Simply Decorated Christmas House Tour
Decorating tips for simple Christmas decor using repurposed items and items from nature. All of these Christmas house tour ideas can be done easily and are very budget-friendly.
Over the years, I have gone all out when it came time to decorate for the holidays. But with each passing year, I have scaled back more and more.
To see all my Christmas decorating posts I have done in the past, be sure to check out my Christmas Resource Page where you will find everything Christmas by category.
This year, I needed simplicity along with a calming atmosphere. With Ed and I traveling to California to help our daughter with our granddaughter’s care the last few months – life as we know it has changed. Added worry, stress and a new daily routine.
Being home in comfy and cozy style is what we both crave.
I didn’t buy anything new to decorate the house. Instead I went through my stash of decorative accessories and arranged my chosen items in new and festive ways.
Lets Start with the Living Room
My living room is small and the fireplace wall is the decorative focus of the room, so I always try to make it special.
I gathered a collection of empty frames I had and arranged them along the mantel by leaning them against the stone wall.
The large ornate gold-toned frame I found on my morning walk in a neighbor’s trash. I added glitter to the larger frames to give them a vintage Christmas feel.
The brass candlesticks are from a church rummage sale. Two years ago I spray painted them silver. This year, I sprayed stripper on them to change them back to aged brass.
I cut the pine and cedar from trees in my yard.
I made these white stockings when I first started blogging. I style them differently every year.
A new addition to the fireplace wall is a holder I made to hold my throw blankets.
Right now – I have faux fur throws on it – they are the best for snuggling under while watching Christmas movies.
I have a collection of Kosta Boda Snowball votive holders. I like to use them in different places each year. This year I placed them in a wood dough bowl filled with fake snow.
I normally place the Christmas tree next to the fireplace, but this year I decided to place it between the living room and kitchen.
I like it here much better for a few reasons. You will see the best reason at the end of this post.
I have a smaller faux tree in a ceramic planter on the sofa table. I found both the planters at Publix supermarket. They were a steal at $10.00 and $5.00.
More candles on the wicker basket side table. I bought the votive tray in the summer at a La-Z-Boy showroom. The glass votive are each a different shade of green, but with the candles lit – they look yellow in the photo.
The Entryway
Keeping the decor simple – I placed the large faux stone bowl on the sideboard again this year.
I really like it and the paper wrapped ball ornaments I used on my tree last year.
The lamp was a thrift store find that I transformed to look modern.
If you are starting to see a glittered pinecone theme going on in my Christmas decor, it is intentional. Free decor from nature.
I live on the shores of a lake with pine trees all around the house. Pinecones are everywhere. I like finding creative ways to use them.
Christmas cards you receive can become decor when you place them on a tray or in a basket.
The Kitchen
I added some pine sprigs, ribbon and jingle bells to the plate rack in my kitchen.
- To add the jingle bells to the ends of the ribbon, I folded over the end of the ribbon and hot glued it to make a loop.
- I strung wire through the handle on the jingle bell and twisted it to secure it. Then I threaded the wire through the loop I made on the ribbon and pulled the wire tight and twisted it.
I also made a few glittered pinecone ornaments with ribbon and hot glue.
Christmas Table Setting
My house does not have a dining room, so my kitchen table does it all. We did make a new larger top for the table this past year so we can seat more people around it.
I used these snowflakes as placemats many times in my previous house. Since adding the new tabletop to the table, I went in search for snowflakes and the clear glass plates that I used with them.
I like the mix of casual and fancy crystal wine glasses.
I just learned how to fold a napkin to look like a Christmas tree. It was easy.
- See this post: How-to Christmas Tree Napkin Folding Video
I bought my napkins at Pier 1 a few years ago. Here are green napkins I found that I think would look great if you like this olive green and white color scheme.
Vintage Christmas Gift Wrap & Ribbons
The gift wrap is from Zazzle. It is a replica of vintage bark cloth fabric.
The purple vintage ribbons are from Etsy.
My favorite seat in the house, especially at sunset.
4 Christmas Trees in My Living Room
I had a pleasant surprise when I decided to place the Christmas tree at the end of the short wall that separates the kitchen and living room.
Doing this, plus adding the wall of mirrors over the summer that are opposite the sliding glass doors creates a lot of reflections.
I took this wide shot with my phone to show you that when sitting in the room, it looks like I am surrounded by 4 twinkling Christmas trees.
In reality – there is only one tree and 3 reflections of the tree when sitting in the living room – one in the mirror, a second in the sliding glass door and the third in the far window in the kitchen. There is also a fifth when standing in the kitchen as there is another sliding glass door, It is a winter wonderland. :-)
It feels pretty magical. This photo makes the room look much larger than it is.
SHOP: Decorating Resources:
I hope you enjoyed the tour. If you have any questions about anything I did, just leave me a comment.
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