Holiday House Tour ~ Our Kitchen

I thought I'd start with our kitchen because, well, it needed a good clean and this was just what would get me to do it.



I've decorated our kitchen for Christmas with lots of stuff in the past.  This year I spent a lot of time of just decorating it a bit, keeping it looking simple (although nothing is simple, really, right?)

I like the open look of it, uncluttered.  It reflects my style now.  But you never know, it could all change before Christmas.

I fell in love with these little sugared houses at an antique shop.



And April Cornell place mats... round and quilted



Little ginger breads on the kitchen tree



Tea... always tea



I keep this Susan Branch planner on a cookbook stand. I write all of the meals I need to cook in there, to do's... I turned to a clean page so I don't scare you.







I love them during the day...





and at night too







All of our 'holiday' teas are out now.



It's 'her' first Christmas in our house... swoon...





And these are long ago dishes that I found. 'New' (to us) everyday Christmas dishes. They remind me of 'christmas in the forest' from last year. And they remind me of how much my girls adore stuffed animals. And they will always remind me of our 20th married Christmas (this year) because we bought them for each other to celebrate our 20th Christmas this year.







Christmas in my kitchen is a happy place. It's quiet and dark in the mornings, busy and full in the afternoons, and calm at night.











And even though I like when it looks like this...



and this...



it most often looks like this...



and that's a good thing.

because I want them to remember how I do of childhood... how a kitchen felt... not how it looked.



messy and full, and scribbled... and happy.



Merry Christmas!