Our 2014 Christmas Tree

I've wanted a flocked tree for awhile now. When I saw they were on sale at a local craft store here in Florida, I jumped on the opportunity and this tree has not disappointed me. We took down all of our Christmas ornaments, old trees & anything else that pertained to this holiday and consolidated. 

I haven't felt better. We have been purging non-stop and nothing is out of the question. This year, I wanted to go through all of our Christmas things and have a more, simplistic yet refined look. I ended up donating 8 strands of garland, a Christmas tree to a friend, sold another at the store & currently have yet another for sale at the store, gave away three storage totes full of ornaments & decor and much more. We kept the ornaments that obviously had meaning to us such as the ones that our family and friends have given us. I paired those ornaments with many things I had in our home as well as other things I got last year after Christmas when they went on sale.

I wanted something rustic. Simple. Classic. And very different. I really love a well adorned tree and I don't really ever feel like this is "too much." For every 100 people that love it, there will be 1 that hates it and says its "too much" or you need "color." And you know what? It hurts my feelings. But at the same time, this is our tree in our house where we pay the bills. I think we'll do what we want.

Prepare yourself for a picture overload.

I used lots of reflective surfaces to get this look. Also, anything with great texture like the bark balls for example I loved! I wanted a natural color scheme so I definitely stuck with that… and lastly, the more the better! In this case, less is not more. More is more!

And I wanted to get a few with the lights on…. it is especially pretty in the evenings… but for now, I allowed the natural light in the sunroom to really show you the true look of our tree this year.

I really loved the woods meets frost style it had this year. Next, year I may bring in more pops of red, dark brown or a dark blue. It actually has red berries on the tree but they are washed out by all the neutrals which is actually fine with me… either way, I love our tree.

My little men have been in the holiday spirit also… but just the other day, I snapped these of the two of them…via Instagram (You can follow me by clicking here.)

Look at these two little men, always on the backs of my sofas… just watching the day go by and of course being on squirrel patrol! We are currently working on our next project which is crown molding in the sunroom so please look out for that next post!

New antique cupboard

Hey y'all! Just wanted to pop in today to show you one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture I've ever had a chance to own. I want to take more photos of it on a sunnier day but for this evening, this is what I have for y'all. While out hunting on a Saturday for bargains, my mom and I walked into a little shop in North Carolina we frequent every time I come home. There stood this beautiful piece and as we were eyeing it up and down… the owner walks by and tells us this…

"If you take it today, you can have it for _____ (Insert amazing price here.)" SOLD! We both said it at the same time… my only dilemma was that we both wanted it! So fast forward a few months and I came across a mahogany secretary cabinet that my mom's grandmother used to have in her old house. So, we are swapping. And thankfully, I had a nice mother in law who brought this baby with her when they came to visit us a few weeks back from North Carolina. So here she is in all of her glory.

Have I mentioned how much of a BEAST this cupboard is? You might not be able to tell with the naked eye but this stands 8ft tall. Has all the original hardware, wire doors, moulding and shelving. I just adore it and I swear when you come across pieces like this, there's no need for paint. There's no need for a lot of fuss and a lot of decor. Simplicity at its best. If you haven't been reading my blog for awhile, you may not know that we moved about a year ago from a 2000 sq ft rental down to a 1300 sq ft adorable little bungalow/cottage two blocks from the beach here in Florida. So, a year later and we are STILL getting rid of stuff! But truthfully, I am proud to say about 90% of what we own right now, we love, we use and it has a function. Gone are the days where things are just "pretty." 

Ain't nobody got time for that.

I added my favorite large black and white photos of Mr. HBA and I to the left with an adorable, chippy rocking chair below it. A boxwood wreath adorns the front, although I'm still unsure if that will stay. Something needs to be different to the right to balance the weight of the other side but for now, I just sat an antique little chair that a dear friend purchased for me while I was sick! Miss you Erin!

And while I was snapping photos of this beautiful piece, I was also piling up goodies to take to Vintage Living Marketplace. If you didn't know, I rent a booth there and love it. Thankfully, I am able to constantly re-stock… and this is by far my favorite time of year! My room is slowly getting transformed so I can't what to show y'all the end result! For now, here's a few pillows I picked up.

Love this "BELIEVE" pillow with the red ticking & burlap. Sooooo cute! I bought it for myself but now I'm headed a different direction as usual! And for the one below, it's not any bit Christmas but I loved the saying! And I'm sure people here in Florida would agree as well that they love this too!

I also hit some estate sales this past weekend and came across this older creeper cart. I unscrewed the pad for the head and am actually going to repurpose this somewhere else so I can't wait to show y'all that too! For now, it's just a cute little rustic, old item that most people don't have a use for!