NewlyWoodwards

an unconventional home

A festive holiday home tour

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If there was ever a year to lean into the festive, jolly and merry, I think 2020 is the year. Like many of you, my family has been hunkered down since March. So, finding a way to make our home feel magical and special in the midst of a pandemic was extra high on my priority list this year.

I’m excited to share part of our festive holiday home tour today with a gaggle of other amazingly talented bloggers on the 2020 A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR. Grab a hot cocoa (with extra whipped cream) and check out all the beautiful homes at the end of this post. It’s the perfect way to start off the month. Loads of inspiration for a lovely holiday home.

But first, I’ll share our festive holiday home tour, including our living room and kitchen. This is the main hub of our home, so it gets the greatest dose of holiday cheer.

A homeowner’s guide to solar panels (and how much they actually cost)

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When we built our own house, we chose to invest in energy efficient choices whenever we could – we installed geothermal, upgraded windows and doors, and hired someone to insulate with spray foam. All of these upgrades up-front have helped to keep our energy bills relatively low.

But over the past year, we began to research and take steps to reduce our power bills even more – by installing solar panels on our property.

While some people can make these decisions quickly, Ryan undertook our solar experiment as he undertakes every decision – as a challenge to learn every single thing there is to know, weigh every last option, and take a year to finalize a decision.

He’s very thorough. (It took the man 9 months to find a minivan. And, dude, there are thousands of minivans for sale at any given moment.)

Ryan originally wanted to DIY the solar panels. The Internet told him he could do it, and the Internet is never wrong. And in total fairness to him, he can do anything and built our entire house. But, after finding out more about the rebates and financial incentives, he learned that we had to bring in a professional to get the max incentives – which is what we did.

Ryan interviewed 8-10 companies before committing to a installer. Of course he did. And after lots of research and planning, our household has officially gone solar!

Building and growing in a raised bed garden

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By the beginning of this year, I knew I wanted to start a small garden. I missed having fresh veggies and herbs and I knew we could make some changes to help my vision align with my ability to follow through. The plan – a raised bed garden right next to the house.

A raised bed would be a smaller area to maintain, with less weeds (thanks to the soil added over weed barrier), in a much more visible and convenient location for maintaining and harvesting. When COVID hit in early March, we had already planned to start a small garden and it felt even more important to follow through – both to give us a project and for the ability to grow some of our own food.

Farmhouse porch skirting

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Like much of the world, we have been spending a lot of time at home in 2020. It’s taking homebodies to a whole new level. (Pssst: We are so thankful that we’ve been able to stay home and stay healthy. Hope that the same goes for you.)

Our calendars are clear, our fridge is full, and we are even checking some projects off the list – like adding porch skirting to the front of the house.

Guys. I have wanted this project done for YEARS. But for some reason (like so many other projects), it kept getting pushed to the back burner.

Ryan wants to blame the hundreds of OTHER projects I have wanted done for years. Eye roll. That doesn’t seem right.

In the end, Ryan purchased all the lumber and installed it all in one day! On what was likely the hottest day of the year in the full sun. That’s true love right there.

Refreshing your home with clean carpets

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It’s not yet spring in my neck of the woods, but the inside of our home was needing a bit of a deep clean. It was especially apparent that our carpets needed a little refresh after we took down all the holiday decor.

Life can be hard on rugs, and our light colored living room rug was looking worse for wear. Even though we are mostly a shoeless home, we LIVE in our home. And our kids and dogs are ROUGH on our carpets. Like, they spill every single thing they bring in there. (And there was a pretty nasty red wine incident on this rug while I was wrapping Christmas presents. The horrors.)

Our farmhouse kitchen tour

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And as I was decorating and tidying up the kitchen, I wanted to share a little tour, following the holiday hubbub. I do tweak our spaces throughout the year for the seasons and holidays, but I don’t go too crazy. I have a few favorite spots to add seasonal touches. Our farmhouse kitchen is one of those places.

So while I have added some fresh winter and Valentine’s Day touches, I think it also feels pretty classic overall – which is just the way I like it.