I am so so excited to be teaming up with a wonderful group of bloggers to do a little Christmas home tour! We wanted to jump right in after Thanksgiving and give you some great ideas and inspiration on what you can do to decorate your home for the holidays this year. Last year I went with the more traditional colors and used a lot of red. This year I was really craving some simplicity in my holiday decor so I decided to go completely neutral. I wanted to create a winter wonderland inspired by the outdoors. To me this meant a lot of trees, lights, and texture. It was definitely a different way for me to go and I absolutely love it! Let me walk you through a few rooms of my home and show you how I decked it out for Christmas.
Entryway
The first space I wanted to show you is our little entryway at the front of the house. The gallery wall is mostly the same with a few small changes. I added that cute hanging Christmas sign, some lights, a couple of bottle trees to the DIY shelf I made awhile back, and the wreath.
On the bench I added a fun Christmas pillow, a furry cozy blanket, a sweater pillow and some Christmas trees of course. I really focused on making small changes this year and trying not to go too crazy. Just the lights and pillows alone make the space feel like Christmas to me!
Living Room
Next I'll take you into our living room area. This room had become one of my favorite rooms decked out for Christmas this year. It turned out exactly as I hoped it would! Again I kept it completely neutral and I'm not mad at it.
I decided I really wanted to have more then one tree in the living room this year. I was so happy to come across this adorable 4ft pre-lit tree from Walmart for only $25 which was such a good price! Part of me wanted to get one more or another 6ft unlit tree (like the one in our bedroom) to add to the dining room but I didn't.....Yet. I still might. I have a tree problem!
For the tree decorations I didn't want to go to crazy and I honestly almost left them completely bare because I love that look as well. However I wanted the Christmas feel and not just winter so I opted to decorate them a little. I used the rustic ornaments I picked up last year and the star topper (all from Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Home Goods) and added some white sweater garland I found at Target. I also wanted to try something new with DIY ornaments. I am making a wall hanging with dream catchers and doilies for my sisters nursery and in the middle of it I realized how pretty they would be up on my tree! Its vintage, neutral, and they almost look like snow flakes! I bought embroidery hoops from Jo Anns and they also have a good selection of doilies so I was able to get everything I needed from the same store (and use a coupon!). I also found some in thrift stores and antique stores to mix in. It was an easy project and it turned out so well!
Last year I really started experimenting with putting my trees in fun bases instead of the usual christmas tree skirt. This year my grandmother gave me this old tub and I knew it would work perfect to place my large tree in. I layered a blanket over the top to hide the bottom of the tree and make it look kind of like snow. The small tree I placed in a basket I had and again layered a blanket inside. I'm really loving the look it created.
On the entertainment center I decided to try using some paper or cardboard (not sure what exactly) houses I found at Target in the craft section placed in my antique dough bowl. Technically they are made so you can paint or color them but why would I want to do that when they are so perfect in white!? I basically wanted to create a little mini village so I added some trees and "strung up" some little fairy lights to make it look like Christmas lights on the houses. It turned out so adorably! I also added a simple garland that I got on super sale at Jo Anns and some more trees on either side of the dough bowl. Next to those I placed a couple of antique brass candlesticks and a marble and wood star I got at Target last year.
I decided to leave my map up for the season (the one the covers the TV) because I will be playing the fireplace channel a lot since I don't have a fireplace. Around the map I strung up some lights to add a little more interest and lets be honest I can never have enough Christmas lights.
One of my favorite things right now is my selection of pillows around the room. I kept it all neutral but added interest by changing up the textures. I love the combo of fur, sweater, and grain sack pillows! I also added a few text pillows (because we all know how I like sayings spread around my home).
The coffee table is one of the simplest vignettes in the entire space. I didn't want to add too much clutter so I simply laid down a linen blanket and added a basket with a garland laid out in a circle and topped it with a vintage candle holder and candles. I think its perfect for the space!
Dining Room
I realize this post is reeeaaaallly long but I wanted to share the main spaces in the home. Next on the list is the dining room. I will do a more detailed post on this space later for you but for now I wanted to share the basics for inspiration.
If you saw my thanksgiving table you will see that I kept this pretty similar. I wanted to show you how easy it can be to change a space up for the different seasons. I kept the same antique candle sticks, plates, and napkins. I decided to lay out vintage Christmas sheet music as a runner and placed a simple garland on top of that. Like I said previously, my goal was to keep things a little more simple this year.
All I did to the wall was change up the lights too a different color and add this DIY wreath that I will be sharing with you in a later post on how to make.
Master Bedroom
The last room on this tour is our master bedroom. I love decorating our bedroom for Christmas and if you haven't before I highly recommend it. There is nothing like laying snuggled up in bed with the glow of Christmas lights around you.
For this space I continued the neutral pallet and kept things rustic. I took down the pictures above the bed and added this giant wreath I bought last year. To it I added that cute little "believe" wood slice banner. I added lights to the headboard and around the wreath.
For the foot of the bed I decided it would be cute to hang stockings. I don't have a mantle as of right now so I needed a fun space to put them. I actually think once we have kids that it could be a fun tradition to have the stockings in our room so that they can come in and dig into their stockings in the morning! Does anyone do this? I added the garland for an extra touch.
One the side tables I just added some trees, lights, and a few of these amazing ceramic houses from the Target dollar spot this year. These might be my most favorite find in the dollar spot ever! They are so well made!! I added some books under the lamps to create a little more height for the lamps.
On the vintage printer tray I used some lace ribbon I had and tied together these mini wreathes I used on my table last year. So simple! I love using things from the past years in a totally different way. I used the same ribbon to tie up the wreath on the other side on the ladder.
On the other side of the room I was very excited to bring back the tree and to decorate the top of our chippy farmhouse cabinet. This year I placed the tree in a tall antique inspired laundry basket I bought from Decor Steals and added some fur to the base. I decided to keep this tree even simpler then the one in the living room. All I added was lights, a couple of wood tree slice garlands I found at target, and a book page star garland that I made myself.
On top of the cabinet I didn't want to clutter it too much so I started with this beautiful horse print I got off of Etsy (that was originally hanging over the bed) and layered it over a rustic wood piece with a Christmas garland. After that I simply placed a couple of folded up blankets, an antler, some more ceramic houses and a marble candle holder. So simple, cozy, and neutral.
To make room for the stockings I moved the bench to the side of the room under the window. I added the cute wood horse, some books, a blanket I made and some greenery in a vintage jug I got from my grandmother.
For the bed I love adding layers of blankets during the winter. It creates a cozy feel and of course helps keep me warm! I knitted that oatmeal color blanket recently (my new addiction) and its perfect for the bed. I like that thrown together look so I don't fix the pillows or anything. I still love the linen sheets and I added the fur pillow for more texture. A comfy bed is a definite must!
Goodness that was a lot of pictures!! I probably say this every year but this year is by far my favorite decor to date for Christmas! I have been really focused on getting solid character pieces that I love for our home. It adds so much charm and really helps bring in the character that a new home can lack. I thought maybe I would miss the traditional red in my seasonal decor but so far I really don't! There is just something about the neutrals and the glow of the want white lights that I just absolutely love. I know it's not for everyone but for me it's perfect. Christmas is magical and I love getting to bring that magical feeling into my home.
I wanted to end this post by saying thank you. Thank you for stopping by, for following along, for motivating me to do what I do. I so appreciate you all! I also want to make sure to remind you to hop on over to the other blogs in the links below and check out their beautiful homes decked out for the Christmas season! There is so much inspiration to be gained!
