Happy New Year, Time to Simplify!

Although I LOVE Christmas... the New Year is one my favorite times. 

My melancholy personality gets OVERLOADED with 

the clutter of Christmas Decor, Gifts, Goodies and Cards. 

So... 'Tis the Season' to simplify, de-clutter and purge! 

I'm embarrassed to say, this is what our house looked like on Boxing Day.
Lots of toys and clutter! 

So... the first project to tackle is our Living Room. Obviously! 

Removing the tree aways makes our home look bigger and brighter. 

It feels like an instant makeover. 

FYI - The cute kid at the bottom of the picture is NOT for sale! 
I decided to go with a neutral, simple theme.
Using lots of white, cream and silver.
 Also, I used "Stars" as my decoration focus.
It's a symbol for the celebration of the New Year! 
I purchased these stars from Pottery Barn a couple years ago.
Unfortunately, they went from REALLY sparkly and silver,
into more of a dull, bronze color.
Still, I love the look and shape they have.

I LOVE my book wreath! Havilah made it for me for Christmas last year and it's one of my favorite things. You can see how she made it HERE.  Also, she made a BEAUTIFUL book tree HERE.  I usually hang it on my front door and decorate it seasonally, like HERE. 

Although we added all the "picture" Christmas cards to our fridge,
all our traditional Christmas Cards were added to a small French Bulletin Board.
Most of these elegant , traditional cards were sent from our UK friends and family.
I had to have them up at least one more month! 

I was given a Jamie Oliver cookbook for Christmas.
It was truly one of my FAVORITE gifts
and I'm excited to learn to cook traditional ENGLISH food for Mr. Giles. 

Lastly, I LOVE this saying on our shelf by our front door!
I believe it truly represents our life and all that we are....
(Sometimes... when our life is REALLY crazy, I point to this sign and smile at Mr. Giles.)
Below it is our little French coat rack.
We stayed at the "Hotel De Ville" in Paris on our second honeymoon,
after our blessing service in England.
Every time I look at this sign, it brings back fond memories. 

 So... this is the beginning of our New Year. 

What's on your checklist? Any fun, creative ideas? 

I would love to hear what you're doing and see pictures of your home and your projects! 

Cheers and Happy New Year,

Debsx