Decorating for Christmas

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I am so excited that the holidays are JUST around the corner! Did you know that Big Lots declared this week as National Decorate Your Home for the Holidays Week (Nov. 16th- 22nd)? I’m dusting off all of my storage tubs of all my Christmas decor and have been buying some new items to add to my decor collection.

Ryan and I couldn’t possibly have MORE different ideas when it comes to decorating a home. That’s why he leaves all the decorating to me and the technical DIY pieces to HIM.

When it comes to decorating, I try very hard to incorporate MY love of everything glam, clean, and bright with his rustic, outdoorsy, and woodland style. As we have grown together as a couple and family, I have found that I am drawn to more of the rustic, farmhouse style look partnered with the rustic luxe feel. I love it when homes get decorating with everyone’s sense of style in mind.

For this phase of our holiday transformation, I focused on our entryway and foyer. To involve the entire family, here are some tips and tricks on getting your kids involved in the holiday decorating around the home so that you can start new family traditions!

Here’s a huge tip: Writing down the areas of your home you want to decorate PRIOR to shopping will allow you to make a more informed decision and to ensure you are choosing products that fit what you need.

1. Spruce Up Those Garage Doors

Our home has front facing garage doors, which have two lantern lights between them. I decorated them with a swag branch, a glitzy branch layered on it, and and used some burlap that I stocked up on from Big Lots. You cannot get enough burlap when it comes to getting that rustic feel!

It’s twice as fun having them on both lanterns for that cohesive look.

2. Create Parallels Around Your Door

Next, you gotta make a statement for your front porch. I typically love to create a coordinated, but not matchy-matchy look around the door, allowing each side to have a unique look to it.

First up, my front door. You can already tell that when you walk in, you are BOUND to see sparkles! When I saw these glitter garlands at Big Lots, I almost fainted! They screamed, “Take me home!!!” I pretty much purchased the entire lot (styles and assortment may vary by store) because I knew they would just fill the urn.

Yep, those are urns with iron spheres sitting on top of garland! And if you are in love with glitz and glam for the holidays, those sparkling branches you see there are AMAZINGLY gorgeous, even better in person. I will say that I messed with the look of the urns for a good thirty minutes. My second try ended up with this look, which I also liked:

But I finally settled on this awesome look:

I ended up loving the lantern look surrounded by large ornaments. And that snow globe? Yep, found it at Big Lots too! Since Ryan is unwilling to put lights ON the house, this was the next best thing! The girls love it! The lantern also has an LED light inside of it that has an on/off switch. Here’s a look with everything turned off:

Here’s the look on the other side I started with:

I ended up with something like this. That rustic burlap ball that you see is an ornament that I found at Big Lots that came in a pack of 6, and it totally fits that rustic luxe feel that I’m going for.

Here it is in all its glory. The whole goal in creating parallels is to bring your design together without it being matchy matchy. So get creative! The foundation to this look is the sparkle garland that I found at Big Lots!

3. Bring Personality to Your Door

Your door should be a reflection of your style. For us, the door matches what I did to the garage lights, but with a little more flare. I included some glitter gold trimmings to make it more fun and festive! And yes, that’s a feather peaking out of the back of that heart! I’m in love!! The trimmings represent me, the feathers represent Ryan as a waterfowl sportsman, and the heart represents our kids.

That heart makes me happy!

To tie it all together, here’s the view of the front porch all lit up at night:

Here’s another view of it:

I couldn’t be any happier with the snow globe, lantern, garland, gold trimmings, and LED lights I found at Big Lots for this look!

Well, I didn’t stop there. I mean, I got so much amazing stuff at my stop to Big Lots that I was on a decorating spree at home!

4. Make a Statement in the Foyer

Your foyer should reflect a similar style/theme that flows from your front porch into your home. Knowing that, I purchased two of these lamps because I knew that I would end up using it else where. When you decorate and you find a piece you love, I would recommend buying two of whatever it is that catches your eye!

I ended up using that burlap again inside (see how the design all ties together)?

And ‘les not forget our ornamental burlap balls and glitter gold ornaments. #obsessed

I would recommend also adding small trinkets here and there to catch the eye.

These candle holders and LED candles are also an amazing find during my shopping spree!

Incorporating twine balls and burlap is always a good mix when you are trying to get that rustic feel.

5. Decorate Below the Table

I find decorating underneath the table can also bring your design together. You can use baskets stuffed with blankets and pillows. I would also put pitchers, branches, whatever it is that flows with your design. For this look, my best find was this faux fur blanket for the wicker basket!

This sparkly gold deer definitely is a mix of my hubs and I:

6. Don’t Forget the Guest Bathroom

Another area I like to decorate is your guest bathroom! I don’t tend to decorate too much here, but a little urn with a candle is always a good choice in this room.

These pine cones came in a huge pack that I was able to use in this room as well as everywhere else!

6. Making Use of Empty Spaces

So we have this closet that has a shelf above it. It is also on the side that Ryan has declared to be his game wall. I REALLY wanted to put a scarf around the deer followed by a Santa hat, but he was against it. I had to make use of this space, but didn’t want it to look cluttered.

From the moment I laid eyes on this deer, I had to have it for that space! Big Lots also had coordinated trees and other ornaments that went along with this, so that you don’t even have to think about pulling the look together!

I swear, this looks way better in person!

The red sled is actually one that our kids’ GREAT grandparents gave them. They cleaned it up and presented it to them as a gift three Christmas’s ago! Definitely a TREASURE to display for sure!

7. Pick a Color Theme

In my home, I generally mix gold and silver, and believe or not, it works quite well! You’ll notice that I tend to lean more towards gold and silver and use hints of red in my decor style.

Although my goal was to have a sparkly, gold, silver theme for the holidays, I sprinkled in a hint of red in certain areas. In this case, it was on the closet shelf, which makes for an easy transition when you look from the foyer to this wall:

I incorporated the gold/sparkly using large ornaments.

Share your ideas on how you plan on decorating your home for the holidays!

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If you are also wondering how you can spray fake snow on an artificial Christmas tree, check out my post there as well as this DIY Christmas Tree collar to hide the ugly metal stand.