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Hello!

Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite posts of the year…

Honestly, not too much has changed since last year, and I even referenced this post when I started getting out my Christmas decorations. That being said, of course I picked up a few new things, and I always love getting a peek inside other people’s homes…especially during the holidays.

So, come on it!

Front Porch:

Of all the spaces, the front porch pretty much stays the same from year to year.

We’ve had rain for the past few days, so I wasn’t able to get a pic, but here it is last year:

That being said, I haven’t picked up the fresh garland from Trader Joe’s yet, and I did pick up a new doormat at Michael’s this year. I think I will leave it out all winter.

We didn’t put lights out this year. We might get to it this weekend, but I had to tell myself that it’s ok if we don’t get it all done in this season of our lives.

Decorating early:

In early November, I put up my two pencil trees. One goes in the sun room…

…and the other goes in the living room until we get our real tree.

Front hall:

The front hall table is one of my favorites spots.

I picked up a couple of new things including the green and red frosted tree at Michael’s as well as the new tealight set from Amazon.

Living Room:

I did change the chest in the living room up a bit this year. I added a new tree from Home Goods and put lights on the tree and mirror. Then, the rest of the string of lights fit perfectly in the snowman lantern.

….and we played “musical trees” with one of the pencil trees. Once we got our real tree, we moved this one to the corner behind the chair in the living room. I love the reflection of the tree in the mirror as well as the extra glow of light in the living room.

The Santa that sits on the fire place is one of my favorites, and then I have a few festive odds and ends that I put on the antique chest.

I love the contrast of our new dark brown leather couch with the white pillows. (Truth be told, 90% of the time, the couch is covered for Homer, but I do love this set up when we can enjoy it.)

The tray on the coffee table holds the same flocked tree I’ve had for years as well as a candle. I usually leave the tray styled this way through January for winter.

Our built ins house a few decorations like ornaments, a snow globe and nativity scene. The light up present is one of my favorites. I’ve had it for years.

Office:

I joke that we are a “5-7 day business” tree decorating family. We got it on a Sunday, let it “fall” until the next day. Then, Travis strung the lights, and on the fifth day, we finally had time to hang the ornaments. #itsaprocess

Ta da….!

The nutcrackers and presents top our office cabinet.

Festive Touches:

Some of my favorite pieces are the most meaningful. I’ve always loved this pic of the kids with Santa. Also, when the kids were a month old, I took this photo of them under the tree. I put it out every year. Lastly, last year, my Gma gave us this framed sewing hoop with ice skates that she made. It sits on our desk in the office.

Kitchen:

I always change out the tray that sits on our island. I love the snowman that holds the tea light, and the candle in the lantern provides an extra glow.

I picked up the tartan plate at Home Goods this year, and love it next to the Trader Joe’s candle. An easy way to decorate is by switching out kitchen towels. I put the monogrammed one out every year.

For the second year in a row, we put out the Christmas village. On the cabinet, I add ornaments to the cloche that sits out year round. The cabinet is also perfect for the snowy tree and Christmas dishes. The mini wreath with red ribbon is the perfect finishing touch.

Last year, Hadley got the Christmas village organized. She helped me again this year. Hayden promptly moved the pieces around, and now I often find the village rearranged from day to day.

I’ve had the tree pillow and chair decorations for years. In our cabinet, I have one of my snow globes, a Christmas tree that my Gma painted years ago, and a Merry and Bright plaza lights (KC people #iykyk) print that my mom gave me last year. We have three swags with ribbon for our chairs, and they’ve yet to be #homered through the years.

This is the second year that I hung the stockings on the side with command strips rather than using stocking holders. The mantle is the same as last year…

…except I did pick up these gold bell trees at Michael’s. (A few new things this year from Michael’s, but just one trip to Michael’s! haha)

I still love my plates from Target. I have Santa, snowman, and Christmas tree plates that we use this time of the year.

The plaid table runner is a festive touch, and I just add in some faux holly trees and ornaments to the tray.

Sun room:

The sun room is easy to decorate with pillows, a red and white blanket and berry wreath.

The pillows add more pops of red and green.

A mix of trees and ornaments as well as a candle are on the tables out there.

Bedroom:

Musical trees continued when I moved the sun room tree into the bedroom. Since we decided to keep the other pencil tree in the living room, but I still wanted one in our bedroom, I moved the sun room tree. The pencil trees sure are easy to move around…😂 While I miss a tree in the sun room, we don’t really hang out there this time of the year.

The crock that holds a tea light and another tree are all that I have in our room (besides the pencil tree and a candle). I just wanted a few festive touches. I love falling asleep to the glow of the tealight in the crock after I turn off my tree.

In last year’s post, I mentioned that I’d thought about decorating all of the house in early November because last year I felt like by the time I finally got everything put out, it was time to take it down. This year, I had the house mostly decorated by mid-November, and that has felt like a really good compromise.

By January, I’ll be ready to get the house back in order after a few months of fall/Christmas decorations. That being said, the pencil trees may stay out through January. I love the glow of the light in the winter months.

Thanks so much for reading. See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites.