Christmas Decor

I spent a lot of time decorating our home for our first holiday season here. We had a big party on the 10th and I wanted everything looking festive by then. So without further ado, here are some pictures of our holiday decor.

Our Entryway:



The details: The red rosette wreath is from Smith & Hawken for Target. I tied that along with the two stars from JoAnn Fabrics with burlap, also purchased from JoAnn, and hung them from the staircase. I accented with the red rosette tree, also from Target and a mercury tree from Home Goods. I also threw in the little reindeer from Pottery Barn from a few years ago. I filled my apothecary jars (one from Crate & Barrel and two from Home Goods) with candy canes, hershey peppermint kisses and small ornaments from Michael's and Target:



Dining Room:





I kept it simple in the dining room, with a runner from Home Goods (I think it's Badgley Mishka) and a pedestal from Home Goods with a wreath from Home Depot and candle from Ikea. The girls made the gingerbread houses with my mom from Trader Joe's kits.

Living Room:



Our mantle is decorated with our stockings for the whole family from Pottery Barn Kids that I bought several years ago. I used some berry garland from World Market from a couple of years ago, Nutcrackers (I think from World Market) and a little vase with some accessories from Michael's.

I added a few details to the shelves in our living room:



Since the original larger pictures went on the staircase wall, I moved in a few new pictures and that ginormous clock from Home Goods. I had originally bought it for the entry way, but SOMEONE wasn't a big fan. But we compromised and put it there and it fills some space. The silver deer adds a little festive touch and we threw in the menorah for good measure..

In the family room, I didn't do much. A little details just makes the room more festive. Oh and the Christmas Tree-I suppose I should take a picture of it!





It feels very holiday in our house without being totally overwhelming (I think!). And now I have tons of items to decorate with next year and probably won't have to do much shopping next year. (Yeah right ;) )...

Stairway Transformation

When we were building the house, I loved the idea that the first and major thing you would see when you walked in our front door was our stairway. Not the messy living room or the cluttered kitchen. Not the dining table covered with mail and other junk. Nope..you'd see a stairway--something that inherently can't be THAT messy. What I didn't realize is how giant our entry wall would be. Sure, there's a small wall right in front of you, but behind it, there's a giant two story wall.

Like this. See?



Literally, this is exactly what you saw when you came in:



So I started envisioning. I looked on Pinterest and imagined that I would cover the wall with frames from floor to ceiling..sort of a la Young House Love. The other half nixed that quickly-"too much clutter". Why the hell do they have to have opinions??

So we decided together that some stair runner and some trim would help to make our case-help to cut up the space a little and make it more warm and inviting. I mentioned the stair runner a while ago. Well, this is what we picked:



And then we decided on some board and batten trim work on the wall to cut it up a bit:



Then, we compromised and did the photos on the wall. I got my different color frames and not all personal photos. And he got his "not all the way to the ceiling"...







And you know what? I love it! The stairs make me happy-and how often can you say that!?!

PS. I know you see our greenery in the last picture-but holiday decorating is a whole 'nother post!

Linking to Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek