My 2015 Christmas Decor Inspiration!

 

Before we know it Christmas will be here, so it seems to me it is time to start the planning, gift buying and my favorite, Falalaing! ♪♪♪

Each year I like to add. or change up my Christmas décor a bit. 

Our family memory tree will always stay the same since it is full of sweet memories, however I will change out my ribbon selections and maybe a new gift wrap each year.

Over the years I have discovered I have somewhat of a method that has developed.

I know it can be difficult to get motivated during this busy season so I have found a few things that will jump start my decorating mojo.

The very first thing I will start doing is looking on Pinterest. I will randomly start pinning ideas that are appealing to me. 

After awhile I start to see some puzzle pieces that emerge, and some consistent design elements, or colors that will come to the forefront. 

During this process I also always keep in mind the colors and feel of my home as well as what decorations I already have for Christmas.

When considering my décor I try to focus on a few key areas, such as….

Entry/Porch

Dining table

Mantel

These are the areas I will concentrate as my main focal points. I have found in years past that it is a good idea to do a few key areas over bits and pieces of Christmas décor everywhere in your home. 

The days of bows and greenery everywhere are in the past for me personally.

This year my objective is to do a natural organic look with a touch of elegance. I will use faux greenery only to be practical, and it is less messy, however I like the addition of real for the textures and fragrance.

Often times I will find a piece of artwork, or a pillow that will become my jumping off point, but this year it was a little different since I am in a new home.

I actually became inspired by a picture that I have had for quite a long time and each year I think I will do it and never do.

This year is the year!!!

My jumping off point came in the form of this image………

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See the swag over the doorway? I have wanted to do this over a doorway for such a long time. 

I looked up from my computer the other day and there it was!! The perfect doorway!!

       

The opening is 9ft. high and 12 ft. wide!

So I need basically30 ft. of fabric just to cover the opening and then another 3ft for the drape. It needs to be soft, white and ethereal looking.

Since I am not a seamstress I asked a group of friends that do sew where would be the best place to get that many yards of fabric at a decent price point.

My friend Deb came to the rescue, she is very resourceful, and she found me the perfect fabric here.  A soft sheer voile.

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My next big decision is the wreaths that will hold the fabric at the corners. I am considering three possibilities, a pine wreath, boxwood, or grapevine. 

The decision on the wreath will be made once I choose a few more elements that will lead me into the over all direction I am going.

This fabric drape entrance is a touch of elegance and now I need the natural elements I was referring too. I have a few already chosen…..

PAPER WHITES

Paper whites will give me not only a green and white color element, but also a natural, fragrant element.

I find these flowers delicate and just down right pretty!! 

The next element I have chosen is my wreath for the front door. This was my inspiration picture…

Since I am going to use Green and White as my colors this year, I will be using a nice double faced satin ribbon and I will either have a floppy very loosely tied bow or just a knot. 

For those of you that have been following along for any length of time you will know I am not a big fan of overly fluffed up stiff bows.

My door arrangement will look a bit different but this is the feel I am going for.

I found the best deal for boxwood wreaths was at Target .

Let’s stop and take a little inventory to see what is evolving……..

So now I have  a look:
Natural/elegance

A color scheme:
Green and white

A couple of elements:

Boxwood wreath
Paper whites

Moving right along!

As I continue to look, and find inspiration I keep the above categories in mind, natural/elegance, green and white colors, boxwood wreaths and paper whites.

When using elements it makes a nice flow in your home if you repeat the elements in some shape or form from room to room.

This next picture gave me a bit more inspiration…….

Do you see what I see? Natural elements, green and white and a touch of brown in the form of grapevine orbs, there is white, and texture in the birch logs with is fulfilling my colors, and the natural aspect of my design.

I have birch logs that I used last year so that will work great, the brown in the grapevine is reminding of another natural element, pinecones. 

Pinecones will give me a nice texture and be a good contrast with the greenery.

I now have…
Birch logs
Pinecones
Paper whites
Boxwood wreaths
Grapevine orbs

This is plenty of elements to work with. I like to keep my color scheme tight and also I like the elements to be limited and repeated. I find it a bit more elegant and it has a gentler flow on the eye.

With all of this in mind I continue to look to see what evolves.

I have a fairly neutral backdrop, and I always keep this in mind when choosing a color scheme. My base is my blue and white ticking sofa and a black and white striped rug….



Since I am adding a green and white color scheme to my base look I will need to find a pillow and some wrapping paper to tie it all together. 

I have pinned some ideas, but nothing is in cement at this point. Let me show you some of the patterns I am thinking about using…

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I am really kind of in love with this take on malachite in the form of a pillow.

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Here is another one that has more black in it, which is appealing, however it does not feel as happy as the first pillow.

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I never met a stripe I did not like. I find this particular stripe fun and festive.

This black and white JOY pillow is from last years Christmas décor, and most likely will be used this year as well, so I need to keep this in mind when choosing coordinating pillows.

This woodland animal print was also used last year in my Christmas décor. I just might use this as well, but the jury is still out. 

I will make a collage of all possible combinations and that way I will be able to tell which ones will work best for this years décor.

With all the patterns there also needs to be a solid pillow which will probably be a green velvet….

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Another element to consider is the wrapping paper, because your gifts are part of your Christmas decorations. 

I have always coordinated my wrapping papers and I have one signature paper that is always in the mix…..

This is the year I had a black and white with red color scheme.

This is from 2013 do you see the one paper that seems to be in the mix each year?

If you said the black and white awning stripe you are correct. I chose this paper as my signature wrapping paper and it is at the base of my gift wrapping.

I found my paper at Nashville wraps, it is called Domino Alley. The prices are great and I highly recommend this company for wrapping paper.

Here are a few of the papers I am considering adding to my mix this year. I need some green and white so that became my focus….

This is a fun plaid that would incorporate black and white as well as the green and white.

So far I think this Is my favorite.

This is so classic and elegant it would make a good possibility as well.

Another thing I want to keep in mind is my dining area and I am using last years elements for my inspiration there, and they will tie in nicely with what I do in the Great room, since the two rooms are like one large room.

I just noticed something, the image of the draped fabric over the doorway was in my inspiration from last year. I am kind of consistent in what I like, don’t you think?

This is all I have so far, and my wheels are turning so stay tuned to see what all my final decisions are. 

I have to work out a few details in my head before taking the final plunge on some of the elements, so come back for more on this years Christmas decor, plus other inspiration for the season.

 

 

New House Update: This and That!

 

Our move went so smoothly and we got settled in here right out of the gate I think it gave us a false sense of security we are now in the danger zone. 

You know the zone where you tell yourself you have all the time in the world to get the rest of the, “Stuff,” unpacked.  

When I say “Stuff,” I mean the things still in boxes that you don’t need in your everyday life.

I seem to have a shed full of that kind of stuff. 

Oh My!! 

Everything is packed neatly in boxes with my writing on them to tell me what the box contains.

THE CRUEL REALITY

Let’s face it, they have to be brought here ,and I need to decide if I am keeping, giving away, or donating them.

Then there is the Holiday season which I feel we are officially in, with Thanksgiving only 16 days away, and Christmas is only 44 days away. 

I don’t know about you all, but when I write those number of days down, I realize just how quickly all this is going to be happening and then the mental list starts going off like a ticker tape!!

With that being said, my mind goes from new home projects, landscaping, menu planning, to Christmas shopping for gifts and décor. 

So you can see why I don’t want to dive into the boxes just quite now. So much to do, but some of it will just have to wait until January.

MOVING RIGHT ALONG………..

Some decisions have been made!!

 

We did order our window treatments for the house so that is exciting, however they will take 6-8 weeks to get here so that will be after the Holidays.

Before we moved in I was pretty sure I was going to get bamboo shades for the great room, however after living here just a few days and studying how the sun moved throughout the day I realized I needed light control. 

With the bamboo shades they are either up or down and this girl loves light so having them down for half the day just would not do. Plus, I can not live with that much brown in my life.

The other thing I discovered while living here is this home has a slight elegant feel to it. I had great plans of going more casual, but the house spoke and she wants a classic look with a slight casual vibe.

There are two treatments that will let you control light in your rooms and that is blinds or shutters.

Since this house is calling for a certain look, and feel, along with function, the shutters seemed to be the way to go.

All our windows except for one will have plantation shutters. (that will be changing before I even finish writing this post.) 

I have never had shutters, but have always admired them so we are excited to see them installed.

The one exception is the dining room window at the end of our kitchen. I wanted something a bit different there.

In my minds eye a white roman shade with black trim would be absolutely perfect. I took the plunge and ordered some from Pottery barn….

I just knew this would work. They arrived and guess what I was WRONG!!!

First the white is not white at all, a very creamy white, which I usually like, but with my swiss coffee walls it just did not work. 

The other surprise, too casual of a look for this room as well.

Hmmmmm? so what is a girl to do?

Stop the Process until she makes up her mind!!!

After thinking about it long and hard, and going over all scenarios in my mind I am going to get the shutters like I have in the Great room. 

I had to consider what would be on each side of the window and also the furnishings in the room, table and chairs style and the low boy server.

If I choose later to add some side panels to soften the look, I can do that, but for now we will have a very sharp looking base with all shutters.

ANOTHER DECISION WAS MADE!!

The other thing we got for our new house is a door mat! Aren’t you excited for me? Okay, maybe not, but I was really excited to get it!!

I ordered it from Grandinroad, and it came yesterday.

 It looks perfect on our front porch.

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Of course ours has a letter, “P” on it!

I highly recommend this mat, it is so thick, and well made. It makes a beautiful statement at the front door. This would also make a great Christmas gift as well.

With Christmas on my mind, I have done a little shopping online, and also I have been pinning images for inspiration. More on that later.

My Mom came and stayed with us this weekend, so she was our first over night guest. We had a wonderful visit and she loved the new house and felt quite comfy here. 

Having family here is what makes it feel more like home to us than anything else.

Basically this has been my week in a nutshell, but there are more decisions to make and more project to be done, so come back to see how I am going to.........

 

 

What To Wear For Thanksgiving Day!

 

 

Does your family dress up for Thanksgiving dinner, or do they keep it casual and comfy? I know personally, I like to dress somewhere in between. Maybe, a casual outfit with a special accessory to take it up a notch.

With the Holiday season about to open up we all need a few options. We women like our options. So today I am going to show you outfits I would wear for a casual/comfy look……….

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This first outfit is casual and comfy. The earrings and the cute cobalt shoes take it up a notch. You know everyone is going to be asking you where did you get those earrings!!

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Easy to wear and comfortable. I would add some pearls and pearl earrings to this classic/casual look.

 

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A uniform for many, jeans, sweater, boots = cute outfit.

The earrings and the scarf jazz it up a bit. You can wear basics and then add a little something extra in your accessories and it really can take the whole look up  a notch. 

So comfort doesn’t always have to just be worn on an every day basis, you can wear it on special days as well.

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I don’t know if you are like me or not, but when I wear a skirt I feel as if I dressed up a bit, even in a jean skirt.

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I have used this outfit in other post before, but it is just too classic to not use again. 

A pop of a color that you look great in with basics and then add some cute leopard flats and you are good to go!

This grouping is pretty casual but mostly because of the shoes, they are dictating the casualness of each outfit. 

Instead try a cute black ballet slipper or some leopard flats, or even an unexpected color in a shoe, like cobalt or red and it will change the entire feel of the two outfits. 

Personally I love the combination of the navy and the mustard so I would wear both outfits easily.

 FORMULA:

Casual basics + Standout jewelry + eye catching shoes= Casual Special Day Outfit!

I hope this gives you a little bit of inspiration for your casual Thanksgiving day outfit. I know it has my mind spinning with the possibilities.