Every other year I do a holiday home tour of my own house here on my blog. This year, since both my children will be here, I pulled out all the decor, so I’m sharing photos of how things are looking in my home.
I have a wreath I made some years ago on the front door and I stuffed these two wire wall baskets with greens on my front porch.
Mostly, plants are still alive around here. We don’t have freezes in the Houston area until January or February, if we have one at all, so I still have impatiens, ferns, bromeliads and geraniums at my front door. It was fun to make some “winter” baskets there on the porch though.
Foyer
My foyer has the Art Noveau hall tree we brought back from Australia, after living there two years. I decorate it up with a garland, ornaments and Christmas hats.
I added this new little 5’ tree this year. I loved the base that came attached to the tree and the flocking. It took just minutes to unbox and put together.
Across from the stair is this little English table where I have faux branches decorated with some pretty ornaments. The mercury glass ornaments were purchased for a Christmas showhouse room I did back in 2015 and the wooden snowflakes were taken in a flat pack in my suitcase to our Christmas in Big Bear, CA a few years ago.
I love these lightweight, thin wood cut outs, I have used them in other ways around the house for decorating.
Dining Room
Dining table is set and ready for Christmas day done in red and green this year.
I love mixing rustic and refined elements on a table. The twig placemats and pinecones provide a backdrop for my mother’s ivory china and my husband’s grandmother’s silver plate flatware which I’m so happy to use this year.
I ordered new holiday napkins this year, I was just aching to have some pattern. These cranberry red and green ones from Pomegranate add a bright touch.
I did an ornament ball with names printed on with a gold paint pen on top. Not needed really, but it looks pretty!
The centerpiece is atop a silver plate tray from my mother’s collection and I had a grapevine wreath with bright red apples and some leaves that fit the bottom of that glass vase perfectly.
I decorate the top of my metal pharmacy cabinets in the dining room with some faux tall birch tree cones and my iron reindeer that I have had for about 25 years.
I have an antique sideboard over in the corner of my dining room (with my Norwegian painting above it). I pulled out more of my mother’s silver plate, her tea set that she took such good care of over the years. It’s in pristine condition and has such a gleam over in that corner.
My MIL’s blown glass Christmas tree and the little snowman family figurines I have from a glass blowing studio in Norway add to the sparkle over here.
Study
In the study I have this little iron tree with some tiny colorful glass ball ornaments. It sits on my mother’s tea cart with some angels.
In the corner of my eye, from my desk, I see this vignette. More wooden cut out snowflakes and some faux sugared fruit on branches, with a tiny tree in a gifted handmade clay pot.
In my built-in cabinetry, the open shelves get a tiny bit of Christmas too with a little tree in a ceramic pot and the brass camel sporting a tiny wreath.
Living Room
Santas on the stair, as usual, add some festive color.
Here’s a look at the fireplace and the tree this year.
I’m so glad we were able to get the fireplace surround and hearth retiled this year. I finally made time for a small project in my home for a change. I love the solid color limestone that blends into the SW Black Fox paint of the mantel.
We bought this faux tree last year, we’d been getting real trees which I love, but we finally decided to go faux.
Unfortunately, we waited a little late and the bigger tree I wanted was no longer available. My husband talked me into this 7’ tree and with my super tall ceilings, I hated how little it looked. :-(
This year, I scrounged around in my storage unit and found an old, sturdy iron basket that the base would fit on. I elevated the tree and my big tree skirt, fortunately, covered the whole thing.
It looked odd though, before I wrapped some gifts to put under it.
I did my usual mantel decor of the last few years and dressed my MIL’s brass samovar with a red satin bow, which I eventually changed to a red bird sitting on the spigot.
Around the House
I have a few more holiday touches around the house. I’ll add a few more pics here later in the day, as I get them photographed.
I wanted to wish you all a wonderful holiday full of peace and love. I’ll be back after Christmas!