This is our first Christmas in the loft, and we may have gotten a bit carried away with the tree. I should have had the kids stand next to it for scale (they helped select it), but that sucker is around 11′ tall! Our former home was a 1948 cottage, and while super cozy, I dreamed of our next place having soaring ceilings – you always want what you don’t have, right?! My tastes have grown more minimal over the years (for many reasons), but this year especially, I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. As much as I love our ornament collection (many vintage, from my grandmother), I just couldn’t stand the thought of decorating this giant tree the second week of December, only to have to undo the entire process shortly after. So, a naked tree (with lights) is what we ended up with, and it’s actually quite refreshing and lovely.

I always look forward to styling presents – I literally just finished wrapping everything yesterday afternoon. This year is a mix of black + natural with gold accents (I know, shocker). The big, fun, colorful present under tree is apparently a gift from the kids to me (no clue what it is). Clearly they had a lot of fun making it special for mommy. I can’t wait for Santa’s gifts to appear Christmas morning – Santa doesn’t gift wrap, did you know that? He likes to give moms + dads some time for coffee first (oh so grateful for that). Let the Christmas countdown begin! And here’s a few more glimpses of our place…