Enjoy this Vintage-Traditional Christmas Home Tour that is sure to give you all the old-fashioned holiday feels!

Merry Christmas season everyone! I am thrilled to be sharing a bit of our vintage-traditional Christmas home today as part of one of the most exciting weeks in blogland, when thirty talented bloggers get together to share amazing holiday inspiration for the Christmas Home Tours! This fabulous annual event is hosted by my friend Marty of A Stroll Thru Life.

There is a little something for everyone on the tour, and you can find links to each gorgeous Christmas home at the end of my post. If you are coming over from 11 Magnolia Lane or if you are just stopping by for some holiday inspiration, you have definitely come to the right place! Today I am excited to share how our home is looking so far this Christmas, with a special focus on our newly renovated kitchen that we finished up just in time for the holidays! *This post contains affiliate links. See my full affiliate disclosure for details.

 

A Vintage-Traditional Cozy Christmas Home!

Recently I shared a first look at our Vintage Traditional Cozy Christmas Entryway and a few shots of our living room. This year’s Christmas decor is definitely my favorite since moving to the yellow brick home six years ago, right in the middle of the holiday season.

 

 

Our nearly 100 year-old Kentucky home (built in 1921) with original unpainted woodwork looks best decked out for the holidays in traditional red, green, gold…and lots of plaid!

 

I have experimented with different Christmas looks including French country, shabby chic, vintage-kitsch and farmhouse Christmas, but this year’s English Country/Victorian Christmas decor really evokes that cozy, nostalgic Christmas vibe I have been hoping to create over the past six Christmases.

 

Instead of decking our halls with mass-produced box-store Christmas decorations, I have used vintage and antique items from my everyday decor in new ways. For example, the thrifted picture of a pretty lady in a green dress inspired this old-world Christmas vignette. In addition to plaid ribbon, I have used beautiful velvet ribbon in various shades of green and red all through our home.

 

Pretty paperwhites tied up with satin ribbon, rolls of vintage sheet music, a collection of pheasant feathers, a dough bowl of crab apples and greenery, and a few vintagey- baubles and beads are all items I imagine might have been used to adorn the Christmas homes of yesteryear.

 

 

 

The vintage-traditional vibe continues in the music room where our non-themed tree is decorated with a lifelong  collection of mixed miscellaneous vintage, heirloom, thrifted, newer, and sentimental handmade ornaments. The tree looks especially beautiful on sunny days when the sunlight and Christmas lights bounce off the copper painted ceiling tiles. 

 

Of course I am always mad for plaid decor and accessories…especially at Christmas!

 

The music room becomes “The Christmas Room” during the holidays. For six weeks from late November through January I make merry by dreaming and playing around around with my Christmas treasures. It seems I decorate a little bit each day, rearranging presents as new ones are wrapped, and tweaking vignettes. I have been “playing” all week getting ready to take some more pictures, and I plan to share more of the music room and tree later next week. To see more of this year’s tree as well as a few vintage-traditional trees from previous years, check out this post.

 

A New Vintage-Traditional and Festive Christmas Kitchen!

Here is a brand new view looking in from the living room entry into the kitchen! It makes me happy every single morning when I walk down the stairs and see this view as soon as I turn the corner!

 

 

New herringbone brick floors, a 1920’s style custom china cabinet built-in with salvaged 1920’s wavy glass doors, and the most perfect little corner nook with a new set of windows are just a few of my favorite things about our kitchen! We had hoped to have the cabinet hardware installed and a new center island built in time for this tour, but we decided to slow down and enjoy the holidays a bit and wait until after Christmas to do any more work.

 

My husband built the cabinets based on my design, (after I spent a few years researching and pouring over pictures of historic cottage kitchens). I am thrilled with how it turned out! I wanted a 1920’s style built-in look and I think we nailed it! The wavy glass 1920’s cabinet doors add authenticity, while the chippy cremone bolts evoke the vintage French style I love. 

 

 

The corner nook is just to the left of the built -in. I have adorned the windows simply with realistic faux cedar garland that matches the wreaths on the cabinet doors beautifully. I use the same garland on my Christmas mantel too.

 

 

Since we literally just finished this built-in a few days before Thanksgiving, I really didn’t know how I was going to style this whole area for Christmas. I normally go over the top cramming my dining room China cabinets and shelves with Christmas treasures, but I wanted to create a simpler and more elegant holiday look that wouldn’t detract from the beauty of the new cabinetry and kitchen overall.

 

I created another unique vignette in the center cubby using a bright green glass candy dish I found at Habitat Restore in early November. I knew I would end up using it somehow in my holiday decorating! I am loving it here as a candle holder dressed up with vintagey-Christmas beads and battery-lighted mercury glass bulb garland. 

 

 

 

I added some holly and boxwood picks to the teacups on the top shelf, and juniper sprigs and holly berries to the bottom shelf. Peppermint sticks tucked in ironstone creamers, small pitchers or mugs is a classic and inexpensive little decorating accent I repeat each year. A vintage-look “Merry Christmas” sign seems perfect for the center of the plate rack shelf.

 

 

A whitewashed wooden pedestal scored at the Country Living Fair when I interviewed Editor-in-Chief Rachel Hardage Barrett a few years ago adds a bit more French farmhouse style to the vignette. Two thrifted topiaries tied with olive green ribbon are a nod to my love of gardening and cottage-garden style.

 

 

The old cabinet doors are just perfect for displaying small wreaths hung by gorgeous red velvet ribbon.

 

Here is the promo pic I sent to Marty for this tour. After looking at it for a few days, I realized that  something was still missing from the center cubby…

 

TEA CUPS!  I actually designed the cubby to be tall enough for hanging teacups with plenty of space underneath for vignettes, but we got so busy on the renovation and moving straight into Thanksgiving that we forgot all about installing the little hooks to hang them. When I was taking pictures, I noticed the negative space behind the vignette and that jogged my memory. My husband hurriedly drilled in the hooks in time for me to finish taking pictures for today’s tour.

 

 

The hanging teacups definitely added extra vintage goodness!

 

 

When it comes to creating vintage charm, it’s all in the details! Here you can see the pretty pattern in the crown molding and trim above the cabinets. I also dressed up the old doors with a simple leaded glass pattern using leaded glass strips, creating even more 1920’s vintage charm. The nearly 100 year-old doors are perfectly imperfect, and the leaded glass look just adds to the authenticity. They look especially gorgeous adorned with the wreaths and ribbon for Christmas!

 

 

 

A couple of pieces of green and gold transferware, vintage postcards, a few vintagey-snowmen, peppermint sticks, and simple sprigs of greenery were all that was needed to add a little bit of Christmas magic inside the cabinets.

 

 

A small vintage ceramic tree and colorful vintage-style hard candy provide a bit of whimsy and happy pops of holiday color to the countertop without being overpowering. I added the salvaged furniture piece just because I love it. Extra-chippy vintage salvage is always a good idea!

 

My country-farmhouse Christmas goose is roosting for the holidays in a French graywashed basket filled with evergreens, dried orange slices, apple slices and cloved oranges. I love a little bit of colonial Christmas too!

 

I had to find a spot for my favorite farmhouse paperwhites sign (also popular with my readers!) The sign was handmade by my friend Laney of IG @Pine.and.Birch. In previous years it was hanging all winter long on the faux brick wall in the breakfast nook, but that wall has been replaced by two new windows. This long stretch of countertop will be it’s new home for the holidays and on into winter. A realistic pot of faux paperwhites perfectly tucks in between the basket and the sign.

 

 

I had previously been using the paperwhites as a centerpiece on the bistro table in the nook until the poinsettias I ordered were delivered a couple of days ago. More about those at the end of this post!

 

Rae Dunn Christmas Fun and New Coffee Station

Prior to building the new built-in, I used to have a vintage cabinet in that area filled with my Rae Dunn Pottery. When we renovated the kitchen, I moved all the pottery to this new built-in coffee station area with open shelving. Love it!

 

 

I actually just started decorating the shelves and counter earlier this week, so I still have some tweaking to do and a few treasures and treats to add. 

 

 

I plan to share a post with all the details of the Rae Dunn Christmas fun and more vintage- kitschy coffee-station touches on Monday. You just never know what Naughty and Nice might get into by then, so be sure to stop back by next week!

 

 

The “Peace 0n Earth” farmhouse sign hanging in our new coffee station built-in was also handmade by Laney. I purchased several of her signs that will be fun to rotate seasonally in this space.

 

 

 

Unexpectedly, “Peace on Earth” turned out to be a theme in the kitchen this year. Along with the Peace on Earth farmhouse sign, I am also using this Christmas “chalkboard” that I repurposed from a gift bag just a couple of days ago. I think “Peace on Earth” is the perfect Christmas sentiment this holiday season!

Luke 2:10-14~Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

 

I found the perfect spot for displaying the “chalkboard” on our faux copper range hood (an amazing DIY by my husband!) along with a simple spray of beautiful faux greenery. After the rush of the holidays I will do a blog post with details about the range hood. 

 

 

I will also be sharing more about the cute vintage Christmas baking-themed vignettes on the stove and countertop coming up next week too.

 

 

Here is another brand new view that I wasn’t quite ready to share for the  Thanksgiving kitchen reveal tour. I am so excited about the updates we made to the cupboard/pantry built-ins across the room from the china cabinet built-ins! The center cabinet was previously open, exposing the microwave. Adding doors to cover the microwave gave the cupboard a totally authentic 1920’s look! In addition, we will soon be installing vintage cabinet latches to the three sets of doors along with other vintage style hardware that will make the whole built-in look even more original.

 

Another new vintage-style piece is the leaded glass transom window above the sink. It was previously a door sidelight that someone had returned to a local hardware store due to a broken seal. I snatched it up for $20.00. I had a glass shop remove the glass from the side lite casing for only a few dollars, then had the piece reframed with a custom frame at Hobby Lobby.

 

This is my first time taking pictures of the transom, so it will take some practice to find the right lighting and angles to really show the beautiful details. The leaded glass and new glass prism pendant light fixture create beautiful rainbows around the kitchen on sunny mornings.

 

I also added a bit of farmhouse Christmas flair to the window above the sink with my “no-sew red ticking stripe napkins-turned-cafe curtains.” I simply clipped the napkins pinch pleat style with curtain clips, and hung the hooks on a black tension rod. The farmhouse curtains tie in perfectly with the farmhousey Christmas crate vignette in the corner.

 

Red Ticking Stripe Napkins (Similar)

 

 

I put together the “Merry Farmhouse Christmas Crate” just before Thanksgiving as part of a fun Pinterest challenge. You can read all about it and find links to 18 other cute Christmas crate ideas here.

 

 

 

Here is a shot looking into our kitchen from the entry as the sun was going down. Unfortunately that happens around 4:45 p.m. during the winter months here in KY! Luckily the corner nook window seat area is bright for most of the day, even on cloudy winter days. 

 

 

Piled up with a combination of pretty Christmas pillows, I think the corner nook is the best seat in the house! We just installed the newly repainted, thrifted vintage plantation shutters a few days ago, which was the perfect finishing touch in this area. The space totally gives off the 1920’s vintage cottage vibes with a bit of a New England feel too.

 

 

The bright corner is almost like a mini-sunroom, making it perfect for plants, real or faux. Isn’t the real poinsettia on the bistro table so pretty?

 

In November I ordered a couple of ivory poinsettias from one of my high school students for his Christmas baseball fundraiser just to help out the team. I never expected the poinsettias to be so beautiful! They just arrived a couple of days ago, right in time for the tour.

 

The little faux red poinsettia in a white washed clay pot brings in the red from the poinsettias in the design on my beautiful new Kentucky Christmas pillow. The pillow was one of only a very few new Christmas decor purchases this year. It has a bit of modern farmhouse style, which makes it a great Christmas accent to keep things looking a bit fresh and updated, while mixing right in with all the vintage-traditional Christmas decor in our old Kentucky home this Christmas! 

 

Despite all that is going on in the world, there are cozy, happy, holiday vibes in our home. I hope you “felt” some of them during your visit today and that you are feeling inspired to add some vintage-traditional Christmas to your home too! Now it’s time to continue the Christmas inspiration with a  tour over at Delightful Order. Don’t forget to check out any posts you missed via the links below.

Hope to see you here again soon this holiday season! Merry Christmas!

Amber

 

 

 

Monday December 7th

A Stroll Thru Life – Worthington Court – Clean and Scentsible – StoneGable – Pink Peppermint Design – Decor To Adore 

Tuesday December 8th

Modern Glam – It All Started With Paint – Town and Country Living – Hymns and Verses – Making It In The Mountains – Life On Cedar Lane 

Wednesday December 9th

Designing Vibes – Inspiration For Moms – Grace In My Space – The Wood Grain Cottage – Whispering Pines Homestead – Remodelando la Casa

Thursday December 10th

CitrineLiving – Our Southern Home – Southern State Of Mind – Duke Manor Farm – White Arrows Home – Thrifty and Chic 

Friday December 11th

11 Magnolia Lane – Follow The Yellow Brick Home – Delightful Order – Southern Hospitality – Cassie Bustamante

    

 
  
 

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