Greetings from my very warm and quiet kitchen (it’s early still;).

All the boys are home now from college, and things are rather chaotic here at Chez Lefforge. I am overjoyed with said chaos, however, as it means my boys are all under one roof and we are together! No one prepared me for the joy that comes with the college kids coming HOME. It’s seriously awesome.

I had hoped to get this home tour done for the YouTube channel, but it’s just too loud here to film! Between dogs and kids, finding a quiet moment has been impossible, SO I thought I would show you guys my home here instead!

Here’s the video where I showed you all the great Target items I picked up:

I had so much fun deciding where everything would go, and actually didn’t use it all but it will go safely away in my Christmas closet for next year. Where I’m sure I will pull them out and go “Oh! I totally forgot I bought this!”

I think my favorite of all the purchases were these galvanized steel houses. I love the way this area in my dining room turned out! And I had set the little black houses with the artificial succulents on the table thinking it would be temporary until I figured out what to do with them, but ended up loving them there! It’s made the whole dining room space feel natural to me and it all worked together beautifully.

In my entry hall, I used one of the two Christmas trucks I bought and tucked the red berry picks into the little artificial trees. The lanterns are from my Fall Decor Haul if you’re interested. I am completely in love with them and they have a timer so every evening they go on and make me happy! I also love that they take just regular batteries so very convenient. I’ve used them nightly since the beginning of October and only had to change the batteries twice. Here’s the link to purchase those from Amazon  (affiliate link). Oh, and the little chalk board (affiliate link) is from that video as well and I’ve loved just changing the saying from “Boo to You” to “Give Thanks” and now to “Merry Christmas”!

I also love how these little signs look in my kitchen. They’re subtle touches and I love the messages they carry! I spend a lot of time in my kitchen this time of year, so having the holiday extend into that space brings me a lot of joy!

The ceramic white houses worked out perfectly on my mantle and I love the red and white color scheme. In the family room things are a little more, um, “blingy” and I like that since this is Santa central and where we gather together the most. The former owner of this house told me they always put the tree in the entry way which would be gorgeous, but for me, the tree needs to be where we gather. There are far too many memories there to stand in a place where I can’t admire it every evening!

We have been thrilled with our new artificial one from Home Depot! 9 foot trees can be very expensive, and when we went with this one I was worried that it wouldn’t look realistic. But seriously I am completely in love with it! I love a real Christmas tree, but between frequent travel and my husband’s allergies, this one made more sense this year. It’s pre-lit and gorgeous!

I love how the house looks, but far more importantly, I love how it feels. The tree holds so many memories, and I’ve mixed the new things in with things we have had for literally decades. My boys are very attached to the sentimental decorations, and protested loudly when I suggested I might not put out these Santas (purchased from Costco in 1997;) because they are starting to show their age!

But I get it as these precious carolers are from my childhood home, and it wouldn’t feel like Christmas to me if they weren’t out. I’ve repaired them many times, and for 45 year old paper mache, they still look pretty good!

I hope your holiday is filled with family, memories and magical moments that you’ll always remember. Our homes are really just staging areas for the joy and memories to perform, so the goal should be for the space to reflect YOU and your family, not some pinterest perfect version of the perfect Christmas house.

Merry Christmas!