Hi, friends! I realize for many people, the holidays are one of the busiest times of the year: big family gatherings, traveling, rushing to buy and wrap gifts, parties, and more. For me, it’s usually the opposite. We stay home and it’s really quiet. We’ll make dinner, watch TV, and I’ll probably gaze at Christmas lights with feelings of warm fuzzies. With five Christmas trees this year, there are plenty of lights to look at.
I talked about this on Instagram Stories, but I wanted to mention it here: I realize no one actually needs five Christmas trees! I know this time of year is highlight reel after highlight reel- everyone and their mother are posting photos. Comparison is rampant. I’ve dealt with a lot of feeling really inadequate in 2019 because I keep measuring myself against other people. It’s all BS, really. We’re all just living our lives and while we may be jealous of others, they may be jealous of us. It’s a really negative and quickly spinning feedback loop where we can all talk ourselves into the ground pretty quickly.
Since I’m about to share a highlight reel of house decor, I also wanted to keep it real and talk about why I really go so over-the-top with my home decor.
My mom loved Christmas decorations, and when she died 12 years ago, I started adding items to my collection so I could also build these pretty trees. I don’t have any of our old ornaments from when we were growing up, so the collection started from scratch. Each year, I add more, and refine the styles or themes. It’s part memorial, and part distraction that the holidays are so quiet and sometimes can feel pretty lonely. Since I’m not going out a bunch of places or running here and there, I lean in to enjoying all that home has to offer. I may not have big family gatherings or huge gift exchanges, but I do love having pretty decorations! Some people like knitting or scrapbooking; I love decorating Christmas trees.
This year, I’m feeling a lot better about the quiet Christmas at home. The thought of relaxing in pajamas and drinking coffee in front of a Christmas tree is really appealing! So whether your Christmas looks like a Norman Rockwell painting or not, you should do the holidays however you want to!
Holiday Home Tour Video
Tree 1: Burgundy and Gold Christmas Tree
This tree is 10 feet and is in our foyer/entryway. The ornaments are a mix of ones collected throughout the years primarily from At Home, Balsam Hill, and Z Gallerie.
The tree skirt is actually a table overlay from our wedding last year. Love finding a way to repurpose it.
The long needle pine garland that I use throughout my house on the staircases and mantle are from House by JSD, a Lexington store that really amped up my Christmas decoration obsession several years ago. They also ship some of their items, so check out their site if you’re not local. The garland has held up beautifully over the years, whether it’s been used indoor or out.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you probably know about my love for Fancies. “Fancy” is the nickname I gave my first glittered reindeer that had a faux fur collar. I bought Fancy from Target 4 years ago, right after I went through a divorce. I don’t know what it was that made me so happy, but the Fancy collection has grown ever since. These two “Fancies” are from Z Gallerie. And since I love a theme, I made them faux fur collars to match my original Fancies, which are in my living room.
Tree 2: Animal Print Christmas Tree
This is a new tree for me this year, and I am thrilled with how it turned out! Our formal room has some vintage animal print chairs, and I wondered what it would be like to decorate a Christmas tree with that theme.
I purchased this glittery tree on after Christmas clearance last year at Home Depot. Shopping items on sale has been a key to growing my collection over the years. On December 26th, I will search high and low online for after-Christmas sales where everything is usually 50-75% off. I’ve had great luck with Home Depot trees ordered from their site on Christmas or the day after.
The decorations for this tree came primarily from Amazon (list of items here) and CB2. I hunted high and low for animal print wired ribbon, but came up short time and time again. I found two different prints on Amazon, and gave them a try. While searching for the ribbon, I also came across two sets of Kurt Adler animal print ornaments on Amazon that I added to my cart. Those became the base of the decorations. For filler, I added matte black ornament clusters from At Home. To make the clusters, I buy inexpensive plain shatterproof ornaments and group them together in 3’s by using a pipe cleaner. I then twist them throughout the tree where there may be bare spots.
After getting the original ribbons and ornaments up, I felt it needed a little more (#maximalist). I found some great animal print ornaments at CB2 and added those to the tree. To finish it out, I added a mix of plastic and glass drops, as well as some old faux feather picks that I used in a different tree design a while back.
Tree 3: Tinsel Office Tree
Since I work from a home office, I love having a slim tinsel tree in the corner to add some sparkle to long days in front of the computer. I bought this a few years ago from Target. Most of the decorations on this tree are also from Target.
Tree 4: Gold Magnolia Christmas Tree
This tree is really a labor of love! I swear it tries to kill me every year I put it up since it’s full width, and 12 feet tall. I feel like it’s one you really need to see in person to appreciate because of its scale.
The magnolia theme is partially inspired by my mom, who loved magnolias and was from the deep South. I found these very large, glittered magnolia stems from Z Gallerie a couple of years ago, and they are the base of this tree design. They aren’t cheap, so I’ve added more each year by scoring them at their after-Christmas sale. It’s the only store I go to on December 26th. Everything else I order online.
This year, I added some long needle pine and cedar stems from House to give the tree some more texture. I plan on getting more of these next year to fill it out even more. The gold and green magnolia leaves you see on the tree are also from House.
Tree 5: Sentimental Family Tree
Even with a house full of decorated trees, my favorite has to be the traditional sentimental family tree. It’s located in our loft/bonus space where we hang out and watch TV. This tree has ornaments collected from travel, celebrating milestones, or given to us as gifts. It’s always fun to unwrap each ornament and think about where it came from. I covered some of these favorite ornaments here.
This year, I also picked up several curvy mermaid ornaments from Louisville boutique Red Tree – they’re all wearing sequins and drinking cocktails. If you captured my essence in an ornament, this is what it’d look like!
Outdoor decorations
For the outside, we have wreaths and LED “candles” on each window. Growing up, we always had wreaths on the house, so it’s a fun tradition to continue. I keep saying that one of these days, I’m going to put lights on the bushes and trees outside, but I’ve yet to find the energy for that after getting all of the inside decorated.
Thanks for coming along with me on this holiday home tour. Have questions about anything? Let me know in the comments – I love talking trees!
Previous years of decorations:
- 2018: First year of the magnolia Christmas tree
- 2016: Last year in my old home, so it’s bittersweet to look back at this
- 2012: So different than what I have now! Always learning and refining.
All photos, except for exterior and sentimental tree, by Hedges Photography.
