Blogger Stylin Home Tour Christmas 2015

Welcome to the Blogger Stylin Home Tour Holiday edition. I'm so happy to be a part of this wonderful tour of bloggers which is hosted by Lindsay from The White Buffalo Styling Co. If you are visiting from there....

Hello and Happy Holidays!!! 

If you have been here in the past few weeks you will know I recently decorated for the holidays with a mini tour here but since then I've added another tree and changed things up just a little. Its always a process for me to get everything exactly the way I want it so I hope you enjoy the past tour and also the little changes I have made too! 

Our family Christmas tree...its not perfect and its a little messy but the girls helped with this tree and I think its just beautiful. Whether its everyday day styling of your home or holiday decorations, it needs to work for how you live. Our life is always crazy, sometimes messy but always full of love and thats exactly what I see when I look at this tree! 

My middles room got a little more festive with some easy string lights and a holly wreath over her bed. 

Thank you so much for stopping by on your tour and now its time to head over to Bliss at Home and see how she has pulled everything together this season!! 

A Giveaway with Rugs USA

Working as a stylist I am always on the search for a great rug and Rugs USA always has what I'm looking for and always at an incredible price. The jute rug that I have here in my dining room is my go to natural fiber rug. I love the texture and the weave is beautiful. Its not rough on your feet and it makes the perfect addition to just about any space. I also love that Rugs USA is always running an incredible sale too! Today this rug is 80% off!! 

My moroccan style rug is seriously the softest rug I have ever felt!! Its so plush and is the perfect addition to our ever changing living room. If you are debating buying this rug, like I have heard so many of you are....GET IT! You won't be disappointed! I will say I have heard the rumor that this rug can get really dirty....its white, so yes it certainly will get dirty if you aren't careful but so far we have had no trouble keeping it clean.  No shoes please! 

At this very moment Rugs USA is giving away a $200 gift certificate on my Instagram account!!! 

Head over here for your chance to win!! 

A winner will be chosen on black friday!! 

{Contest rules}

                                                                            One time use only

Valid in the continental US
Expires in 1 year 
Cannot be combined with any other coupon codes
Valid on www.rugsusa.com only (this can be for site wide)

A Simple Christmas

A simple Christmas. This is my theme for the holiday season. Creating a home full of cheer but with a simplistic approach.

I love this time of year. The holiday season is upon us and I will admit, I've already had a red cup and listened to hours (yes hours) of holiday music. I can't help myself.
I love all the anticipation and excitement of Christmas. The parties, the food, the cheer! It truly is magical.  But what I am really hoping for this year is a simple Christmas. Not a holiday season surrounded by "stuff" but instead, one where our home is filled with visitors, loud bursts of laughter, giggling children running around, lots and lots of delicious food and of course wine!
This year, Martha Stewart Living for The Home Depot Holiday Collection had exactly what I needed to create a beautiful and simple holiday decor starting right here at our front door!
This year its all decked out in garland and a beautiful wreath along with these little lit trees. I love how it all frames our door and welcomes you in!

Our dining room is our busiest room in the house over the holiday season. 

You may recall it was just last week I had it all ready for a Thanksgiving feast.

Well, because this is where we we do the majority of our entertaining all season long it has to be ready! These chairs will hold our loved ones and I wanted this space to have a simplistic charm about it. I love my old chalkboard flanked by these wreaths. I added the linen candy stripe ribbon to them for just a touch of red. 

The felted ball garland is so sweet and such a perfect little touch to our holiday decor. 

The berry boxwood wreath will always be a Christmas favorite!

Our Family Room just recently had a makeover of its own and I was so excited to start preparing the space for the holidays! 

Along with keeping it simple it had to be cozy. Curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and read a book in front of the fire kind of cozy. I kept the room neutral and allowed my simple Christmas decor to add in just enough color. Our snowy tree is my favorite and it fits so perfectly in here. I love that I didn't need to add in a lot of decor to make the room festive but these simple choices alone where enough to make it feel like Christmas has finally arrived. 

I added in wreaths to all of our windows along with the tree and wreath above the mantle. Can I tell you how excited I am to finally have a mantle I can decorate for the holidays!

 The holidays have arrived and I want to enjoy every single moment so I'm keeping it simple here. I  hope your holiday season is one filled with friends, family and tons of good cheer! 

Merry Christmas

Jonathan Louis Furniture

Marriage. It's a complicated little arrangement and thankfully after 12 years and 3 kids ours is the best its ever been! But the one thing that I have learned and wish I had even known earlier on is that its a work in progress with one key ingredient....Compromise.
It comes in many different forms....what to eat for dinner, where to spend the holidays, how we spend our money....compromise.
I love design. I love a beautifully styled room and all the accessories perfectly in their places and pillows everywhere. I love pillows!
My husband....he loves comfort! He wants a room he can fall in to. Where he can lay his head down on the sofa and not get the side eye.
This is hard for me. I want the pretty part and he wants to feel comfortable in his own space. We needed to meet somewhere in the middle...but where?
When we moved in to our home three years ago we had to make some decisions together. One of the main ones was what kind of furniture we would put in our main living area. We went back and forth but eventually decided on our sectional. I didn't want such a large piece in the room but he really wanted a sofa he could fit comfortably on. We fortunately found one we both loved . I liked that it was pretty and he loved that he could lay on it and put his feet up. We were both winning! Well, guess what...three years later and our biggest complaint is that its way too large! We realized that we used to snuggle up together at the end of a long day and now we find ourselves on either end. We hated it! We also wanted more room. Neither of us were happy with the way the sectional divided the room so here we areon the hunt for something new!
Thats when I discovered the Clarice sofa from Jonathan Louis Furniture. I loved the style of the english rolled arms but it had to be comfortable! We chose it in the Belfast Linen with feather blend  seating. Its a feather and fiber fill and its perfection. It arrived just the other day and we are in heaven!!

Not only is it gorgeous, it's so comfortable!! I honestly have never sat on a brand new sofa and been so pleasantly surprised and I love how the overstuffed cushions look in the room. I think I went right to styling them as soon as they were delivered. How could I not!?!

Jonathan Louis was such an incredible company to work with. They helped me so much by giving me a ton of options with not only the design off the sofa but also the fabric choices. The options are endless!

We also chose the matching chair because we need more seating when we entertain and I love the look of the two side by side. I've never been one to go with a "matching set" in my design choices but these just work so well together. The lines of the sofa and chair are so beautiful, I was sure of my decision the moment I saw them in our space. 

The Jonathan Louis sofa and chair have been the perfect addition to our home! I am happy to say we have also spent a few nights and mornings cuddled up right here in front of the fire with all the kiddos happily in the loft on the old sectional. This is compromise I can live with! 

I can say in all honesty that if you are in the market for a new, beautiful and well constructed piece of furniture than Jonathan Louis is a great place to start! Beautiful design, comfort and excellent quality! All the ingredients for a perfectly styled room you will both enjoy! Check out where to find your own perfect piece HERE. 

*sponsored post /all opinion's are my own*

#PURPOSEINSTYLE

What exactly does that mean? 

To me its the foundation to a well lived in, well loved home. Styling your home in a way that brings you joy because its not only beautiful but its also and most importantly functional. 

If you spend some of your day on social media like I do, you are fully aware of how much we are exposed to what I like to call "perceived perfection" or as my husband refers to it.....Insta-sham.

The perfectly styled photos, strategically posted for our viewing pleasure. But wait.....is it for our pleasure? Because I would say that its possibly hurting some of us more than creating happiness. Its actually making some of us feel insecure, inadequate, maybe even like we are a failing in some way by not achieving this "perceived perfection' in our own lives.

I have fallen victim to these feelings at times myself. Even though I am well aware that what I am looking at took this person a lot of time to construct. It can still leave me with feelings of inadequacy or even guilt that I am not providing this same "lifestyle" for my family. Or even, dare I say, I'm jealous because I could never afford this lifestyle. Its sounds ridiculous! We are intelligent people. We are amazing parents and caring friends. We are doing our BEST! Since when was our BEST not enough? Since when did we stop listening to common sense but instead allow ourselves to listen to that little voice inside our heads saying....they are perfect, why aren't you? 

I have an Instagram account (in case you didn't know) I post a lot of what I believe to be beautiful images. I also style and restyle my home all the time. Why? It makes me happy! I also style homes for a living and it keeps me creative. For me my home is like my workshop. I'm always trying out new styles because it allows me to see what works best. Then I take a photo and IG it because I am proud of my accomplishments and I want to share them. It also allows me to bring in business to my company and my blog. That's a great thing! That doesn't mean my entire home is perfection.....you can hide a lot in a photo. And did I mention, its my job so I have the time and resources to do this. 

I won't lie...my home is pretty clean most of the time. It just is. I stay at home for my work and when I'm not working I'm cleaning. I like to clean. I really do. My family thinks I'm crazy but it makes me feel relaxed. Why fight that? But messes are reality. Does that mean I think people on social media want to see ours...probably not. But if you drop by my house someday then you might.

I love Instagram because it allows me to show my craft. It gives me instant gratification when I want to see a beautiful glossy photo of a well styled room. I get to see all kinds of Mama's loving on their babies in adorable little outfits in perfect rooms. I don't want to see their laundry piled up but I do want to know they are real. Sometimes its not the photo that I love but the words. Yes, the room looks perfect or the baby is snoozing but guess what...it was a mess an hour before this photo and the baby was crying! Sometimes you just need to know what you are seeing is real and sometimes you don't.

But mostly I want to see images of folks living. Living in their homes. Loving each other and celebrating life. Some of those images are a little more perfect then others and that's okay. The best 

part of all social media is you get to choose. You get to choose what you see and how it affects you. 

This is all leading me up to the reason for this post.
Purpose In Style.
A movement if you will. The goal... to love your home all while living in and sharing it with others. Not seeking "perceived perfection" but reality. The reality that you can have a beautiful home full of beautiful things and still feel comfortable and happy while your kids run around it like crazy, sharpie the walls and pee in places...well, that they just shouldn't. 

Because I'm not the only one craving some reality in this social media world, I have teamed up with some super talented ladies from 

White Buffalo Styling Co.

Nesting With Grace

Bliss At Home

My Sweet Savannah 

 We want to get this #purposeinstyle movement going! Let's all live in our uniquely beautiful homes and share all the life that is happening inside of them with everyone!

What is a home without the people inside to love? I feel so grateful for the friendships I have acquired through my Instagram account.
So grateful!
I've never met these women in person but I feel like I know them well through our many conversations outside of Instagram. Instagram has allowed me to be a part of a community that uplifts and supports my achievements. Let's continue this trend by sharing more of what is real.
Not confusing real with ugly but real life happening. 

I heard something in church this past week and it keeps popping in to my head as I write this.....

We impress others with our strengths but we connect with people through our weaknesses. My goal is to continue to show beautiful images of my home but I will also never stop showing it being lived in.
The photos of my girls dancing in the kitchen or running through the house bare bottomed are my favorite's and the day I allow my "likes" to dictate what I show you all will be the day I need a good slap back to reality!

All of us would like to encourage you to live authentically through your images.  Together the hashtag #purposeinstyle was created and you will begin to see it showing up in our feeds. Every week we will choose a favorite image from the #purposeinstyle hashtag and feature it on our blogs every friday. Not only that but every month we will share a round up of our favorites. Let's give each other the permission to be Real. Together lets make a stand to end the Insta-sham and in its place encourage, promote, accept and just plain be real y'all! 

Blogger Stylin Home Tour Thanksgiving Table

Once again I am so happy to be joining Lindsay from White Buffalo Styling Co. and 31 other bloggers to bring you The Blogger Stylin Home Tour Thanksgiving Tablescape addition. If you are joining me from A Thoughtful Place.....Welcome!
Can you believe its already that time of year? I can't but I'm also so happy that it is because Thanksgiving means so many things to me but most importantly it means family. Family that I rarely get to see but only a few times a year and thankfully, Thanksgiving is one of those times. It also means its a chance to serve. Not just our guests but those in our community that may need a little extra help this time of year and what a wonderful way to serve others. Filling bellies and hearts all at the same time.
My inspiration for our table this year was all about bringing the outdoors in. If you know me at all, the one thing I have always wanted was a farm to table dinner outside with white lights strung over the table. What a better time to make that happen then Thanksgiving! So I dug out my lights and hung them over the table and all of a sudden the room is transformed. I love the glow from those lights and we don't even need to turn on our pendent. Its pretty much perfect.

I wanted to keep the table simple...to much decor and there isn't enough room for all the delicious food! 

I fell in love with these napkins when I saw them and they set the tone for the rest of the table. I like simplicity in my design so I let the flowers and food add the color to the table. Of course my gold flatware looked like perfection on those napkins....I'm crushing on them hard if you can't tell!

Eucalyptus is always a favorite of mine when it comes to setting a beautiful table. Adding a few red gerbera daises for contrast and my little mandarin oranges and I had a perfect trio of color. 

I love a table of mismatched chairs. It just changes things up a little and makes it more fun! 

I hope that you are gearing up for your own Thanksgiving and thinking about your own family and friends you will share it with. How wonderful to gather and celebrate being thankful! Taking the time to truly appreciate the gifts in our lives and maybe even feel the spirit of the season calling you to serve someone else. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season! Thank you so much for joining me today. Please don't stop the tour here because Burlap and Lace has so much more. I'm heading there now myself!

Enjoy. 

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