Monday, 14 December 2015

Decorating for Christmas.

With the kitchen all but finished now, we're in the process of getting the house ready for Christmas! As we're hosting, and this year's been an upside down one for our families through various different happenings, we decided to make a real effort to get it festive and give it a happy, warm, positive vibe. Nothing says happy more than Christmas, anyway!
This is our third Christmas in our home, and unlike previous years, I've really thought hard about colours and decorations that will complement our personalities and tastes, which luckily for me and Mr. W are very similar.

We decided to use the fake tree again, even though last year we bought a real one. The cost just didn't seem worth it. For me, the excitement in a real tree is that cold winter evening, going to buy that one tree that's 'just right', gloves and scarf at the ready, pine needles throughout the car and decorating it with a hot chocolate and christmas film. But the price of the tree and getting rid of it after was so much hassle, and the fake one looks just as nice. So pretend tree it was.

Decoration wise, we have always gone for the turquoise theme on the tree with it being my birthstone colour and both of our favourite colours. We bought lots of new decorations last year so didn't buy anything extra this year except some more lights. Happy, frugal days ;)  








This beautiful little snowman was my secret santa gift from work, and I think he's a lovely addition to the tree. My favourite decoration by far is one we got handmade last year as a memory of our Las Vegas wedding a few months earlier. 

Our first Christmas in this house was one we hosted. We were so excited, and it was a lovely day, but the house wasn't decorated (except the living room), we didn't really have the room and facilities to cater for the family, and last year my parents hosted at their house so we didn't see the point in decorating ours much when hardly anyone would see it. But this year, knowing everyone is coming over is a real motivation for making it look amazing. 

The new fireplace that I posted about last week has just transformed the living room into the most cosy space ever. 



One of the best things about Christmas is the candles! I have a lovely Yankee advent calendar, so I use each day's candle in our Winter Spice candle holder. They all smell incredible. 


I don't decorate every room - there's just no point. I may go full 90's and get some snazzy Christmas toilet paper, but that's it for upstairs. We also don't have a regular modern stair rail so I can't wind garlands or things round it which I'd like to do. We do however have a door knocker which was the perfect place to hang our wreath. It's my Grandma's that she used to use. Hubs tied some wire to it, tied it to the door and wound some fuscia string lights to it. It looks so inviting, but isn't too in your face. (Lights + epileptic dog = nope!).


Now, for the kitchen!

We're finished!!!!! (Blog post coming ASAP!). Me and hubs still have to do a few things - the organisation station, and TV need fixing to the walls, but other than that we're pretty much good to go. So I took this morning as a chance to start decorating where I could. Now our gorgeous table is up and in use, I brought some decorations in and started working out what would look good.

Our theme for the kitchen is cream tones, with bits from the living room intertwined. 
Scout's dog basket has the same throws on it that we have on our sofa's in the living room - gorgeous tartan ones that are only £3.50 each from Primark. He goes through them so fast that we always buy 4-5 at a time so they last the season.

 
 
To bring the tree into the dining room, I decorated our wooden serving tray with baubles that match those on the tree. As simple as it sounds, it looks really effective and everyone's complimented me on how they love the idea.



I was also really excited to get my little deer back out on show again! You might remember these from when I posted about upcycling them two years ago...





They are really festive, but blend into the background in an elegant sort of way. I just love them and I can't wait for my Grandma to see them over Christmas dinner, having had them in her home since she left South Africa over 50 years ago!

You might also notice on the radiator cover some paper flowers. Man, do I NOT recommend these! They're so fiddly to put together and honestly, I am not sure I even really like them but they fit the theme and they're a nice, simple way to jazz up the space without overcrowding it, so they're staying for now ;)

I'm also excited that I can put my gorgeous little light box on show! I'll have to think of something festive to write on it before the big day.


The rest, I'm afraid, I'm going to save for a post a little closer to Christmas! I also haven't forgotten that I promised you a before-during-after kitchen post to show you the final product, and reminisce over just how it all started 12 weeks ago. So stay tuned!


 Saira
  xo









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