Christmas is nearly here, and I'm so glad to welcome you to our home!
Backing up, here's a view of our house. The grey skies have been par for the course this year, but the Christmas decorations add a cheerful touch.
Before you go any further, you should know that Christmas decorations around here are traditional. Although I admire neutral decor, it simply doesn't satisfy me at Christmastime. I'm a red and green girl all the way.
I like blue, too, and you'd better believe I'm flying my flag this year, since my oldest son just became an officer in the U.S. Navy! He's now in Pensacola for flight training, but he gets to come home for Christmas. Mom's happy about that!
I hung the DIY "Joy" sign that I made last year and placed the boys' old sled by the front door. A tartan bow dresses it up just a little for Christmas.
I was tickled to find bells to add to the wreath this year. (Does anyone else love "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"?) I use the same artificial wreath every year and just add fresh greenery and embellishments to make it lush and full.
I love to give our front porch "outdoor living room" some special touches for Christmas.
This year I added a galvanized bucket (found at the Target One Spot) to the side door. I just filled it with with fresh greenery and added some tartan ribbon. I change my chalkboard from time to time; right now it's proclaiming one of my favorite Christmas messages.
Here's a peek inside the front door. I like the house to look Christmasy from the moment you walk in.
The foyer is the hub of this house. The stairs lead up to three bedrooms, but the foyer also connects to my husband's study, the living room, the dining room, and a little hall that leads to the powder room and the master bedroom. So the decor needs to be lovely but pretty simple. This would not be a good place to block traffic. A garland on the banister and some fresh poinsettias add Christmas color and sparkle.
Here's my husband's study with a little Christmas cheer. I don't do a lot in this very masculine room.
Back in the foyer, you can get a good view into the living room, where our one tree stands in the corner. The tree isn't decked with ornaments yet, but it looks pretty with just the lights and the angel on top.
We really live in our living room. It's fairly formal in architecture, but not particularly formal in feel. I left the TV cabinet open for your viewing pleasure. Lots of NFL games are watched on that TV!
The fireplace decorations are simple and sentimental: our stockings collected over the years, a basket of favorite Christmas books, and fresh greenery along with mercury glass candle holders.
This blue bowl stays on the coffee table most of the year. This Christmas I simply added ornaments and an antique Christmas magazine.
The dining room is right next to the living room. I think the French blue color of the walls is a great foil for the red, green, and gold of my Christmas decor.
I love colonial Christmas decorations, and this year I made a Hogarth curve for the dining table. So easy to make and such a lovely centerpiece!
My dining room windows are untreated, so at Christmas I like to add ornaments. I hang them from ribbons and staple the ribbons to the top of the window frame. This year my primitive sideboard holds two of my favorite Nativity scenes: an olive wood creche made in Bethlehem and the DaySpring nativity candle holder trio.
On the other sideboard I display special Lenox Christmas plates. Lenox started its "Trees Around the World" series the year my oldest son was born. I have a plate from the year each of my boys was born, and I love displaying them every Christmas.
Through the dining room is the kitchen, where I've added a few fun Christmas touches. Last year I painted my kitchen island green, so it works especially well for Christmas.
I created a kind of "country store" vignette on top the island with an antique wrapping paper roll, an old scale, and store bell. I made a "Please ring bell for service" sign to sit by the bell. Now if someone would just come serve me when I ring!
In the window I hung my DIY Noel sign and just layered a small boxwood wreath on top. I sometimes remove my DIY faux Roman shades at Christmastime and hang a garland, but this year I felt content with just the Noel sign and wreath. Snowman cookie jars add some fun on either side of the window.
The breakfast area got a bit of Christmas cheer with a simple centerpiece on the table and my Department 56 village on my mother's antique dough cabinet.
My youngest son usually creates a LEGO Christmas village for us, but this year he's away at college. I hope he'll make us a LEGO village before Christmas Day!
The breakfast room leads directly out to the screened porch, which is great fun to decorate for Christmas. I cut a length of flannel fabric straight down the middle: one half I used to create a table runner and from the other half I stitched some Christmas pillows.
Centerpieces don't get much easier than this galvanized bottle holder containing votives (Epsom salts provide the "snow") and some fresh greenery from my yard.
Hope you've enjoyed this little tour of our traditional Christmas home. We wish you and yours a blessed season of celebrating the birth of the Savior!
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