Christmas Home Tour 2016 {Part 1 – The Living Room}

Hi friends, and welcome! It’s Christmas time and I’m so excited to take you on a tour of my home all decked out for the holidays! Today is part 1 of the Christmas Home Tour, the living room.

Last year at Christmas we had just moved into our home, so decorating everything for Christmas wasn’t really a high priority. We also didn’t really have any furniture, so our tree and our old couch were the only things in the living room.

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This year since we’re more settled, I could finally decorate for Christmas! My Christmas decorating style is basically just like my regular decorating style. I like to keep Christmas decorations a little more traditional but I also love mixing in modern touches here and there. I also wanted to create a really cozy atmosphere where we could relax and enjoy the holiday season.

Let’s start the tour of the living room.

{Widget couldn’t help herself – she loves the couch}

Pillow Forms || Red Plaid Pillow Covers

The first thing I did was switch out my pillow covers for these pretty plaid ones. They make the room feel a little rustic and definitely add that cozy feeling that I’m going for. Then I added this fun modern typography pillow to the mix. Aren’t the pompoms cute?

Falalalala-lalalala Pillow (HomeGoods)

On the end table, I’ve got a simple display that showcases my new modern Christmas Tree. I am obsessed with this white tree because I love the contrast of the white with the wood base. It was a HomeGoods find that I couldn’t pass up!

“Oh Holy Night” Print || Modern White and Wood Christmas Tree (HomeGoods)

I grabbed this “Oh Holy Night” print from the Lindsay Letters shop during a summer sale and I’ve been waiting for so long to finally display it! I love her pretty modern calligraphy style!

PS: Did you know that she’s coming out with a COLORING BOOK?! You can pre-order it now!

On the second end table, I tried to match the white and wood look of the modern Christmas tree. I brought out my ceramic house that I found at Target for my Fall Home Tour and paired it with this beautiful wooden “Joy” sign.

Ceramic House || Joy Sign (HomeGoods)

Under the end table, I filled my favorite felt basket with these cute Santa pillows. They were another pre-season purchase that I’ve been waiting patiently to break out.

Santa Pillows || Felt Basket

Since we don’t have a mantle, Ben created this beautiful stocking ladder for me. It’s a great way for us to display our stockings – and yes Widget even gets her own stocking.

Our blue cabinet was the perfect spot for displaying our nativity scene. I love this set that we got as a wedding gift. Our nativity is a more traditional design, so I thought that my rustic mini tree would match it well. This little tree was a gift from my sister last year and I love it!

Mini Rustic Tree || Reindeer (HomeGoods) || Home for the Holidays Art (HomeGoods)

Right when you come up the staircase into the living room, there is a small nook area. When we first looked at the model version of this house, Ben and I knew that this would be the perfect spot for a Christmas tree!

Every Christmas since we have been married, we’ve had a real tree. I love that we’ve started our own tradition of going out and cutting a tree down together each year. And, you can’t beat the smell of a fresh Christmas tree in your home.

The majority of my decorations are ornaments for our Christmas tree that Ben and I gathered as we were growing up. Every year I look forward to bringing out the boxes and putting up our collection of ornaments. For the main tree in our home, I like to stick with the personal ornaments instead of going with a themed tree. It’s just a sentimental thing for me because that’s how our trees were growing up.

I love when ornaments hold memories. This lighthouse ornament is from Harbor Town in Hilton Head Island South Carolina – where we got engaged.

This is one of my most treasured ornaments. It’s a mini replica of our wedding cake that I had custom made from a shop on Etsy. She did such an amazing job with the flower details and I love seeing it on our Christmas tree each year.

Wedding Cake Ornament (Similar) *the shop that made my ornament is no longer on Etsy

Ben loves trains, so his favorite part about the tree is definitely the little model train running underneath. He loves setting it up each year, and Widget loves derailing it whenever she can!

{Widget creepin’ – when she’s not on the couch, she LOVES sitting under the tree}

Sitting next to the tree is one of our favorite decorations – the moose wearing a sweater. I don’t know why we love this little guy so much, but we found him out Christmas shopping one year and we both couldn’t leave him behind!

I love our simple star tree topper this year. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the cozy décor. A little secret about the star – it’s actually made out of paper. And I made it myself using my favorite tool, my Cricut Explore! The tree topper was actually a Make it Now project and cost me less than a dollar to buy the image from the Cricut Image Library. It was a super easy project and I love it on our tree!

Tree Topper Project

I found this fun bell garland at Michael’s this year and decided to hang it from the stair railings leading downstairs. The rustic red striped design looks beautiful next to the deep green Christmas tree.

Bell Garland || Merry Christmas Wooden Sign

The Merry Christmas wooden sign is actually a DIY project. It couldn’t have been any more perfect for that little spot above the staircase. You can learn how to make one of these signs in the full tutorial here!

The decoration that I was the most excited for this year was the garland for our staircase. Last year I was dreaming about gorgeous greenery for our staircase but I couldn’t find anything that I really liked. Well, this year I found it and I’m in LOVE!

I love the look of fresh greens but I just can’t justify the price. Especially since I would have to get a new garland every year. I want something that will last year after year and still look amazing.

Faux Soft Pine Garland || Faux Eucalyptus (IKEA)

This gorgeous arrangement is actually a faux soft pine garland layered with faux eucalyptus from IKEA. I wrote a whole other post about this garland and exactly how I got the mixed-greenery look. You can read all about it here.

But for now, here’s the view of my amazing staircase garland from the living room.

The living room is the absolute coziest Christmas space in our home. I love snuggling on the couch and sitting in here looking at the tree. It’s my favorite place in the house to relax, drink some hot cocoa, and listen to Christmas music. It’s also Widget’s favorite place to snuggle and nap!

I hope you enjoyed this tour of our living room. Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing part 2 of my Christmas Home Tour, the kitchen. You’re in for a “sweet treat!”

Christmas Home Tour 2016 {Part 1 – The Living Room} (You’re here!)

Christmas Home Tour 2016 {Part 2 – The Kitchen}

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