My Simplified Christmas Decor

We are currently living in a townhouse with six people (four adults and two teenagers) while we wait for COVID to go away and our house to be built. It's a little tight and cozy, but we're trying to make the best of it. Sometimes it feels like a sitcom over here - hence the decision to keep the Christmas decor simple this year.

I have to admit that I've been a little sad that we can't fit a full size tree in here, but honestly, it was actually kind of nice to only have to manage a small one. I'm pretty sure I'll be ready for a bigger one next year, though.

Anyway, I had visions of getting all of my Christmas decor done in a couple of hours, but it still took pretty much ALL DAY LONG!! Why is it that home projects (and most creative projects for that matter) seem to take SO much more time than you think they will? You put all this effort into it and it ends up looking a little more like a Charlie Brown Christmas than the Whoville one you thought you were creating. (You can tell I'm a little conflicted with trying to find the right balance.)

Well, that's when I have to tell myself to calm down, be more thankful, and just enjoy the little things. It's the intentional mindset that seems to bring the most joy at Christmastime, anyway.

So here's my process this year.

I personally love a modern, global eclectic design style in my home, so I tried to capture that in my Christmas decor as well.

I started off by removing all the pops of color with my previous color palette of purples and blues. I also removed most of the neutral items around the room as well. I like to pile up my accessories and store them in bins that are categorized by color so that when I'm ready to change up my color palette, it's super easy for me to find what I need.

Goodbye purples and blues (for now).

I kept the neutral accessories close by while I did the Christmas decor, so I could pull from them when I wanted to.

Removing the pops of color, as well as most of my other accessories, gives me the perfect blank canvas that I need to spark new creativity. (You'll notice that I did leave some of the navy accessories, but I think they ended looking fine with the Christmas palette).

Here's my MOSTLY NEUTRAL BLANK CANVAS...

Next, I decided on my intentional color palette for Christmas this year. I wanted the overall vibe to feel LIGHT, BRIGHT, and AIRY (my eternal favorite vibe) with a touch of fun, color, and whimsy, so I went with a combination light neutrals and pops of pinks and berry reds.

I then pulled out all my Christmas decor and sorted everything by color. This isn't all of the decorations, but you can get the idea here of how I like to sort them.

I decided to use A LOT OF LIGHT NEUTRALS

with POPS OF PINKS AND BERRY REDS.

Then I went to work on the SMALL Christmas tree. This tree is about four feet, so pretty small for our main tree. To give it more height, I put it on a stool, which helped quite a bit. You can imagine how short it would have looked had I not done that.

Here it is with just the garland, lights, and a few of the natural elements. I created the garland last year by hand crocheting a single long row with some very thick yarn. It was SO easy and I love the light color and interesting texture it gives the tree. Here is a great video that shows you how to do that. (Scroll about halfway down for the hand crochet video.)

I had a friend teach me the sprigs trick a few years ago. Adding bunches of natural sprigs throughout the tree really gives it depth and texture that I love.

And here is a closeup of it with the other ornaments and berries added in. I love the way the red and pink play off each other! It just feels so classic and festive, yet still fun and refreshing.

I then sprinkled pinks and berry reds around the room with pillows, blankets, wall art, and other elements. Here are a few of my free Christmas printables.

I also tried to create some simple, yet intentional Christmas vignettes. I love how they break down the actual HOW-TO process for decorating for Christmas over at Emily Henderson's blog. You can find that here.

My version is definitely much more simplified, but I think the design principles are helpful, regardless.

Here's a few of the simple vignettes and "moments" I created.

I hung the stockings on the side of my bookshelf using removable Command hooks.

This is my dog, Charlie's paw print ornament we made last year.

And that's pretty much it. Here are a couple of wider views. I have mixed feelings about the simplicity of it, but for this year, I think it's exactly what we need at our house.

Both Charlie and I were wiped out by the end of the day. :)

Happy Holidays!