Our New Cozy Apartment Dressed for Christmas

Welcome to the much anticipated 2022 Holiday Housewalk hosted by my talented friend, Jennifer Rizzo. This is my 4th year participating in the online Christmas home tour and I must say it stands out as one of the most challenging. Many changes have taken place for our family in the last year, and I will get to that shortly. Fortunately, we are a tough bunch, so we are striving to finish out the year stronger than ever. I am extremely thankful for my husband who supports me in all that I love to do, and I honestly couldn’t do it without him. I hope you enjoy “Our New Cozy Apartment Dressed for Christmas”…

This years Holiday Housewalk includes 20 fabulously decorated homes and we have all linked ourselves together so you can hop to each house one after the other. So, if you would like to “enter” at the very beginning, please click over to Jen’s gorgeous home HERE. On the other mitten covered hand, if you’ve already strolled through the house before me which is #14 Cuckoo 4 Design, then welcome! Both Jen and Julia have outdid themselves with their unique decorating styles. Every year I am inspired by the housewalk participants and sometimes I even take little notes to remember an idea for next year! So, grab a sticky note, and a pencil because you might need it.

Dedication to My Mom, Joanne

Before we begin our cozy apartment tour I want to dedicate this years tour to my sweet mom who passed away 2 months ago after a long battle with Hypernatremia at the age of 88. Grieving is such a private process and we all must take that path in our own way, and in our own time. Decorating is therapy for me in many ways, and is helping me get by. In fact, while I was hanging the ornaments, and tacking up the stockings I actually felt my mom was right there with me. Jojo loved viewing my creations and loved hearing about my sometimes crazy ideas, so it’s going to be difficult without those conversations, but I’m learning to have them right inside my own head. I suppose I will get better at that with time. So…here’s to my mom! ❤️ Here’s to the one’s you’ll be missing this holiday season…

Our Cozy Apartment Dressed for Christmas Living Room

Now that I had a little cry, I feel much better. Isn’t it truly amazing how the good Lord heals us with tears 🙌🏻. Now let’s get to this Christmas apartment situation! For those of you who haven’t visited in a while, Rick and I decided to sell our beloved home. If you’re interested in why we made such a bold decision, you can read all about our reasons here: “Why Did We Sell Our Home?” Let me tell you, this apartment is like a new canvas, and I am using the time here to have a little fun. The 2 bedroom apartment has a living area in the middle of it, and we love how quiet and cozy we feel here-almost like on vacation. I think we got lucky because we don’t hear our neighbors hardly at all. We are on the top floor and I used this corner of our living room to nestle our Christmas tree in.

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You may notice the door located behind the Christmas tree to the left. That’s the door to the “West wing” we call it 😆. It includes Rick’s office, and his bathroom (yes, I have my own bathroom now). Luckily, there’s another door leading to the West side, so I was okay covering up most of this doorway. There’s actually plenty of room to still slip by, and of course our balcony door is there on the right. It’s a little too cold now to go out there much, but I do step out every so often with my coffee in hand. We are lucky to have some beautiful foliage out there that we just experienced change through the fall months.

Speaking of views…our Christmas tree theme this year is ruby red and gold with a very traditional vintage vibe. Some of the ornaments I grew up with in the 1970’s, but this year I purchased these gorgeous ruby red ornaments and they deserve 10 stars (they are glass and a stunning crackled ruby red). If you look closely you’ll see where I placed my mom’s photo in the tree. She’s the one who taught me how to place ornaments very carefully on a tree.

I decided on black sheer curtains for this space because I wanted something dramatic to frame the room, but didn’t want to cover up the light shining in. We only have windows on one side of the apartment, but that works because of the large size of the windows going up to the 9 ft. ceilings. Can you see how the curtains make the room look larger? I also love how the ruby red velvet accent pillows, and soft ruby red throw blanket, shine against my charcoal MidCentury modern sofa.

If you’re wondering where I bought the wedding dress canvas, I wrote all about it HERE. After I “wrapped” the red pillow with a bow (tutorial coming up next week sign up here), I added a red bow I tied to the canvas wedding dress with just a little stick pin. My son teased me on Thanksgiving and said, “Julie is now a fashion designer” 😆. That is definitely not the case, I am horrible with clothes. Maybe I’m getting better?

The Coziest Dining Room is Set for Christmas Dinner

We came so close to putting our big dining table into storage last September when we moved in. Luckily, I convinced my husband to try it in our very narrow dining space in between the kitchen bar, and our living room. Low and behold, it fits like Santa’s glove and I still love the look of the table we purchased when the kids were little. The only thing we decided to update were the chairs. I found the cool modern chairs here for a fantastic price.

When setting our Christmas table I try to add in something new, something old, and something interesting. The white dinner plates/red wine goblets are new from HomeGoods, and the red chargers I’ve had for many years along with my mom & dad’s white cloth napkins which are from their wedding in 1956. Maybe you can guess what the interesting part is?

If you’re answer is the funky gold garland on our new chandelier, you are correct. I used inexpensive gold bangle bracelets to add a little bling to our pretty new chandelier. I found these in my jewelry when we were moving and stashed them in my Christmas boxes knowing I could repurpose them into garland. Hey, maybe I will wear a few on Christmas to keep my guests wondering 😊.

My New Apartment Kitchen Cooking Station is Ready for Christmas

One of the very first things I fell in love with in our new apartment is how you can view our romantic bedroom light fixtures and canopy bed frame from the kitchen 🤭. I know this space is so much smaller than our house, but it’s just the two of us, so it’s beautifully perfect. I might add that this apartment is quite romantic, too. By the way, that ruby red hand soap came from HomeGoods, too. Sometimes, I sneak into HomeGoods just to get their soap in the clearance section, so check it out.

So, if we turn around from the dining table, here’s our cute little modern kitchen with our new black rattan light fixture and new comfortable bar stools that Rick likes to sit on and watch me cook 😆. I am digging all three, and that includes Rick. However, for the tour I had to set up the bar for Santa. I hope he enjoys his fresh chocolate chip cookies and the fire 🔥. Here’s the recipe for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies I Ever Made.

I’m very much looking forward to sharing how I’ve learned how to organize our lives into a smaller space including those cool magnetic shelves on the side of the fridge. Our daughter, Daphne, found those for their apartment down the hall! Daphne is quite the organizer. Next month, I will be sharing all of the organizational ideas we have been testing, and utilizing. You would be surprised how little space you truly need when your kiddos grow up, and move down the hall 😊. I’m finding it to be much easier, so when we decide to build in the next couple years, I am going to keep this in mind.

How do you like the snow flakes floating on the cabinets? I added those with just a little tac. I’ve got to tell you that it is so nice having cabinets that are not painted. That situation was getting old at the house because we kept having to touch them up. No more painting cabinets for us. I can’t wait to show you the laundry room to the right very soon-sign up here for my weekly newsletter.

Our Cozy Apartment Master Bedroom Dressed for Christmas

Ahhhh…finally, some time to relax after Our New Cozy Apartment Dressed for Christmas tour in our fresh and luxurious master bedroom. These tours take a lot of energy, I am exhausted you guys. I recently published our master bedroom before and after photos HERE if you are interested in more. Boy, these wine glasses sure made the rounds around the apartment 😊. I think we’re getting closer to last call…

Coming Soon: Redhead’s Private Bathroom & Dressing Room Combo

Redhead’s Husband’s Christmas Bathroom

Whoops, I almost forgot to show you a cute little peak into Rick’s “manly” bathroom. At least that’s what I tried to make it for him. Yes, finally my man has his own bathroom and he loves it (and I love it). His office is directly off to the right, so it’s very convenient when he is busy with his law stuff, and I’m running around doing my thing.

Thank you so much for stopping over to see Our New Cozy Apartment Dressed for Christmas! I hope you can come back soon because I’m working on my “Glamorous Private Bathroom & Dressing Room Combo”.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Next up on the Holiday Housewalk 2022 is #16 the spectacular Diane from In My Own Style…Diane decorates her home beautifully, and I remember I actually ordered one of her snowball candles she had on display last year. I wonder if she’ll have them out again this year???

Christmas Giveaway Going on Now!

Cozy Christmas Lounge Holiday Housewalk 2021 (Our Old House)

Why We Sold Our House!