kswl, would you mind sharing how you arranged your nutcrackers on your DR table? I gathered all of mine from the mantel and placed them on a silver tray for starters. I see some of your are elevated? I love how it looks! Thanks!

Thank you for all the kind words. They mean a LOT coming from this group!

kmcg85, I got several boxes plus three or four soup mugs with a 3" diameter bottom and arranged the nutcrackers on them. The key is to have a variety of sizes of boxes, and it's even better if you have a variety of nutcracker sizes. I played around with them for several hours, going back and moving this one or that. I found (counterintuitively, for me) that the largest nutcracker looked best on the highest box. Some of the boxes are big enough to have two or three nutcrackers, and others were only wide enough for a single one. The rest I put on the table itself.

At first I have them too spread out... they looked as though i had left them on the dining room table temporarily on their way to another room. I moved them in towards each other and the closer they got, the better it looked. We're only having six for Christmas Eve dinner, so I put them in the dead center where people can talk across the table on either side.

After I got them in place (or thought I did) I draped a two yard remnant of lovely silk satin over all the boxes. This fabric has a beautiful hand, and covered all the boxes and fell decoratively into beautiful folds almost by itself. I rolled the edges of the fabric in towards the nutcrackers on all sides and it just looked exactly as I wanted it to!

I purchased the fabric in Macon, GA. My tablecloth is ecru and the designer who told me to do all this said to find fabric in a "coin" gold colour. This pale champagne was the closest I could come in gold that was not lame (which he said would be terrible). I had gold jacquard napkins so that worked out well. My original plan was to use a white tablecloth and red silk to drape, and use Christmas napkins. In the end, that was TOO red (as you can see there's already a lot of it in the room) and this color scheme allowed the nutcrackers to stand out more.

Newhomebuilder, we rescued our JRT from the county animal control in the next county. Our beloved cockerpoo Max died of cancer in August after 17 years with us. Madness seized me one day and I picked up Lucy and never looked back.

That is a tennis court, btw. When we moved we either had to find a house with a court or with enough land to build one, it is a DH house requirement. This house had the court, and all we had to do was resurface and do the lighting. He works odd hours and likes to play sometimes at 11 pm with the ball machine.

Absolutely lovely!

There is a picture of a Christopher Radko tray and family silver but I am really interested in the spoons in that photo. Could you tell me where you purchased them?

xamsx, you will NEVER guess where I found those ceramic serving spoons... are you sitting down?

Our local Hallmark card store! Our store carries some unusual items and I bought several of the holly leaf servers AND two beautiful coral rose (literally, the flower shape like mine are holly) servers for my mother. They are absolutely beautiful, and have NO markings of any kind. They were about $8 or $9 each, and I wanted to order several to keep for hostess gifts, but could not find out enough information to even determine where they were made. The manager of the store is not the owner and did not order the items.

I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to describe the beauty of your home and accessories.

Gorgeous, breathtaking, magnificent, fantastic, welcoming...
none of them do your home justice.

Where are you located?

I'm having the same problem that Mona is! :) Your home is absolutely delightful....stylish and sophisticated without being off-putting. I love your sense of color, too. I'm sure that your tour guests enjoyed visiting your home.

kswl -
I'm at a loss for words - so many thoughts running through my mind - WOW, gee how long did it take to decorate that home?, I'm really under decorated....
What a lovely home, beautifully/tastefully decorated -
Thanks so much for sharing - really a delight
Sit back and enjoy Christmas - looks like you have been at it for quite sometime!

kswl - I thought you built your home. Can't believe you found such a great home to buy.

Condolences for losing your Max. I know how you feel. We lost our Oreo (a shelter dog, part Sheltie/Corgi) to lung cancer a few years ago. He was also 17. Had to put him to sleep. :(

Our Riley is now 9 years old. She is a sweetie.

newhomebuilder, she is darling!

How do you cope with the shedding? We've never had a shedding dog, and this one.... it is impossible to keep up with! I am bathing her weekly with a "shedless" shampoo (from Petsmart) and we occasionally use that glove with the rubber spikes (very short, all over the glove) and "brush" her the wrong way with that. It does get a lot of loose hair, but she seems to have an unlimited supply. ;(

Our house was anything but great when we bought it. We 've had to make a 100 ft dry creek bed to control water runoff, have had issues with the creek and pond, and every single room in the house was painted BROWN when we bought the house. We've had the entire house painted (even the ceilings were red), redid the kitchen, built the library and rec room, summer kitchen, put in wood floors, etc. But DH loved it (he would have loved it with no changes, but said I could do what I wanted with it). Thankfully!

Gorgeous. You have so many beautiful pieces. Also love all the toile. Favorite part, though, is your special hostess Lucy.

That's weird, I replied to monablair TWICE and neither appeared. Hmmm.

Mona, my town is small and is a little more than an hour south of Atlanta, :)

Wow! Looks beautiful! I am curious...how many tubs, boxes, etc of Christmas stuff do you have. I don't have near as much of Christmas stuff, but I have a ton ad I have probably 20 totes! I cannot imagien what you have!!!

Lol, summiebee, we have about 50 or so plastic tubs and 10 big wreath holders. We are FINALLY building a storeroom in the basement just for all these Christmas things!

Wow!! Absolutely Beautiful!!! Makes me want to have Christmas at your house! You have a very beautiful house, as well!!!

Your home is stunning! I love your 12 days of Christmas plates and the white spoons. Can you tell me about your gorgeous runner? It looks like Ekelund. That's just a fantastic vignette (love the cake!). : )

WOW!

The runner is from Williams Sonoma, chicoryflower, and I bought the plates online at a site called fancyflours.com
They have the most wonderful sheets of Christmas scenes made on potato starch and printed with edible ink that you "glue" to the fronts of sugar cookies with corn syrup on a little brush. I saw the cookies at Halloween (really lovely vintage Halloween scenes) and found the Christmas ones while I was looking at the site.

I heard about that site when I was out in Utah this fall and just loved the plates. They were $20 for four and are now on sale for $12, so of course I now have four more on their way to me :) The mugs and spoons also came from Williams Sonoma.

Oh my, gorgeous is just not even the correct word!!

My house wants to be your house when it grows up!! I love your bookcases....my house has none & I have boxes of books up in the attic:(

The Christmas decorations & your home are both very classy.

Smiles:)

Just finished going back through the side show. I am speechless with envy. LOL You even have the white kitchen that I so miss from my previous home! Beautiful home and outstanding decor, both in everyday and Christmas.

Do you live in Macon? My dad grew up there.

What do I do about the dog shedding? Try to ignore it!

Seriously, it is awful, and I would have never gotten a smooth-coat had I known that they shed so bad. I understand the wire coats aren't as bad. We brush Riley, and vacuum the floors a lot. We also give her coat conditioning supplements. It's really fish oil and it goes in her food or a pill pocket.

Riley has her "areas", which include all area rugs, and a few pieces of furniture. lol We keep small blankets on the two chairs that she sleeps on, as well as a towel for lounging on our bed. She loves to be in the sunshine and our bedroom is in the sun 12/24.

BTW - Our vet told us NOT to bath Riley, as it destroys the natural oils in her skin and actually produces more shedding. He says that he has never bathed his own poodle.

So far, the only baths that Riley has had (besides running through a rain storm) is when she had a run-in with a skunk, or the time she threw herself all over a bloddy dead possum, and also all the times she has decided she would smell better if she rolled in dog poop.

Didn't mean to get off the subject, but you asked. lol

Enjoy the rest of your Christmas holiday in that gorgeous home.

We actually live about an hour northwest of Macon, NHB, and one son goes to school there so I am there a lot.

Since we live in a rural area our Lucy rolls in dead birds, deer piles, etc. If we didn't bathe her regularly she couldn't even come into the house! She loves barking at beaver lodges on the creek and plunges in the muddy water whenever DH and DS are breaking down the dams. I bought her expensive "no by products" dog food until I found that she was hiding an old armadillo plate outside to chew on. She has eaten about half of it and runs like the wind if we try to get it away from her, so I can only assume that by-products are what make the food taste good!

Simply wonderful -- a magazine-worthy show!

Brillant use of color and texture -- your whole home is just such a treasure! :)

It was so kind of you to help a charity and allow so many folks the opportunity to see your home!

Jan

I love, love, love your style. Everything is beautiful, but I really enjoyed the small things. It is true that beauty is in the details. What fun the ribbon wrapped candles are! You didn't leave one bow, ribbon, or pillow unfluffed. It sounds like we are a couple of hours apart -I was in Columbus yesterday. I always try to get to the
Cash and Carry Atlanta Market. What fun that is. Anyway, your home is gorgeous, but also very inviting and comfortable. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit!! Thanks

Fauxchick56, I took a peek at your profile...our family has a house at Lake Martin and DH is from Opelika ! You've probably seen the "Southern traditional" style many, many times before in your work; it's not cutting edge but it's us and it is comfortable. :)

"dead birds, deer piles, etc." JOY!

If your son goes to Mercer, that's a great school.

kswl: did you and your DH look at the Victorian Porch Tour pics I posted? We are in Opelika :). Loved looking at your slideshow. If you are in the area please e-mail and maybe we can meet for lunch. Caroline

Caroline, I WONDERED about those porches... they looked so familiar! DH's best friend growing up lived in a house with a wonderful porch on 8th Avenue (or Street). It was the porch of all porches, to him and later to me. I will show him those photos! I will certainly email, we'll be back this holiday season just on christmas day, but will be back in February.

NHB, son goes to high school in Macon, your DH probably knows it, it is on the north side of town, non-sectarian and is the best academically in our area. He is a junior... lots of driving back and forth!

Would have been 8th St. And that is where I am ! WOW ! All of the porches on 8th are in the slide show. If he knows the house number you can e-mail it to me . The world is small place....Would love to meet up. c

My gosh, Caroline, yes, 8th street! The house DH spent time in is the house where a boy lived with the same name as a well-loved cartoon character :) They may have moved too long ago for you to know about it. I will show him the pictures tonight.

kswl, thanks. I am definitely going to have to be on the lookout.

KSWL,
I enjoyed that show so much. I have spent the better part of today going over and over the photos. I am really feeling the season now. Your home is absolutely lovely and the decorating that you have done is so charming. I love it all and to think you raised money for a good cause also.
Some people just have that extra gene for things well done and you really have it. I envy you your talent and beautiful home.

Well, congratulations! on your lovely home, the beautiful Christmas decor, the tour and the fundraiser. That is the real spirit of Christmas, home, thinking of and doing for others, allowing those of us here to enjoy your beautiful home and tour. Although tiresome, it was all worth it and what a great way to be tired, when it benefits others.

kswl, yes I do love the Southern Traditional look, and I have seen a lot of it - Not all of it good though :) IMO, it never goes out of style. Done correctly, it seems to be forever.

I forgot that I had even put anything in my profile. When I read it again, I chuckled over the part about getting used to being at home with DH. We both went back to work as soon as we recovered from the house construction!!

Love that tapestry! Where did you find it?

kmcg85, I bought that tapestry from the Pierre Deux catalog several years ago.... but I have seen it in the Charleston Gardens catalog for much, MUCH less. The difference is one colour that mine had and the CG one did not have. Often companies will make an "exclusive" product for a company, then turn around and change a tiny, unnoticeable detail for the non-exclusive (same) product and sell it far and wide. I love the tapestry, but wish I had found it a bit later than I did.

Found it! Thankyou!

The tapestry is only $35 more at Pierre Deux! Hmmm...The background of the PD version looks like a brown? I can't zoom on the CG one, so hard to see the difference, but I'm loving the PD one!

Yes, the PD center part (background for the tree) is a rich chocolate brown. I went to the CG website and it looks very similar, km, and it is pricier than it was a few years ago so it may be nearly identical. It hangs nicely because it is substantial but not overly heavy. (We had to put up a scaffolding over the stair opening because the tapestry went on a wall that just had stairs underneath.)

If you get it please post a picture, I would LOVE to see it in another setting!

If anyone is curious about how many users and lurkers there are on this forum, I checked my smugmug account this morning and there have been almost 265,000 hits on the Christmas tour that is linked in the original post. That includes all separate looks at all the photographs in the gallery, so it doesn't represent 265,000 different people, but still.... there are 84 photos in the gallery and assuming each person goes through it once (if they have the patience) that is still over 3,000 views... amazing.

I opened the smugmug account a few weeks ago and the tour upload is the only public gallery of mine. I am continually surprised that so many people read this forum!

How gorgeous is that! Your home is just wonderful - thank you for sharing!

STUNNING! Your home is very warm and very lovely. I love the green and raspberry colors. I have a bright green foyer--similar color to yours and I love it. Just wanted to tell you how pretty I think your home is...

Thank you! I was worried about the green and red striped fabric for the club chairs in the LR but our designer promised it would not be too much and he was right... it is my favorite fabric now :)

Wow, gorgeous home, K! I cannot believe the amount of Christmas decorations you have---beautifully executed! Thank you for sharing with us. :)

Good golly, I loved it...that green color is fab! I think I have about as much Christmas "stuff" as you do, but unfortunately this is the first year I've not gotten to decorate. We've had a family tragedy and have also been in remodel h%ll on a lake home we bought, so no go for me this year. I so enjoyed looking at your beautiful home. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. How MANY poinsettias, paper whites and wreaths??? Oh child, bless your heart. Christmas decorating really is so much darn work. It looks so great when it's done, but then, if you are like me, you're usually too pooped to enjoy it. HA!

Now to a question that nooooooooooo one has asked you...and probably never would. What does the little sign say in regards to the "temperamental toilet?" That's what we are beginning to call ours. This lake place (built in 1952, hence the remodel) is not on a septic system, but it still has some flushing issues even with the new toilets we bought. We've been thinking of making up a little sign, too, for guests. Something like, "flush often and with gusto...flushing is free, plunging is not." Would also like to include something for the shower doors....."if you see a squeegee, USE IT!" Wow, I'm sounding like such a lovely hostess, huh? HA!

Anyway, if you care to share the sign sentiment, that would be great. And once again, thank you so much for sharing your lovely home with us. I wish you a very blessed holiday!

pup

I finally got an opportunity to view your photos, and WOW! What a gorgeous home, and you've decked your halls in such a warm, welcoming manner! (Sadly, I did get numerous "Photo Not Found" messages, so I was unable to see everything full-size, darn it!) What I was able to view, though, is just stunning. Looks like the perfect place to ring in the holidays!

kswl, WOW! I just had a chance to go through all your pictures. Your home is absolutely stunning! I can't even imagine having and putting out all those decorations - they are wonderfully done. Congratulations and I hope you and your family enjoy the holidays.

LOL, pupwhipped, the signs :) We are so lucky, we have TWO septic tanks, double the trouble! We have the signs in the two upstairs guest bathrooms, printed out in a nice font with a clip art picture of a dragon (red and yellow) for the toile bathroom and green and tan for the green one. The signs are framed and on the counters:

Once Upon a Time,
a beautiful house was built out in the
countryside. It had a quaint feature
called a SEPTIC TANK .

The septic tank was a quiet monster hiding
underground just waiting for someone to
teed it. When a visitor would unknowingly
flush a no-no, it would roar like a great
mythical beast and cause havoc, nasty
floods, and complete turmoil in this
otherwise (reasonably) happy home.

PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE MONSTER!
Do not flush anything inorganic
down the commode except toilet paper,
and feel free to flush multiple times
if much paper is needed. Sanitary bags
are in the cupboard.... the house thanks
you in advance!

Tooooo funny! Maybe I need to get a little more creative with my sign. I will confess, as far as the TP goes, I am the worst offender. Can't imagine anyone using MORE then me. Maybe I'm the problem and I don't need a sign after all...except for the squeegee one.

Thanks for responding and Merry Christmas to you. With all your hard work, you deserve the happiest of holidays!

pupwhipped

I can't believe I missed this before! I just thought it was an HGTV tour of homes and never opened the post. They wish!

Absolutely gorgeous!!

Thanks, Parma :)

Pupwhipped, I'm glad you like the sign. I keep brown bags (small, lunchbag sized) under the vanities in the public rest rooms. So far we have only had one major stop up since the signs went out, not bad for the past two years!

Truly absolutely beautiful, when can I move in? I love how all your colors flow from room to room so gracefully!