I helped my mother-in-law prepare and decorate her house for a local Holiday Home Tour in the past few weeks. Check out the photos for lots of great Christmas decorating ideas!
If you missed Part 1, check it out here.
UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
We filled this tree to the brim with dried hydrangeas. We cut them fresh, tied them into small bouquets and hung them upside down in the basement to dry. When we were ready to decorate, we lightly spray painted most of them with silver spray paint. The ones that were still brilliantly green (with very little brown), we kept natural and used in arrangements throughout the downstairs.
If you’d like to know how we created the mirror gallery wall in the staircase, I detailed it all in a blog post.
Quick tip: use a blanket or extra fabric, or even towels, underneath a tree skirt to hide the legs of the tree stand (and/or the platform it is sitting on — in this case, a cardboard box).
CENTER HALLWAY / HALF BATH
We used stunning, winter-themed photographs by my mother-in-law’s cousin, Allyson Marie, throughout the house.
We introduced purple velvet ribbon in the bathroom to complement the wall color.
The tree is covered in vintage rhinestone jewelry and there are gorgeous old hand mirrors (hung with plate hangers) and beaded purses hung on the walls.
BACK ENTRYWAY
The back entryway turned out to be so inviting and comfortable-looking. For the green pillow, we wrapped a curtain panel from Lowe’s around it and pinned it in the back because we didn’t have time to sew a new cover. A smart quick fix idea from my mother-in-law!
FAMILY ROOM
We also used purple velvet ribbon on the living room wreaths to complement the existing throw pillows.
I love this group of wedding photos — in the center is my Mother-in-Law’s parents, on the top is her father’s parents, and her mother’s parents on the bottom.
The tree skirt was an old crinoline from my sister-in-law’s dance days.
An easy vignette created with fake snow, a vintage truck ornament, and bottle brush trees on a dollar-store tray.
We printed Christmas themed botanicals from Google images — mistletoe, Poinsettia, and two types of holly — for these stocking hangers, and it was one of my favorite details.
KITCHEN
The tiny wreaths on all the cupboards were made from an old pine garland (that had seen better days), which I cut apart with wire cutters, shaped into a circle and then secured with wire. They are hung with a piece of tape inside the cabinets.
My mother-in-law got a new sink, faucet and Quartz countertops only a few weeks before the tour! Definitely cutting it close, but it turned out so beautiful and completely changed the look of the kitchen. Well, that, and painting all of the walls and cabinets.
We cooked mulled cider and then left it on the countertop during the tour for a delicious, festive smell.
The kitchen table was set up to look like a staging area for things about to go out to the main dining table — tea, cocktails, extra plates and napkins on a silver tray. This was a really fun vignette to create.
I hope you enjoyed these photos and got lots of great ideas for your Christmas decorating this year! We had so much fun doing it, and now I can’t wait to decorate my house (although it will pale in comparison to this!).
Park and Division 