It’s time for my favorite season of the year- Christmas!
I was over the moon excited to decorate for the holidays. Before moving to California, Stephen and I tossed all of our old Christmas decorations so we could start fresh. While it’s been hard to start over, I’ve had a lot of fun creating a cohesive color scheme and choosing décor that matched!
Front Porch
One of my favorite parts of Christmas was always driving around and seeing all of the crazy light displays my neighbors put up! However, extravagant light displays are expensive, and they are a COMMITMENT to put up. Plus- where on earth do you store them during the rest of the year??
On that note, Stephen and I decided to forgo most outdoor Christmas decorations until we have more time, more storage, and a larger decoration budget!
Instead, we chose simple signs, a festive wreath, and a cheerful welcome mat to greet our nonexistent visitors during COVID Christmas.
Mantle
When we first moved into our rental house, I was really excited about our fireplace. I could care less about actually using the fireplace, and if we’re being really honest here- it’s not the best looking fireplace. However, I’ve always wanted to completely deck out a fireplace in Christmas decorations- and this year I got to do exactly that!
To begin, I created a super cute display of white and gold pillar candles upon the mantle. In between the candles, I placed a few ornamental reindeer– all keeping with my theme of gold, white, and plaid!
Beneath the display I hung three stockings; two white cable knit stockings for Stephen and I, and a red buffalo plaid bone stocking for our dog Max.
Finally, I draped a gold garland on the mantle to frame the fireplace and added two poinsettia plants for a pop of color!
I couldn’t be happier with how the fireplace turned out, and Max has to agree! It’s one of his favorite places to nap, and (I hope) he loves napping while surrounded by Christmas spirit.
Coffee Table and Couch
I loved my fall coffee table décor so much, I decided to repurpose as much as I could for my Christmas centerpiece!
I reused the same decorative tray, candle holder, buffalo plaid table runner, and miniature pinecones from my fall design. An elegant gold pillar candle became the focal point of the display, with a few miniature ornaments scattered to add a pop of color.
I wanted to give our couch some holiday personality. Once again, I chose accent pillows that matched our theme of gold, white, and buffalo plaid. I particularly love our gold foil pillows– how cute are they? I hope to order a few more for next year!
TV
Originally I wasn’t going to add any décor to our entertainment center. However, I was randomly inspired after a good Pinterest session to put up a few simple decorations.
I framed our TV with another gold tinsel garland from Michael’s. I also replaced a couple of fake plants on our bookcases with simple, cute Christmas animals, candles, and a lantern from Michael’s as well!
Bedroom
You can’t decorate your house for Christmas without decorating your bedroom!
I chose to keep our bedroom fairly simple too. Since our comforter is white, I chose accent pillows, a throw pillow, and a blanket that were as bold as possible, but still keeping with our theme of buffalo plaid!
Dining Room Table
Finally, we get to my other favorite part of this year’s Christmas décor- our dining room table!
Once again, I repurposed a buffalo plaid table runner from my fall décor to create the perfect dining room table centerpiece. The focal point of our table was a beautiful holiday bouquet created with Christmas florals from Michael’s. Next to the bouquet I created a small Christmas forest using a few glitter tree candles.
On the other side of the holiday bouquet, I placed a beautiful gold snowflake lantern. I wanted to be creative, so instead of placing a simple candle in the lantern, I constructed a filling made from miniature pinecones and ornaments for a festive touch!
Finally, I framed the centerpiece with two adorable wooden signs from Michael’s bearing classic holiday phrases!
Christmas Tree
Of course, you can’t have Christmas without a Christmas tree!
For the first time ever, I get to celebrate the holiday with a real tree! Growing up, my family always decorated the same beautiful fake Christmas tree. Stephen felt it was important that I have at least one year with a real tree, so we decided to decorate one this year!
Our tree skirt was a gorgeous buffalo plaid skirt from Lowe’s. Artistically interspersed throughout the tree are red, black, and white plaid bows. I also placed a few red and gold poinsettias for a classy touch!
Finally, we hung a few red and gold ornaments from Costco. I wasn’t able to find those online, so I linked a couple of similar sets from Michael’s and Amazon.
I can’t wait to celebrate my first Christmas in California- and I’m overjoyed that I get to spend it in a beautifully decorated home! A huge thank you to Stephen for his help decorating and Max for attempting to photobomb every photo that I took.
Note: This post was originally published on Ciao by Shay on December 21, 2020. It was migrated to Happy Health Stylish upon my blog’s rebranding.