HOLIDAY HOME TOUR: THE KITCHEN

 With every holiday I try to simplify and streamline my decor.  No tree this year, again.   Instead, I added pops of Christmas around the house. Follow me as I travel around my home adding holiday decor.  In the kitchen I used preserved boxwood, fresh magnolia and cedar cuttings.  I really wanted to add a garland to my hood.  I thought I'd use magnets to attach it.  I was disappointed when I realized that it wasn't magnetic.  It remains unadorned.

MY HOLIDAY KITCHEN

I added some velvet ribbon and gold ornaments under my demijohn.

DEMIJOHN WITH VELVET RIBBON AND GOLD ORNAMENTS

My Santos only needed some magnolia.  The print joined the holiday decor with a bough of cedar.

SANTOS AND VINTAGE PRINT READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

All my bread board needed was some ribbon and a Magnolia sprig.

BREAD BOARD WITH RIBBON AND MAGNOLIA SPRIG

PRESERVED BOXWOOD WREATH IN MY KITCHEN WINDOW

I swapped the dried artichokes around the base of the boxwood topiary with some golden pears, then added a ribbon to get it in to the holiday mood.

BOXWOOD TOPIARY IN THE HOLIDAY MOOD

Are you keeping it simple this year or going all out?

If you missed my gold and copper mantel post, go here , or click on the image to be directed to the post.

HOLIDAY MANTEL

Next holiday room will be my entry.  I used a garland there and added some oversized ornaments.  Check it out this weekend.

Any suggestions for attaching a garland to a hood without creating any damage would be greatly appreciated.

A FALL WARDROBE CHANGE FOR MY LIMELIGHT HYDRANGEA

I so enjoy my limelight hydrangea and always look forward to its late summer blooms.  Unfortunately, as the weather cools, the blooms fade.   As I was cutting it back I realized that the faded blooms had transformed into the perfect warm sepia tones of Autumn.  I stopped pruning and brought out a seeded glass container.   I put some of the blooms in the recycle bucket and the others in to the vase.  I brought the oversized Fall floral arrangement inside and placed it on one of the islands in my kitchen.

OVERSIZED FALL ARRANGEMENT ON MY KITCHEN ISLAND

MY LIMELIGHT HYDRANGEA IN SEPIA TONES

I have two islands in my kitchen.  I use antique bread boards on both the islands.  I love the look of the bread boards, but they do serve a practical purpose too.  They protect the surface and act as large trivets.

MY KITCHEN ISLAND WITH THE LARGE FLORAL

If you look closely you'll see that I used some of the leaves from the hydrangea to line the vase and conceal the stems.

HYDRANGEA LEAVES IN BASE OF VASE

In addition to the bread board, I have a dough bowl on that island.  I know it takes up a lot of space, but I like it there. 

DOUGH BOWL AND BREAD BOARD ON MY ISLAND

ANTIQUE DOUGH BOWL

I arranged some branches, a found turtle shell, some glass beads and an animal horn inside.

INSIDE MY DOUGH BOWL

What do you do for Fall floral arrangements?

This is what my hydrangea looked like this summer.  To see the full post, click on the highlighted word  here or click on the image to be directed there.

MY SUMMER LIMELIGHT HYDRANGEA

BRINGING IN BRANCHES

Every Spring I write about the Tulip Magnolia in my back yard.  It fills the windows in the sunroom with pink blossoms. This Spring  I decided to clip some of the branches with blooms and bring them inside.  

BLOOMS THROUGH THE WINDOW

The blooms fill both windows.

OUTSIDE THE WINDOWS

TULIP MAGNOLIA BLOOMS

I placed them into a large bowl on the ottoman in the sun room.

BLOOMS IN MY POTTERY BOWL IN MY SUN ROOM

I changed out the pillows with images of garden benches. You can see the tulip magnolia through the window panes.

SPRING PILLOWS AND A VIEW OF THE TULIP MAGNOLIA

The bowl is resting on one of my vintage bread boards.

BOWL ON VINTAGE BREADBOARD

TULIP MAGNOLIA BLOOMS

I like using the pottery bowl instead of a vase.

POTTERY BOWL INSTEAD OF A VASE

I layered a hide throw over the ottoman and rested the bowl on a bread board.  Don't miss the repair on the bread board.

LAYERED HIDE RUG AND BREAD BOARD WITH A REPAIR

There's another repair on the bread board handle.

ANOTHER BREAD BOARD REPAIR

HIDE RUG

I had a few extra branches, so I wove them through the lattice on the front porch bench.   It was just what the bench needed--a touch of Spring. They look just like a climbing vine.

TULIP MAGNOLIA WEAVING THROUGH THE LATTICE

TULIP MAGNOLIA ON THE BENCH SEAT

Do you use branches as bouquets?
Would you use a bowl instead of a vase for flowers?