PAINT THE WALL AND CEILING THE SAME COLOR OR INCORPORATE VERTICAL STRIPES

The first thing you should do if the space in your home has low ceilings is to make it more light-filled by painting the ceiling a light color.  This simple step will make the space feel much larger by making sure it is as bright as possible.  In our home, we use 3/8 plank boards in combination with the same paint color.  Visually, this maximized the height as much as possible.  But there is no issue if you don’t want everything to be white; simply make sure the ceiling is lighter than the walls.

LOW HANG OR RECESSED LIGHTING

And speaking of more involved solutions, this one can be a bit tricky, but it may be worth it because it can make such a significant improvement. Getting rid of any existing low-hanging ceiling fan, chandelier, or other non-flush with-the-ceiling lighting in your room can be a significant upgrade. It may be necessary to hire an electrician to install the recessed lighting, but it will be well worth the cost.  Here you can see we used huge chandeliers where the ceiling heights are way up there and both recessed & a low-hanging light where the ceiling is lower.

MOUNT CURTAINS AS CLOSE TO THE CEILING AS POSSIBLE

This classic design trick gives a room a feeling of openness and airiness. Hang the curtain rod as near to the ceiling as you can if your room has 7 or 8-foot ceilings. Yes, even higher than the window’s trim. Many people believe that the trim serves as a guide to indicate where to place a rod, but honestly, we went all the way to our ceiling in our old house, and I think they looked great.  These ceilings were about nine feet and the hanging the curtain rod close to the top still worked!

USE LOW HEIGHT FURNITURE

Large, heavy furniture can make any space appear smaller. Consider choosing furniture that is proportionate to the height of the ceiling. We laid our mattress directly on the floor and added extra throw pillows so that it doubles as a lounge recliner.  An option for dining or living areas is to use long, slim, low-profile couches in dining or living spaces to make the furniture proportionate to the size of the space. To create a room that feels larger, you may also use full-height shelf units and thin shelving that reaches the ceiling. Low-height furniture gives the impression that there is more overhead space whereas towering furniture focuses attention.

Making the most of rooms with low ceilings calls for careful planning, imagination, and a good sense of design. When done well, the outcome is a room that is both useful and aesthetically pleasing, giving the impression that it is larger than it actually is

Here is a compilation of our holiday home tours over the years. It’s awesome to look back and see how Susan’s styling has changed over the years. At how much our babies have grown (tear). And reminisce on the huge effort it takes to get the house ready for filming. Here they are in all their glory. Also, I’ll add a little background in the effort it took to get everything together.

2022

Each year, the decorating starts off with the fireplace room. It’s the main room of the house and has both the front door and stairway upstairs. What is challenging is the room is off-centered. Susan often has Cath, Grandma, and me trying several different combinations of tree placements in order to get it right. This year we tried all four corners until we landed back to the original location. Then out of the blue, SQ got the idea to add two smaller trees on the side. I think it looks awesome.

We kind of try to have a “big reveal” each year.  For 2022 the reveal was the kitchen.  That was a ton of work to get that all set.  Susan briefly went into the whole effort on the IG post but here are a few more details.  The whole effort started because SQ wanted to feature these Arhaus chandeliers without swaging them because we had swaged lights in the two rooms that connected to this one.  And I’ll admit, she was right even though I knew that not swaging them was going to lead to so much more work.

In order to string the electrical wire we needed to remove a ceiling panel. That was a chore in and of itself because they were actually inch thick knotty pine – the good stuff. But when I finished cutting out a rectangle and we found 1880’s floor joists, I knew the whole ceiling was coming down. Really, the exposed beams are awesome. I think they look great and when Susan saw them, her eyes just lit up. I love it when she gets like that. Her mind just races to figure out how best to show off this amazing, beautiful treasure that was buried for years. SQ dreamt up painting the subfloor (on the ceiling white so there was a good contrast between that and the wooden floor joist beams.) Then that led to painting the rest of the dining are in the kitchen white. Lastly, while Susan was in Australia, I painted harlequin squares on the floor that she said would add interest. Here’s the technique I used in case you’d like to paint these in your home.

The song is a Silent Night cover by Steelings.  Very cool.  We went back and forth on the song choice this year and ultimately went with this because it has a whimsical feel to it.

2021

2021 is definitely one of my favorites.  I really like this one.  Here is the Handsome and Gretyle’s home page and link to this song called December.

This year Susan faced the challenge of having to get over an artistic block. Nothing looked quite right and it was an effort to get started. Unfortunately I cannot help with new decorating ideas. She’s got to be the one to decide what looks good. So SQ went to her favorite sources for inspiration – store displays, Pinterest, reimagining spaces in our home. And then ultimately what did it for her was thinking back to those holiday moments from when she was a little girl, looking at pictures of her mom and grandmother using tinsel on her trees and boom, the whole thing came together! The feeling of an old fashioned Christmas Is always something Susan strives to create each year. We got the biggest tree that could fit in the room and SQ, Cath, the girls and Grandma showered the tree with tinsel for hours. It looked just amazing.

From there everything came together pretty smoothly. Our big reveal was an update to the kitchen again (only using paint) and a ton of new paint jobs throughout the house. We installed wood paneling on the far side of the kitchen to add texture and depth to the walls and then painted that and the floor a deep shade of blue. I’m a huge fan of the look and am always so impressed by SQ’s ability to add subtle changes to have a big impact. Huge thank you to my friends Joe and Brandon for coming over to help me get everything ready.

2020

Lastly, here is 2020. (The girls have grown so much!) The story behind this is SQ had recently done a video house tour that was done on her phone the year before. While it was good, she knew that she’d like to do more to really show off the decorations and our holiday home. We had met Joel through a few family get-togethers (He’s Cath’s, husband’s, sister’s, friend’s husband) and knew he was super talented. We were lucky enough that he agreed to shoot our house and both SQ and I were blown away with the result. He truly captured everything we were hoping for and am so grateful for his work.

This year our big reveal was the concrete on the walls.  Originally the concrete was supposed to be only on one wall but because it looked good, SQ asked to have the entire space done.  I’ll say this, it was generally easy to do because it’s just slathering on the walls and doing your best to smooth it out while the concrete is still semi-wet.  But my shoulders were sore for a week!

The song is Angels We Have Heard On High by Future of Forestry

Lastly, in 2021 we recorded our fireplace mantle for people to stream on their TVs.  Cath and Dave suggested this since they don’t have a fireplace at their place but really enjoy playing wood burning fireplaces on their tv as a backdrop while hosting friends.

Videographer

Our videographer is Joel Krogman. I cannot write enough about how much of a stud muffin this guy is. Truly a genuinely nice person. SQ and I always question if we’re “professional” enough for him since he’s worked on movie sets before and we never even have 100% of any room done before shooting starts. A lot of times, Joel is recording a room while Susan, Cath, Grandma, and I are rushing to stay one room ahead of him. But he’s always patient, reassuring, and even goes out of his way to help us set up. He’s just an absolutely awesome guy and if you’re in the Chicago or St. Louis area, I highly recommend reaching out to him for any videography help you need. Here are all his links:

https://www.instagram.com/joelkrogman/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-krogman-a6569b33

YouTube

You can find us on YouTube here.  Be sure to follow us!

We built our Tuff Shed three years ago.  (If you click this link, Rob wrote a blog post where he talked about the ordering, designing, and construction of our shed.  Also, here is a top 10 questions answered piece that gives a bit more info.)  Since then we’ve done so much with the space.  From Halloween, to birthdays, to simply having an extra sleeping space.  Lately though, I’ve been using the space as a place to relax and I’m here to write about that.

I got to design the space myself and I knew I wanted something that would inspire, be charming, and foster conversation.  Here are three simple tricks that I used to do just that.

• Make it cozy by providing lots of cushions and blankets for cuddling.

• Well-lit areas create moods and personality. It is then welcoming to relax, unwind, read or enjoy a cup of coffee!

• Speaking of reading one of my favorite ways to create coziness and texture in here, is to add books.  There’s nothing quite as good as unwinding and escaping with a good story while enjoy a bit of nature from the comforts of my snuggly chair.

Now that I have shared all this and how we have enjoyed the space the last few years I am beyond excited to announce that we are about to get our hands dirty and give this escape of ours a whole new look inside paired with a whole lot of intention. This space is transforming not only into a sanctuary to get away but we are turning it into a game room as well. Think of your favorite cozy cabin, tucked away in the woods, a crackling fire, books and now vintage games to enjoy!! The girls are so excited but I have to admit mom and dad might be even more!

We can’t wait to bring you along!

At the end of every year, I try to take time to remember.  To gauge progress, mark highlights, and simply reflect on where we’ve been.  Personally, I prefer to look back over several seasons at a time so that I can better grasp the long-term changes.

With Susan being a creator and therefore, taking a lot of pictures, I get to enjoy memories perfectly captured by the lens.  This helps me to remember details my mind’s eye may have fogged over.

So for example, I am writing today about the Tuff Shed and how it’s been such a blessing.  As a space to stage and decorate it’s amazing for Susan.  It’s such a beautiful pallet upon which she can create.  But as a space to gather with friends, it’s even more amazing.

Here is a look back at these past few years of the times we’ve enjoyed our outdoor escape. I’ve enjoyed coming through our picture archives and I’ll show you a combination of staged pictures, crazy moments, and quick pics that we’ve taken over the past few years.

These two photos were Susan’s idea.  She thought it would be really cool for Reece and me to stand in the same place with a before the shed shot and a post-construction.  The build took only two days but I clearly couldn’t remember which hand I used to hold his paw. 

Here’s a building progress pic.  There were three awesome guys there that put this up in two days.  I was more than impressed.

The shed is two stories, which provides a super cool place to have a bed.  We’ve enjoyed several movie nights up here.  All four of us crawl up a ladder and project a movie on the far wall.  9/10 times Susan and I fall asleep within 30 minutes of the start, but the kids end up watching the whole thing. ◡̈

One year Susan decided to deck out the shed and then let the girls carve the pumpkins under ‘Harry Potter’ candles.  How cool is that!  We tied the candles up with the fishing line and taped them to the ledge. Viola, instant magic!  The girls loved the dark and mysterious space!

Last Christmas Susan staged the Tuff Shed with two big trees.  I love how the simple act of adding trees into a room creates a Christmas scene and makes hot chocolate and a nap. ◡̈

Finally, here is our latest adventure.  We hosted a Halloween party outdoors and were able to use the Tuff Shed as a place to warm up.  After a year in isolation, we really needed to show the girls a good time!

Welcome, I am so very happy to have you here!

The Holiday House Walk is my favorite home tour and I am so happy to be a part of it again this year!

I would like to send a huge thank you to Jenn Rizzo, our tour organizer, who is an amazing blogger, friend, inspiration! Make sure to visit her charming home, you can check her out at jenniferrizzodesigncompany!

If you’re joining in, from Cassie at https://www.cassiebustamante.com/eclectic-cozy-christmas-at-home/, welcome! Her home is so beautiful and she is just the sweetest!

I am sure you got tons of ideas from her! She is so talented! Or if you are new to the tour, you can start from the beginning here, jenniferrizzodesigncompany. The houses this year are so insanely festive and beautiful!

This Christmas I was feeling extra nostalgic. I was inspired by my moms pictures of her childhood tree. They had so much tinsel on their trees and I just had all the feels seeing how beautiful it was.

I recruited my two handiest helpers and Cath and we went to town creating a simple yet nostalgic Christmas! We set up a nine foot alpine balsam fir that looks straight out of the forest to begin.

The girls made it through the bottom third with these show stopper disco ball ornaments and then I finished off the rest. The hardest part for for me was deciding where to put the tree. I swing back and forth between three spots in the room that all worked but in different ways.

We then gathered into the kitchen for one of our favorite pastimes, baking pies during the holidays. I must admit having a daughter (and a mother) with celiac has made this a bit more challenging but we make do!

The crust wasn’t as workable as I would have hoped but it sure did make for some fun memories trying to piece it together to look halfway decent.

Good news, picture perfect or not, it sure did taste good and that’s really all that matters.

This was of our earlier Christmas looks this year. We have since moved things around and added a bunch more decor and trees so make sure to tune in throughout the month as we show you more.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas. Thank you for stopping by and spending time with us today!

Next up on the tour is Destiny! Creating her magic over at https://justdestinymag.com

Destiny’s home is gorgeous and decorated to the nines! There is no doubt in my mind that you will fall head over heels for he charming home the same way I did! And on top of it she is such a joy!

A special thanks to our talented photographer, Ro Birkey Photography: https://robirkey.pic-time.com/portfolio You captured our home and hearts so perfectly.