holiday home 2011

I was really inspired this year by the Nester's post on decorating for Christmas naturally, especially the part about not taking things too seriously. I was really busy and had a lot of work deadlines right around the time that I hosted my cookie decorating party, but I wanted to have all my decorations up before having people over... Enter Nester's tips to help keep things simple: incorporate natural elements, work with existing pieces and color schemes. Definitely check out her holiday decor - it's lovely and whimsical - and in the meantime, here's my take:

 

 

I realized what I really want out of a decorated home is a feeling of coziness and warmth for the holidays, so I started with candles and lights, put out some warm throw blankets and festive-hued pillows, and added a flokati rug in place of a tree skirt (since I don't have one anyway!). And what's more welcoming than a plate of homemade cookies on the coffee table?

Then I added a couple of natural elements - easy garland on the mantle, more greens on the porch and as a wreath on the front door, the cutest little mini poinsettia, twine on the gift wrap.

I finished off the decorations with the color palette of my regular decor, which I think makes it feel cozy because everything just fits into a cohesive room rather than jumping out and screaming "holiday decor!". I have a lot of reds, browns, and yellows in the room already - obviously the red is easy to work with for the holidays, but I incorporated a range of shades by pulling my paint choices for the DIY ornaments directly from the rug colors. The pillow cases are also various shades of red - again, festive without screaming "holiday". I brought in browns and golds in the super easy tree garland (just wrap a couple rolls of ribbon around), candle holders on the mantle, gift wrap, and impromptu kraft paper table runner in the dining room (since I don't really own any linens!).

 

And I just couldn't resist giving Ginger a little decoration too - a collar I found 75% off after Christmas last year and rediscovered when I pulled out the stockings this year!

[sharing here]