2016 Christmas House Tour: Come on in!

It’s officially December. The halls are decked, cookies are in the oven, and the Christmas tunes are playing in our household.

Want in for a little peek of how things are looking this holiday season? It’s that time of year – our 2016 Christmas Home Tour!

Come on in…

*FYI, some affiliate links have been used in this post. Please see our Policies page for more information.

That wreath on our front door was made for less than $10! Go check out the DIY christmas wreath tutorial for more deets. (If you don’t feel like DIY’ing, you can find some great rustic wreath options here!)

And my Christmas planter? Well, my super sweet girlfriend Caroline whipped that baby up for me. Some greens and birch in what was my tomato planter pot!

This year’s decorating was all about keeping it simple. With an almost 10-month old cruising around our pad everyday, it’s just not the kind of year where I can go all out with a big tree and tons of decorations. If I did, every single day would be just me trying to keep James from getting into them or having a tree topple over on him. Not practical.

So what’s a Christmas-loving mama to do? Keep it minimal, but add in little hints of christmas in harder-to-reach spots.

I sprung for two mini trees from IKEA (faux) and placed them on my mantle.

Get The Look: Chair (similar one here for USA shoppers) / Black Candlelabra (similar) / Gold Picture Frames / Gold Metal Orb / Botanical Art Prints

The DIY advent calendar has been a hit so far!

I placed some of our Christmas ornaments and decorations throughout our shelves and built-in’s.

Check out this little deer poking his head out…

Get The Look: Antler Ornament / Concrete Planter

And white pom pom garland is the best. It looks sweet draped over anything!!

(Painting by Sara Alex Mullen)

These felt wreaths are a DIY – I’ll share the tutorial soon. Hanging them on a simple branch in a window has a super pretty effect.

Doesn’t Maya’s little craft table look super pretty with those dangling above?

I took advantage of the other window on the main floor, too. This time I strung up some ornaments – a mixture of IKEA ones and some DIY himmeli ornaments made from black plastic straws.

I stuck with this black, white, and greenery theme over on our dining room table too.

Just some plain green napkins from IKEA (yep, the paper ones!) mixed in with our everyday white plates and wine glasses looks totally festive. Placing a Christmas ornament on each place setting is fun, too.

Get the Look: White plates from the Sophie Conran Line / Gold Cutlery / Black and white table runner

My trick for the easiest centerpiece ever?

If you have a piece of fabric or a table runner, then start with that along the center of your table. My damask one is kind of dated and I’d LOVE to snag this buffalo check one instead (it’s so cheap!).

Then grab a big lantern (I got my black one from IKEA) and put a faux wreath right on top and slide it down around the base. (FYI my faux wreath is also from IKEA, but here are some similar ones online)

I added on some tall white ceramic candlesticks that I’ve had for ages (similar to these), and dotted around some gold votives (these ones) for a little metallic.

It suddenly looks like a really well put together centerpiece that took you all of 10 seconds to put together!

Check out the tutorial for the DIY wood slice ornaments here.

I didn’t really do any decorating in the kitchen, but we have been working on making it smell delicious! Lots of baking on Saturday and Sunday afternoons lately.

Maya’s dress from my sister-in-law’s line StellaBee Designs; Photo by Meg Dowd Photography

Cheeky monkeys.

Photo by Meg Dowd Photography

Minimal but still full of warmth and twinkle. Perfect for our little family to enjoy this year!

Now… ready for a whole lot of awe-inspiring Christmas decorating? Get out your cuppa coffee and go check out the lineup of Christmas house tours we have going on this week with our Canadian Blogger group. The talent in here is UNBELIEVABLE, you guys.