You guys who read my blog daily & have been reading it for a while have noticed a HUGE change in our home recently. If there is one conversation piece in our home it’s our antique card catalog that I found while out junkin’ in North Carolina & I recently painted it. Gasp! I lived with it for over a year before I made the big decision to paint it & the whole time I was mulling it over in my head, but I listed to other people & decided to live with it. What most people couldn’t see on the card catalog was what bad shape it was in. There was past termite damage, missing parts, & the finish was not fixable & would have to totally be re-done. My solution? Paint it. Also, I’m Liz Marie. I have my own style, & ultimately Jose & I are the ones who have to see the piece everyday so it was our decision to paint it. Since you guys have been seeing the piece in the background on the blog & on my social media I thought I would update you on the piece today along with sharing our “Christmas mantel” aka our card catalog Christmas mantel since we don not have a fireplace. The card catalog is actually not finished at all. It still has to be touched up, waxed, some drawers have to be fixed, & the hardware all has to be cleaned up & repaired as well. But I couldn’t have the elephant in the room anymore without talking about it even though it’s not finished….

Here is a quick look at what it looked like the day we got it….

& how it looks now with some progress.. 

The color I used to paint the card catalog is my NEW FAVORITE color & my new favorite kind of paint, Maison Blanche lime paint in white pepper. I’ll let you get the info about the lime paint & why it’s so awesome from the website [here], but it really is my new favorite paint to play around with because it’s different than chalk paint & has a whole different texture. When the card catalog is done I will do a full review of the lime paint after I wax over the paint [In these photos it has not been waxed yet] So far I love the paint & how the card catalog is turning out. Right now I think the card catalog looks a little flat because it hasn’t been waxed, & that once it’s waxed it will bring out the color and more of the character more.  And that Christmas decor? Let’s talk about that. In our upstairs living room I really wanted to bring in pops of red among all our neutrals. I centered our “mantel decor” around those rocking horses I found at HomeGoods. I then threw in some lovely sweater style ornaments I found at Kirklands & ribbon spools that I also found at Homegoods. I thought those were a fun way to bring in the pops of red & also they have that vintage feel. I honestly forget where I found the stockings at but you can find these at A Cottage In the City. The garland is from Michaels, & the wreath & the garland are both from HomeGoods as well. You can see the posts for the lamps [here] & the antlers [here].

I combined all of these items with some vintage pieces like spindles & my large corbel. Also, it’s all layered on top of my rustic wood sign from House of Belonging that I love so much. If you don’t have a mantel for christmas, don’t fear! Just utilize another piece of furniture in your home as your mantel like we did with our card catalog. The one thing I would change about this wall? All of the thermostats & vents on it, but again, we live in a real home & not a model home. My motto? Just decorate around them & they will blend into the background.





I’m so excited to start sharing Christmas decor this year. This is my first Christmas decor post of 2015. I know I know.. it’s a a couple of weeks before people usually start decorating for Christmas, but I wanted to start early so that I could get some inspiration posts up before people start decorating & also share some Christmas decor sources with you guys. Trust me, what decor is up in my home doesn’t define how I celebrate the holidays. If I have some stockings out, it doesn’t effect how much thanks I’m giving on Thanksgiving. Don’t let your holiday decor effect how you celebrate the holidays & please don’t get upset about mine. I love Thanksgiving & trust me this girl will be celebrating with my family with the stretchiest leggings I own on so I can eat more than I should & give thanks to God for this beautiful life. I hope you guys enjoyed today’s post & my first Christmas decor post of this year! I’m so excited to post more about Christmas, but no worries there will be other posts in between as well. Thank you so much for stopping by my little blog today & for sharing it with your friends!! xx