Ok, first things first, decorating a house for Christmas is a lot of work but it’s way more work when you’re pregnant.  I’m not complaining (ok, maybe I am!) but it definitely made it a little harder this year. I also decided to decorate EARLY, but it all worked out because the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was SHORT and we got to enjoy our decorations for a little bit longer.  So, here are all the details of how I turned our little beach house into a full blown holiday house.

First up, I make a Pinterest Board every year that has everything I plan to purchase, general inspo, and even some fun projects on it.  Here is my board:

My main inspiration this year was this really fun wrapping paper.  I loved how it embraced blue, purple, orange – some colors you’re not used to seeing during Christmas.  I made it the backdrop of my phone so I would keep seeing it while I decorated. Isn’t it cute?

Next up, Brett and I needed a tree.  Unfortunately, since it was so early, none of the Christmas tree lots had their real trees up.  We decided to go for it and get our FIRST FAKE TREE. You know what? We actually don’t mind it!  It looks great, was super easy to set up, and I don’t have to worry about my house burning down when we’re on vacation over New Years.  The tree was from Costco (which means I unfortunately can’t link it – sorry) but it was $300.

Tree

I got a lot of questions about my tree skirt on social media – this is the one I went with:

While I was at it, I went to Ikea and picked up a couple fake poinsettias.  If there were ever a plant to buy fake, this is it! I literally can’t tell the difference between the real ones and the fake ones and I always feel bad throwing the real ones away at the end of the season.  Problem solved!

I know some people like to get crazy with multi-colored couches and walls, but I keep the core pieces of my decor pretty neutral and then add in pops of color whenever I want.  This is an inexpensive way to change around my decor so I never get sick of it. For Christmas this year, I bought a few new pillows and a bold rug to layer over my bigger (more expensive) neutral rug.

I also bought this cute front door mat!

Then it was time to hang the stockings.  Brett and I love our personalized stockings, but I wanted to get a little funky with the dog stockings this year.  I bought a furry bone-shaped one for Nala and a tiny little knit green one for Tiger. (Sad Note: For those of you who follow my social media, you know that Nala is no longer with us, but we are keeping her stocking up for the season in her memory. Sniff.)

Other than that, I just dressed up what I already had!  Brian from B and D Cabinets and I built a shelf for Brett’s nutcracker collection.

Nutcrackers

I styled my dining room cart as a buffet for an upcoming dinner we were hosting.

Christmas Buffet

And I hung pre-lit garland on the stairs, adding a few candles and leftover fake berry garland to the table.  I love how it all turned out. Happy Holidays you guys!