Winter Living Room

For the last month or so, my blog has taken a serious backseat to the Christmas rush of online shopping. Not my own shopping, mind you, but I've been busy from morning to night wrapping soap, stitching towels, packing orders, and helping a host of my lovely customers get their Christmas shopping done early. 'Tis the season...

But in the midst of all the packing and shipping, there's still been a little time for decorating. With all the traveling my husband and I do over the holidays, I don't go all out with Christmas decorations at our little house. It just makes the beautiful trees and lights at our parents homes in Ohio that much more special next to our own undecked halls. But with a few wintery touches here and there and a couple of wonderful new finds from my last antiquing trip, our livingroom has a fresh winter look in blue, white, and grey that is perfect even long after the holidays are over.  

One of my favorite new-to-me antiques is this blue and white coverlet. I've always admired woven coverlets like this, but authentic early ones in good condition are few and far between, not to mention expensive. But on our Thanksgiving road trip a couple weeks ago, we took a minor detour to stop at one of my favorite antique malls in Shipshewana, Indiana, and I spotted this beautiful blanket almost the moment I walked in the door. It was in excellent condition, and I flipped over the price tag without much hope. But at $80 it was literally hundreds less than I was expecting, so I bought myself an early Christmas present. (There, see, I have done a little shopping after all).

The color and texture that it adds to the white slipcovered couch are wonderful, and the bold pattern works so nicely with all of my french striped pillows.

The wooden bowl on the coffee table got a touch of the holidays with a handful of natural pinecones and a stack of antique books with dark blue covers. My husband loves reading old books and buys them regardless of what they look like - I pick out my favorites from his collection and decorate with them...

My absolute favorite is the tiny leather-bound hymnal from 1854 (on top of the stack). Not only does it have perfectly aged pages and a handsome pattern pressed into the old leather cover, but the hymns inside are some of the most beautifully penned words I have ever read, proclaiming the truths of scripture with a poetry and depth that is seldom heard today.

As I've told you before, I am in love with these mosaic mirror candle sconces, and I found this one for only $15 at an antique shop in Ohio this fall. It adds a festive touch of sparkle to the simple rustic room, even without a candle (don't worry, I'm working on it).

My TJ Maxx french chair gets a little primitive white stool to rest my feet on (which I am actually doing right this minute as I write).

The chippy white table in the corner holds a pair of antique crocks with pale grey glaze and a crinkled wire antique basket the I picked up recently here in Nebraska. It's one of the things I bought to sell in my Etsy shop, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Sorry...

Pillows... I love pillows.

A few sprigs of (fake) Christmas greenery nestle around another antique crock and my little gray duck.

Even the TV gets some holiday love, with a bowl of reproduction mercury glass ornaments and more greenery.

And the icing on the cake...?

We had our first snowfall on the day I took these pictures last week, and we've had a thick blanket of winter wonderland ever since. Merry Christmas from Nebraska!