An Outdoor Tour

This past weekend, my sister in law got married at our home. It was a lovely, small backyard wedding with immediate family. We had perfect weather and enjoyed the outdoor ceremony all the more with cozy blankets and mugs of hot chocolate. Afterward, we spent the afternoon getting to know each other and nibbled on cheese and meats and hor d'oeuvres and of course, wedding cake!

We did everything ourselves, and with everything going on just before guests arrived, I had no time to take any photos. So, I will just have to wait until she gets her photos back to share the day with you in detail.

I can, however, share some photos of our home all decorated for Christmas. It looks so cozy and inviting. Every time Ryan and I walk past still get giddy and can't believe that it's ours.

This is the front entrance.

We hung cedar garlands and filled our urns with some fresh green, Eucalyptus and birch poles. There is also a Boxwood wreath on the door.

This is the side of our home, which is used like a back yard since we really don't have a back yard. 

You can sort of see the different parts of our home that have been added over the years. The stone part is the oldest part and consists of our living room (bottom floor, left side), entrance, dining room (bottom floor, right side), master bedroom (top left), bathroom (top middle), and boys bedroom (top right). The white part in the middle is our kitchen, which runs along the back of the home, and is also the access to our back deck. The blue part of the house is our family room, bathroom and den/playroom. Beyond the blue addition is our apartment, or in law suit, which mirrors the blue section and has a living and dining room, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and enclosed porch. 

You can see out Christmas trees waiting to go up. One is for the Family room, one small one for the boys' room, and the others for the side entrance.

Juniper and Evergreen wreaths were put on the bottom floor windows of the original house (there are just too many windows to do them all).

This is the other side of the house.

This part is mostly garden - our herb garden, and an entire section that's ground cover.

We use this entrance most as it's closest from our driveway.

The door enters into our family room which connects with the kitchen.

We just hung some simple garland, and added some fresh boughs to a vintage sleigh.

I also tucked some greens into the planter and added an antique ceiling tile.

One day, we would love to remove the siding and match the exterior to the blue part. I would also like the paint all of the blue details, and replace all of the doors with wood doors, but neither of these things will be done for a while.

Here is the entrance to the apartment. There is both a door to the enclosed porch (straight ahead) and to the living room (to the right). The apartment is attached to the house, however you can only access it from outside.

Here are the gardens from the driveway. In the background, to the right, is the canal. I'm looking forward to being able to spend some time in the gardens next year.

And that's our home. I'm still working on finishing the inside, now that the wedding is over.