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Christmas Inspirations

Happy November! I truly cannot believe we are already here. We had a great Halloween over here with awesome weather for Chicagoland (last year we had tons of snow on Halloween). I already took my indoor Halloween decorations down, but I am not one of those who jumps on the Christmas bandwagon immediately.

I used to always wait until the day after Thanksgiving to begin taking everything out, but lately, I start the weekend before Thanksgiving because my hubby is always out of town. It gives me and the kids something to do while he’s away.

Below are some dreamy holiday decorations I have found around the stores and online. There may be some of these in my cart just waiting to hit submit 😉 When do you decorate?

One – Two – Three – Four – Five – Six

amberlina85 Home Tour

Master Bedroom Tour

Our master bedroom is still a work in progress. I can’t decide on a headboard…we debated having my husband build something custom, but it is at the bottom of the project to-do list. I kept the room simple with greys and whites but recently added a bit of pink on my accent chair to try to incorporate more color.

I wish we had a gorgeous chandelier as a focal point in the center, but we just LOVE having a ceiling fan in the bedroom and use it daily. We have not done much with our bathroom except to paint it, but eventually we will replace all the tile with something more my style, remove the giant tub and put in a free-standing soaker tub, expand the shower, and upgrade the counter tops (among other things).

Hope you like our fresh and airy bedroom! See details in my Home Sources tab up at the top.

amberlina85 Receipes, Uncategorized

The World’s Best Sugar Cookies

Prepare yourselves to learn the world’s best sugar cookie recipe. I have made these dozens of times, and each time, they are perfection! I typically make these for Halloween or Valentine’s Day with homemade buttercream frosting.

I decided to get a little fancy and make a fun Halloween cookie board for my kids and their friends. Happy almost Halloween! Tag me in your cookie boards on Instagram @themodernfarmhouse_il

Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

Bake 350 degrees for 8-10 mins

3 Cups sifted flour

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 c shortening (not butter)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 c sugar

4 tsp milk

Directions: Mix the first 5 ingredients like pie crust (I use a food processor). Cream eggs, vanilla, sugar, and milk separately. Add to other ingredients. Dough my be sticky. Refrigerate for 30 mins. Generously flour surface, roll dough, use favorite festive cookie cutters!

Cut-Out Cookie Buttercream

Frosting recipe is one I found online (2sisters2cities.com) and have used for a few years.

1 stick butter (room temp) + 3-4 c confectioner’s sugar + 4 tablespoons milk + 1tsp vanilla.

Cream butter, add 1c sugar + milk + vanilla. Beat til smooth and creamy. Slowly add remaining sugar until desired consistency. Divide and add food coloring as desired.

*I use Wilton gel food coloring.

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Powder Room with Fall Flair

Happy almost Friday! It really feels like fall over here with the leaves changing colors and the temps are chilly. I love this time of year! I keep adding to our fall décor. If you saw my Instagram, we added bats to the outside of our house.

I thought I would post a few pictures of our powder room since I haven’t done that yet. I did the subway tile myself (ok maybe a few cuts were done by my hubby). I went with a bold, moody color in here to try to get outside of my grayscale comfort zone. I found that awesome pedestal sink on Facebook marketplace for $40!

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Fall Front Porch

Happy October 1st! I can’t believe we made it this far. It’s crisp and sunny out today in Chicagoland, which I’m loving. I decorated my front porch a bit early this year, but it’s officially acceptable now.

We have always loved decorating our house for Halloween (even before kids!) with orange spotlights at night. In our last home, we started a trend and the whole cul-de-sac started putting orange lights out on their houses. I will post a picture on my Instagram tonight of the house lit up with orange.

Here are a few pics of our porch:

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Living Room to Home Office

Happy weekend! It has gotten a bit chilly here in Illinois. It went from around 80 degrees to 60s very quickly! I wanted to walk you through a recent project we “completed” (I may want to add some wainscoting…) over the last few months.

Originally, our home had a living room in the front of the house with an arched opening leading to our family room. Our staircase was also open on both sides. It seemed like a great idea having so much open space and an endless open floor plan, but it always kind of bothered me we had two sitting rooms right next to each other. It was always a little awkward having 2 sets of couches just feet apart.

When the pandemic hit, I began working from home full-time, with the kids here…it was no easy feat. I was sharing an office with the kids’ play room, which turned out to be a nightmare. This led to the home office project.

I’ll take you through some before, during, and after pics. I cannot believe this is even the same room. I have a few things left to complete the room: cozy chair, new floor lamp, more wall art (one is a DIY coming soon), and we decided we will add some easy wainscoting. Let me know what you think!

Slide the arrows for a before and after of this room

*Notice the old color of the family room cabinets*

Anyone have any secrets for hiding cords? I’m still moving things around to try and conceal the power cord.
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Social Media

I have been busy adding content/pictures to the Home Sources tabs, but I wanted to let you know that you can follow me on Instagram for more frequent updates! I even did a video in my stories (first time ever!).

https://www.instagram.com/themodernfarmhouse_il/

I am working on a post to showcase our most recent project: converting the living room into a home office. It was such a rewarding project because it added so much character to the first floor, and it something I use everyday.

Also, check out my Pinterest page (still building), but I will house my own home pictures and inspiration boards. To find my page easily, click and follow below.

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A few Christmas things

I gave in and started putting up a few Christmas things. I ordered a new tree from Costco, which arrived today. I couldn’t help but put it up! It has 1,850 lights (woah!) and can change from all white to colored led lights with the push of a button. You can also adjust the brightness level. I’m in love!

I put up a new wreath and 2 planters. I’m not quite ready to pull out all my Christmas bins, but I think next weekend will be the big decorating weekend. It’s super windy and rainy here in Chicagoland, so it feels extra cozy having the glow of the tree. I hope you’re having a great Sunday!

Here are a few pictures of the few decorations I have up. We also made our way to our favorite winery, Lynfred, for some warmed, spiced Christmas red the other day.

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The Refresh!

Hi friends! It’s been a LONG time since my last page update. So much has happened since my last post. This site has undergone a major refresh and will continue to be updated. I hope you love the new logo as much as I do. You can expect TONS of home updates: home projects, organization-ish, decor, and more!

I’m so excited to get back to writing and sharing my world with all of you. I’m still learning the ins and outs of being a great blogger and am loving the challenge of learning how to make this site one that I would love to go to as a reader. Since it has been so long and for anyone new, I wanted to share 5 things about me.

  1. I’m a working mom of 2 boys (Jay is 7 and Luke is 3) and wife of Matt.
  2. We built our home 5 years ago and have been doing updates ever since.
  3. I love dogs!
  4. My decor style is classic, light farmhouse, fresh colors, and a love of clean counters (something I struggle with daily!)
  5. Some of my favorite stores are Pottery Barn, Homegoods, Target, Wayfair, Etsy, and even Facebook marketplace.

Welcome to my home! Grab a glass of wine and make yourself comfortable. While you do, here are a few updated pictures of my first floor. More details and stories to come soon!