2018 Christmas Schrallville Tour

Y'all. I can't even. My parents are coming for Christmas this year! Last year was the first year that we stayed home. It was the first time I have ever not been with my extended family for Christmas at my grandmother's old house. But with Daniel needing to be around at the church, it just is too hectic to try and go back and forth with two kids. It was bittersweet for sure. But unfortunately, as families expand and life changes, so must traditions. 

(extended family - if you're reading this, I'll be reaching out in 2019 for a Rothrock Family Reunion!)

OK, back to the tour...let's start with the crazy outside shall we? 

O Christmas Tree, O Inflatables? For a long time I complained about having inflatables because I thought they were so tacky. I had visions of pretty, elegant outside décor. Then one day I just gave up. The funny thing is...these are not for our kids. They could care less. They are for my big kid (i.e. my husband) and for all the neighborhood kids. Our house is on the school route so many of those who go to the elementary school come down our street in the mornings. We hear often that they love all the festive décor. There's even a friendly little competition with a friend as to who can have the coolest inflatables. 

At night the shrubs at the front of the house and the three dogwood trees have white lights. We are at nine inflatables and counting...

Let's head on in through the front door! 

I always try to make the front entry festive. I have a pretty Merry Christmas rug, a table decorated and some greenery over the pictures.  

I'm pretty proud that the ornament wreath I made years ago is still going strong.  

This year, instead of shoving the tree in with the already packed living room, I removed some furniture and have it stored at a friend's house. Thank heavens for friends with extra storage space! 

It's important to me to have cozy living spaces. That means it has to be pretty, functional, and include pillows, blankets, and color. 

Say hi puppies. They also find the living room cozy in their bed that takes up half the floor space. They especially like it when the gas logs are turned on. They even have their own stockings hung on an armoire. The stockings are hung high so that when they are filled on Christmas Eve, they won't be taken down in 2.5 seconds like they were last year. (uh hmm...I'm talking to you Bowman!) 

Each table top in our house has a little something Merry on it. (oh and I can see my decorating friends cringing that I didn't bother to fix my pillows prior to taking this picture!)

And I'm excited to add 2 new stockings to the mantle this year - Nana and Pop-E!

In the dining room I opted for a low tablescape so we can see each other at dinner. I'll add some tall tapers for Christmas Eve to amp up the pretty. 

In the "man room" we have an additional Christmas. We tend to hang out in the living room in the mornings and the man room at night so I wanted it to be festive as well. 

I let the kids decorate it this year. Hence all the ornaments at the 4 ft height. One of my favorite things to do is unpack the ornaments and decorate the trees as a family. This year I put the "fancy" ornaments on the living room tree and the kids picked what other ornaments went on what tree. They were really excited to be able to help make the decision. 

I don't know why but always love decorating the kitchen. This year I wanted more of a vintage vibe. It didn't turn out quite like I had hoped but I still love it. 

I found the cutest vintage picture ornaments that remind me of the 50's. I had plans to hang them in a different spot but I ended up hanging them from the cabinet door knobs. 

It may seem like a lot to some but to me, making our home festive is what helps make it so cozy and fun. Each little spot has something fun to add a little more sparkle, even our hallway "command center". 

My favorite memory this year is seeing how excited Cole got when it was time to put the angel on the Christmas tree. To him (and me), it's really important and the last thing you do to bless the tree. One day I hope to have a picture of it but this year I was too busy enjoying the moment to worry with capturing it. 

So there you have it! A quick Christmas tour of our crazy house! What about you? What's your favorite Christmas decoration in your home?

The Townhouse: drab turns in to modern traditional

I feel like I say this all the time but boy has it been busy! But this busy was very fun for me. I spent much of any free time I had September-November on a very fun project. What started out with a quick walk-through for some advice quickly turned in to a "here are the keys" moment. The property, a 2 bed room townhouse, was being remodeled to be an Airbnb. 

Truly, this couldn't have been a more perfect scenario for me in many ways. I mean who wouldn't love to remodel a property with full creative privileges!? My instructions were to 

1. Keep it more modern 
2. Keep furnishings at a reasonable every day price (it is a rental after all) 
3. Don't screw it up (ok that may have been mine)

So let's walk through the before and after's shall we? 

The outside is siding so the yellow wasn't changing. However, I wanted to make it more modern since that was the theme in my head...modern traditional. Originally the door and shutters were black. I also needed to work with the adjacent townhouses that are blue (seen here) and gray with dark red accents. 

I opted for dark gray shutters and a teal door, all of which were stock at Lowes. We also installed a fun front door with a glass inlay and rebuilt the railings. Simple changes plus a good 'ol fashioned bath made a huge difference. Too bad this picture makes them look black...

Too bad this picture makes the shutters still look black...but trust me. It's much better in person and in better lighting. Or maybe just better when there's a better photographer! I struggled at first for what to do with the color scheme. Yellow with black just screamed traditional but using the couch as inspiration, the teal really helped change the feel. 

Moving on...once you walk in the front door you now see this...I don't have a before. It was just brown. And more brown. You can also see the pretty window in the front door from this angle. 

Off the hallway is the kitchen that originally looked like this. Basic cabinets and white appliances. It also had this teeny tiny opening...window...cutout...mistake? I'm not sure what you'd call it. Either way, it wasn't good. 

Anyone else feel that cool, icy stare from Cole sending the subliminal message to hurry up? Charlie has just given up. Head in hand given up.  

I chose to move the fridge to the other side to sit beside a stackable washer and dryer. This allowed the counter space to expand and it to look cleaner. 

And that opening thingy? It was widened as far as studs allowed and a bar top was created. I used laminate countertops and my favorite, a black sink. I remember when Daniel first wanted a black sink in our house and I was like "umm no" but eventually gave in. Now I only want black sinks! (I feel like there's a saying that should be inserted here). I love a black sink because don't show dirt and really look great with stainless appliances. 

Let's move on in to the living room or what I originally called "the cave". Seriously no light. And it had a ceiling fan randomly placed over near the fireplace, not even in the center of the room. And it was made darker by the brown. And...well I could continue but let's just move on. 

Ignore the kids still looking miserable. They don't exactly share my enthusiasm for design. Video games? Check. Design and looking at properties? Not so much. 

I mean look how small that little window is!

So here's the new living room. It's quite possibly one of my favorite color combos I've done in a while. I worked with the couch and chair that were already in the room which was no easy task. It's got a midcentury modern feel to it without being overpowering. 

Perhaps you noticed the rug. It's a great find from here. It's my new go to place for rugs of all types. The rug was a risk. I couldn't tell if it was cranberry or pink in the online pictures. Yep. It was pink. Like raspberry pink. I wasn't so sure the owner would appreciate my bold choice but I needed it to help add the right pop of color. Risk paid off because I think it really makes the room and it was under $200!

I mean holy moly right? I had a custom bar top installed using the same laminate used in the kitchen. Four simple bar stools scoot right underneath to save space when not in use. Cute mercury glass pendant lights were hung above the bar top to provide more light. And speaking of more light, notice the newly installed 9-light back door that can now act as an additional window. Seriously, it was like rainbows and unicorns when the light was released! 

Here are a few more shots of the living room from different angles. 

Downstairs also has a little half bath which was straight from the '90s. Laminate white and green floor, bad lighting...

And now it's a cute little updated bathroom. I used LVP (laminate vinyl planking) on the floor, which is a really great option in this situation. I also used the same laminate on the vanity as in the kitchen, which is right across from the bathroom. 

In the downstairs and main parts of the house I used Sherwin Williams Repose Gray on the walls. It's such a great basic "greige" in my opinion. 

Let's head on upstairs to the bedrooms and full bath. There wasn't much upstairs to begin with but I did repurpose a few things.  

Bedroom #1 before: 

 And now: 

I didn't really start with a particular color scheme in mind. I decided to let what was available at the stores help dictate what might work in these rooms. I wanted it to appeal to the masses but still be pretty. This room became neutral. Simple striped curtains in shades of cream, khaki and gray. From there it wasn't hard to find the same color scheme for the bedding. All found at Tuesday Morning. 

Perhaps my favorite is the headboard which I sourced from Ashley Furniture. I skipped buying the foot board (it would make the room tiny) and used a simple bedframe that I bolted to the head board. I secretly want this headboard for my bedroom now. And those side tables? Target. In the clearance section no less! 

Let's move to Bedroom #2: 

Pretty much a blank slate if I ever saw one. And now...

I found a set of pretty blue and gray curtains at Tuesday Morning that became my jumping off point. It also went well with the bed and blue quilt I was hoping to re-use. The chair is also repurposed from the downstairs dining set. 

Each of these bedrooms connects to a Jack and Jill bath. In an effort to save some $$ I opted to keep most of the bathroom and make some simple but impactful changes (lighting, vanity, shower curtain...)

Before:

And now: 

Both bedrooms and the bath were painted in Sherwin Williams Passive Gray. It is just a slightly cooler gray than the main house to go with the rooms a little better. It does have a slightly green undertone to it so be sure to try it in your lighting before choosing it. 

I'm proud to say that all of the décor and most of the furniture was found at your every day stores - Tuesday Morning, Home Goods, Target, World Market, Amazon and Hobby Lobby. The key is looking at what is available, what's on sale and then what can be combined to fit the space. 

So there you have it friends. My fun project I recently completed. It's now listed on Airbnb if anyone is planning on visiting and needs a place to stay!