics for White Christmas. You can download your print here if you’d like to make one.

I wanted to share one more room with you, our sunroom. This is one of my favorite rooms. When the home was built it was a screened in porch. It’s now a three season room, but I still love decorating it for the holidays. We painted the ceiling the most luscious blue.

Many of the projects in here, as with the rest of our home, are either built by us or thrifted and upcycled. I’ve painted many pieces in here with Chalk Paint or Milk Paint. The oars were a freecycle find and the scallop bench was a DIY with Saltwash.

Learn how to make this sweet coastal Christmas tree here.

The beach rock light was made by a local artist in Scituate.

I love using this giant shell for home decor. For the past few years I’ve filled it with succulents for an all year round decor piece but thought it would be fun with pretty French ornaments.

Aren’t they pretty? I used these same ornaments on the flocked tree in here and also added some ornaments we made with sea glass from the beach.

This room overlooks our yard and gets wonderful ocean breezes in the summer. I love this room because it’s so light and airy. It also has views of our new pool.

As you can see, our home is a mix of new and old. Pretty blue and white mingled with warm woods. We embrace nature and the magic of the holidays.

If you’re interested in learning more about painting furniture you might like my eBook and if you’re looking for some design help, I’m also offering design services.

I hope you enjoyed taking a tour of our coastal home. Thank you so much for visiting!

Up next is Susan of Kindred Vintage. I can’t wait to see how her beautiful home is decked out for Christmas!