Christmas Around the House {2023}
It’s the mooooost wonderful tiiiimmmmee of the yeeeeaaaaar!!!!
It’s officially officially officially Christmas season. Thanksgiving is over. December is here. Christmas has arrived. I mean, it’s been Christmas in my house for a few weeks now, but no one can deny it anymore. It’s time.
I always love to write a little post detailing all of the Christmas decor around our house and how things are looking. It’s partially to help inspire you and give you some ideas for your own home this Christmas season, but honestly it’s mostly because I love having a record of how our home has looked over the years during Christmas!
I’m a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas decor, meaning I don’t change things up very often. Some people do a whole new theme on their tree every year. Me? I love nothing more than to pull out the same decorations and put them in mostly the same spot every year. It feels cozy and nostalgic and exactly how I like it.
So, let’s take a little tour. I’ll walk you all around the house and show you how things are looking this year. Grab a mug of hot chocolate and settled in, because the halls have been decked!
2023 Christmas Home Tour
Normally I’d start with the outside of our home, but I actually haven’t even finished decorating outside yet. I had a few DIY projects I wanted to tackle and I’m still working on those (but hopefully will have it all wrapped up in the next week or so). So, for now, enjoy this photo of our partially-decorated-but-not-quite-finished exterior.
Click here for details and sources for everything we’ve done outside so far.
The Entry
Now, let’s head in. When you walk into our house, you’ll see what’s probably my very favorite DIY Christmas decoration I do, which is our giant paper bag garland. It brings me so much joy, and the hallway honestly feels a little empty when I take it down at the end of the season.
I’ve also got our activity advent calendar in the entry (we start it today, but I hadn’t put the envelopes up yet when I took these photos), along with a few other small touches. The longer we live in this house, the more I learn about how to decorate it fully without it feeling like too much, and I think I’ve really found my sweet spot in the entry.
The Living Room
After the entry, you’ll head into the great room. This is the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and if I’m not careful with decorating it can become a little overwhelming.
We got a new Christmas tree this year (more on that here), but other than that things feel very much the same as they did last year. And the year before. And the year before. That’s exactly how I like it!
One of my favorite parts of all of the decor in our house is our mantel. It’s so simple but it honestly makes me so incredibly happy. All I do is drape a bunch of garland (this one is my favorite, and I use three!) and add my little minimal Christmas village to it. Toss in some stockings and we’re good to go.
Something about simple and classic really just hits the spot this time of year, you know?
Last year I started adding in a bit of burgundy to our Christmas decor (after being staunchly anti-red for years), and I am honestly loving it so much. The throw pillows are from Target last year, and I was so excited to pull them out again. I’ve been keeping an eye out for some other really deep red ornaments and decor to add next year, because it’s a vibe that I’m really loving lately.
The Dining Room & Kitchen
In the dining room, we’ve always just had our dining table with a few small touches on it, but this year I brought in another paper snowflake garland. And ohhhhh my goodness, I’m obsessed!
From start to finish, it took me less than an hour to put this together. I just created some paper bag snowflakes, pinned them up, and added the little metal garland on top. I, of course, also had to weave in some twinkly lights because I’m a sucker for twinkly lights this time of year. At night they create the most beautiful and cozy glow. I cannot get enough.
I stick with my general formula for table decorating for our table decor too, and I keep it pretty simple during the Christmas season. We use this table a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I want it to look nice, but I also need to easily access it! So, a garland and a few candles are all I need throughout the season.
And then we head into the kitchen – this has historically been a space I’ve struggled to decorate (where do I even start?!) but I feel like I’m finally figuring it out. I keep it mostly simple, with just enough touches to make it feel like Christmas.
A garland over the window. Some decor on the island (with twinkly lights, OF COURSE), a wreath over the stove.
Oh, and a ton of Christmas pictures on the fridge.
Listen, not every corner of your home has to look like it belongs on your Instagram feed, you know?!
Our Bedroom
Our bedroom is actually another space that I’ve also historically struggled to decorate a little bit. We’ve always had a Christmas tree in here, I drape a garland over the mirror. But, other than that, I haven’t really taken the time to figure things out.
This year, things are feeling a little more festive. I’ve got some Christmas throw pillows, along with a garland and a wreath over the bed. I’ve got some pretty Christmas stems on the dresser and a Christmas photo on the frame.
It’s simple and it’s not intrusive, but it brings me a lot of happiness. I keep saying I’m going to track down some actual Christmas bedding. I didn’t this year but it’s going on the to-do list for next year for sure! And, honestly, maybe I’ll do some browsing this weekend!
The Game Room + Boys’ Rooms
And finally, let’s head upstairs! This is the kids’ domain, and they always decorate this space with Corey. I control 0% of it and I let them go absolutely wild. The Christmas tree they had up here last year broke (we had bad luck with trees last year), so they got a new one this year. It has multicolored lights, they added a truck ribbon to it, and they also added a Santa climbing a ladder.
It’s a whole vibe, and it brings them so much joy.
I would love to do even more with decorating up here in the future, but this space is pretty in-flux right now. I’m hoping that in early 2024 I’ll be able to put some serious effort into this room and get it to a more finished place. Maybe next year will be the year for this room!
The boys also have mini trees that they put up in their rooms. We’ve always just used small tabletop trees but I found some 4′ trees at Michael’s for $30 a piece early in the season. So, they both got a whole tree in their rooms now! They decorate them completely on their own, and it brings them so much happiness. I let them pick out a new ornament for their tree every year, and they also use the leftover ornaments that don’t end up on our main tree.
I always had a Christmas tree in my room growing up, so I really love to be able to do this for them. They sleep with the lights on every night, and they love having the ownership to decorate it however they want. It’s the sweetest thing and I hope it’s a tradition they always want to do!
And that’s how things look in our home this Christmas season. To be completely honest, I’m still working on a few projects here and there. So, it might shift and change a bit before the season is over, but that’s half the fun, right?!
If you want to scroll around and look at some of the tours from years past, I’ll link all the ones I have below. I always think it’s a blast to see how things evolve over the years. It’s pretty wild how different Christmas looks in this house than it did in our old houses!
Happy first day of December, friends! I hope your Christmas season is nothing short of absolute magic!