Holly Thompson Homes

kitchens + interior design studio

  • Home
  • Holly’s Blog
    • Holly’s Blog
    • About Holly
    • Never miss a post!
  • Kitchens & Interiors
    • Kitchens & Interiors
    • Products + Services
    • Why Hire A Designer?
  • Custom Homes
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • Design Ideas

A Fresh Start

January 10, 2017 By Holly Thompson Leave a Comment

I always love starting fresh every January.  It’s especially fun because my husband gets the kids to help him put away the Christmas stuff, while I get to stare at the clean surfaces and imagine all the decorating possibilities.  I’m still pondering those, but when I figure it out, I’ll have some more January pictures for you!  For now, here’s one of my favorite Christmas pictures.  These three kids (and kitty) know how to make a huge mess, but since they also help clean up, I can sit back with my coffee and enjoy the ruckus.

img_20161225_164631_370

On Christmas morning, we enjoyed our tradition of eggnog coffee cake and reading the Christmas story from the Bible, and I had an awesomely-huge latte in a Christmas mug.  Then came the ruckus and then the bareness of the floor near the tree.  And it was still all pleasant and festive for a few days with the sparkle of the tree and leftovers of this cake, which turns out to be the best food on earth:

img_20161226_155333_515

But once the tree went down, so did the magical sparkle I had grown accustomed to in our living room.  I started to question everything and wonder why everything seemed so bleak.

Then I figured out the real problem.  We have some really crappy lighting in there.  The sparkle of the Christmas tree made it just perfect, and taking it down made me realize that the room could use a little more love.  And some curtains, for goodness’ sake.

Good lessons, I tell you.  Savor each day, and invest in good lighting.

[And if you have no idea how to do this, contact us for a Design Consultation and we will come to the rescue.]

******************************

We’ve been working on a bunch of projects, and things on the main floor are almost done.  We painted the bookshelves by the fireplace, finally!  This was a big dilemma because I thought that they looked good being wood-colored, just not this 1990’s honey-yuck wood color. It’s a little bit labor-intensive to change the wood color, though. Here was the before:

img_20161212_113543

We tested several colors of light gray from Sherwin Williams to find one that looked good with the peachy brick of the fireplace.  I like the brick color, but it is often hard to make it look good with my decor.  But, we were finally successful with Popular Gray, which has a pinkish tinge to it in the world of grays, blending well with the brick.  I wish I could show you a full-sized after picture, but the cabinet doors are still being put on at the moment.  Here’s a little preview, though:

img_20161223_192332

More is coming soon.  We kept the same Pottery Barn bin pulls on the doors and I love the new look.  It makes the room a lot lighter.

The front living room where the tree was will be getting curtains, which I am working on at the moment.  I usually make the curtains out of some cool fabric I’ve come across (or drop cloths, like I did in our last house, below) but I don’t exactly know what they’ll be like yet:

curtain

Here’s what the bare space looks like now:

img_20160910_092051

I also decided to put curtains in the dining room, which I made out of twin-sized duvet covers I had from Ikea that never ended up on the kids’ beds.  It was super easy and cheap, as is having your 8-year-old cut your 6-year-old’s hair:

img_20170102_131240

Here are a couple of things that I’ll be decorating with in January:

img_20170107_145020

I love vintage dishes!  And these blue mason jars!

img_20170109_124750

And hopefully we’ll have some warm-enough weather to sit out here (thank you Jesus for Nashville):

img_20161107_110136

And maybe we’ll even finish the pantry project so we can keep the cat out of the ceiling:

img_20170102_110330

There’s never a dull moment at our house.  That’s why I do this a lot:

img_20170107_142653

Happy January!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Christmas, decorating, design services, Uncategorized Tagged With: character, cheap renovation, construction zone, design, design consultations, design help, DIY, fun stuff, interior design, renovation, style, transformation, update, vignette, vignettes

« Midcentury Christmas + Santa
Our bathroom rehab! »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Holly Thompson


Nationally-featured designer specializing in kitchens and whole-home design. Master's Degree in Interior Design. Regular contributor to American Farmhouse Style magazine's online content. Expert at making clients' dreams a reality through exceptional interior design and highest-quality products.

Search Holly Thompson Homes

Recent Posts

  • New Location on Main Street!
  • A Little Recap of 2020
  • Well, HOME it is, then!

Recent Comments

  • Are Barn Doors Too Trendy? - Holly Thompson Homes on How to Use Barn Doors. Well.
  • How To DIY Without Cheap Results - Holly Thompson Homes on DIY Painted Checkerboard Floor Tips
  • Holly Thompson on My Newest Project

Archives

Categories

hollythompsonhomes

Holly Thompson (HTH)
The sunset at Commencement Bay in Tacoma, WA...so The sunset at Commencement Bay in Tacoma, WA...so stunning! I am enjoying a short trip before coming back to put the finishing touches on the country house for the magazine photo shoot. 📸 
#sunset #pacificnorthwest #Washington #commencementbay #vashonisland
On a trip out of state to visit my mom and I'm rig On a trip out of state to visit my mom and I'm right at home with a kitty in the background! This kitty, Aspen, reminds me of Clark but he's double the size with a triple order of fluff. 
#summer #summervacation #catsofinstagram #kitty #mainecoon #interiors #interiordesign #plants #biophilicdesign #cat #lighting #visit
The banquette area in the kitchen addition is comi The banquette area in the kitchen addition is coming together! The natural light here is amazing, and the windows open out. The top of the bench will be a live-edge slab of wood. Dave is working hard today on this, even though it's going to be in the 90s and there is no AC in the construction zone!
#hollythompsonhomes #banquette #kitchenaddition #kitchendesign #kitchenrenovation #liveedge #naturallight #windows #casementwindows #countryhome #countryliving #farmhousestyle
Found this intriguing fabric-covered suitcase at a Found this intriguing fabric-covered suitcase at an antique shop in Huntsville. It's going in our photoshoot for @americanfarmhousestyle magazine next month! All interior spaces need a sense of history and permanence, and vintage finds are a great way to add that. 
#hollythompsonhomes #photoshoot #vintagestyle #vintagesuitcase #plaid #check #history #style #interiors #countryliving #farmhousestyle #thisoldhouse #interiors
I have been wanting to do cabinets in a mushroom/s I have been wanting to do cabinets in a mushroom/stone color for myself and it's happening! Nantucket Dune is the cabinet color and the two round colors are the checkerboard floor. Countertop template is tomorrow and we'll have a complete kitchen in the next couple of weeks!
#hollythompsonhomes #cabinetcolors #mushroom #stone #beige #warmgray #insetcabinets #kitchendesign #kitchenrenovation #kitchenremodel #interiordesign #interiors #neutrals #marble
The pantry space will have these @starmarkcabinetr The pantry space will have these @starmarkcabinetry tower cabinets with rollout trays, plus open shelves and a vintage mercantile store fixture. The floor will be a painted checkerboard and I think our @etu.home farm table is going there for the island. It's all coming together this week! 
#hollythompsonhomes #countryhouse #americanfarmhousestyle #farmhousestyle #kitchendesign #kitchenrenovation #pantry #pantryorganization #starmarkcabinetry #checkerboardfloor #whitecabinets
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · Holly Thompson Homes · kitchens + interior design studio

Copyright © 2022 · Hello Trending On Genesis Framework · WordPress ·