Quarters One, A Stroll Down Memory Lane

You might know that this blog, Quarters One, began at Fort Riley, KS when my husband was the Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division and we lived the commander’s home known as Quarters One. Every year, HASFR ( the Historical and Archaeological Society of Fort Riley) hosts a Christmas Tour of Homes…not just one you tour by computer but one you actually attend! It’s magnificent and magical and so much fun to see how people decorated their historic quarters.

Their recent tour, posted on social media, got me feeling nostalgic and I thought I would share some photos from our time there at Christmas.

Thanks to the magic of my dear friends Rick and Rob at Gatherings at 3 Thirteen (formerly known as Gatherings on the Prairie) Quarters One was turned into a Christmas wonderland!

I will always cherish the memories of Fort Riley and the real Quarters One! If you want to read more about it you can check out my old blog here and here.

My photography skills have come a long way since these days!!

A Christmas welcome from the Big Red One!

Deck the halls with boughs and boughs of birch and cypress branches! Coming on the heels of a wonderful RandR, and Thanksgiving with all of my children, I was hard pressed to be motivated to decorate for Christmas. I really just wanted to make like Rip Van Winkle and sleep away the rest of the deployment. But…instead of wrapping myself in Christmas lights and drinking vodka while crying to Christmas tunes… I enlisted the help of my friend, Rob and VOILA!  A Christmas decorating miracle! It’s amazing what can be done with  birch branches and fresh greenery.  Imagination, along with zip ties, wire, and ribbon held it all together. We used everything fresh outside and fabulous faux greenery inside.  

This sweet reindeer was just passing through but he was a great touch to  our decor!  The outdoor light fixture was stunning! Another view of the porch light.

This was really my excuse for not wanting to vacuum on this side…

Everything on the porch got touch of fresh greenery.  Naughty or Nice, I’m still trying to decide…

Our theme this year was Woodsy Glam. lots of natural elements mixed in with silver, velvet, and crystal.  I love to decorate with these old snow shoes.

We had the same Christmas decor on our stairs for the past 7 years, it was time to change it up and we did! The birdhouse added a touch of whimsy and accentuated our outdoor theme.

One of the five fireplaces in Q1…this tile came from Italy and symbolizes our much loved 173d Airborne Brigade.

This fireplace is reserved for Santa!

A little angel reading a “book” we added a few pages of our own to make it a Christmas story.

Italian stockings made by my friend, Aly. The painting is a Rembrandt reproduction found at a market in Italy, he reminds me a little of St. Nick! A snapshot of our collection of snowmen and Santas from all around the world.

‘Tis the season to be Joyful! We decorated both sets of dining room chairs.  Found these great reindeer candle holders at Tuesday Morning one year. We staged the dining room table to look like a New Year’s Eve buffet!

The dining room sideboard.

An ornament given to me by a German friend.

My very favorite room! An antique corbel makes a great centerpiece and the oyster shells are votive holders.

Over sized sugar bowls serve as mini soup tureens.

We’ve used the “Duty First” ribbon a lot! It came from StationaryStudio.com.  More corbels (I love them!) act as bookends for our favorite Christmas books.

This is the island in the kitchen and it is where we always eat when it’s just the two of us. The Big Red One glasses belong to Quarters One.

We moved this desk into the kitchen from the living room, it really “cozied” up the big space!

We had over 200 visitors on the Tour of Homes, our Historical Society did a magnificent job!

There goes Leigh, our HASFR president and the head docent for the day at Quarters One. I loved the period costume she wore, it added a great touch to the event. For more Christmas pictures of Quarters One visit us at www.facebook.com/Quartersone!

‘Til next time….Merry Christmas!

Duty First!

Thank you for taking this Christmas stroll down memory lane with me! I have lots of photos of our former military quarters from Fort Riley, Fort Myer, and Fort Meade on the Quarters One Facebook page!

With Gratitude, Shand