I have begun my Christmas decorating for the season this week. My inspiration was a vintage, eclectic, European cottage Christmas. I love the look of layered collected assortments of holiday decor.
I decided to style old vintage books, brass candleholders, glass ornaments and baskets I had thrifted over the last few years. I think the collection of these vintage decor pieces pair beautifully with the new garland, taper candles, and pine cones on the mantle.
The paper garland hanging above the stockings only took 20 minutes to make. I had saved some beautiful gold wrapping paper a few years ago and I was so happy to use it for something new. Another repurposed decoration, are the linen bows around the candlestick holders. Those strips of linen fabric actually came with our curtains to tie them back, which we currently don't use. I thought the fabric texture and color would be perfect to add a couple bows.
This year I definitely tried to be creative and re-use or repurpose as much as I could. And honestly, I love it. I think it gives a very handmade vintage Christmas vibe.
Our dining room is actually the best room for our Christmas tree. The tree is visible from the living room and the kitchen from that location. I wanted to make sure that our tablescape and hutch complimented the tree. I decided to continue the vintage theme from the living room.
A velvet maroon ribbon hangs from the top of the tree and gracefully drapes down the sides. I decided to do this instead of a traditional tree topper. Around the tree you can see an assortment of white and gold bulbs with all different textures. For the base I ended up purchasing the basket tree base from IKEA. I flipped it upside down to give the appearance of the tree sitting inside a basket. The white fabric surrounding the base is actually an old linen curtain.
The tablescape features a collection of items, some old and some new. The table runner is from PotteryBarn. I remember buying it two years ago and I was so excited. The runner is embroidered with images of pine cones, red berries, and spruce leaves. On top of this, I place two vintage brass candlestick holders which were styled with candles in a deep maroon shade.
I wrapped a basic faux garland around the candlestick holders and decorative glass jars. Once I lit all of these candles, it truly became magical. The linen napkins are also from PotteryBarn. I decided to wrap them in the napkin rings to resemble bows hoping that they complimented the bow on top of the tree.
The hutch next to the tree received minimal styling. I didn't want to distract too much away from the tree or the table styling. The main things that I did was placing our wooden reindeer with a Christmas countdown on the top shelf. I styled white and gold faux candles throughout the different shelves to add a warm lighting element. It is not in the picture, but I did go back and add some pine cones in the bowls.
In our kitchen, there is really only one surface that has room for decoration. That is the shelf below the window. I chose to create a cozy little holiday village with different decor pieces I had from previous years. I placed a white ceramic row of houses in the center. On each side there are green and white wax trees that light up. Scattered amongst the trees are small pine cones and crumpled up white tissue paper to resemble snow. My favorite part is the small brass corgi laying in front of the row of houses. We have two corgis so this little knick knack is one of my favs.
Moving upstairs, our bedroom is the only room I completed the decorating in. A pencil tree is styled in the corner by our dresser. I strung silver beads around the tree and hung vintage glass bulbs that are both silver and gold. The topper is a tinsel covered star from Target I believe. I wrapped a rustic looking blanket around the base for a more relaxed look. I really love how the lights on the tree look in our room at night.
That concludes the vintage inspired holiday decor I have put up and styled so far. I will make sure to upload more photos, as I get more completed. Hope you all enjoyed reading and seeing the photos.
Have a happy holiday season! - Hannah