Personalized Believe Stockings: Pottery Barn (last year) | Smoking Slippers: Old (Italy) similar Jcrew ones here & these Birdies version are popular amongst bloggers | Hair Ribbon: it’s the ribbon I used on my garland, but I’ve also purchased these elastic style in both colours & love them! |Jeans: Frame my latest fave brand of premium denim
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is in the air at Casa Dawson, as all our decorating is complete. I have such fond memories of Christmas decorating with my mom as a child. She has such an incredible eye for making spaces look so inviting, festive and chic, Growing up, every year we always had the most beautiful trees, each one different from the last. All of my friends would oooh and awe over my mom’s tree designs.
I particularly remember one year, when the maximalist look was trending, she had decorated one of our trees in dusty rose and a touch of silver (to match our living room, of course!). The tree had so much texture in its decorations. You couldn’t see the branches with all bows, glass balls and other beatuiufly-crafted ornaments. The finishing touch were these beautifully exquisite crystal ornaments she salvaged from an old antique chandelier (did I mention she was creative?). Literally were the icing on the cake as they sparkled through the white twinkle lights.
Needless to say, I always try to coordinate my Christmas decorating for when my mom is visiting – haha. Not only is she a huge help, but it’s also just a fun project to do together. It brings back a beautiful sense of nostalgia! That said, this year, I was lucky to have my mom and two of my nieces (Ireland & Ann-lee) visiting to help.
I was planning on purchasing new Christmas decor last year, but with a newborn, it simply got placed on the back burner. So, this was the year! I was envisioning a more minimalist approach with my garland and other decor elements and was wanting to switch out my typical gold and neutral colour tree ornaments for a total cream theme.
That is, until Andrew erected our 15 ft. tree up and we realized how pretty it looked with just the lights. The five of us all sat and stared at it in awe. Then the question posed was, “why not just leave it naked?” It was so natural and pretty on its own, which totally worked with the mood of our other decor elements and the existing style of our home.
So then we began weighing the PROS and CONS, with benefits being that we wouldn’t have to worry about Elle taking decorations off the tree; it cut back on the many hours of work it takes to decorate (and un-decorate) a 15 ft. tree!! However, the big CON was that I grew up trimming a tree at Christmas and it was a tradition I looked forward to sharing with Elle.
That said, with Andrew, mom and my nieces strongly persuading me to go naked with our grandiose tree, I was feeling the pressure. SO, I came up with a solution that I felt comfortable with. I would get a second tree for the den and trim THAT with Elle. And so we did, in traditional red, gold and green. It’s simple and fun, but flows with the rest of the Christmas decor through the house. I also ordered Elle a white pencil tree for her room, which should arrive any day! We will use rose gold ornaments to keep it pretty and in theme with her room’s colour scheme. I think she will love having a tree in her room.
For the naked tree, I used burlap to skirt the bottom, keeping with the natural vibe and colour scheme of my living room. I opted for a pop of red in the very simple bows on my fireplace mantle and kept garland and wreaths very natural and minimal in appearance. Our entry way is dressed with live cedar and fir, which also flows through the rest of our house in vases (I just love the smell!).
Naked trees are not for everyone! I love this look in our living room though (for this year, at least). With all the beautiful Christmas trends happening each year, it’s important to choose what speaks to you and works with your personal style and existing decor vibe. I also loved the winter plaids and thus incorporated some of this into a couple of my client’s decor designs for Christmas events I am managing.
What Christmas trends are you loving this year? Are you doing a colour scheme? Is your vibe more modern or traditional? Until next time, thanks for reading and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
