The Dining Room is Decked Out for Christmas!

The best part of Christmas is the decor and food so naturally the dining room is one of my favorite spots during the holidays. This year I added a this a bit of burgundy, but still kept it light and bright by adding it in small amounts. It's a great traditional color for a more elegant look than bright red, and it goes so well with gray decor that still remains popular.

I love traditional homes with fresh greenery and fresh fruit in the garlands. I re-created this look in a more attainable manner by mixing fresh greenery with my dried boxwood garland, and adding pomegranates and faux berries to pick up the dark red color of the wreath bows. The runner needed a little something so I added a wide ribbon in the same color down the middle under the garland.

If you remember I added these etched glasses for Thanksgiving. I like them because they are seasonless and can be use as wine or water goblets. For Christmas, I decided to look for gold chargers to match the chandelier I installed a few months ago. I fell in love with these gold chargers the minute I saw them!

Here's a closer look. There are several versions, but I prefer these because the gold is combined with clear glass. I like gold, but not too much gold.

I decided to use my buffet as a dessert area this year. I'm not sure why I didn't so this before. It's functional and looks so cute! Maybe it will be a visual reminder throughout dinner to save room for dessert?

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Green, Ivory and Gold Christmas Tree

I just love this year's living room Christmas tree! It's my favorite so far. The ornaments are the same, but just adding a dark green velvet ribbon and new ivory berry picks completely changed the look. I just love how fresh it feels!

All lit up at night! I've always loved the way dark green and blue and white chinoiserie looks together. I had actually planned on blue in the tree, but the green velvet ribbon just spoke to me this year. The blue just didn't look right so I kept throwing color combos up on the tree with what I had on hand until it clicked.

A closer look at the white berry picks and green velvet ribbon. I also added gold leaf picks and a gold garland for a bit of glam. It is the holidays after all! I usually don't stage anything under my tree because it has always seemed over the top, but I wasn't a fan of the metal pole showing above the tree skirt. I am a total convert! It's so much better than being empty. I love the extra string of lights draped across the base too. I think I'll keep those and drape them across the presents when I get around to wrapping.

FYI-This tree skirt is no longer available from Pottery Barn. I have linked a similar one that matches my stockings.

I have a few more details to wrap up this weekend (I feel like I keep saying that), and then I will be taking photos for a home tour next week!

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My Favorite Christmas Decor

We can officially say it's Christmas time now that Thanksgiving is over! I've been putting away the last of my fall decor this weekend. My trees and mantel have been up a while because they are so labor intensive, but I'm just starting on the rest of the house. I never really have a plan when I start decorating. It just depends on what I'm feeling at the moment. I will try out different color schemes with what I have on hand until it starts to take shape. It's the one time of year you can easily and inexpensively change up your decor with just new ribbon, picks or ornaments. I use the same big items every year-garland, wreaths, etc. Here are my favorites!

Trees-This year I have two! They are both very inexpensive ones from Wal-Mart. Yes, there are better quality trees out there, but I just can't fathom paying that much for an artificial tree. I also add so many ornaments, ribbons and picks that you don't see much of the tree anyway!

Living Room tree this year (more photos coming soon)

Same tree last year-I did add 1 foot pieces of inexpensive garland in the bare spots. This year I added extra picks instead.

Stair Garland-This is from Frontage and a bit of an investment, but not so painful with a 25% off coupon code and free shipping they are offering right now. I have decided the extra cost for battery operated garland with a timer is well worth it. I'm not even sure how I would go about plugging this into a wall without tripping over the cord. I also like that this garland has so many varieties of greenery that it can stand on it's own without picks or ribbon.

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I blogged about these greenery ties last year I found at Home Depot. I didn't see them this year, but Target is carrying them. It makes putting up the garland so much easier than with zip ties or floral wire.

Wreaths-I am picky about wreaths! I love this one from Home Depot. Again, it is battery operated with a timer so there are no cords. What sets this one apart is how realistic and full it is.

I bought another one this year to go over my mantel. I did not wire this to my mirror as you might think. Home Depot carries a magnet hanger that I've linked below. You can also use it for steel front doors too.

I love dried boxwoods! If you don't like having faux anything in your home this is for you. 

My big, pretty reindeer! This is one of those purchases I couldn't believe I made. It's a lot more than I usually spend, and it takes up a lot of storage space. Thankfully, we have room for it and you can unscrew that antlers. I am so happy I bought it now. I look forward to bringing him out every year. He's on major sale right now, too!

Almost everything else I decorate with for the holidays is fresh or minor, like ribbon and picks. You truly do not have to spend a lot of money to decorate for Christmas. I usually invest in only one or two large purchases a season. This year it was the new foyer tree and brass tree collar (on sale too). You can find it linked below!

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Christmas Mantel 2018

I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week! I try to have all my Christmas decorations up beforehand, but I'm going slow this year as I'm changing things up. I love the twinkle of lights as we have Thanksgiving dinner. I used to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate, but when I was due with my son near Christmas one year I decided to get a head start. I never looked back and made it a new tradition!

There's so much new this year! The only thing that is the same is the magnolia garland. It's a pretty garland, but I love to layer it with either faux picks and/or real greenery. This year I have only a few picks of white poinsettias and gold leaves. I trimmed branches from a real garland to add fullness and a variety of leaves. I used less than half of it here. The remaining greenery will go in my stair garland.

I also bought new stockings this year. It's been something I've wanted to do for several years now that the boys are outgrowing the babyish ones I bought them as newborns. They come in different colors and monograms, but I chose the ivory with gold because they matched the decor in the living room.

This wreath was on my front door last year. I love how realistic and full it looks almost as much as I love that it's battery operated with a timer. That was a must for this mirror since I would need a ladder to turn it on. Thankfully, the wreath is still available this year so I was able to buy another one for the front door.

I love the extra strand lights in the lanterns from my foyer. I keep moving them around-foyer, by the Christmas tree, and by the fireplace. They are great in all those places, but I can see them best here.

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My Home Office Makeover with Bassett Furniture!

I'm so excited to announce that I am partnering with Bassett Furniture to completely furnish my home office! I haven't shown you much of this room since it needs all new furniture. It's an important space because it is the first room off the foyer. It also has double glass French doors so there is no hiding the need for a makeover! The walls (paint and moulding), chandelier and rug have been updated recently. I've also added a mirror behind the desk and new abstract art on a perpendicular wall since I took this photo. Bassett will be providing a new desk, credenza with lamps and an accent chair in the corner. The design will be transitional with richer colors often seen in a study. Goodbye, white cottage-style furniture!

A new Bassett store just opened last week near me in The Woodlands, Texas. However, there are stores all across the country if you want to visit. I love that their furniture can fit any design style, and the customization options make it truly unique. It's especially important to me since I love to mix styles in my own home for a curated look. It truly is a place where you can buy an entire room of furniture and no one would guess it all came from the same store. If mixing styles sounds complicated, they also offer free design help!

I received the full customer experience when I visited the store a few days ago. Debi, a designer with the company for 14 years, helped me learn about the construction process, gave me information about the fabrics, and even showed me computer renderings of what those fabrics would look like on the furniture. This is truly a great resource for customers and designers alike. Most of my custom design projects require waiting on fabric samples in the mail and trips to multiple furniture stores all over town. This reduces the time of the design process to a one store visit. A big selling point for me is that the furniture is made in North Carolina, and the ship time for custom pieces is usually 30 days! I can honestly say that is the shortest time frame I have ever been given.

All of these fabrics at my fingertips were like Christmas Day for me!

Fabric selection is just as important as the furniture. It can make or break a piece. There are so many fabrics to choose from, and they are all very current with graphic prints, performance, and ikat styles. 

I love that they have Sunbrella! All of my living room furniture is covered in it to make it family friendly. I get so many questions about how I have almost white furniture with three boys and a dog. This is why!

There are also custom pillow options! You can pick your upholstery and pillow fabric at the same time. I chose the perfect sized pillow for a chair without having to measure. My designer and I just grabbed a couple of lumbar pillows and tested each on the showroom chair to see which would work the best.

The custom options continue with the stain finishes.

Custom headboards-nailheads, no nailheads, tufting, no tufting, choose your fabric, etc. That gray channel tufted one is calling my name!

Foot options-love the gold!

The most surprising item Bassett offers are custom drapes. They can also measure and install for you too. It truly is one stop shopping. 

Now that you know about the customization options and the gorgeous fabrics, let's take a tour of the showroom!

If I needed dining room furniture I would buy every single thing you see here. 

Design tip-If your husband refuses to have throw pillows use a pattern on his chair instead. I've learned a lot of men really don't like pillows!

It also helps that it's a recliner that doesn't look like a recliner.

If you don't want a full patterned chair consider upholstering only part if it in a pattern. You could have the front and back different fabrics like you see here. This is the first time I have been told that this is possible from a furniture store. It's usually only available from custom upholsterers.

I love this chair so much!

Designer selfie ;)

 The chandeliers are absolutely gorgeous!

It's not all transitional. I used a similar farmhouse chandelier in a recent project.

 I love this quatrefoil mirror!

You know I'm a fan of this style of mirror!

The chippendale chair in the top right corner is so on trend right now! It actually never went out of style, but I'm seeing it everywhere lately. You could even put a performance fabric on the seat for a breakfast room with kids.

Classic chair in a gorgeous velvet

Another awesome chandelier

The art choices really impressed me. So many of my clients need large scale artwork since even the walls are bigger in Texas. This is perfect!

Black and white abstract art gets me every single time.

I love these lamps! The price is great too.

Bassett is a great source for beautiful, mid-priced rugs. Most brick and mortar stores offer either the cheapest quality rugs you've ever seen, or silk rugs from Tibet that cost as much as a year of college tuition.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! You can see these products and more on the Bassett website. Stay tuned for the full home office room reveal!