Deck the Halls

I’m pretty excited about this blog post. I actually was debating on posting about Christmas décor simply because I feel like we are far from finished from where my vision is with our house at Christmas time.  I grew up in a house where every corner was perfectly styled. It always brings me so much joy at Christmas to go home to Virginia to see all the decorations my mom has expertly coordinated and placed. With moving into the new house last year, we have been working on our rooms little by little, when budget allows, and I don’t feel like any room is even close to being finished. I’ve wanted to share pictures of the progress we have made in each room, but all my rooms are only half way done or not even touched.  Believe me, I am not complaining. I know we have been blessed with this home and are extremely fortunate so I am okay with working on things little by little.  It’s actually fun to see us stick within a budget and not go into debt for our stuff in our house. We save up for something we want and then we buy it, even if it takes months. For example, last week I bought a $300 console table that I had been saving up for since July.

Even though we have so much more to do, our new house has always felt like home from the day we moved in just over a year ago (maybe that’s because all the love).  And, it gets even better each month we live here.  Last year we were barely moved into our house at Christmas time so I think we got our stockings hung and our Christmas tree up, but that was about it.  This year, I was SO excited to decorate because I knew that I had more to work with as far as furniture is concerned, but we were definitely lacking décor options for this new space.

When Steve and I had our first Christmas as a married couple, we agreed that we would purchase one or two pieces of décor each year. It’s become a fun tradition to watch our Christmas décor grow as time passes by. It makes each piece, all that more special. This year we decided to focus on outside décor so we purchased two small light-up trees and a wreath for our front porch. That meant that for this Christmas all my inside décor was the same as last year, but I was determined to make it work. I decided to focus on one room to make that one room super cozy and warm for Christmas. Of course, that was our living room. It was fun trying to figure out how to turn my living room into the cozy Christmas room I have always wanted to have for my family.  With the limited décor we had, I think we did a great job. What do you think?

The mantel was my favorite project. I took the window frame from our guest bedroom upstairs and left some other decor we had and then put our last years front door wreath and mailbox swag to complete the mantel. The pottery barn stockings have been with us for a few years.  I’m typically all about neutral colors, but Christmas is all about being warm and cozy to me and so the red and green make that happen.

I found this quilt at a local antique store last year.

Extra ornaments in a serving tray complete our coffee table this year. Last year we talked about upgrading our tree to a real tree or a bigger tree, but we couldn’t part with this one for budget purposes. We still love it. A pull back. I am loving where the arm chair is now. It is usually near where the tree is. I’m thinking of keeping it here. So many times I have thought to change my tree to be a styled gold and burlap tree, but our ornaments are so special to us. They all mean something. Like this one was the one that Steve game me for Christmas last year. It was the first year in our new house. Each year we have a blast decorating the trees and remembering all the good memories associated with each ornament. I love burlap and gold. So warm! These gold bows were the best $3.00 purchase ever. We have used them for six years now.

This little corner needs a little work, but having our precious nativity in the entryway to our home is the best place for it.