Decorating our Living Room, Vintage Christmas Home Tour – part one
Today I am sharing a little bit of our vintage Christmas decorating in our home. I have always loved decorating with antique pieces and estate sale finds. There is something so special and unique about them.
This year in the living room I pulled out blue vintage pieces to go with the already neutrals and whites that I had in there. Plus lots of fresh greenery and handmade Christmas ornaments.
The Christmas Tree
The day after Thanksgiving has always been marked for the Christmas tree and leftovers. Usually, I am getting ready for our Christmas Open House and only have time to put the lights on until after the Open House. Sadly, like everything else, it was canceled this year.
Instead, we spent the entire day on the Saturday after Thanksgiving decorating the living room while watching Christmas movies. It was wonderful!
I love a twinkling tree full of lights and this year’s tree has tons of them! I used 3 different styles of lights…the normal twinkle lights, a few sets of twine and jingle bell lights (both from Target), and ropings of little rice lights (Amazon). The tree is sparkling!
I like many textures and patinas on my tree. We used lots of different handmade and vintage ornaments. Not as many vintage this year because of little Ollie. He has been “pretty good” and taken to sleeping on the knit tree skirt mostly.
Most of the handmade ornaments are from projects past, like the white stars and icicles, or they are gifts from family and friends like the shimmering felt hearts my mom made. These are my treasures.
Vintage Christmas Mantle
I had such a hard time this year with my mantle. Usually, I lean a mirror up there with fresh greenery and lights, but this year I couldn’t part with my autumn wreath so I wired on a few springs of fresh juniper and pinecones sprayed gold.
On the left side went all the brass candlesticks I could find, while on the right a large ironstone pitcher filled with greens.
Moving my favorite blue chair in front of the fireplace made me very happy. The knit stockings were hung on the other side for balance.
A little fresh-cut cedar softened the edges while their tips brought out the touches of brass and gold in everything. Of course, there is a little vintage bird too!
It took me most of the day to figure out how to add lights. I tried tucking lights into the cedar but it looked heavy and weird. Finally, I remembered the grapevine star garlands that I bought at the Target Dollar Spot. They are only 2 1/2 feet long but joining two of them together and added small pinecones in between gave it a nice handmade natural look. (Hands clapping!)
All the rest
Naturals and blue transferware. Wherever I could put it, that is where it went.
On the sofa are a mix of velvet and faux fur pillows and the little handmade William Morris print pillow made from a fabric sample I ordered.
On the table beside the sofa are old Christmas books by Tasha Tudor, and a vintage tin full of flowers.
Do you remember the orange English biscuit tin I posted in the fall? I have a blue one too! They were a quarter each. Gosh, how I love them!
Filled with carnations, dusty miller, and pink St. Johns wort berries, it looks so pretty! So appropriate too since Tasha always had her “teatime”. If you have not heard of Tasha Tudor then you are in for a treat! She was an amazing gardener and illustrator. You can read all about her here.
I also added a few vintage Christmas prints to my collage wall. The top one is Tasha Tudor’s illustrations. These were all found at local estate sales.
On the stairs is a live garland with twinkle lights.
It is adorned with big blue checked wired bows from a Christmas past.
A few final thoughts…
I want you to know that what you have is enough, and what you can decorate with is enough. Most of my pieces were purchased at local estate sales and thrift shops. It is not important what others think, just love what you have and try not to compare yourself with what you see on social media. What you do will be great!!
I hope you enjoyed my little Christmas home tour today and were inspired by some of its vintage charm.
Still to come, my dining room, kitchen, and our bedroom decorated for Christmas. As I finish, I will post them. That is the fun of Christmas decorating…take your time and enjoy the process of it all. Don’t get overwhelmed. What you’re able to give this season, is enough.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
PIN IT FOR LATER
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour of your beautifully decorated home.Filled with love, and inspiration, I absolutely adore your idea of using what you have, not comparing your creativity to others, and mostly enjoying what you simply create, and love.
This is why I just love the way you think!!
Merry Christmas Jenn, and keep one eye on Ollie;)( know this all too well:))Xo
Mary, thank you for your kind heart. Merry Christmas to you and Kent, and little Grace too!