What happens when two of your favorite brands get together to create the ultimate collection?! Fan girl freaking out moment here… Anthropologie Home at Nordstrom is seriously magical you guys. I think the best part about Anthro home style is that there is something for everyone. The pieces in this collection are so versatile, and YES affordable. Win-win! Plus it’s giving me major Spring vibes.
‘Tis the season to be jolly and ’tis the season to decorate! Seriously… who doesn’t love decorating their home for the holidays? There’s just something about a home filled with beautiful decorations that makes me feel like a kid again. The Christmas nostalgia is real!
I’m so excited to let y’all know that I’ve teamed up with a fabulous set of lady bloggers to bring you a Home for the Holidays Blog Hop. There’s so much beautiful holiday inspo going on in this group of gals. I hope that you’re able to gather a number of ideas for your Christmas decor. Also, be sure to pin and share your favorite ideas along the way! If you scroll down to the bottom of this post, you can find a list of all the participating bloggers.
And now, welcome to The Holtz House: Holiday Edition…
Believe it or not, I actually started dreaming up my theme for this year’s Christmas decor this past summer. I know… it sounds totally crazy! But- summer flea markets are a great place to snag some awesome items to incorporate within your holiday decorating. When I stumbled upon this green tackle box pictured above, it served as my inspiration. This year, I decided to go with a traditional red and green theme with vintage touches. No sparkle and bling… just neutral colors and natural woods.
When I attended the Urban Farmgirl Main Street Market in September, I stumbled upon this gorgeous vintage sled and knew that it had to be mine. It was perfection once I added the ice skates and decorative Christmas swag. I originally wanted to add this to our front porch decor, but I liked it so much that I decided I would get to look at it a whole lot more indoors. 😉
With the chilly weather making an appearance this week, it’s beginning to feel a lot like FALL! I’ve been craving all things fall in my home from pumpkin decor, flannel blankets and yummy apple-scented candles. I just want my house to feel as warm and cozy as possible. One of my decor staples in our living room that makes the space feel extra comfy and welcoming has to be our area rug. If you’re on the hunt for a new rug, search no more! I’m sharing with you the 6 best farmhouse rugs on a budget.
1. allen + roth Briarwick Gray Rectangular Indoor Woven Rug from Lowe’s – Starting off the list with my official pick of the bunch (See my living room photo above). This rug is such a great steal for the price. It’s super soft, and very much on the plush side. It also comes in a number of different colors. I can tell you from my own personal experience that it doesn’t shed at all, and it vacuums really well. I will tell you that the cream color does have some flecks of light yellow string. But don’t let this freak you out… I actually love it because number one, it hides dirt. And number two, it creates a warm, creamy tone in the rug.
2. nuLOOM Geometric Moroccan Bead Pattern Grey/ White Rug from Overstock – I’m obsessed with the pattern on this rug. I feel like it’s so different than anything I’ve seen before yet versatile enough to work in almost any space. My friend recently purchased this rug for her bedroom, and it’s just as gorg in person. I will say that the rug isn’t a true white, definitely more of a cream color. Also, it’s slightly on the thin side so it might be worth investing in a rug pad for this one.
When my husband and I decided to build our home, we knew we wanted open concept. The thought of having one big great room for our kitchen/living/dining was perfect for us. Not only does it create a perfect experience for entertaining, I’m hoping that down the road when we have little ones, it will make our lives a bit easier as well.
I thought I would share a little tour of our Farmhouse Great Room to show how we set up our furniture to break up the space and to still make it feel purposeful.
When you walk in our front door, we knew we wanted our entry way to make a statement. My husband and I both fell in love with this Metal Orb Chandelier from World Market, and you really can’t beat it for the price. A similar option from Pottery Barn will cost you almost three times as much. This light fixture gave the space a rustic/industrial feel the second you walk in the door.
Also, one of the upgrades in our home that we opted for was our front door. Again, with such a grandiose entry way from the outside and the interior, we knew this was worthwhile and would immediately give the house some more curb appeal. We went with the Therma-Tru Classic-Craft Canvas Collection fiberglass door with the craftsman grille and sidelites.
I just love neutrals and simplicity. That’s why we opted to paint the majority of our house using Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter. It’s the ultimate ‘greige’ paint. Depending on the lighting, your furniture and decor, this color can look look anywhere from a light tan color to a cooler gray. I like that it keeps the space light, bright and airy. We painted our trim a slightly off-white using Benjamin Moore White Dove. Our builder recommended that we stay away from a true white, because it tends to show dirt and dust much easier.
We also had a very specific vision (and budget) in mind for our light fixtures in our kitchen and dining spaces. We knew what look we wanted, but had a very specific budget we wanted to stick to. When a building a house, it’s so very easy to go over on lighting. It can really add up fast! So when we discovered Menard’s Patriot Lighting® Judd 13″ Olde Bronze 1-Light Mini Pendant we were thrilled.
After watching countless episodes of Fixer Upper, I always knew I wanted a “Joanna Gaines-inspired” farmhouse chandelier for our dining nook. I’m telling you… the lighting selection at World Market has to be a best-kept secret. The looks are so on trend, but yet an incredibly affordable price. We went with the Rustic Wire Chandelier. The color is a matte gray, but I’ve read some reviews from buyers who decided to paint it black and had great success. For me, I don’t mind the gray color… but if you’re set on black this could be an option.
My absolute favorite part of our Farmhouse Great Room has to be our fireplace. Truth be told, I never realized how large it would be until we started looking at mantle selections, but I’m in love. Without it, I’m not sure the space would have the same flow. When building our house, the fireplace was always a must-have. Living in Illinois where it’s pretty cold at least six months out of the year, it’s so nice to have as a practical heat source in addition to being a focal point.
Rather than a traditional brick fireplace, we opted for stone to give it a more rustic look. Our mantle is an actual old barn beam that came from a local farm here in our area. We decided to showcase the slots in the wood by leaving them in the front to show the authenticity of the piece. This serves no purpose, just injects some character. (We get this question a lot.) The beam was sanded before it was installed, but we decided not to stain it, because we loved how it looked just raw.
Finally, to enhance our home’s rustic, farmhouse look, we decided to go with hickory wood flooring for our entire great room. We knew that we wanted a wood that was a bit harder, and would be able to handle some wear and tear from our dog and future children. Originally, we thought we wanted a wider plank and dark floor. But we completely changed our minds and decided with a more narrow plank to hide any flaws and a lighter color so we didn’t need to keep up with the cleaning quite as often. I have to say… this was a GREAT decision for us.
Traditionally, hickory isn’t a wood that is typically stained. However, I knew that I wanted to eliminate any sort of yellow tones that the wood has a tendency to show. We went with Minwax Weathered Oak Wood Finish with a matte top coat. This was one of the only decisions that the hubby and I couldn’t agree on… I was Team Stain and he was Team Natural. After much debate, the right team won (obviously) and today he agrees that it was the right choice. I win!
That pretty much covers our whole great room… if you have any questions at all, please ask! I hope you found this home tour blog post helpful when it comes your own renovation/building projects.
xo,
lauren
My mother-in-law is the queen of garage sales. She’s a woman of many talents, but her garage sale skills are top notch. She once bought a high top wooden kitchen table with four chairs for $5. After four years, we still have it in our house. That’s skill!
One of my favorite finds that she brought home last summer was a coffee table/end table set that she got for $30. The set is great quality, super sturdy and heavy with black iron piping on the bottom shelf.
When transforming a piece of furniture, I think it’s so important to start with a quality piece in order to transform it into a quality piece.
Fixing this baby up was super simple… if you’re willing to dedicate the time, anyone can do it. Here we go:
Supplies
Gilded Journey Carafe
Fringe Duvet Cover