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

Powder Room Touch-up for the Holidays

By:  Sherina So

With the Black Friday hype soon to pass, it also marks the start of the holiday season.  Gatherings with families and friends will be at full force in the coming weeks.  Have you been browsing Pinterest for the latest trends in holiday decorating and tablesetting?  Take a peek at my design board for winter and holiday accessories for the living room.  Aside from the living and dining rooms that will be obvious destinations for your guests, there's another room they will most certainly visit during the gathering - the powder room.  It's a small space that is usually neglected, but you can easily touch it up with some holiday decor to enrich your guests' holiday experience at your beautiful home.

I've put together a short and easy list of powder room touch-ups that will show your guests how thoughtful of a host you are!

Holiday-themed Soap and Lotion Sets

This is by far the simplest way to add any holiday glamour into your powder room.  Let the holiday infused scents of the soap and lotions put your guests in holiday spirit.  This set from Fruits & Passion even comes with a ceramic plate, so all you need to do is just unwrap the package and voila!  The powder room instantly looks much put together!

Create an Area for Holiday Display

If you have a pedestal sink with minimal space on it to put anything, a small display shelf would be a safer place for guests to place their belongings on.  An elegant glass shelf would easily blend in with any existing style. 

Source:  emily bathroom glass shelf

If you're blessed by a spacious  powder room, a small side table would complete the space.

source:  joss & main

PILLAR CANDLEHOLDER AS RING AND BRACELET HOLDER

I love mercury glass decor!  It adds the bit of glam and sparkle to any vignette, so it's especially fitting for the holidays!  I saw this mercury glass pillar candleholder, and thought it would be an awesome ring/ bracelet holder for your guests in the powder room.  It's an interesting use for a candleholder, and takes up just as much space as a regular ring holder,  It also gives some height to your display surface mentioned above, and also to the holiday vignette...  see below.

Creating a Simple Holiday Vignette

A holiday vignette doesn't only belong to the entryway or entertaining rooms in your house.  You can quickly put one together in the powder room on the display surface.  All you need are 3 simple items:  a display container for interesting ornaments, holiday art piece, and of course, something green.

Display container  

A simple and popular display amongst decorators is to fill a small apothecary jar or cloche that's proportional to your display surface with some beautiful holiday decor.  Similar to this idea.

image via eab designs

This small present lantern has some cute holiday details and is a good size for the display shelf.

source:  Pier 1

It would be a great spot to display your collection of novelty ornaments and tie in with your holiday decor theme colour.  Canadian Tire has a new CANVAS line of holiday decor.  These are some of my favorites.

In place of beaded garlands, you can use string lights as filler inside the container.  These battery powered string lights from Pier 1 would give your simple decor much added drama.  

source:  Pier 1

Framed art

If you're a hoarder of celebration cards like I am, you'll probably find a beautiful Christmas card in your stash.  Simply put it in a frame as an art piece!  This is a cute and understated winter themed frame that would go with any of your decor.

source:  Pier 1

If you're a purger and don't have stashes of holiday cards handy, these holiday foil prints add more sparkles and glam to your powder room.  You can never have enough sparkles and bling during the holidays!  

source:  SS Print Shop

Holiday Greeneries

No vignette is complete without something green.  These mini wreaths are just the right size for a simple display.  If it's too plain for you, just add a bow with a ribbon of your choice.  Either just lean it on the display surface or hang it with 3M command hooks on the wall. 

source:  Anitque Farm House

Monogrammed Fluffy Towels

Indulging your guests with fresh and fluffy towels complete their holiday experience in your powder room.  Instead of plain towels, how about a set of monogrammed hand towels?  These designs look elegant and sophisticated.  They'll make you look like a professional party host!

Sources:  1. the monogram room  2. MissMelsMonogramming

I'm usually not a fan of themed hand towels, but this design with a subtle nod to the Holiday season has a sophisticated air to it.  I think this may just be my choice for the holidays!

Source:  sewsewcutesewing

I hope you have found this list of quick powder room touch up helpful and inspiring.  It's a space that we all tend to forget, but could well be the easiest to tackle in preparation for guests over the holidays.  It's little details like these that your guests will truly appreciate your effort in throwing them a holiday party at your house.  They will come out of the powder room all refreshed, after having indulged in your holiday spirit and be ready to party on!  Perhaps you may want to decorate your guest bathrooms also, in case some guests have too much fun and decide to spend the night!

What else would you add to ready your powder room for the Holidays?