Our House for the Holidays

Now that I'm finally "done" decorating for the holidays, I wanted to share a few pictures of how I brought some  festiveness (if that's a word) and cheer to our home for this holiday season.  I've already mentioned that I'm a peculiar kind of seasonal decorator - I like to keep things simple and work around the existing decor of my house rather than bring in season-specific items - i.e. you won't find any deer or cone-shaped Christmas trees in my house (though I always love them in other people's)!

On my front door, I hang a wreath - nothing fancy, it's a $6 wreath from Michael's that I adorned with some silver, white, and green holiday picks.

Walking into the entryway, a small settee adorned with a pillow and throw, another Michael's wreath hung over a mirror, and "sticks in a vase" displaying holiday cards provides a festive, yet subtle welcome.

Once you enter the living room, fresh greenery and stockings hung from picture frame stocking holders that I outfitted with the letters N O E L on green glitter paper instead of pictures this year, adorn the mantle...

...while festive vignettes (red and white sprigs and ornaments and pinecones in apothecary jars) spread cheer around the room.

Of course, the first thing you really see when you walk into the living room is our tree, a 7' fraser fir that straddles the living and dining areas.  Sporting 1500 lights and countless ornaments, it is definitely the piece de resistance of my holiday decor.  A few wrapped presents help tie in the green accent color I picked for the tree.

lights on...

lights off

A few ornament highlights...

a partridge in a fir tree...

totally out of sync with my color scheme, but it has sentimental value since we got engaged on Christmas

A little souvenir from our trip in October

DIY'd by us on Friday night

A few others we DIY'd (while they were still drying)

Finally, you get to the dining room, where I actually made an effort to set the table and adorn my chandelier based on the inspiration pictures posted here.

Those ornaments hanging from the chandelier might be my favorite thing, other than the tree.  What do you think?  Does it look festive?  Do you decorate for the holidays?  What's your favorite way to decorate?

I'm linking this house tour up to The Inspired Room's Christmas Home Tour Linky Party - come by and see all the other entries!

I'm also linking up to alamode's Holiday Tablescapes link party - come by and see some of the other entries!