Our Cozy Christmas Kitchen Lounge ~ Holiday Housewalk 2021

Welcome to Redhead Can Decorate and the spectacular 2021 Holiday Housewalk, hosted by Jennifer Rizzo. I am so excited, and honored to say this is my 3rd year participating in the popular virtual Christmas parade of homes that has captured eyes since 2009. For my contribution this year, I decided to focus in on the heart of our home here in Southeast Michigan. I hope you enjoy reading all about “Our Cozy Christmas Kitchen Lounge” below, just as much as I enjoyed creating it for all of us. If you would like to start at the very beginning of the Holiday Housewalk (there are 10 homes before mine), you can start at house #1 which is Jennifer Rizzo’s beautiful home.

If you happen to be stopping by from house #10 Marci Schneider, Welcome!

Come on in to Our Cozy Christmas Kitchen

Us old folks, I mean “Empty Nesters” have switched up our kitchen a little bit since it’s usually just the two of us for dinner every night. You see, both of our kiddos are dorming at college now, so Rick and I have been zooming in on more of what feels right for us in our home when we are here alone. To be honest, we’ve never been a sit-down-to-the-table type of family. The atmosphere in our kitchen is more chill, and I hope you’ll feel that relaxed vibe as you sift through the photos. Come on in, it’s nice and warm in here with the crackling fire…

The first thing you may notice (besides the black ice skates hanging over our tree) is that our kitchen table is missing 😲. Yep, that’s right…the parents are getting a little wild in their old age. We swapped out the kitchen table for a cool Mid-century Modern sofa. Don’t worry though, the table isn’t far, and is waiting in the adjacent room in our front living room for when we need it (which has been 0 times in the last 6 months).

When I began thinking about this year’s theme for the Holiday Housewalk, I really dug deep and tried to focus in on what truly inspires my decorating style for Christmas. With that being said, it always goes back to my childhood living in Buffalo, New York.

The black ice skates I actually found at a thrift store years ago, which takes me back to many, many years of ice skating during the long cold months in Buffalo. I absolutely love how the ice skates stand out in the room and bring out our black mantel, and the black frames surrounding our loved ones. They are truly the icing on the tree.

Uh oh…look who decided to try to sip my fake Christmas martini 😆. I guess we could call it a “Kitty Cocktail”!

Adorable Cozy Christmas Hutch

Our kitchen is by far the heart of the home, and where we spend the majority of our time (work & play). In fact, it’s something I look forward to enjoying every single night. There is honestly no other place I would rather be than sitting in front of the fire with my husband. If you turn around from the fireplace, you’ll get a peek at our built in hutch, and black island. I enjoyed thinking outside of the kitchen, and brought in cozy supplies such as blankets and pillows, and they really softened up the hutch for that warm and fuzzy feeling.

If you look close, you’ll notice that I used an old Cola crate as a cute ornament display. In addition, the wooden deer and the cardinal are both treasured pieces from my Mom.

Dream Christmas Cooking Station

Before we get to our dreamy cooking station, I want to invite you to enter our fresh Cedar wreath giveaway that’s going on right now 😉. To enter just click here: Fresh Cedar Wreath Giveaway. If you enter the giveaway, you could win a wreath just like this one on our pantry door…

If our kitchen was a city, the hottest spot in town would be my cooking station 😆. I’m telling you, I feel so lucky to have such a neat place to cook up a storm for the ones I love.

Speaking of storms…yah, there really was a huge blizzard in Buffalo, NY in 1977. I was 7, and we had off school for 2 whole weeks (see homemade chalkboard sign in photo below). I remember my dad keeping a journal on a yellow note pad keeping track of all the crazy weather events that took place. Our door was frozen shut, the wind chill was -75 degrees, and I remember my brother (God rest his soul) kicking a frozen half gallon paper milk carton down our street from when we went to walk to get milk. Oh, and if you can spot the loaf of bread in the photo below, that too was what I remember…my Dad cooking homemade bread because it was cheaper.

In case you’re wondering, here’s my view at my “cooking station” while chopping up carrots & celery for Rudolph…

Here’s also one more peek at the white built in hutch that didn’t always look so fresh. If you would like to see it when we moved in 12 years ago, just click here: “White Hutch Makeover”.

Santa Decorated Built In Shelves Surround Fireplace

Last year, I decorated this tall built-in shelf with red and white Santa themed decor. I didn’t have the heart to take it down after Christmas was over, so I just kept it up. This is exactly what it looks like today in our cozy Christmas kitchen lounge. The photos are of my Mom & Dad whom are both 86 years young living in Buffalo, N.Y….

Speaking of my Dad, he is the one who would get the big “Christmas box” out every year when I was little. It was my favorite day of the year, besides Christmas of course. He and I would decorate the entire house in one afternoon, including our Christmas tree. Thanks, Dad XXOO

Vintage Style 1975 Christmas Tree with Tinsel

Those certainly were special days decorating back in the 1970’s, and even 1980’s. As I got older those are the times that still stick with me, and are with me every inch of the way while I trim the tree. The black skates, are a nice unexpected topper, but what really makes me happy is tinsel. A little bit of good old fashioned tinsel is what we all need 😊. Rest assured, I removed the tinsel from the bottom half of the tree after this photo was taken to keep our 3 cats safe.

Thank You for Visiting Our Cozy Christmas Kitchen Lounge

I hope you enjoyed Our Cozy Christmas Kitchen Lounge…you’re welcome here always. To make sure we keep in touch, I invite you to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter here. Next week I’m sharing a beautiful fresh centerpiece made with clipping from our Michigan Pines.

That’s all for today, my friends. Thank you so much for stopping over to our cozy nest. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas! Don’t forget, tomorrow morning house #12 Craftberry Bush will be hoping you can continue the tour from her pretty home…

2020 Silver & Gold Holiday Housewalk

2019 Holiday Housewalk