Matt + Chelsea's Christmas Home Part 1: Bedrooms

Hi there! It’s that time of year again, to open our doors wide and have you all in for a visit! While I’m not the most sentimental person, I do embrace tradition and this is one of my favorites when it comes to our blog. Really, in a perfect world we would all live near enough to invite each other over in person for warm drinks and holiday merriment. But, how sweet to get to reach out to you in this way; I really am grateful for this unusual and unexpected form of community which has blossomed into some RL friendships and, most surprisingly, an interesting way to earn a living!

To keep things short and sweet around here I split our Christmas tour into two days. Today I’m just sharing the bedrooms and I’ll be back on Friday with the main living spaces. We have three bedrooms in our home - the Master, Shire’s room, and Colin and Mason’s shared room. If you caught my last post you saw how we turned their room into our Guest Room for holiday visitors, but all is back to normal now. I should tell you ahead of time - I don’t do a whole lot in bedrooms for the holidays. Simplicity is ever calling my name, so instead I emphasized cozier textures for these colder months; thicker bedding, softer pillows, etc.

So welcome in, one and all! Come as you are is always my rule. We hope you enjoy!

Master Bedroom

Confession - I usually strongly dislike extra pillows on our bed. I just really enjoy a simple bed, (and being able to pull down the blankets and crawl in without the fuss of moving extra pillows around). But, our bedroom has a TV and the kids do watch it more with us in the colder months, so I grabbed a couple velvety soft shams and faux fur throw pillows to make it a more comfortable place when the gang piles on.

Let’s see, what else - oh! The balsam fir candle! Our christmas tree smell isn’t quite making it to our bedroom so I’m goin’ with the faux. I mean, if we’re not overstimulating all our senses this time of year what are we even doing? Hah!

Shire’s Room

Her room feels festive without even trying. The colors in here want for nothing! Just a couple special touches, (like the American Girl Kirsten Christmas Tree on loan from my sweet sister).

Funny story - I found that tiny wreath in the Target $5 section early in the Fall and thought it a cute wreath. When I took the tag off it started to unravel and I realized it was a garland. Oops. But I paper-clipped it back together; not to worry! Lol!

Colin + Mason’s Room

This room has just sort of evolved and come together like a happy accident. The elements in here have been collected/DIY’ed over years and they somehow just perfectly represent Colin and Mason and this stage of their life. I stenciled these birch trees maybe 5 or 6 years ago and they are especially fun at Christmastime.

Ah yes, can’t leave out the Bisou Natural air freshener satchel. That cute little ‘JOY’ bag hanging on the accordion wrack is hard at work cleaning the air. It’s filled with activated bamboo charcoal, which naturally removes odors, bacteria and excess moisture from the air. And do you know what carries around excess moisture? Prepubescent boys and older. Find out more here and shop for your own!

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed a few quiet moments to yourself while you were here. I so appreciate you stopping by!

Lindsey's Neutral Family Home

Happy Friday, Mutts! I don't know about you all, but this four-day week felt like a six-day week. Holy cow, am I glad that's almost over!

Today, we have a serious treat for all of your neutral lovers. If you haven't seen this neutral obsession splattered all over social media, you must have been living under a rock. Some of it goes too neutral, towards cold or impersonal. But Lindsey gets it right, creating a family home that feels casually curated but also actually feels lived in. What a concept! 

You can see right away that we're dealing with a historic home here. There's something about that history that really gets to me - thinking about all the families that have built their lives here. I love that Lindsey's design honors that past while making it her family's own.
From Lindsey:

“Our home was built in 1900, and it sits on an acre lot in the country. Because of the original wood work, including beautiful pocket doors, and my old soul, I think the style of our home would equate to the Midwest. When I look around, I think, ‘yeah, this house just belongs here.’ ”

A fun fact for all of you, and a shameless plug for a company I adore: I found Lindsey and her awesome space via the Letterfolk Co Instagram account. Their letterboards are seriously amazing, and I do not blame Lindsey at all for owning more than one! And, they plan right in to Lindsey's style. 

“I think I would best describe my style as midcentury meets farmhouse, with a side of simplicity. I love visually clean spaces and have an obsession over antique pieces. At the end of the day, I want our home to house only meaningful items, to be inviting and free of clutter. I love this quote by William Morris: ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.’”

Now, Lindsey is raising two beautiful babies in the Northwestern Ohio country. So next, let's look at the bedroom these kiddos get to grow up in. I wish I could use the written word to adequately describe my envy. Not that my mom didn't do a great job decorating my childhood bedroom (in case you're reading this, Rosemary...) BUT this room screams 'Be a kid! Explore! Play!' Color me jealous... 

“In the boys’ (Hayden’s) room, my favorite piece, hands down, is his bed. My husband and my father built it together with their own hands, just for our sweet Hayden. There’s actually many hand made pieces in his room and I think that’s why it’s my favorite room in our house. ”

“I think our styles are always evolving. Since having our two boys, I have had the biggest urge to purge and to simplify. I found myself thinking, why spend time cleaning up after all of these ‘things’ when I could be soaking up this precious time that I won’t get back with our children. It’s played a huge part in finding my style. ”

I think you'll all agree with me that Lindsey has found her style and is sticking to it. Finally, let's take a look at her master bedroom. 

Now, everyone has their own opinions of color. I almost think about it in the same way that I consider extroverts vs. introverts. People just recharge in different ways - by being alone or with others OR, in this case, by being surrounded with colors or calm neutrals. 

“I really wrestled with the decision of leaving the walls white, or giving them a pop of color. Something about the white walls gives me a sense of calm, and as a stay at home mama, this is something that is so important for my overall mentality. The extra sunlight shining through our home and reflecting off the walls is sure to give us all something to smile about throughout our day. Finding what makes you happy is key. ”

Lindsey, I applaud you. You're an awesome mama, and you've made a home to serve some seriously important purposes - inspiring your babies, encouraging your family's peace, and giving yourself a place to recharge. We tip our hats! 

Follow Lindsey along on her blog, Being Badenhop, or on Instagram for more decor and life inspo. And Mutts, remember, you too can have your home featured - just drop me a line at mckenna@stylemutthome.com. 

Reader Design: Amy's Perfect Imperfection

It'sssssssssssssssssssssssss Friday!  And I'm particularly excited about sharing today's reader design because of the heart behind this home in Minneapolis, MN: Amy from Modern Chemistry at Home.  While emailing back and forth with Amy about sharing her style mutt space on the blog, it became very apparent she's a kindred spirit.  Much like us, her desire is to see people encouraged and empowered in their own home decorating.  She too believes that creating is a form of worship.  But like many forms of worship it can be too easy to get caught up in the beauty of what you're creating instead of why you're creating it.  We just love how Amy has made it her mission to embrace her home's imperfections and create a real, raw, and inviting space.

From Amy:

Hello, everybody! My name is Amy, and I really am a style mutt. In fact, my blog (Modern Chemistry at Home) got its name partly because my husband and I have very different tastes and my decorating is something like a chemistry experiment as we merge our styles.

My style perspective has definitely changed over the years. My point of view has developed through having children and learning to think about function just as much as how a space looks. 

I’m definitely drawn to spaces that have a mixture of styles. Some of my favorites include Midcentury and Scandinavian Modern, but I also really enjoy children’s spaces and would seriously put pretty much anything from Land of Nod in my living room or bedroom. 

I love a cheerful room. Natural light, lots of white, fun patterns, and bright colors speak to me. Clearly, my decorating isn’t too serious!

And a big part of my story as we renovated and decorated our fixer-upper is how God worked in my heart to help me be content and understand that my identity is not in how my home looks. Our home is a place to raise our littles, live life together, and bless others through hospitality. It can be beautiful, but perfection isn’t my goal. 

There are quite a few things in our home that I inherited from my grandparents. There is a special joy in decorating with these furnishings. 

GASP!  I must have this entire vignette - especially those bookends!!!!

One of my favorites is the big dresser in our bedroom. My sister-in-law discovered that it is probably an Empire style dresser. The shape is so lovely!

My favorite DIY might be the white bookshelves a friend helped me build. They flank the fireplace in our living room and I just love them so much. It’s satisfying to make something with your own two hands!

Well done Amy - those bookshelves look like they should've come with the house!

And my favorite room is probably the nursery. Again, I enjoy children’s spaces because they are often so bright and cheerful.

Decorating this room helped me develop my style and gain some confidence. So with this room as a sort of guide for how I wanted the rest of our home to feel, I reworked other spaces in my home that didn’t feel right to me. I made a lot of mistakes the first time around! But the process of trial and error can be really enjoyable—in hindsight, after we get it right. ;)

I just love decorating creatively and it is my heart to help and encourage others to do the same.

Thank you Amy for so sweetly inviting us into your perfectly imperfect home.  Follow Amy  @modernchemistryathome for more decor goodies and check out her full home tour on her fabulous website!

You want in on this? Submit to #stylemuttspaces for your chance to be featured in a Friday Reader Design.  No design experience necessarily you just got to love your space and what to share it ;)