Michelle’s Home – Diamonds or Pearls 2016 Christmas Tour

Welcome to our Christmas Home Tour! My name is Michelle and I am one of the three sisters who started our Diamonds or Pearls blog. I am thrilled for you to join us along with the five other talented women who were gracious enough to open up their homes to share with us on this tour. I really do believe that whoever wrote the lyric “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” in the Christmas carol absolutely nailed it. There really isn’t a more festive or magical time of the year and I enjoy all of the family traditions, decorations, memories, and seeing the magic reflecting in the eyes of children.

This is my second Christmas living in Hawaii and the lack of snow or cold doesn’t keep me from getting into the holiday spirit. Even though the weather is warm and sunny,  I still decorate to make my home feel cozy with a little bit of Christmas sprinkled everywhere.  My mother, Linda always had our home beautifully decorated when I was growing up and I love to do the same for my family.  So grab some hot cocoa, relax, and I will show you around my little island bungalow.

One of the nice things about living in paradise is that you can enjoy the porches year round. They are such a wonderful space to relax and enjoy in the evening after a long day of work.

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This is my little space in the house where I like to relax and have my morning coffee.  I kept my christmas decoration simple with touches of greenery and berries.

My son surprised me with this W pillow for my birthday. I thought it was so sweet and told him I would be sure to use it for the tour.

In my dining room I love a beautiful tablescape around the holidays. My white square pottery barn plates are mixed with the cutest red plaid bowls I found at Target. The blend of rustic birch vases and traditional elegance gives the room the look I was going for. I put my main tree in this room because space is at a premium. The addition of the tree made this little area of our home so cozy.

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My tree is adorned with red, green, silver, and gold ornaments.  Every year my mom sends me the most beautiful ribbon and I was so excited to blend this striped with my plaid and herringbone to put on the top of our tree.   I then always add a little bit of twigs to give it that rustic feel. Even though my decor does not have a coastal or hawaiian feel, I always add a little pineapple as an homage to the Aloha spirit.

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This is the room in our home where we definitely spend the most time.  We look forward to our time together and enjoy watching Christmas movies, playing games, and eating lots of homemade popcorn!  I will readily admit that I am a pillow fanatic and love to pull out all of my festive pillows for this room. I also use greenery and berries to add festive Christmas touches in a subtle way.

I kept my staircase very simple this year and just displayed my beautiful black velvet stockings my mother made me.

We have a tradition every year where we spend an evening getting my son’s room ready for Christmas. We make hot cocoa, turn on holiday music, and pull out all of his decorations. He has so much fun decorating his tree with his collection of ornaments.  That little tree already has so many wonderful memories attached to it. I look forward to this day every year with him and I pray he doesn’t outgrow it anytime soon.

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Thanks again for visiting my home and I hope you are enjoying the tour. As they say in Hawaii, “Mele Kalikimaka”! Next up on the tour is Keli’s Home on Wednesday and she has the cutest New Jersey Cottage.

2016 Diamonds or Pearls Christmas Home Tour  

Linda’s Home