Decorating for the Holidays: Living Rooms

Decorating for the Holidays: Living Rooms

Christmas is probably one of the best times out of the year (aside from my birthday I suppose).

And honestly, I decorate... a lot.

In my mind, every room should have a really great Christmas/holiday vibe going on. And since I lived by myself for a handful of years, I could really go with a theme without other opinions I have to weigh in... I've collected a lot of things by now.

The best way I figured I should do this was to go room by room. The first installment is the living rooms. Yeah, I have 2 living rooms. What of it? (Honestly, the house was built in the 50's, and I think the other living room is supposed to be a den for children and the formal living room is for company? I have no idea.)

So for my first tip: 

I suggest working in a theme or a color scheme. 

It'll make your life so much easier when you go to buy ornaments or decor each year because you don't have to think about if anything matches. Now, I've always had different themes to certain rooms because I'm just like that. 

My bedrooms and living rooms are rustic glam- reds, browns, whites, and glass- and I like finding things that belong in a forest- owls, mushrooms, pinecones, etc.

A lot of these ornaments came from places like Marshall's, Home Goods, Walmart, and Pier 1 Imports.

And for a sneak peek into the next decor blog post- I do my kitchen in a bakery theme. I made candy ornaments, and I found some FAAAAB cookie ornaments. Do you see that gingerbread house ornament? Precious. I still stick to red, green, and brown- but the red and green are a little brighter and I add some yellow here and there. My kitchen normally is yellow and white, so I wanted to keep some of that going on.

I think all of these in the picture were from a shop in my area called Martin's Dry Silk Flower Shop. They do amazing trees and ornaments, as well as floral arrangements and stuff. They sell supplies to make everything if I remember correctly. 

So here's the deal when it comes to decorating a tree- I think winding lights around and around and slapping some ornaments up is lazy. I take time to decorate my tree so it looks like a pro broke into my house and did it for me. I get a lot of complements on it, and it makes me insanely proud.

   

Ideally, when you buy a tree you should either buy a more sparse one if you have a ton of ornaments (like a noble fir) so you have lots of holes to fill, or buy a fluffier tree (like a douglas fir) if you're not planning to hang a whole lot. Noble firs have sturdier branches as well for heavier decor, whereas douglas firs are great for things like garlands.

Myself? I bought a douglas. Why? Because I like a chunky tree. Get off my back.

Wind your lights up and down the branches, and push some lights close to the tree trunk. 

When you step back, it makes your tree look thicker because it adds the illusion of depth.

I did my tree up in twinkling lights because I like when things look magical.

Add your garland.

If it's one of those mesh ones or the burlap one like mine- lightly twist as you go and periodically stick it further inside the tree. It adds a fluffier look and it looks like you actually took the time to place it. It looks so professional. 

The burlap garland came from Walmart. You can probably still find it. Burlap is really popular this year.

 Next, hang plastic ornaments near the floor and breakables higher up.

The branches up higher are sometimes stronger, and it's easier to find the thicker based branches. And if you have dogs or cats- they'll only brush up against the plastic ones and if those fall- whatever, who cares.

And you can also thread ornaments on 2 or 3 branches for better security.

Use holes to your advantage.

Roger has a thing for perfectly symmetrical trees, but big holes sometimes happen. I'm fine with that though because some of my ornaments need a great place to show off.

Like my Lenox Tinkerbell. She's fab huh? She actually came from Home Goods a few years ago. I hung her close to a light to make her look awesome too. (Hang your glass ornaments close to a bulb too so it looks sparkley. You're welcome) 

 Here's how I mess with my ornaments:

I have a box of ornaments that are multiples and similar in color- like my white owls and pinecones.

And then I have a box of my special ornaments like my Cessna plane and Big Ben.

So how I do it is I hang the multiples first, and evenly space then out around the tree so there's an even amount of color everywhere. (Starting to think I have OCD yet? I promise it looks great when it's done and isn't as complicated as I'm making it sound.)

What happens is when you spread out the same color, the special ornaments stick out more- making them look extra special.

Because, seriously, why wouldn't you want to show those off?

Over the years I've been keeping a collection where each person in my family has a ornament. My mom has the coo-coo clock, Roger has a lion, etc. I also have a few that I just have because they make me happy- like the stupid beaded ornament I made for an ornament white elephant that Roger kept stealing because he thought it was pretty, the angel my mom made out of cotton from our last ever cotton crop, and the rottweiler ornament Roger's mom hunted down because she knew I couldn't find one.

And if you love DIY projects, you can fine old chandelier parts from antique stores fairly cheap and then wire them into great ornaments.

So when all's said and done, everything ends of looking amazing. 

The tree topper is not pictured because I bought the wrong ribbon- but basically I make a giant fluffy bow for the top and I thread the ends through the rest of the tree so it looks like a giant present. (Yeah, I know. I should work for Disney or something.)

And normally I have a fab table-scape but I'm using my table for my upcoming Holiday Boutique this week. It looks pretty Christmas-ey though right?

So living room number one is an extrememly small area. It basically has enough room for a small couch, and a tv.

But, yeah, I still decorated.

The wooden trees came from Home Goods, the blanket from Macy's, and the pillows are from Marshall's. The side table was made by my great grandfather. Great right? It even matches the hideous wood paneling...

 My formal room (and where the tree is) has more room and a fireplace. And like I said, since I have the holiday boutique in there, I have some of the furniture in weird spots- like the dining room chairs in front of the fire...

Anyway, I got my garland from Martin's Dry Silk Flower Shop. They have everything you need to make it or you could buy the pre-made one. So... yeah, I didn't make this one. Whatever, sue me. The owl and the stocking holders were from Home Goods. The glass candle holders were a gift one year (sneaky feeling is that they're from pottery barn). I filled them with some spare ornaments to keep the color going. 

The stockings btw were from Target and they are filled with treats and toys for my dogs. Yeah, I give my dogs presents Christmas morning. Stop judging me.

Not pictured is Roger's present, which I have hidden so the dogs don't tear open the packaging. 

Well, time to make some pies and keep the Christmas spirit going.

-SamanthaK