Christmas at My Daughter's Home

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone!!  Tonight, this Christmas Eve 2014,  I am here at home, posting the photos I took over at my favorite daughter's home last week.  (Yes, she is my favorite, as she is my only daughter!)  I will be spending Christmas Day over there in just a few hours, as time goes flying by.  I will apologize ahead of time as these photos turned out darker than I had hoped, but you will get the idea anyway.  (If we'd had the shades open, there would have been too much light!) I have said, often, that she and I are proof that the Apple CAN fall very far from the tree...as when you see these photos, you will see she and I do not share the same taste.  I must have ruined her when she was little, as she is a minimalist - most especially compared to her mother.  This is her home.  She and her husband, Rick, built it eight years ago and it suits them to a "T."

 

Everyone thinks it is a two story home, but it is not.  The upper row of windows is the high ceiling in their living room...you will see and it's decked out for Christmas!

 

 So, welcome into Kelly and Rick's home.  It's a fun place!

 

 While I was snapping photos...she was working on an art project on the kitchen island. The kitchen really is the heart of their home.

 

 Here is the dining table.....overhead, her crazy, fabulous pendant light.  There is a better photo to come.  And, a four x four foot abstract painting Kelly made with her very sweet and good friend, Micah.

 

 And, here is the Christmas tree.  It's huge, has twelve hundred lights on it and is very colorful!  Beautiful too!  The blue one here on the left looks really nice beside that abstract painting.  There is a red one in the game room just like it.  We'll see that room some other time,  it is a cool place too.

 

 I love the lights on the steel beams.  In fact, I love tiny white lights just about any place you put them, but they really suit this room!

 

 This is the entry way into the living room.  Kelly rescued these sofas from the country club when they were remodeling.  They have various parties and such in their home and need lots of seating at times.  But, you never know, furniture may be moved for standing crowds or...dancing!

 

 Here you can get a better idea of the size of the tree and also the height of the ceiling....although you can't see the ceiling at this point.  You might wonder about the #8.  Kelly and Rick got married on 8-8-98.

 

 Yes, 1200 lights!  (OR, more! She said, but I don't exactly remember at this point.)  It's much more spectacular than this photo allows.  Oh...and they have polished concrete floors.  They are really reflecting the light here.

 

 Another view.  The living room and kitchen are one big...giant...room. 

 

 This is the view from the left side of the living room over to the kitchen. 

 

Here is the view looking out on the patio....the most used place other than the kitchen.  Sorry it is so dark. 

  

 Among the decorations....this. 

  

 Kelly spent many hours this year making garland out of silver pipe cleaners.  I think she bought all there was around here....and a lot in Little Rock also.  You can see it in all it's glory in these photos. It really turned out pretty too!  A reward for all that hard work!

 

Very colorful, isn't it?

 

 

In 'real life' the tree looks like colored balls are bursting through the top!

 

 

 Here is more of the color that always appears in this house.  That painting against the wall is really two paintings hung side by side.  These were purchased from an Arkansas artist from another city. I failed to get the name from Kelly.  They are really nice.

 

 I think together they are eight feet wide.  Under them sits a beautiful long chest with many drawers.  I wish the photo wasn't so dark as I love it.  Maybe I'll get another photo of it one day soon...

 

 Now, here is a close-up of the pendant light over the dining table.  Here the dimmer is being used and it is easier to see.  We can't sit at the table when the light is on high.  It will blind you.  Many thick round pieces of glass form the flower like uneven circles.

 

 Brighter here....

 

And, now we are looking from the kitchen across the room....the same guy that made the chest under that painting, made this long table.  They are made from old barn wood I believe.

 

 Something tells me that at Christmas, Kelly is learning to put aside her minimalistic tendencies!

Maybe the apple didn't fall all that far away from the tree after all! 

 

 A tiny tree on the kitchen counter, looking out the window.  One of Kelly's art pieces shown here.

 

 And, here she is at work.....See the twigs in that white vase in the center of the island.  Came from the same batch as mine on my fireplace mantle.  You'll notice she painted hers while.  And, from these hang beautiful silver ornaments. 

  

 So, there you are...a tour, though not the best tour, of this great home...lots of fun is had in this place.  They planned to build a 'fun' house, and they did!  So I know tomorrow we will have a lovely Christmas Day here and we will remember other Christmases as well.  Imagine the art project gone and lots of food in its place, you'll get the idea!

 

One of the most fun areas of the house is the patio.  This fireplace is directly behind the one in the house.  We sit out here in the heat of summer and the cold of winter...no matter the weather...it is a well-used spot.  And, tomorrow will be no exception.  Imagine me there...wishing you a very Merry Christmas!!! 

Until next time....♥♥♥