The entry is coming along...

Here is my new light! Freshly installed, dangling. and sparkly!

After much discussion and many returns to Home Goods, here is the vignette I finally decided on for my entry hall table:

This apothecary jar is full of sand and shells from the trip I took recently with my mom and sister to Sanibel island. This was a special trip, so it needed a special place in the house.

I am however needing opinions on a few other options for the area - it seems like it is taking me forever on this area that is the smallest square footage in the house. But it is the entry! Your first impression, your first glimpse of what is to come. It might be coming a few years later - but it is still coming!

No. 1: The rug
I bought this rug at Steinmart when we moved into our first house in Tennessee. It has been our entry rug in all four houses we have lived in. I still like it, surprisingly enough, and even more surprising, it has fit perfectly in every house. But I might need to spruce it up a bit, mix up the style to give it that "collected over time" feel. What do you think?

I tried this rug, and when it came in the mail it was Cheapo McCheaperson, so it went right back:



Here is the rug I might want to replace it with:



I would love to have this rug by my BFF Nate Berkus, but they don't have it available in this color anymore:



Or this one from West Elm might work, but I can't decide if I like the little touch of red:



No. 2: The lighting
The hub was finally home during daylight hours this weeked (kind of sad for him to think that in two weeks time he was never home while it was light outside), so he could turn off the electricity to put in my new light. There is a spot in the front of the hallway for a light, and one in the back of the hallway. So...do I need two of the fancy dancy chandelier? Or should we convert the boobie light in the back of the hallway to a recessed can that you probably wouldn't even notice? Opinions?

Linking to:

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas...

I think I am finished decorating for Christmas, well - mostly finished. I think I continue to tweak until I start packing everything up. This year in our new house we are still figuring out where everything should go. I did really enjoy putting together my mantel this year - I started with your basic garland and I was able to add pine, juniper and boxwood from my yard (and a tree that is straddling the line between my house and a neighbors - I doubt they will miss a few twigs!).
I got this Santa picture last year at Kirklands, but it got broken in the move - I started to be sick about it when I saw they didn't have any this big this year, but I just emptied out the broken glass and touched up a few scratches with a sharpie, (don't you love a sharpie?) and almost good as new!

Can you see my pretty greens?

This is Ryan's Nutcracker Collection:

This is a fun snowman hat I picked up at Cracker Barrel. It was headed for the top of my tree until I found one I liked better. I thought it might be fun on the kitchen table.

Here is our elf friend Mittens that comes and hides in a different place every morning. Sometimes he even brings gifts. This is his hiding place today.

Where, O' Where could Mittens be?

O' Where, O' Where could he be?

Here he is, I found him now,

Hiding in the tree!

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My New Chandelier!

I got my fancy dancy new chandelier in the mail today!!



This is going in my entry.  Now to get enough daylight for Mr. Workaholic to put it up! Might be waiting for the weekend...
I also need to take pics to share our chalkboard wall and my new kitchen chairs - woohoo!