I’m kicking off my 2016 holiday gift guide series with suggestions for the hostess-with-the-mostess in your life. Whether it’s the cutest cheese board ever, this adorable mask bottle opener, or this ‘Fancy Another?’ serving tray (in just a few months, I’ll take one two three others!), any party thrower would love to receive these gifts.
Yesterday, Sasha finally caved and bought something we’ve been talking about for months: a new king bed. He recently agreed to redo our bedroom, which is the only room in the house which didn’t get redone when we moved in together after our wedding. After months of pinning dream rooms and even publishing this dedicated master bedroom post, we embarked on the redesign process by buying the Isabel king bed from Ethan Allen (this is it, but we ordered it without the nail heads and with the diamond tufts). I am super excited.
For some reason, this room has caused me the most mental anguish – other rooms in the house were no-brainers when designing and decorating them. Perhaps it’s due to the small amount of time I have in the day to plan! So the other night I sat down on the computer, opened up Photoshop, and created our new bedroom – bed, nightstands, dresser, couch, desk, etc. Fortunately for Sasha, I like our current rug (and well, that’s about all).
[are you following along on Pinterest?]
After playing around with different pieces of furniture, I rearranged everything multiple times. In order to create out playroom, we recently moved the futon and my small desk into our large-and-previously barren room. Once the bed and nightstands arrive (we went for these ones), and we move the room around, we’ll decide if the futon needs to go back to the playroom. I definitely want a reading nook (à la this photo), so we’ll keep the floral chair we have in the room for now and add an accent table and perhaps snatch up a new chair if I see one for a good price at Home Goods (they sometimes have the best ones!). I am looking at different grays for the walls and thinking about even having an accent wall of some sort. Decisions, decisions.
So here we go, our new room ‘plan’:
As I mentioned yesterday, the Santa stockings are opened at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning – who has the control to wait any longer? After ripping through our stockings, we were made as children to go upstairs and get dressed up for the big present opening. As a child, this killed me. It used to be so difficult to see the gifts under the tree but know I had to put on a dress before finding out what was inside. Now I love this tradition of getting dolled up! It makes Christmas all the more exciting to have the entire family look fancy.
We’ve always opened the gifts by the big tree in my parent’s living room, and will do the same in our house. Our living room connects with our dining room and the entrance (it’s very open plan), so I had to decorate everything in a similar rustic Christmas theme. Getting to decorate the house is one of my favorite activities and traditions of the year (and involves lots of trips to Hobby Lobby, Crate & Barrel, West Elm and Target).
After we finish opening all of the gifts (distributed to everyone by my dad, who sits right beside the tree), we settle down at the dining room table and enjoy a delicious Christmas lunch. Since my family is from Scotland, this meal has always been a much bigger deal than Thanksgiving (an American tradition we adopted after a few years in Texas). We’ll have to factor in Isla’s feeding and nap times in the equation, but I know we’ll make it work and am so excited to have her be a part of this tradition.
The Holiday Collection at Carter’s has a number of sweet fancy dresses for little girls (and equally cute formal outfits for boys) that are perfect for our present opening celebration. When I saw this sweet Shimmer Satin Dress in Pink, I knew I had found Isla’s first Christmas day outfit. It is not overtly Christmasy, which I like, as she can wear it again and again. However, it is very cupcake-esque, and I think it’s just perfect this big occasion. Isla absolutely loved the tulle layer, and by loved, I mean wanted to eat. As for a baby boy’s Christmas attire, I’d have him in the Button Front Shirt and Corduroy Pull-On Pants. Seriously so precious!
What are your Christmas tree present traditions? Do you open them right when you get up? Are they wrapped or unwrapped? I love hearing other family’s traditions!
In case you missed it, you can read Monday’s post our annual family photo tradition, Tuesday’s post about the Christmas Eve candlelit church service, and yesterday’s post about opening stockings on Christmas morning. Make sure you enter to win the $100 Carter’s gift card and free outfit of your choice from the Isla’s First Christmas with Carter’s series!
As I mentioned here, our house is already decked out in Christmas decor, which makes me one happy lady (I cannot wait to share photos on Monday!). I go totally crazy at the holidays – I embrace Christmas festivity with open arms. I have begun playing carols, and one night while listening to one of my favorite Christmas albums (um, Glee… don’t judge me!), I decided to make some carol prints for our house.
Sasha has finally (yes, finally!) agreed to redo our master bedroom. It was the only room in the house that we did not buy a new furniture set for when we moved, and I have been dying to decorate the room in a style that better sits both of us. I have long lusted after a crisp, cream room with a tall, fabric headboard, light bedside tables, a pop of color (perhaps in the pillows), a big mirror, tall bookshelf, big armoire, etc.
I have been saving images of my favorite master bedrooms on my computer, many of which are shown below. I will be bringing these with me as I begin my furniture shopping in the next few weeks. If you’ve got a good idea as to where I can find similar items to the pictures below in Houston (or online), please let me know! I’ve got Ethan Allen, West Elm, Restoration Hardware, Crate and Barrel, Design Within Reach, and Pottery Barn on my list.
You can also check out my dream kitchens and living room posts. Up next? Gorgeous office spaces.
My sister’s house
My sister’s house
Glitter Guide
Cupcakes and Cashmere
Shop Similar Pieces
