My 2019 Christmas Home Tour

Welcome to my Christmas Home Tour!  Every year is different, this year I decorated every room in my house for Christmas except the guest room, beauty room, and craft room.  I will only be showing the main living spaces in this year's post as it's hard to get good photographs of some of the other rooms.

I had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas this year.  Some years I really dread it, as it is so much work and I do it all myself.  I think having small children around for Christmas is a great motivator.  Seeing the expression on Alethea's face when she walks into my house and sees all the big trees and beautiful decor is worth all the work.  But I also enjoyed decorating more this year because we have been remodeling our home the past few years one room at a time and having a house with a nice, clean white palette is so much easier to decorate than one filled with color already.  I can be creative and use any combination of colors I want in my Christmas decor, and it always matches the room.

But let's get on with the tour shall we?  First the tree in the small living room we renovated last year (If you want to see what this room looked like BEFORE the renovation, go HERE!).  I was going to go with a red and white tree but I did not have bright red ornaments.  I did have a lot of white ornaments though so I went with an all white tree with light gold accents.  I flocked the tree myself using about five or six cans of flocking.  I just LOVE the way it turned out, but I hope to find some great ornaments on clearance AFTER Christmas.  I was thinking other than red and white,  the tree in this room would look great with that pretty blue/teal color that's trending now too.  How I decorate this tree next year will all depend on what is left after Christmas.



For this tree I used white poinsettias and other white florals (but I also added a touch of pink as seen in this picture below), with white beads, white and gold bulbs, and white snowflakes.  I also used other gold ornaments from my stash and then flocked everything (including the ornaments and florals).

For the tree topper I used a mix of white and gold stems and then added some white ribbon.

White birds from my daughter's wedding were tucked in among the branches.

The snowflakes I did buy this year from Hobby Lobby.  They really made the tree in my opinion, giving it that final, finishing touch.

I kept the white and gold theme going on the other side of this room by wrapping white poinsettia garland down the staircase.  I added some gold bows, white bulbs, and then I flocked the garland.  I held a piece of cardboard behind where I was spraying to keep the flocking from getting all over the place.

 

In my corner stand at the foot of the staircase, I added a silver metallic tree and a "Joy" wood decoration.  Everything else was already on the stand.



Here is the view of the small living room and tree as seen from the dining room.  I put Christmas plates on the plate rail all around the dining room wall and I added some white and gold Christmas garland above the doorway.

 This is the view of the dining room as seen from the small living room.  I kept the white and gold theme, but I also started introducing small amounts of red because as we start to transition into other parts of the house, Christmas red takes over the decor theme.

The dining room is open to the office (which you can see in the background of this picture), the kitchen, and the small living room.

On top of the piano I placed my Christmas metal tiered stand (I did an entire post HERE on how I decorated this tray).  This stand is usually on my dining table but with all the extra guests in the house during the holidays, I thought it would be more "safe" on top of the piano.  I put a bowl of red and gold ornaments on the table instead, so it could be easily moved for what's most important:  THE FOOD!

 I purchased this wonderful photo collage at Walmart for around $12.00 a long time ago.  I just love it!  It has clips instead of glass, so I can change the photos constantly.  I usually change them seasonally to match my seasonal decor.  For Christmas, I filled the collage frame with pictures from this year's Christmas photo shoot.  I was just in Walmart last week and they still have these photo frames, so if your interested, snap one up!

There are two china hutches in the dining room (I have a lot of dishes!) This corner one with the curved mirror I use for my seasonal dishes.  It is currently filled with my Christmas dining dishes.  I change the dishes out with the seasons.  It's a good time to wash them too as they still get dusty inside a hutch.

On top of this hutch I placed some garland, a "Noel" sign and a tree top angel.  I flocked the sign and the garland (yes, the flocking easily comes off).

 

My second dining hutch has no glass panels because my daughter and her friend broke them when they were younger.  It was totally innocent, they did nothing wrong, and I'm glad no one got hurt,  but I never replaced the glass and just hung curtains in the spot instead.  This hutch holds all the different plates that I put on the plate rail in the dining room.  It's probably a good thing the glass is gone, because it's a mess inside this hutch.  It is filled with plates and dishes for all the seasons/holidays of the year.

 

On top of this hutch I placed white Christmas candles with greenery that I flocked.

 I did my chandelier a little different than I have in previous years.  I put the greenery only on the bottom layer of lights and then tied gold bows on the top layer of lights.  Again, I stuck with a white and gold color theme to match the elegance of the room and to tie the room to the colors in the living room.

In this picture you can see the white and gold predominates, but you can also start seeing hints of red appearing with the ornaments on the table, the colors in the Christmas plates on the plate rail, and the piano display.

 Before we move into the other part of the house,  let's take a peek into the kitchen shall we?

The kitchen's color scheme is blue and white with yellow accents, so I decorated the kitchen for the holidays with blue and silver.  In the kitchen hutch I placed a white/silver star alongside some blue and silver boxes that I will fill with Christmas cookies as soon as I start baking next week!

I have a plate rail on the wall in this room that I filled with my snowman plate collection and matching snowman mugs.

I used extra snowman plates to decorate the unused inside spaces of the hutch around the stove.  I also added a silver metallic Christmas tree and a "Noel" wooden sign.

In the hutch surrounding the sink I placed silver and blue berries amongst the china.

Above the stove I nestled greenery and white berry stems amongst the silver antiques and blue mason jars.

Now let's start moving into the other half of the house.  This part of the house was an addition that we added over ten years ago but now needs an update.  We will be painting all the walls white and updating some of the furnishings.

The office to the new addition is the transitional space between the old house and the new.  This space received an update last year.  It use to be a dark red and I painted the walls white.

For Christmas, I decorated the office hutch with greenery and red poinsettias.

This is the entryway to my home looking into the large family room.  This is the room will be renovating this spring and I will be doing a series of blog posts as usual so stay tuned!

I draped the doorway to the family room in flocked garland with burgundy bows.

I decorated my tree in this room in red, gold, and a touch of lime green.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE how this tree turned out!  I think it took me three days to decorate this tree.  It is packed full of ornaments!  Every time my precious cat goes near it, I nearly lose it. 🤣. Poor baby.  After a couple of days he eventually learned playing with this tree was off limits.

I found the "Joy to the World" banner at Hobby Lobby for just a few dollars.  I was so excited when I saw it, and such an incredible price too.

Beside the tree sits a large sleigh that my son bought me for Christmas years ago.

In the windows on either side of the tree I hung large gold snowflakes.

The tree has a little bit of everything:  red and gold bulbs, red poinsettias, lots of berries and floral picks and my favorite of all, these red birds.

Every year I get a lot of questions on how to decorate a tree.  My biggest tip is to pick a color scheme and no matter what item you put on that tree it will coordinate with everything else just because it's the same color(s).  

Second, use florals in your tree, not just ornaments.  Buy bunches of Christmas flowers (after Christmas is best for the deals!), and cut them apart and stick randomly in your trees branches.  Then add other florals like Christmas Picks and stems.

Finally, stuff your tree full!  Keep adding ornaments till you can't find one more spot to hang an ornament and then hang some more.  If your tree branches are more open like this tree is, hang ornaments deep inside the tree to fill the empty spaces.

On the end tables in this room I placed garland or Christmas floral and added more Christmas photos.

For the side hutches in this room, I just filled in with greenery around the items that usually sit in this hutch.

 The entry way and large family room are located in a balcony space which overlooks the sun room portion of the addition.  Here I hung small wreaths in each window, put a sleigh on the dining table, and some garland on the shelf above the wood stove.

I decorated the staircase with red bows and holly garland and I hung a large red and gold wreath above the door.    I set up a Christmas Village for the grandchildren on the buffet next to the dining table.

On the hutch next to the dining table (yes I own three dining hutch, all filled to capacity with dishes) I added Christmas greenery and Christmas photos and a handmade tea candle holder from a friend.

I hope you enjoyed taking a tour of my holiday home!  I've sure been enjoying looking at all of your decorations on your blogs and on Facebook.  It's fun to see how everyone decorates their home for Christmas.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

My Christmas Decorations

I was so excited this year that Thanksgiving was early, because I do not decorate my home until after Thanksgiving and I had a full week to get it done before December 1st.  Then, I burned my leg which really slowed down my physical capabilities, and we had to take a few days off to attend a funeral in another city.  So, I didn't quite get the house decorated as quickly as I had hoped, but I did get it done.

This year, I put up not one, but TWO Christmas trees!  One reason was Alethea of course.  This will be the first year my grand baby is old enough to really appreciate Christmas.  I wanted the house to be "over the top" for her enjoyment!  The second reason is that we are actually in the process of renovating two rooms in our house, which left some "holes" that needed to be filled.  What better to fill a hole than a Christmas Tree?

This is the tree I set up in our family room.  This large corner was one of the "holes" needing to be filled.  When this room is redecorated, this corner will hold a sectional.  In the meantime, it was a perfect spot for a tree, lots of presents, and a sleigh.

We used to have a large, ornate entertainment center in this room.  It came in three pieces, we moved two of the pieces to our sun room, but we thought these two pieces looked nice in the corners.  I decorated around what usually sits on the shelves with greenery and white and gold flowers and ornaments.

On the opposite wall of the tree is a sectional.  It's the first thing you see when you walk into the room.  I originally wanted to put the tree between the two windows so you would see the tree first when you walked into the room.  But, for safety reasons for Alethea, we had to move our sectional away from the balcony wall and to this side of the room.  I was disappointed that the room didn't look "Christmasy" at first glance (you literally have to walk into the room and turn around to see the tree), so I took down a large painting that usually hangs on the wall between the window, and I added a lighted wreath instead.  It was the perfect solution!

Here is the entry way of our home and also the entry into the family room.  I framed the doorway with garland and tiny trees to add more of a "Christmas feel" to this room since you couldn't see the Christmas tree right away.  Sorry for the hodgepodge of furniture and the pile of of boards behind the couch.  As I said at the beginning of this post, we are under renovations at the moment.  I tried my best to make it look as presentable as I could for the holidays.  

This is a side table in the entryway.  I decorated it with garland, a Christmas book, and a "Peace" sign.

This is my second Christmas Tree.  This one is brown and gold and is set up in a small living room.  This room will be the first to be renovated this winter.  There use to be a small couch where the tree is  located now.  It was moved to the family room to provide extra seating for the holidays.  That left a "hole" so I put the tree there.  I actually really love the tree here.  It is visible from the dining room and it is absolutely breath-taking.  It would be nice to put a tree here every year, but I don't know if that's possible.  We'll see!

Here is a view of the living room tree as seen from the dining room.  I "framed" the view with garland and an angel over the doorway to the room.

I decorated the chandelier with white poinsettias, gold berries, greener, and white birds.  It's hard to get a good photo of the chandelier because it's high up, but trust me, it's gorgeous in real life.

I also framed the other doorway in the dining room with garland.  This view looks into the office and then the entry way, and all the way down to the back wall of the family room.  

I put out a "Christmas Village" just for Alethea.  I've had these houses for years, but it was a long time since I used them;  mostly because I always struggle with where to set it up.  I just don't have a good spot in my house for a Christmas Village.  But I really wanted to Alethea to see the village, so I set it up on top of my piano.

I added Christmas plates on the plate rail on the wall.

I set up a candle display on the buffet top in the dining room.  The little stick with words on the left side of the picture is a place holder that I was allowed to take home after going to a ladies Christmas dinner at my church.  I thought it was so cute.  It has a Christmas scripture on it, and it is held in place with two twigs glued together.  So charming, yet so easy to create.  The woman who made them so her son helped her make them.  What a great Christmas craft to do with your kids.
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Here is a close up of my Christmas Village.  My houses are so old;  some are around thirty years old. They make them so much nicer today, where you can see completely through the house and all the interior details.  Oh well, mine are "antiques".

My sun room is always a challenge to decorate for Christmas because it's already filled with greenery from the plants.  I put a wreath on every window and a large wreath above the door.

I have a lot of "extra" furniture in my sun room that's waiting to go to a good home.  I have a lot of people that are interested in it, but no one can ever find the time or the right vehicle to "come and get it!"  So the room is getting very cluttered and is starting to drive me crazy.  I think pretty soon I just need to put a "Free" notice on Facebook or Craig's List, cause I really need the stuff gone.  This is a dresser that I was trying to keep in the family, but no one wants it.  I just don't have the space for it.  So in the mean time, it sits cluttering up my house.  I put Christmas greenery on it and filled it with pictures of my sweet Alethea.

I draped the staircase leading into this room with garland and red bows.

This was the entertainment that used to be in our family room.  It looks much better down here as it is a big piece of furniture.  I'm using it as a book shelf for now, but we may put a tv in here.  I adorned it with lots of greenery and red flowers and ornaments.

I do decorate EVERY SINGLE ROOM in my house for the holidays, but if I were to show every picture, I would overwhelm you all.  I do have videos on my YouTube channel of past years of decorating where I do show every room.  I really just add one small Christmas element to every room even if it's just a Christmas knick knack or some Christmas greenery.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!