Our Home for the Holidays…

Today’s post is is a big one! So keep scrolling to read…

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Today’s post is a fun one, and one of my favorite posts to do! Decorating for the holidays is such a great way to keep your mind from thinking about how freezing cold it is outside. I spent Thanksgiving weekend decorating our home for the holidays, and I am so excited to show it to you! As I’ve said before I love home decor just as much as I do fashion, and decorating for the holidays is always so much fun. It is especially fun when the kids are little and they get so excited about Christmas! If you’ve been following this blog for the last several years, you’ll notice I do this post every year. I like to make holiday decorating all about mixing old with new. My home is filled with classic pieces that will last for years, but it is nice to add a few additional items just to keep things fresh and new. 

I want my home to be inviting for all who come to it. So for the holidays I decided to decorate my front porch with this plaid rug (previously seen in this post). On top of it I added this fun and festive snowflake doormat. It’s on sale for under $13 too! I love how this rug sets the tone for our entire home. 

Our Kitchen Holiday Decor

As I’ve said before (see here and here), the kitchen really is the heart of our home! So of course I wanted to add some Christmas decorations for everyone to see in the kitchen. I decided to keep the decor simple and classic, with pieces I can reuse season after season. Our white kitchen is essentially a blank slate (which is one reason why I love it!).

On the island I always keep fresh flowers in this farmhouse pitcher vase from Ikea. Every week I pick up a new bouquet, and this time I found a lovely mix of red white flowers for the vase that is perfect for the holiday season.  This Voluspa candle smells wonderful and fills the room with such an aromatic glow when lit! And it is so fun to add live garland to the pendant lights over the island. 

My Mackenzie-Childs Courtley Check stockpot and casserole dish get lots of use during the holidays. And they look so nice sitting on the range!

I love adding wreaths to decorate the backs of chairs during the holidays. This year I decided to add these beautiful faux boxwood wreaths from Target to my counter stools. And I tied them to the chairs with this festive candy stripe ribbon. I just love the way they look now!

My husband gave his stamp of approval when I added these adorable plush snowmen to the kitchen!

This Mrs. Meyers limited edition peppermint scented hand soap will definitely put you in the mood for the holidays ! And this Voluspa crushed candy cane macaron has such an amazing scent, that you won’t mind washing dishes while it is lit! I decided to pull out these cinnamon sticks for the winter holidays as well. It is wonderful to smell the aroma of cinnamon during the holidays!

By adding this berry wreath over the range, it instantly warms up my white kitchen. And it adds the perfect festive touch to the room!

The holiday experience is not complete without baking Christmas cookies with the kids. I have to admit I didn’t bake these (they came from the Dexter Bakery) but I will be making some soon. But the cake I did make! I had visions of making a perfectly smooth layered cake, but when I couldn’t get it to look like the vision in my head, I decided to make it a naked cake. 

Shop my Holiday Kitchen

The Holiday Table is Set

I debated about making this a separate post, but I have so many others planned I decided to include it here. To set the table I added a few new pieces to the Juliska Berry and Thread dinnerware I already have, and it turned out so nicely! 

 Tartan plaid is the theme for our Christmas tablescape. This Pottery barn plaid table runner really sets the tone for the entire table. And the matching napkins really look nice on the plates! And right now they are 20% off with code GIFT. 

These Juliska Berry and Thread North Pole scalloped holiday salad plates coordinate perfectly with their dinner plates. And I love that by adding a holiday themed salad plate to my everyday dinner plates, the table setting is transformed entirely! Right now both the salad plates and dinner plates are 25% off at Neiman Marcus now through December 7th. 

I received this holiday tree bouquet delivered straight to my door complementary from FTD flowers, and it looks beautiful on the table! Hopefully it will last long enough for Christmas dinner!

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Our Holiday Family Room

Our family room is decorated much as it was last year, with a few simple additions. We brought out again our flocked Christmas tree (also like this one) that I purchased a couple of years ago on Hayneedle.  A flocked Christmas tree is messy, but is well worth it! And decorating is easy too as the tree looks practically decorated with nothing on it. Ours has definitely held up well for the last three years!

I had so much fun decorating the coffee table for the holidays. My white lacquer tray from West Elm set the stage. I added a few holiday coffee table books (this fun cookbook and this classic Norman Rockwell book). These fun antlers look great on top of the books. This terracotta vase filled with fresh berry stems really is the focal point.  This fun candy cane candle and these red and white pillar candles are the perfect accent pieces too! 

This year I added a few fun and festive pillows to the family room for the holidays. This snowman pillow from Pottery Barn is perfect for the accent chair.  And I picked up this plaid snowflake pillow along with this Holly and Ivy pillow at Pier One Imports. All three pillows are currently on sale for 25% off too! 

The stockings were certainly hung by the chimney with care (by me!). For a classic look, we decided to use again these simple white velvet stockings this year. To hold the stockings I used these simple stocking holders. To add decorative flair these mercury votive candles really look nice!

 Santa is definitely checking his list twice this year! What really makes the holidays fun for us is when the kids believe in Santa. My youngest definitely still believes, though my 8 year old is starting to suspect something is amiss.  My girls learned the “truth” but they definitely play along. And it is so nice to have their help when it comes to wrapping presents!

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Simple Holiday Dining Room Decor

Christmas dinner with the extended family is at my In-Laws house this year, so that means I don’t have to set up the dining room. I still wanted to make it festive though with a few simple pieces!

I love the look of these faux birch vases on the dining room table. The ornament tree in between the vases is sold out but this one is very similar. 

My ceramic reindeer (similar here) are a lovely centerpiece for the buffet. And these decorative silver trees work so well with the display! 

I kept the bar cart decorations simple too, with the addition of a lovely red poinsettia. 

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For the entryway I decided not to do live garland this year (we did it last year). Instead I decided to add this realistic-looking teardrop swag to the spiral staircase. I love how simple and elegant it looks! Overall I just love the way our home for the holidays turned out this year. And I hope today’s post has given you lots of holiday decorating inspiration!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

xo | April

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