Hi, Friends! How’s your week going? It’s already Thursday…a week away from Christmas Day exactly~YIKES and can you believe it? I feel like I say this every year, but man, it sneaks up quicker and quicker each year, doesn’t it? I sort of secretly despise those people that think it’s fun to tell you how many Thursdays you have ’til Christmas….grrrrrr! haha!
Although I really love a house beautifully decorated for the holidays, I love the idea of one day getting away to Santa Fe or Aspen for Christmas…ya know, when my boys are all in college. I think it would be fun to do it a little differently one day. I’ll decorate clients’ houses for Christmas and then we’ll all hop on a plane as a family to celebrate Christmas in a cozy little ski resort town. Sounds much more relaxing than the stereotypical ” shop-til-you-drop-decorate-bake-stress- til- Christmas-day-then-it’s-all-over-clean-it-up” saga. Yeah, I think that’s my future plan. Simple and without much fuss. But I do want twinkly white lights and maybe a White Christmas wherever we go one of these days. And a roaring fire in a big fireplace….
I’m doing my Christmas House Tour in 2 parts again this year: Part 1- Christmas Porch Tour and Part 2- Christmas House Tour. Today is the Porch Tour, and I hope to have the House Tour on the blog in a few days. This is the first Christmas with the new porch floor color and it made everything look so much better! ( To read about our porch update, click here.) The front door also got a new paint job in August, and the new color has worked great with the different seasons. ( for a before and after of the front door paint update, click here ) I kept the exterior colors for Christmas neutral again this year, very similar to last year’s colors on the house exterior and on the porch. ( Christmas Porch Tour 2013 ) This year, I added some linen French script ribbon to the top of the exterior window wreaths, a burlap bow, a pine garland, and a silver orb pick for a bit of color and shine. Each window also has an electric candle in it, garland is draped around the wrap around porch railing with white lights and burlap ribbons, and I added fresh greenery, berries, & pinecones around the porch. I like it because it’s rustic, elegant, & simple!
This is a little area outside the garage that we added a little flagstone step area to many years ago. Because the siding looked so plain and boring, I added a planter and an antique oval iron wall piece years ago, too. It adds interest and I change the planter seasonally. The lettuce and cabbage were growing so well, so I just added greenery, pinecones, and a few silver & gold ornaments to the planter.
I didn’t get a good picture of it, but the front window on the first floor has a Christmas tree in the window with white lights, thus, no wreaths on those windows. There are also 2 gold grapevine deer with white lights in the front yard. We got slack this year and didn’t put lights on the 2 Arborvitaes in the front flower bed. It looked really good the past few years when we did, but nobody wanted to climb 9 feet on a ladder to fuss with a bunch of lights, so…… it didn’t happen this year. :-/ ( oh, and College Boy did the lights last year and wasn’t around this year for those fun festivities 🙂
I was going to change the Pellegrino bottles from this Summer for something else, but then I realized I really liked the way the green, red, and pale aqua blue looked with the Christmas greenery and berries. The Ballard’s giant clamshell planter, crusty urn, and lantern have worked really well from season to season, too.
The weather was so nice Sunday when I was working on the porch. Mid 60’s and sunshine. It made decorating the porch and cutting greenery much more enjoyable. I used Leyland cypress, Arborvitae, Boxwood, Gardenia, and Burning Bush berries to decorate this year. The Burning Bush berries are in the crusty urn on the driftwood table ( pictured above ) and were a real surprise for me. I have had those bushes for almost 13 years and have never noticed the berries until this year! Aren’t they so pretty? Last year, I tried using less conventional greenery for Christmas like Anise shrub leaves, which have more of an apple green hue to them. They add nice interest for a change, and they are plentiful in my front yard. ( To see them on my 2013 Christmas mantle, click here ) But my favorite greenery to use at Christmas is probably Leyland Cypress and Arborvitae. I have several of these types of trees in my yard, but one of my good friends in my neighborhood has plenty and so generously shares her trees with me!
I hope you have all your decorating & shopping done so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the Season a bit before it’s over. I still just want to sit down in front of the fire, watch a good Christmas movie, and drink Hot Toddies. I’m pretty sure the reality is that most of us are rushing around doing last minute things, our kids are getting out of school, and the craziness is in full force, right?!! Thank you for stopping by today…always appreciate y’all!
‘Tis the Season!! xoxo
Sheila Wilson says
January 8, 2015 at 10:32 pmYour blog is fabulous! I so enjoyed it! Went to Dalton with your mom and Nancy today. We had such fun. You’re mother does like to shop!
mimirobins says
January 19, 2015 at 3:32 pmHey, Sheila! Thank you for your kind words and for visiting my blog 🙂 Glad you ladies always have such fun together… and yes, she LOVES to shop! She passed that gene on to me, as well! 🙂 xoxo
Kristen says
October 18, 2015 at 1:22 pmI LOVE the paint color combo!! What shade of brown did you use on your shutters?
mimirobins says
November 1, 2015 at 3:49 pmHi, Kristen~ Thank you! It’s Caribou by Duron paint. An older color that can still be found at any Sherwin Williams store. 🙂
Mary Cupp says
January 28, 2016 at 5:01 amLove you decor….what color is the front door? Love it…
mimirobins says
February 8, 2016 at 1:19 pmHi, Mary! Thanks so much! The front door is Mermaid Net by Behr. You can find all our exterior paint colors here, if you’d like: here 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Lauren says
March 28, 2016 at 7:37 pmHi Melanie! Love the colors you used for your home! I am having a difficult time finding the right grey color for my exterior that doesn’t turn to pink or green or blue. Do you know the brand and color name of your siding paint?
Thanks, Lauren
mimirobins says
April 6, 2016 at 11:33 pmHi, Lauren! “I painted the front door in an old Duron color called “Caribou.” Our HardiePlank is also by Duron in an older color called “Pewter Works.” That was the original color of our house 12 years ago, and it still is a great color. It appears more gray brown sometimes, and other times more tan gray, but it’s such a great neutral that has stayed current with all the gray that has appeared in design in the past couple of years. I have decided to repaint the front door again soon…can you guess what color?! ( update: door has since been updated yet again! Click here for that 🙂 )” http://www.thepaintedchandelierblog.com/2014/06/summer-porch-makeover.html
Also, you can follow me on Pinterest to view all my porch paint colors easily! Thanks so much for reading 🙂
Michelle Lycos says
October 11, 2016 at 6:46 pmI love everything about your porch. Where did you get those planters with the globes over them?
mimirobins says
October 13, 2016 at 12:50 pmHi, Michelle!
I found them at a home decor store in Tennessee called Trees & Trends! I believe they have a website, but it’s been a few years since I got them. They have been a very good purchase and I’m really happy with them. They’re collapsible so they’re also easy to store. I hope you can find some! Try searching “metal spheres/orbs for planters,” and maybe that’ll help, too. Good luck 🙂
Briana says
October 24, 2016 at 1:16 amHello, I’m in the process of choosing colors for my new home. I was wondering what colors you chose for the exterior of your house. What’s the color of the shutters, the front door & the house itself? Please respond via email. Thank you!
mimirobins says
October 26, 2016 at 12:46 amHi, Briana!
Here is the link to the post with all our exterior paint color info: http://www.thepaintedchandelierblog.com/2016/09/exterior-house-paint-colors.html
Hope that helps! Thanks so much for reading. 🙂 xo
Briana says
October 26, 2016 at 3:56 amThank you so much for the reply! 🙂
I feel better about painting my husband and my first home. I truly appreciate it!
Shari says
October 26, 2016 at 4:16 pmWhere did you get the sphere globes in the pots by the front door??
mimirobins says
October 28, 2016 at 12:14 amHi, Shari! I found those at a shop in Tennessee called Trees and Trends. They have the best home and garden decor! I love these because they are collapsible for storage. Thank you for visiting. 🙂
Laurie says
April 12, 2017 at 11:35 amwhere did you get your porch lights?
mimirobins says
May 12, 2017 at 2:16 amHi, Laurie!
I actually found old brass exterior lights about 4 years ago and painted them! Here’s the link to that blogpost if you’d like to read it: http://www.thepaintedchandelierblog.com/2013/04/faux-gas-street-lamp-makeover.html
Thanks for your comment and I hope that helps you! 🙂
Jenny says
April 24, 2017 at 9:50 pmI love the color of the shutters and front door! Any idea what the paint colors are called?!
mimirobins says
May 12, 2017 at 2:13 amHi, Jenny!
Thank you! Here’s a link with all our exterior paint colors: http://www.thepaintedchandelierblog.com/2016/09/exterior-house-paint-colors.html
You can Pin It on Pinterest for a quick and easy reference. Thank you so much for your comment and for reading 🙂
Wendy Gigliotti says
May 10, 2017 at 9:44 pmWow! Beautiful, artful design! So very pretty. We live in Gulf Breeze, Florida now, but were in Georgia for nearly ten years. Seeing your home makes me miss Georgia!
Question: Front door is Mermaid Net (Behr), but a bit confused regarding the shutter color and the house color, as well as the white trim. Would you mind clarifying for me when you get a moment? I would be most grateful.
We moved from a home similar in style to your’s. We are now in a 1968 two story (Chicago brick and wood). We need a major overhaul here. Hoping to leave the brick unpainted (not my choice ;/). I think this neutral will work with our brick.
Any suggestions appreciated!
Thanks and keep on sharing!
Wendy
mimirobins says
May 12, 2017 at 2:08 amHi, Wendy!
Here’s a link to all our exterior paint colors: http://www.thepaintedchandelierblog.com/2016/09/exterior-house-paint-colors.html
I hope you find that helpful! Thank you for your kind comment and good luck with your home 🙂
Holly says
May 2, 2019 at 4:24 pmGorgeous! I love the style…thank you for sharing!
mimirobins says
June 9, 2019 at 12:29 amThank you, Holly! I appreciate your kind words! 😉💗