Christmas Home Tour (Part 1)
I enjoy decorating for Christmas – I should reword that. I enjoy the house all decked out for Christmas. In part 1 of the Christmas home tour, I plan on featuring the entry, my office, and the living room. Grab your favorite beverage and a Christmas cookie, and come join me!
The Entry
Nothing beats greeting visitors as soon as they walk in the door than a cheery and Christmassy entry way! Our long hall is perfect for adding small touches that bring about an air of festivity.
The bench in our entryway makes me so happy. *sigh* I love having a pillow and soft throw tossed over the end. For Christmas, I exchanged my regular pillow for one that is Christmas-themed.
The lanterns that adorn our entry light the way, providing just enough glow to make it inviting and warm. I love tucking in greenery that represents the season or holiday. In this case, holly and pine!
Across from the dining room is the console table. On one side of the hall lies my office as you walk in the door, and beyond, the dining room. Near the end, as the hallway opens to the living area, are the powder and coat closet.
Placing the console across from the dining room provides space so the hall doesn’t bottleneck. And, it’s almost as if the console is part of the dining room itself. Angels and a faux poinsettia grace the table with just enough seasonal beauty.
My Office
My tabletop Christmas tree is located inside my office, in the corner. It’s only adorned with gold bows – that’s it. And I love it!
The prelit tree was purchased from Walmart last year and comes flocked with pinecones, adding just the right touch. The quilted runner under it was a gift from my ex-daughter-in-law. She’s a gifted quilter.
If you like to decorate with Christmas cards as I do, you need to read this post! These old cards add just the right touch!
I added a short garland above the French doors with lights! Not shown are the wreaths with candles in my office window. I tried taking pictures of it, but they didn’t come out well.
The Living Room
Skipping past the dining room, we’re going straight to the living room. The end table above displays an angel that lights up. We purchased this beautiful angel from Ace Hardware in Solvang, CA, while traveling.
The star of the show is our primary Christmas tree and Christmas village that lies beneath. We built a platform that is four levels high. The top level houses the tree itself and a few buildings. The next level holds the train and track. The bottom two levels are for all the other village pieces.
The tree is trimmed in white, gold, and silver, with pops of red from the cranberries. This year, I wanted to add pops of color and could envision cranberry picks that match the new cranberry throw I recently purchased from Amazon.
The tree is the primary focus of the entire house. It’s a lot of work to put together, but so worth the effort. To create a fuller tree, I use lots of silver and gold picks that I place in the tree. I cut short strips of gold and silver ribbon that I tuck into the branches in various places.
We started collecting village pieces to place under our poor, barren tree. Gathering at our daughter’s house for Christmas, we no longer had gifts to grace our tree at home. And our son and his family lived far away, so we mailed their gifts.
What started as a train and track under the tree with one lonely village piece ended with an entire village as we continued to collect pieces through the years. To house each piece, we built the platform.
Since the Christmas tree is the focal point, the mantle is a little understated. I wanted something simple but festive. Adding a trio of lighted candles on one end and a trio of stockings on the opposite end proved to be just the right touch. A garland is always a must!
You can find one of the stocking patterns on Ravelry. You can find the Snowy Textured Christmas Stocking here. Unfortunately, I lost the directions for the other stocking and failed to write down instructions while fresh in my mind for the third stocking. *sigh*
One of the best ways to decorate for the holidays is to add Christmas pillows and festive throws. I just love the cranberry throw and the pop of color it adds to this year’s decor.
The beautiful white pillows featuring a golden Christmas tree are ones I purchased from Amazon, here. The pillows with pompoms, you can find here.
The Christmas pillow on the loveseat came from one of the craft stores, either Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. It was on sale, and I couldn’t resist that beautiful golden Christmas ornament adorning the pillow face!
The driftwood bowl that graces our coffee table is a constant. Most of the year, I keep decorative orbs in it with a candle. I change out the foliage with the season until December. I replace the orbs with pinecones and add pine boughs, and sometimes, cinnamon sticks.
It’s so easy to trim for the holidays by simply adding pine branches, holly leaves, and pinecones to existing decor.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a nativity. It’s the reason for the season! And, for me, it is why we celebrate, as it takes me back to that night, long ago, of Jesus’ birth. While all the glamour is fun, the festivities, merry and bright, it all comes down to a child born in a manger to save mankind.
I’m finishing up this part of the tour with the crystal-like Christmas tree that is beautiful when turned on. Sparkles, glitter, and everything, well, Christmassy!
