Matt + Chelsea's Christmas Home Part 1: Bedrooms

Hi there! It’s that time of year again, to open our doors wide and have you all in for a visit! While I’m not the most sentimental person, I do embrace tradition and this is one of my favorites when it comes to our blog. Really, in a perfect world we would all live near enough to invite each other over in person for warm drinks and holiday merriment. But, how sweet to get to reach out to you in this way; I really am grateful for this unusual and unexpected form of community which has blossomed into some RL friendships and, most surprisingly, an interesting way to earn a living!

To keep things short and sweet around here I split our Christmas tour into two days. Today I’m just sharing the bedrooms and I’ll be back on Friday with the main living spaces. We have three bedrooms in our home - the Master, Shire’s room, and Colin and Mason’s shared room. If you caught my last post you saw how we turned their room into our Guest Room for holiday visitors, but all is back to normal now. I should tell you ahead of time - I don’t do a whole lot in bedrooms for the holidays. Simplicity is ever calling my name, so instead I emphasized cozier textures for these colder months; thicker bedding, softer pillows, etc.

So welcome in, one and all! Come as you are is always my rule. We hope you enjoy!

Master Bedroom

Confession - I usually strongly dislike extra pillows on our bed. I just really enjoy a simple bed, (and being able to pull down the blankets and crawl in without the fuss of moving extra pillows around). But, our bedroom has a TV and the kids do watch it more with us in the colder months, so I grabbed a couple velvety soft shams and faux fur throw pillows to make it a more comfortable place when the gang piles on.

Let’s see, what else - oh! The balsam fir candle! Our christmas tree smell isn’t quite making it to our bedroom so I’m goin’ with the faux. I mean, if we’re not overstimulating all our senses this time of year what are we even doing? Hah!

Shire’s Room

Her room feels festive without even trying. The colors in here want for nothing! Just a couple special touches, (like the American Girl Kirsten Christmas Tree on loan from my sweet sister).

Funny story - I found that tiny wreath in the Target $5 section early in the Fall and thought it a cute wreath. When I took the tag off it started to unravel and I realized it was a garland. Oops. But I paper-clipped it back together; not to worry! Lol!

Colin + Mason’s Room

This room has just sort of evolved and come together like a happy accident. The elements in here have been collected/DIY’ed over years and they somehow just perfectly represent Colin and Mason and this stage of their life. I stenciled these birch trees maybe 5 or 6 years ago and they are especially fun at Christmastime.

Ah yes, can’t leave out the Bisou Natural air freshener satchel. That cute little ‘JOY’ bag hanging on the accordion wrack is hard at work cleaning the air. It’s filled with activated bamboo charcoal, which naturally removes odors, bacteria and excess moisture from the air. And do you know what carries around excess moisture? Prepubescent boys and older. Find out more here and shop for your own!

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed a few quiet moments to yourself while you were here. I so appreciate you stopping by!

Kids Room Converted For Guests

It’s the heaviest travel time of the year, but this year we’re staying put and hosting for a few days between Thanksgiving and Christmas! We love having guests stay with us but frankly, never know where to put them. Our family of five home is a 3-bedroom partial split-level, so with no designated guest room and somewhat close quarters, we have to get clever to host guests comfortably.

Our shared boys’ room has always been the go-to since it’s the larger of the kids rooms, and I recently discovered an unconventional trick to make it more suitable to couples. Here is their typical arrangement:

And if I push the twin beds together, we’ve practically got a king with loads of extra floorspace! (granted, the king bed hack is in the corner)

I cover each twin bed with its own fitted sheet, then cover with Queen size top bedding, (flat sheet and comforter), since it’s what I have. There’s not a lot of extra but queen size does do the trick if it’s what you’ve got.

I shopped around our home to complete this adult-friendlier space. This room is shared by my sons, 8 years and 10 years, and while I am charmed by their choice of decor and reading material, it is only because I am their Momma. I’m not sure our friends and family would care much for rocks, shark teeth, the Bed Kitty books or 435 cut out paper sharks.

The benefit of pushing the conjoined beds into the corner is it opens up the floor space substantially! I wanted to create this space how I live in a room when I’m traveling, and let me tell you, I settle in. You wouldn’t know the difference between me staying for a night or a month. Hah! The rug, (found here), was sent to us by Home Dynamix and is a really pretty, sophisticated element in this space. Definitely feels a lot more luxurious underfoot than our carpet!

That’s a wrap! Staying or going, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Thank you so much for coming by today!

Blue + Leather Dresser || Why Shop Small

A few months ago I got a handwritten note when I ordered a broom off amazon. It totally shocked when it fell out of the box like a Willy Wonka golden ticket. It read “Thank you for purchasing from a small business on Amazon. Your order means more to us than you know.” I was so struck by the thought that I kept the note.

As a fellow small business owner, I could relate. I mean, I know that every time someone buys one of my pieces, I let a little piece of myself go home with them. I try really hard not to come across as a weird helicopter mother when I help them load up and try to casually ask for a photo of it in its “new home.” I scribble my cell phone down for customers “if they have any problems” or want to know how to best tuck him in at night. I fret over how he’s holding up - is he making new friends? Are they feeding him well? Did they put him in a forgotten corner of the house or is he on display for all to see?

See, it’s more than just a hobby for us. When you buy from a small business, you buy something that’s been labored over. And loved. And it means more to us than you know.

You are feeding our families and clothing our kids. You are taking a discarded piece of furniture out of the landfill instead of adding styrofoam remnants from that assemble-yourself-box-store number you have to allen-wrench into being. And like Chelsea touched on in her recent post, that note got me thinking of new ways to incorporate other small businesses into what we do as fellow makers.

Whether we mean to or not, each of our products affects an intricate assortment of people. I purchased this vintage dresser from Geenae and her husband who were making room for a nursery. The dresser used to be his grandmothers, but with twins on the way, they needed the space. I was scheduled to pick up two of their dressers (the other became this white and wood number) when baby’s cold made me change plans last minute. Geenae was gracious enough to reschedule our meet for the following week so that I could focus on caring for Huntleigh but still nab some project pieces.

After conducting several repairs on Grandma’s dresser, I painted the body in “Deep Breath” by Behr Paint - a color I used for a custom build for clients Lauren and her husband this time two years ago.

This color has that inky quality I like so much in my darker pieces but it has vibrant teal undertones.

To finish it off right, I needed the perfect hardware. Instead of sourcing new pulls via an online dealer like I usually do, I decided to shop small.

I left the unique “bowling pin” peg legs in their original wood so I wanted pulls that would play off the brown tone. I found Julie and Brian selling these leather pulls in their Etsy shop YesterdaysNovember and thought they were perfect paired with their brass capped screws.

I also found Sarah from ModernMakerStamps (also an Etsy shop) who made my custom SMH logo rubber stamp so I can literally leave my mark on each piece I send into the world.

I even borrowed a few baby gifts that were also small business purchases from Huntleigh’s room for this shoot. The yellow letter board was shipped by Lyubomir and Yana in Canada and that gold mobile (given to us by my other beloved sis-in-law Casey), handmade by Eleonora in Croatia - both Etsy sellers, both small businesses.

In light of Small Business Saturday, Chelsea and I have both been thinking about how much your purchases mean to those of us who side-hustle for our families. If you’re also interested in supporting small businesses, Chelsea curated some superb mom and pop gift ideas this holiday that will not only say Merry Christmas to your gift recipient but to the small businesses you buy from.

We are so grateful to get to do the things we love but also to intersect with so many relationships along the way. As a small business, many of our customer interactions have turned into pleasant conversations or even the occasional “small world” moment. Chelsea and I create as an expression of worship and as an outlet for our insatiable imaginations - but it’s a sweeter joy to have these opportunities to meet you. I look forward to meeting whomever purchases Grandma’s re-loved 9-drawer. And to all our past customers and clients out there: thank you for shopping small!

Blue + Leather Dresser
Now Available for Sale
60”L x 18”D x 31”H
$745

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com