Christmas Holidays is one of my favorite times of the year ( I am sure a lot of people do too). Winters in Illinois can be brutal and freezing cold. But there is something magical in the air between November and December. There are beautiful holiday lights on every streets, festive twinkling lights on front porches, and Christmas music everywhere. So I want to bring that holiday cheers and spirit to our house.
This year, I really admire the simplicity of Scandinavian style decor and their good use of natural elements in designing. So my main color choices were earth tones with a hint of red and gold for our Christmas decorations.
I wanted to bring a modern feel into the mix of all the natural elements that we have—including the 9 foot tall Christmas tree, garland over the mantel, weave basket, and wood panel on top of the fireplace. I added a 3D paper deer head on the wood panel above the mantel and geometric star ornaments to the Christmas tree. This gave me the contemporary aesthetic I was looking for.
I bought the 3D paper deer head from Etsy. It came in a flat box with all the pieces pre-cut. I had to fold and glue them together and took me about a couple of hours to put it together. If you enjoy DIY, I think you would enjoy this. I worked on it on a Saturday morning, with my music on and a cup of coffee. It was pretty therapeutic.
Every year, I try to add new ornaments to the tree. It can be one that I find too cute in a store that I just have to have – like the glove ornament (photo of the right). Or one that reminds me of a fun memory. This year Peter and I did a lot of our Christmas shopping at the mall. I know buying things online is easy which we normally do. But going to the shopping mall around the holiday times more of a fun experience. Each store has a creative way of showing their products on their window display and I just love looking at them. We went to Oakbrook Center which is an outdoor mall. The weather was nice that day. By nice I mean we still need hats and gloves but there was no wind or biting cold. A lot was going on at the mall that day; Christkindlmarket, ice skating rink, and most of the department stores were open until 11pm to midnight. There was plenty of time to shop. We stopped by Christkindlmarket and had one of the best crepes. Peter had Mulled wine which is sweet and served warm. We went to Crate & Barrel to get more bowls for the house and that’s where we found the cute skiing moose ornament (photo of the left).
This area is where gifts are opened and a place for friends and family to gather around and chat or play games. So I kept this space clean and simple.
The tree and mantel corner of the house is already decked up with Christmas decorations so I thought it would be a good idea to spread the red and green color to tv stand. To keep it simple, I added a stem with red berries and leaf to this beautiful clear vase.
Night time in the living room
Night time is when the Christmas tree really shines (literally and figuratively). With all the lights in the living room turned off, the place feels warm, cozy, and peaceful.
I added a snowman as a subtle touch by the fireplace. Don’t worry, it does not melt like Olaf 🙂
I can’t believe this is my last post of 2017. There are a lot to come in 2018 (seriously I promise) and I just can’t wait for it. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🙂