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1 Jan 2013

Christmas House Tour - Dining and Living Room

I seem to be establishing a tradition with posting my Christmas decor on New Years (you can see last year's Christmas decor here).  This year was extra busy with the arrival of Co-pilot so the decorating was pretty minimal (which we don't mind since that's how our house tends to be decorated most of the time).  So let's get the tour started.

I'm going to be showing our L-shaped living and dining room as that's where we mostly decorated.  Let's take a look at the living room first.  Here it is viewed from the entry.  


Here's another view of the living room.  Our sofa was custom made to my own design so that it's extra long.  Our house is a ranch bungalow and that bow window is 9 feet long.  The throw pillows I made from Marimekko unikko fabric in the black, white and green colour way.  The red throw pillows are old covers from our very first sofa (so we're keeping the memory of that sofa) :). 

Here is a close up of our coffee table which is a vintage Saarinen tulip table that still needs a little TLC. We have had it for awhile now but still haven't gotten around to refinishing it.  Maybe this will be the year we get to this project :).  Our coffee table has very limited decor as it is where Little Pilot plays all the time.  On the table is Little Pilot's advent tree (more on that here) and an Iittala Aalto tray with Christmas cards so Little Pilot can look at all the lovely photo cards we received of his little friends :).  Co-Pilot received the rattle on the tray for Christmas (it's the skwish rattle from Manhattan toys).

Here is a view of the other side of the living room where we have our DIY media centre.  We made custom-length floating shelves using Ana White's plans and put two Ikea sideboards side-by-side.  Our shelves are simply styled with some Iittala glass vases (vintage, Aalto and Mariskool), books (Design Sponge at Home, Domino), a mantel clock, Oiva Toikka bird and other thrifted/yard-saled vases/bowls.  For Christmas we have a lot of red via a peppermint candy wreath (you can see more of it here), candy canes in vases, etc.  We also have our nativity set by Willow Tree.

Here are a few details of what is on the shelves.  The Aalto vase has some dogwood and fir branches with a Tiffany's silver snowflake.  I also placed a pair of knit socks made by Mummu for Little Pilot on top of one of the books for another handmade touch.  These socks are so tiny that Co-pilot outgrew them right away.  I also added more red by placing glass ball ornaments inside a vintage IIttala vase.  

Here is closer look at our Christmas tree and mantel.  We continued with our baby proof fireplace (read about it here) with the twinkle lights.  We switched them to white lights which looks 100% better with our birch logs.  The huge flower arrangement on the hearth was a gift from our neighbour.  It was too big to fit anywhere else.  We also have the nursery glider (by Monte) in the living room as it no longer fit in the boys' shared room.

Our stockings are still the same.  We added an extra initial for Co-pilot and switched up the turquoise bows from last year with green ones.

Here is a look at our tree with it's super simple gingerbread heart decorations that I made a few years ago (those puppies last forever!).  The presents were wrapped in Marimekko Unikko and Pienet Kivet paper I got from Crate and Barrel.  I was so excited that the paper matched our throw pillows :).

Here are a couple pictures of our dining room.  We have made quite a few changes to it that I will be posting about in more detail later.  We recently picked up the Saarinen Tulip Table and executive side chairs from Craigslist.  The George Nelson bubble lamp was a birthday gift.  We also DIYed the sideboard.  Again, our Christmas decorations were pretty minimal and clean.


We hung the same pinecones in front of the window as last year, but switched up the ribbons.  I also put a few extra pinecones and ornaments in a wooden box.  A milk glass vase holds more branches decorated with some thrifted vintage glass ornaments.  I was very spoiled this Christmas and got the turquoise Aalto vase from my sister and the clementine-filled Iittala Ultima Thule platter on the dining table from the boys.

So that's a mini Christmas tour of our house.  I hope you enjoyed it!


12 comments:

  1. oh anu! you lucky girl with your new saarinen table! it fits in so well and so do your new chairs and lamp!
    i'm glad your family spoiled you this christmas - you deserve it! ♥

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  2. oh my gosh, i loooove your decor. and your diys and vision with the ikea units...i wish i could think like that! love everything.

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  3. Your house is beautiful! It looks like it comes straight out of a magazine. I love the white theme!

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  4. I'm a fan of the modern look and I find your living and dining room stunning!
    Love, Olga (blogging at www.stardust-decorstyle.blogspot.com)

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  5. I really like your dining room buffet. Did you make it yourself or is it an Ikea purchase?

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    1. Thanks so much! We made the buffet ourselves out of kitchen cupboards and a custom milled cherry wood top. I will be posting about the buffet with all the DIY details soon.

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  6. I love that airplane print that you have in your dining room. May i ask where you got it?

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    1. Thanks! The print is called "Wings Over Manhatten" - We got it at HomeSense the Canadian version of HomeGoods. Here is a link to where I think you can buy it; http://www.zgallerie.com/p-10847-wings-over-manhattan.aspx. I also blogged about the painting here if you would like to see more. :) http://www.nalleshouse.com/2012/01/watch-out-new-york-its-dc4-or-is-it-dc6.html. I hope that helps:)!

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  7. I love your curtains. Did you make or purchase them?

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    1. Thanks Jackie! I made the curtains from Marimekko lumimarja fabric in the sateen weight. They are just simple flat panels that are clipped onto a drapery track.

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  8. Which ikea sideboards did you use for the media area? Gorgeous!

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