Foyer | Operation Home

Anybody else here quote How I Met Your Mother like ya mean it?

Yeah?? Yeah??

But, um… Literally! Legen (wait for it) dary!

Um, I do. HIMYM speak has joined my repertoire of Elf, Dumb & Dumber, and many others that round out the 90% of things I say that aren’t original. I’m a strong believer in not reinventing the wheel. So, I don’t. 😉

Anyhoo, my lovely post title is actually in response to the awesome new/old piece of furniture that we’re lucky enough to call ours. Joey’s parents have had this amazing antique lawyer’s cabinet in their home for a while now. And every time I visited their house, I drooled. It was just so neat. Dapper. With character. Not something you see in every household. Like, if the cabinet was a person, he’d be dressed in a turn-of-the-century tuxedo with top hat, saying things like “by the by” and “fortnight”. Ya know, all that “olden times” speak that I have to look up every few words. Totally. He’s one smooth dude. So, imagine my excitement when Mac (my mother-n-law), sent me an email asking if I wanted the cabinet as she’d found a replacement for it. Yeah, I was pretty excited.

After figuring out where it would go in our house, I happily said yes, and before I knew it, this lovely beast was in our home. More specifically, in our foyer…

I just love it. It’s old and has been painted a few times. And that paint is chipping in some places. But, I really actually like it that way. The old, chipping paint adds character and charm. So, it’s staying. Decor-wise, I wanted to add some modern elements to balance out the more traditional lines…

My DIY pop-art from our previous home’s mudroom ended up working perfectly with the cabinet. Then, I simply added my green painted baskets for storage, a few inexpensive galvanized buckets, a photo, some books, and called it a day.

I love how the cabinet fits the space perfectly without crowding it.

I can’t wait to see this guy in action once our new front door is installed (and that boob light is nothing but a faint memory). The contrast of traditional vintage with sleek modern will be even more apparent once that stuff is complete. All with my round jute rug to warm it up and add some coziness. In my opinion, that contrast in style (ie: modern vs. vintage) really makes the other stand out in its own right. (You can see more about my opinion on vintage vs. modern here.)

In any case, I’m loving the direction that the foyer is taking thanks to this awesome piece of furniture. And so is Joey. When I showed him the space as it is now, he couldn’t stop talking about how much he liked it. Total win! So, thanks Mac! You’ve made my day (and our foyer!).

That’s right. Christmas has arrived at the Spragins abode. And today, I’m here to tell you about it.

Let’s begin with our dining space….

I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s just enough glitter and sparkle for my taste.

I reused the wide silver ribbon from last year for a table runner, but crinkled it up to make it seem more casual. For the centerpiece, I used the bowl and glitter picks again, but this time, I added a gold charger with candles and a tall bamboo to vary it up a smidge….

The shelves that I recently styled simply got some glittering red ornaments and sparkly leaves in the milk pitcher. I tried to keep the details on the shelves subtle so that they wouldn’t compete with the centerpiece.

Aaaaaand a little far away shot…

Onto the tree. Now, first I must explain that when one is the poster child for Murphy’s Law, one will inevitably spend forever restringing the branches of the pre-lit tree that decided to burn out on Christmas Eve of last year (#timingfail), decorate the rest of the tree, then attempt to take pictures for one’s blog only to realize that another two strands have gone out in the meantime. Doh! So, in looking at these pictures, I’d like you to imagine a beautiful, evenly lit tree that glistens from top to bottom. I’ll be restringing those branches as soon as I have a chance to get to Walmart and buy more lights. But in the meantime… Embrace the imagery.

Anyhoo, here she blows…

Notice how she’s creatively hiding on the edge of this shot. Nakedandafraid. With the craziness that has been going on in our lives this season, I decided to keep the tree decor the same as last year. Silvers, burgundys, greens, faux sheepskin rugs in lieu of tree skirt. It was just easiest. I’m looking forward to changing it up next year, though.

Here’s a view of the entire living room…

We hung our stockings on the various ledges of the fireplace, which I’m totally loving….

Here’s more of a side shot so you can see the different depths of stone on our fireplace….

Joey calls it “rock climbing wall”. I call it “amazeballs”. The console behind the couch also got a little dazzle….

A small tree, some lighted garland and a tree star (that sadly was too heavy for our tree). As for our Charlie Brown tree….

He sits unaltered in our breakfast nook. I love the simplicity of just leaving him bare. He suits the space well this way.

And lastly, our foyer…

I had grand plans for this space, but then I came to the realization that there are NO outlets in or anywhere near the foyer. Total bummer. So, I just reused my reindeer printable from last year and added another small tree set in a simple white and cork tray, atop of our little ex-media cabinet. Simple but charming.

So anyways, that’s what we’ve got going on this year. How is your holiday decorating going? Which of you lucky folks out there has finished shopping? Which of you are like me and haven’t purchased a single gift yet?

Linked up at: Thrifty Decor Chick