Merry (late) Christmas friends!
I know the day after Christmas is a little late in the game to be sharing a blog post on decorating for the holidays… but I really wanted to get a holiday home tour up, and, to be honest, this is when I had the time to sit down and write it. Better late than next year right? 😆
I genuinely just enjoy seeing how other people have decorated their homes for the holidays though, so I hope you enjoy scrolling through these photos as I share our home with you. Plus, the end of the season is a great time to get some ideas for next year, because all of the Christmas decor will be on sale!
So, without further ado, here’s a look at how we decked our home for the holidays this year, along with tips and tricks you can use for decorating your home next year!
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THE FRONT PORCH
Our front porch was very simple this year, with this fresh, handmade wreath being the star of the show:
I made this wreath myself at a local wreath making workshop, and it was such a fun experience! If you want to know how to make your own, you can check out my last blog post “How to Make Your Own Fresh Wreath: A Fun and Festive Holiday DIY”.
Our front porch is pretty small, so we tried to keep it simple and uncluttered, but still festive and inviting. If you’re looking for tips and tricks on how to decorate a small front porch for Christmas, checkout my blog post “A Simple Guide to Decorating a Small Porch for Christmas on a Budget”.
THE ENTRYWAY
When you walk in the front door, you’re greeted by my favorite vintage rug, and a view of the Christmas tree. Our entryway is fairly, small, so, like our porch, I tried to keep things simple but festive.
This nativity scene from Hobby Lobby was the perfect center piece for our entryway table, and I really love having a reminder of the reason for the season front and center when you walk through the door.
A little fun fact… one of those wise men had to have his head glued back on 😆
TIP NO. 1:
Use small wreaths and ribbon as an easy and affordable way to add a festive touch to any mirror or large artwork in your home.
The wreath shown in our entryway was just $3 at the Target dollar spot, and I just love how it looks hanging on our mirror. We used a small, clear command hook to secure the wreath to the mirror, and added some pale pink chiffon ribbon to complete the look.
THE CHRISTMAS TREE
The Christmas tree is my absolute favorite part of our Christmas decor. It is so hard to capture the magic of a Christmas tree on camera though, because it is truly just so much better in person. Nothing better during Christmas time than sitting around with festive candles burning, the fireplace going, and the Christmas tree all lit up.
Our Christmas tree is the Holiday Living 7.5′ Brighton Spruce from Lowe’s, and it is on SUPER sale right now (like literally $49.50 last time I checked…which is a steal, because it’s regular $198). It is sold out online, but if you can find it in your store, it will be on sale through January 28th!
I love mixing sentimental and quirky ornaments with the “pretty” filler ornaments. They just make the tree feel so special and unique, and it’s so much fun to go through all of our memories every year as we decorate the tree.
TIP NO. 2:
Tie ribbon to the ends of your tree branches to bring in some texture, movement, and a pop of color. This is a super affordable way to get a high end look for less.
Last year, we used a gray velvet ribbon, but this year we went for this warmer, khaki colored velvet to bring in some warmth to our decor.
Our garland was a DIY McGee & Co dupe from last year, and I love how dainty the small wooden beads are. For all of the details on how we made it, check out my blog post from last year “Three DIY Designer Christmas Dupes You can do with Gold Spray Paint”.
Last year, I had a lot of trouble finding an affordable tree collar that was tall enough to touch the bottom of our tree, so I came up with a hack that works AMAZING at resolving this issue. If you’re struggling with this as well, check out my blog post “Christmas Tree Collar Hack: How to Make Your Tree Collar Touch the Bottom of Your Tree” for all the details.
TIP NO. 3:
Splurge on one or two nice pieces of Christmas decor every year so eventually you will have a collection of pieces you truly love.
A friend shared this advice from her mom with me last year, and I loved it so much that I decided to incorporate it into my own Christmas shopping tradition, and made the splurge on this hammered gold tree collar from Ballard Designs shown above. I had my eye on it last Christmas and didn’t get it, but I am so happy I made the splurge and got it this year. It is the tallest one that I’ve found, and it was just tall enough to cover the bottom of our tree, without the need for the hack I came up with last year. We have the large size, and it is perfect for our 7.5′ Christmas tree.
Ballard Designs has a few more options if you’re going for more of a rustic or natural look, and all of them are the same height as the hammered gold one. They are doing a big end of the season sale right now, with up to 40% off holiday items, and up to 50% off clearance, so now is the perfect time to shop if you’re looking to upgrade your tree collar for next year!
birch collar // willow tree collar // hammered gold collar
THE LIVING ROOM
Our living room houses a majority of our Christmas decor, and is 100% my favorite space during Christmas time. From the tree to the mantel to the floating shelves, this space is so much fun to decorate for the holidays.
TIP NO. 4:
Mix winter artwork and seasonal touches in with your regular decor for a curated look that will transition from December into the New Year.
We used a mix of vintage and modern pieces to create a look that felt timeless and unique, while still incorporating some of the fun holiday trends of this season like rustic bells and velvet ribbons. I’ve linked as much as I could for you on like to know it, but two things that I know for sure aren’t linked is our garland (because at this point in time, it is still sold out) and our stocking tags (which are also sold out).
Our garland is the real touch Norfolk pine garland from afloral, and it is my absolute favorite. It is super realistic, reasonably priced (but not cheap — I still considered it one of my splurge items this year), and perfect for blending with other types of garland and greenery. I wanted to get it last year, but it sold out before I could get my hands on it. It ended up selling out super early again this year, but I planned ahead and ordered it in October. If you’re trying to get one, I would definitely recommend ordering well ahead of the holiday season. Whenever I see it come back in stock, I will try to go back and add a link to it in this post, and I’ll also share it on my Instagram, so be sure to follow me there @stayhomestyle_.
The stocking tags are from Fourth & Pierce, and I absolutely cannot recommend them enough. They are handmade, genuine leather tags that come in a gorgeous array of earthy neutral colors, and I just love the pretty gold lettering and gorgeous script font. At just $12 a tag, these are an affordable way to elevate your stockings, while simultaneously supporting an amazing small business. We have the dark moss color, and I love the way the rich green color looks against the cream stockings. They did three restocks this year, and they sold out every time, so if you’re trying to get your hands on these, definitely sign up for emails and get on the restock list so you’ll be the first to know when they come back for next year.
TIP NO. 5:
Fill your stockings with bags of sugar, flour, or powdered sugar to keep them looking full and hanging straight until Santa comes!
This was sort of an accidental trick I stumbled upon this year when I was looking for something to fill out the stockings for pictures, and it worked so well that I just left them in there until Christmas! The weight of the bags holds the stockings in place, and gives them sort of a long and droopy, effortless look.
THE BAR CART
Technically the bar cart is in the living room too… but I thought it deserved it’s own little section! It’s not a very big cart, so we kept it simple by switching out our glassware with these copper reindeer wine glasses, and adding in a thrifted rustic bell and decorative tree from the Target dollar spot.
If you’re looking for tips for styling your bar cart for any season, check out my blog post “Six Essential Elements for an Effortlessly Styled Bar Cart”.
THE COFFEE BAR
This year, we added a little bit of Christmas to our coffee bar shelves, and they were so much fun to style for the holidays. We added some greenery and ribbon to our coffee shop art from Dear Margo, and a mix of mini Christmas trees for a fun and festive look!
THE DINING ROOM
It’s really more of an eat in kitchen… but we call it the dining room, so just roll with it 😂
We kept things fairly simple in this space, since we use the table pretty regularly, and just added a simple bowl filled with ornaments as the centerpiece for the table. Additionally, we added some asymmetrical garland around the mirror for some extra Christmas cheer! The first time we hung the garland, we put the command hooks on the mirror itself, and it fell off after just a couple of days. My friend Noelle Tate shared some advice with me for how she got her garland to stay up around her mirror, and it worked out great for me as well, so I am sharing it with you here as tip number 6 👇
TIP NO. 6:
Hang garland around the edges of your mirrors by placing clear command hooks on the wall around them instead of directly on the mirror itself. Placing the hooks on the wall will help the garland stay in place, since the command hooks were meant to stick to this type of surface.
THE BEDROOM
Last but not least is our primary bedroom. This space is still a work in progress for us, but we did add a touch of Christmas by adding more garland around this mirror, a few mini trees and festive knick knacks, and a pencil tree that we used when we lived in our apartment.
TIP NO. 7:
If you have an Amazon Alexa, use smart plugs to voice control your Christmas trees.
Honestly, one of my favorite parts about having a Christmas tree in our bedroom was waking up every morning and telling Alexa to turn on the Christmas tree instead of the light 😆 We had our main Christmas tree on a smart plug as well, and it was so nice to be able to just say “Alexa, turn on the Christmas tree” anytime we wanted, without having to get up and plug it in.
That’s all for our Holiday Home Tour for 2021. We had few small hints of Christmas sprinkled around the rest of our home, but these were the areas I focused on decorating this year. Most of what we used were things we already had from previous years, but we did make the splurge on the Ballard Designs tree collar, and Afloral Norfolk pine garland. I also thrifted quite a few vintage pieces this year that we were able to add to our collection, like the brass deer and winter artwork on our floating shelves, the metal reindeer on our dresser, and the rustic bells scattered all around our home. I hope to continue the tradition of splurging on one or two new pieces each year, and growing a collection of things I love for my favorite time of the year!
I hope you enjoyed scrolling through this home tour and that these tips and tricks will help you deck your home for the holidays in the years to come. I tried to link as much as possible through LIKEtoKNOW.it if you’re wanting to shop this post, but if you can’t find what you’re looking for, drop a comment below and I’ll be happy to share what I can!
Merry (late) Christmas, happy end of season shopping, and good luck taking down your Christmas decor. May your storage bins be organized, your attic space be plentiful, and your wise men be stored away in one piece 😆
Stay Home Style 
In the scene behind the nativity scene is a layer tree. . . please share
more about that layered tree and how it is made or what it was made of.
Thank you,
A of WW
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The layered tree is something I found at Home Goods last year, and it is made of wood and resin. I haven’t seen anything quite like it online, so I would check TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, or Home Goods if you’re looking for something similar!
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