Christmas Home Tour 2015

I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday season. It’s unseasonably warm in Charleston, but that’s not stopping us from sipping hot cocoa and gathering around the tree. For the first time, I’m sharing a home tour. This is something I’ve planned on doing in other years, but I finally took the time this year to welcome you all into our Charleston home. 

My home has a peculiar layout and it can make decorating a challenge at times. There’s a room to the left when you enter my home that could be a sitting room, an entryway/open space that extends to the main family room and an additional room that is separated from the family room by French doors.  When you enter my home, the front rooms are styled more formally than the rest of the house. As you make your way through, my coastal decor takes over and makes for a relaxing and warm space. I tend to keep my Christmas decor the same way-more formal in the front and fun and casual in the back.

The parlor, as we like to call them in the south, is the first room you’ll see when you come inside. It’s decorated in burgundy and gold. A couple of old world Santas sit on top of the piano which is decorated with lights, greenery and burgundy ribbon.

The tree is done using only burgundy, gold and cream ornaments.

This old church hymnal belonged to my grandmother. It’s fitting to keep it on display on the piano which was also hers. At Christmastime, I keep it open to carols.

Across from the parlor is our dining room. It’s also decorated using burgundy and gold. I love my Christmas china. Dave gave this to me the year we moved to Charleston, so it has lots of special meaning for us.

Using an antique gold rimmed cake pedestal, I put together the centerpiece with small ornaments, berries and vase filler items.

We’re having dinner for nine this year, so I had to get creative in how to accommodate everyone. My dining table will seat eight, tightly, but that doesn’t help when I need nine place settings. I brought in a folding table, found a pretty table cloth for it and spread everyone out so that we’ll all have some elbow room.

 

I’ve been collecting Christmas bells since 1980. Each year, I add a new one to my collection and display them on this tiered table in the dining room. I love the memories they bring.

I continued the burgundy and gold decor on my foyer table. The gold rimmed bowl was a gift from my mother a number of years ago. It’s filled with battery powered lights, greenery, bells and berries.

I found some cone trees a few years ago at the Dollar Tree. They were bright green and red with gold accents. A quick coat of spray paint had them matching my gold decor. They are sitting on top of candle holders. I found the vintage amber compote at Goodwill a few months ago for only two dollars. Score! I added greenery and a gold pine cone candle (TJ Maxx).

At the end of the foyer, I have a small tree decorated in blue and silver with several coastal touches. The transition from formal decor begins here.

I added some silver ribbon and a reindeer to this pre-lit battery powered wreath. It’s hanging above the tree.

Our family room has our fire place in it. I’ve used greenery with lights, some over sized ornaments, Dollar Tree reindeer, small glittery ornaments and silver sprigs for the mantel. The wreath is a fresh one that I embellished with some lights and a bow 

Since it’s rarely cold enough here for a fire, I filled the fireplace with a wire basket with lights and greenery and sparkly stars. On either side I placed a candle and a metal Joy sign (TJ Maxx) in the middle.

Our family stockings are hung on the stair banister. I added greenery, lights and tied the stockings on with red ribbon.

A basket filled with shells, pine cones, ornaments and a poinsettia sits nearby.  

Another Goodwill find was a set of brass candle holders. They were $1.00. After cleaning them up a bit, I think they look great on my coffee table.

 

Our breakfast nook and kitchen get in on the Christmas spirit, too. I’ve had these holly dishes for more years than I can remember. It’s just not Christmas at my house until they come out. The wine glasses are Dollar Tree purchases. The centerpiece is a milk glass cake plate filled with ornaments and baubles. 

My corner shelf has a miniature tree, along with the stacked felt trees and snowball ornament I made last Christmas.

 

I made the Rudolph printable last year and the snowy jar is used as a straw holder. The glasses are all from the Dollar Tree. I’m always happy to see their latest holiday glasses.

Nutcrackers line the top of the cabinets in the kitchen. These are another of my collections. Each year, I’m gifted with a new one.

I made another snowy yarn wreath that is hanging above the doorway. My felt wreath is on the laundry room door and a Christmas apron hangs nearby.

Our Charleston Room gets a Christmas makeover. This is the room for our family tree. It’s filled with ornaments that we’ve collected over a life time. It’s a hodgepodge of memories. It’s the tree that we gather around on Christmas morning. 

After I finished decorating my mantel, I had a pile of extras. I asked Gloria to do something with the extra decor pieces and this tall apothecary jar. This is her creation. I love it!

My china hutch in this room is filled with Christmas decor.

The bears in the corner belong to Gloria, but they and 23 others live at my house. Gloria has been getting the Snowflake Bear from Walmart every year since her very first Christmas. 

 

I didn’t realize just how picture heavy this post was going to be when I started it! I better wrap it up! I hope you enjoyed having a look around my Christmas Home.

Thanks for visiting and sharing the holiday with me. Merry Christmas to you all!