Christmas

A few years ago the house we were renting was photographed for a Christmas issue of one of my favorite magazines. It was three weeks after Christmas day and I had a completely different tree than the one we had at Christmas. Before they even walked out of my house after the shoot was over, our boys were fighting on the sofa. The very next day I stared down at the biggest project of my life that was due eight weeks later.

Even beautiful Christmas features don’t tell the whole story. They are purely there for our inspiration–which I am always grateful for–that’s their purpose.

Christmas welcome

But that’s not the only purpose of this online space. We are a community of imperfectionists. We know the secret that real life is messy and we aren’t embarrassed of that. So here’s our real house right now in December in the midst of the imperfect because we all know that’s where life actually happens.

kitchen

This year Christmas is coming while we are finishing up phase two of our kitchen. This is sixteen months into our total kitchen renovation–we are paying cash as we go, and I’m so happy we are finally getting tile!

tile

Tile is happy and fun and I’m so excited about it.

Of course, just because you see someone doing some upgrades on their house doesn’t mean life is perfectly dreamy. My husband has been looking for a job that suits him for a while. It’s been something we’ve quietly been working through while I write about paint colors and barn renovations.

I bet you have fun things going on, and also some hard stuff too. Everyone does.

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simple Christmas

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plate wall

We’ve already hosted one Christmas gathering, we have another tomorrow and another on Christmas Eve. Having an undone house has never stopped us from inviting people into the mess. I hope it doesn’t stop you either!

Cheesiest video EVER, but I’ve loved this song for years. I need the reminder to stop and simply Let it be Christmas. Even in the midst of everything else…

welcome

Click here to be inspired by beautiful imperfect homes this Christmas.