Simple Christmas Tour - New House

I should thank the eager Christmas enthusiasts in our neighbourhood that started decking their exteriors in early November.  It got our little man all hyped up and on repeat...  "When are we putting up our Christmas decorations?  Mommy I'll help you!"  "Do we have (exterior) lights like those?"  And when he was told no, we don't, "Aw~~...  can we get them?"  Well, you know the drill...

Don't get me wrong.  Christmas is my favourite time of the year - who doesn't love all the sparkly festival decorations?  I love decorating for Christmas, with Christmas tunes playing in the background on the radio.  It's also a good opportunity to refresh decor around the house.  

With all the hussle and bustle leading up to the Holidays, I opted to keep our Christmas decor simple.

So with little man's help, while he also managed to flip through a Lego catalogue and announced his Christmas wishlist, we put up the Christmas tree.  That was several weekends ago!  After playing around with placements and such, I think I'm happy with our Christmas decor this year.  

Welcome to our new house (not so new anymore)!  This is our entryway console table, on which I placed two IKEA faux sheepskin to mimic fluffy snow for the grazing brass reindeers.  I like how the whiteness of the sheepskin tones down all the gold accents on the table.  

Coming in through the hallway, I kept the garland on the staircase simple this year.  I used to wrap these faux garlands around the banister, but I noticed how the metal parts would scratch the railings at our old house.  This time around, I just used floral wires to gather the garland at the swivels.

We've placed our Christmas tree at the entrance of the sitting area, so that we can enjoy its twinkling lights from most of the ground floor.  And those are real presents underneath the tree!  Wrapping up fake presents is not for me.

I've started to hoard a good supply of LED stringlights* this Christmas.  I've put them anywhere and everywhere I can!  Here in our sitting area, I placed a strand of the LED lights into the container of extra ornaments.  The lights add even more twinkling effect to the beaded cone tree and the mercury glass tabletop finials.

For everyday Christmas decor on the dining table, I added two pots of faux greeneries with some berries on either side of the candelebras.  I pulled apart 2 twigs of faux branch arrangements and fanned out the smaller branches into the mercury glass lanterns.  

The Mr. commented that setting the table makes it more festive, but I'll save that for when my family comes over for Christmas dinner =)

The console table is another spot for me to use those beloved LED stringlights, which I wrapped around tiny Christmas trees placed in the birdcages.  Those are the same birdcages we used in the Spring Tablescape decor back in old house.

Aside from string lights, I've also added some gold accessories to our Christmas collection.  This gold resin deer from Target...

... and this pair of gold antlers were part of my recent haul.

Don't forget to deck the bar cart!  Check out my post on styling the bar cart for the Holidays!

I always love how decorators load up their rooms with Christmas decor, but I can never achieve their same look without everything looking messy and myself being overwhelmed.  I'm never one to dump Christmas all over the house.  Now that we're in a smaller house, I definitely don't want Christmas overload to happen.  I see that's the way it'll be for Christmases hereafter.  (Not to mention, it'll be much easier to clean up!)

I'll save my oohs and aahs as I indulge in other Christmas enthusiasts' instagram feeds #xmasdecor #christmasdecorations.  But for our home, I'll leave it livable and manageable.

I'm also happy (and relieved) to announce that, as of this morning, I'm done with my Christmas shopping!!  Woo hoo!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

* Affiliated link

Styling a Holiday-Ready Bar Cart

It wasn't until our little guy's CONSTANT offer to help us with Christmas decorating turned into an ultimatum ("are we putting up our tree today?"), that I finally dug out our Christmas decorations.  Am I ever glad that the Mr. had the foresight to separate the Christmas decor from the rest of the decor boxes.  It didn't make the discovery process any less overwhelming though.  Just to name a few greeneries - I forgot I had 4 pre-lit garlands, 1 tall Christmas tree, a short one, 2 pre-lit outdoor trees, and 3 wreaths... not sure if I missed anything else.  Did the little man actually help?  Yes, sort of.  Did we put up every one of these greenery?  Uh...  how about you take a look for yourself here...

The Christmas tree?  Done!  The staircase?  Check.  Coffee table?  Still reinventing.  Entryway table.  Finalized.  

Oh, that was a lot of work.  I need a drink...  now!

Lucky for me that our bar cart is holiday ready!  Here are a few quick tips to get yours looking pretty and functional to impress your guests!

1. The Obvious

Liquors / Glassware / Barware

Have a few bottles of your favourite drinks on hand.  For the holidays, champagne is always a good idea!  Sparkling wine, red wine, and champagne are constant staples at our house.  We keep the tall bottles on the bottom tier of the bar cart so that little man's freely swinging crazy arms won't knock down any. 

It makes sense to put out on the bar cart the glassware for what you usually consume.  For safety reasons (see above), we put our stemware in our kitchen cabinet.  The top of our bar cart now has a pretty display of our rocks glasses and handy bar accessories.

2. The Decor

Greenery

A touch of green livens up any decorated space, even one as tiny as the bar cart.  Here, just a sprig of holly leaves and berries in the corner makes the bar cart all the more welcoming.

GREENERY FROM BOWRING (SIMILAR ARRANGEMENT AT TARGET)

Artwork

On the wall or on the bar cart, the artwork completes the look of the cart by giving it height and a touch of sophistication.  On ours, I used a mixology recipe book with a pretty cover that does double duty, perched onto an acrylic easel.

THE ART OF MIXOLOGY (AFFILIATED LINK); ACRYLIC EASEL FROM CB2

Tray

Having a tray on any surface helps to corral items and contain mess.  Here, I DIY'ed a tray for glassware using duct tape, inspired by Megan's shoe box tray.  The copper foil tape helps hide my DIY mess and nicely mimics the gold rim on the highball glasses.

SCOTCH DUCT TAPE IN PRETTY SNAKE (AFFILIATED LINK); FOIL TAPE FROM MICHAELS

Seasonal Decor

Dress up the bar cart with some small scale seasonal decor so that it's ready for any party thrown its way!  I had limited space on ours, so a small bowl of mini candy canes and a whimsical display of ornaments in a lighted cloche are plenty enough.  

Feeling Adventurous

Yes, I know, less is more when it comes to decor.  But for some, decor and alcohol draws a fine line.  Who can resist these cute mini bottles of liquors, or a dazzling bottle stopper on Jonathan Adler's Animalia coasters?  I may just add some playful cocktail napkins and fun straws to the mix!

JONATHAN ADLER ANIMALIA COASTERS; BOTTLE STOPPER FROM HOMESENSE (WHAT I REALLY LOVE)

Prepping a bar cart for the holidays is no different than decorating any space in your home.  Starting with the basics in #1, and then adding in layers of #2 takes minimal effort but will surely leave your guests impressed.  Just make sure you restock the empty bottles while you're at it!

Playroom Painted in a Shade of Gray

On nights when The Mr. "indulges" himself with his pet DIY project, our walk-in closet/ dressing room, little man would busy himself with his own Lego design and build projects or other master art pieces.  These are quiet nights for me when they're on their own; no floor hockey/ goalie plays and no gunning battles in the basement family room.  But I can't help but notice little man lacks a space to play and make art.

Little man has never had his own work space.  The dining room table has been his creative space since he first picked up a crayon eons ago.  Now that we've moved into our new house though, we don't want his masterpieces to take over the dining table.  

That's when I finally dug out my plan for his playroom, as posted here.

The playroom is a spare third bedroom upstairs, and not a big room at all.  To save some space, we got him a desk instead of that IKEA round table.

I still love the style of this Target Campaign desk from when I wrote about the perfect desk for him, and this one is bang for the buck since I got it on sale!  The drawers will be perfect for all the papers and other miscellaneous items.

Target Threshold Campaign Desk

As another spin to my original design board, I found the cutest and fun rug for the playroom!  The Union Jack rug from Ecarpet Gallery totally fits my budget and the fun factor of the playroom.  

Union Jack rug by Ecarpet Gallery

The colours are mixed and woven in a way to give the rug a vintage vibe.

That's a lot of red in the room with the desk, but I don't mind it being more playful.  Who knows?  The red may help spark more creativity in the little man =)

In anticipation of taking delivery of the desk, we painted the playroom a light gray last weekend.  I loved the soft gray in this room by Amanda Moore of Hunter Baby.

via

I have been on the hunt for the perfect gray ever since seeing it used in this room.  Not going to inject another "50 shades of gray" joke here, but that number is an understatement!  If you've been sourcing grays, you would know all about the tinted grays!  I just wanted a gray that's, well, gray.  So I decided to try out the ever popular Benjamin Moore Gray Owl, and the just as amazing trick, at 50% tint.

Here is little man's playroom after painted in Gray Owl.  This shade of gray suits the playroom decor perfectly.  With just a tiny bit of tan, it picks up the vintagy vibe of the desk (to be delivered) and rug just right.  

The playroom doesn't really need black-out curtains or too much privacy.  We chose to outfit the large window with simple sheers from IKEA on a track system by Allen + Roth.  

Allen + Roth curtain Rod

As you can see in the photo above, little man has gradually moved into his new playroom, no invitation required :-)  Funny how he lugged his beloved Lego in the playroom first, and I take it he's loving the space already!  I can't wait to put the playroom together for him!

Next up for the playroom:

• Toy storage unit
• Gallery wall - these frames with plastic front from IKEA are safe for a kid's space
• Masterpiece display
• Lounging spot
• Light fixture