{Scroll down for Christmas Tour of Homes pictures.}
Two Christmases ago, we had just completed a home renovation that included~
knocking out the wall separating our kitchen and dining room
- moving our dining room into our to-that-point unused living room
- making the previous dining room a "keeping" room.
I have no idea why it's called a keeping room, we simply picked up the name from a friend who had the same layout–a living space adjacent to the kitchen. (Is it a Southern thing? Anybody??)
That year, because the keeping room was fairly empty (and still is…), at Christmas, we bought a second tree and I divided the ornaments I had between the two; neither tree seemed completely dressed. During after-Christmas 75% off sales, I stocked up on new ornaments for the next year (if you're razor sharp, you already understand would've been last year). I didn't realize it at the point of purchase, but many of the new ornaments were red and white, and I thought it would be FUN to have a tree primarily decorated in those colors. I couldn't wait til the next Christmas.
Which was last year.
Thing is, when it came time to purchase a tree, money was tight; but more than that, I was under a conviction to give more away to people in need so I decided to give up Starbucks for the month. I asked my husband if he wanted to join me in my "sacrifice", and he said, "That's 20 bucks…why don't you give up something that's really going to hurt…like that second tree in the keeping room?"
It was one of those times I wanted to really hurt him…u n t i l I thought about it, and decided it was excess, and we didn't need it…so I gave up both–my beloved caramel macchiatos and the second tree. When it came time to decorate, I had no use for all those new ornaments. Still nested in their boxes, I wistfully looked at them through their cellophane windows, trying to focus on that little bit of money I had "sacrificed" going to someone who might've had a need met instead of my "wants" satisfied.
This year, as I've intentionally minimized in other ways, to initiate ChristmasChange in our home, we decided to get that second tree for the keeping room. A tree decorated in red and white. It's a mixture of the new and old–I was happily surprised at how many old ornaments we had that fit the simple color theme. And…it's a poignant reminder of sacrifice to me–I remember what I gave up last year, so it means more to me. I know that sounds silly…I didn't do without a thing I needed when we gave up that tree, but somehow it has become symbolic of thinking of others.
If you're visiting from The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes or didn't see it last year, I'd love for you to see my previous years' Christmas decor favorites. Instead of taking many of the same photos for this post , I'd love to share my Red & White tree…colors which in a sense reflect Christ better than any others. Red, representing His blood and life sacrifice, and white, His purity and holiness and cleansing of my sin (which didn't even occur to me until I put this in writing…hmmm).
These snowmen lights are one of my favorite parts of the tree; they glass snowman can actually clip on any light, allowing me to place them throughout the tree.
I've had this angel for 15 years; first year she tops a tree, though :).
Homemade by my middle son; I think his part of "helping" was to sprinkle glitter.
I love these white squiggly dangles…which I'm pretty sure is NOT the official name of these icicle-y ornaments!
It's nearby landmark and a hat tip to our hometown…:)
Thanks for taking time to visit ~ if you haven't yet, would you like to make my day and subscribe via email or in a reader? Or stalk follow me on Twitter? Let me know so I can return the favor!
So funny! Our “formal” tree is red and white too! The children have one that they can decorate however they want. This year we only put one up and it is mostly red and white with some hodgepodge thrown in from the kids. I think think it’s the prettiest one yet. Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the tour!!! Merry Christmas = )
Gorgeous. There’s nothing like a little red and white to make Christmas more, well, Christmas-y. Thanks for sharing – your tree looks just lovely!
Beautiful! I decorate in red and white too!
What a sweet story. Your tree looks beautiful!
Beautiful! Your colors representing Christ… there couldn’t be a better inspiration!
I subscribed in reader my dear! 🙂
I love the angel, and the long Saint Nick ornament! Gorgeous!
I love red on the tree:)
I’ve been to Rock City.
Love the red and white theme! I’ve been wanting a formal tree for years and in the spirit of frugality, I’ll wait for the after Christmas sales to buy an artificial one.
Ohhhhh the red and white tree is lovely!!!
How disciplined of you to save and sacrifice for others in need!!! I am trying to minimize Christmas around here too. I hope it works!
And a “keeping room”?!?! I think y’all are living in some southern world that we northern folk know little about. I never heard of such a thing.
Miss you girl – seriously, I do. I wish upon wish that you lived nearby. I really could use a weekly coffee date with you. (But since we are frugal we would have it homemade and drink it in your keeping room.)
My kids keep commenting on how pretty our red & white tree is :), and I LOVE that they appreciate it. Now, the only thing is, I’m sure I’ll notice red/white ornaments whenever I’m out and about. Must…exercise…restraint in buying every one I see!!
Of course, 75% off, after the season, lol.
If you ever come again, let me know!! We could meet face to face :)! How cool would THAT be after all these years?
{Merry Christmas!}
Hey Jennifer :),
Thanks for subscribing and I popped over to your blog to visit your Christmas Tour…but I couldn’t comment. Do you know if anything is going on? I saw many others who were able to, but there was no comment screen for me to enter anything. Weirdness!
xo
My grandparents have had a See Rock City birdhouse hanging in their front yard for years and years–I never knew what it meant until we began making that trek back and forth to Chattanooga the last half a year. Love the themed tree! SO pretty!
Your home is just beautiful. May many wonderful Christmas memories be made within its walls.
Our home is having an old fashioned handmade Christmas this year. I hope you will stop by.
I love it all! The photos and most definitely the story. Thank you for sharing.
I love this! I wish I had known the story when I was at your home. I thought it was a beautiful tree but didn’t realize the meaning behind it. Good job!
That is a lovely way to keep the focus where it should be. Merry Christmas!
Oh, I dream of having a keeping room! In the days of old, families would all sleep in the keeping room when it was super cold out. Easier to keep just the one room heated with a fire. Nowadays, I am thinking it would be a great place to keep my kids so I could putz around in my kitchen to my hearts delight and still SEE the little rascals!
Lovely! Great pics and I love the theme colors! Someday, when I’m a really grown-up (instead of just pretending to be one ;-), I’ll have a theme-colored tree. For now, our tree is still a combination of 2 separate households plus keeping the breakables away from the toddler. I think I have enough ornaments for three trees, but I need to actually sort through them first!
Thanks for sharing, Robin! (PS. We’ll be in Chattanooga next Labor Day for a wedding! I’m sure I can convince my hubs to let me have a little girlfriend time!)
It is all so pretty! I think it is fun to have a “theme” and then to be on the look-out for things to add to it.
Thank you for sharing your Christmas!
Your tree looks beautiful! I fully agree with your kids. Red and white are classics for Christmas.
Funny I was already following you on twitter but not your blog. Remedied that now!
Thanks for sharing, everything is gorgeous! I love the rock city ornament (I am from Tennessee after all!!).
Ooooo… caramel macchiato is my favorite flavor of creamer right now. :0)
The ornaments are great. We do a mostly red and gold tree(maybe for sacrifice and royalty?).
There are so many ways to help others this time of year. As a family we are giving to food drives and collecting hygiene items for SafeNet Erie which is a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. My boys are young but I want them to learn early that giving is its own reward.
I love the red and white…so festive! And a keeping room is just a sitting room by the kitchen. It is a southern thing and gets its name because in the “old” days, when families didn’t have heat in the house, they would gather by the fire from the stove in the kitchen to “keep” warm on cold winter nights.
I adore the story of your tree. Perfect for the season of giving. And the red and white theme is just lovely. Merry Christmas!
It's funny (because a few readers have used that word) but I've never considered the tree "formal"; B U T, it is themed, so I guess it's just a question of semantics. What makes it hardest about waiting is many places put their trees (& decor) on sale for half off before Christmas, tempting shoppers. If you can wait til after? The selection might be limited but you *know* you can get it discounted even more!
Do you know how big I smiled when I saw you visited my Christmas post? DO YOU KNOW HOW BIG I'D SMILE IF YOU VISITED TENNESSEE (the TN Valley, particularly) AND **SAW** MY CHRISTMAS TREE IN PERSON AND WE HAD NOT JUST COFFEE, BUT BRUNCH (because I'd HAVE to cook for you) and I entertained you with a 1,000 Southern things????
My face might explode from all the smiling.
Let's make a date.
🙂
You realize, of course, you'll have go get a SRC birdhouse when you move here, right? We have one hanging beside a feeder in the backyard (did I upload that one to my snow post? Can't remember right now, lol, but if you hit my page and scroll down, you'll see how beautiful Chatty can be when it decides to snow 🙂 ).
Thanks for inviting me, Laura (I just pulled up your page, to be visited later today hopefully!). It sounds like your family is staying focused on meaning and significance. Just perfect :).
Thanks, Tammy :). It was so nice meeting y'all, and considering I didn't know anyone when the party began, it was a great evening among NEW friends. Isn't it interesting to think about how many "stories" are behind the things in people's homes? "Every family has a story…."….and then some! 🙂 Merry Christmas!
My kids are actually older, but you're right–my kitchen has a clear view of the room and I could watch them if they needed watching! Thing is, for us, THERE ARE NO DOORS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ROOM, so the little rascals would probably have escaped! ha! Lovely thought about keeping rooms of old….talk about togetherness….! 😉 🙂
Thanks, Heather :). I remember our first tree; it was so sparse I recall buying ribbon and making bows to wire to it to fill in all the blank spaces. Now? Well, we didn't use all we had on our traditional tree (mainly because I was hosting a party, ran out of time and put the few away that weren't my favorites….). I've been married 22 years and this is the first time I've had a themed tree like this. I like that it's not "perfect" though….while it does have a color them, we have enough ornaments that "fit" that they aren't all the same :).
**IF** I'm home next Labor Day, I sure hope we get to meet! Even if it's a quickie at some central destination! I'm sure we'll be in touch between now and then 🙂 (Merry Christmas, Sweets!)
That ornament used to hang in my laundry room year 'round 'cause I got it sometime when we visited RC or The Incline or some touristy place (but not during Christmas). I *finally* remembered to hang it on the tree BECAUSE of the red & white theme, lol.
Ahhh, Sarah….GREAT ideas about starting young to train your children to think of others. That blesses me! BTW, check out christmaschange.com–it sounds like you would LOVE what's behind that site. It's all about re-thinking how we "do" Christmas–and LIFE!
Mystery solved–thank you, Lori. And it makes PERFECT sense. Hmmm, how much would I love a FIREPLACE in there? A lot! You'd think it'd be a Northern thing 'cause it sure gets a whole lot colder up there!! Thanks for answering my own question :).
Ahhh, thank you, Elaine! Merry Christmas to YOU! 🙂
Beautiful tree and story…Thanks for sharing!
It’s much more meaningful when your ornaments have some significance. I bet giving up those lattes for a few weeks, helped keep off some seasonal pounds too. It’s really wonderful that you were able to do something so unselfishly. Perhaps a live potted tree that you could use several years in a row might help cut expenses in the long run.
Great entry! Mine is up HERE.
Lovely ornaments. Happy WW
Your snowman ornament is so cute!
Thanks for showing us around. You are welcome to see my home anytime. Merry Christmas!
I love the red and white combo. I love the name keeping room. Thanks for sharing this great story.
Ruth
awwww… I’m not putting up a tree, so you can keep the 2nd tree and pretend it is mine.
Love the red and white…and your whole story Robin!
Christmas blessings,
Melissa
love the idea of a red/white tree…that would really pop and love the symbolism (even if you thought of it while typing 🙂
thanks for sharing.
Webster’s definition of keeping room: a common room (as in a colonial house) usually used for multiple purposes. I thought it went back further than that in history to the days of castles and keeps. I love your red and white ornaments. I am picturing a whole tree done that way – just lovely. Hope your Christmas is wonderful.
Your tree is beautiful! I usually do a 2nd tree in red and white also, but didn’t put it up this year.
I’m following your blog now – I hope that makes your day!
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
Love the snowmen lights! You took some great pictures of your ornaments!! That is something that you will be glad you did. I have a few…but they aren’t as good as your pictures. You have inspired me!
Thanks
I used to have a themed tree, but that was before children. With handmade ornaments and gift ornaments I just don’t have the heart to leave them off of her tree. The angel is so darn cute and I have the same snowflake ornaments as yours.