Home DecorCohesive Christmas Decorating: Choosing a Theme November 6, 2014 7 Fridays to go and I am in full-on Christmas mode! I have to decorate this year before Thanksgiving with blog deadlines, but with the short season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’m not complaining. This is our last Christmas before our first little one is born and I can’t wait! I want to savor every bit of this season. The biggest part of Christmas decorating for me is coming up with my theme. We have a small house and an open floor plan, so I really want our decor to feel cohesive. While I always do some DIY’s and love the little specific projects, I tend to focus more on the overall concept I’m going for, just like styling a room! I want my Christmas decor to be festive, but also be unique, my style, and a little unexpected. Today, I thought I would share a little behind my Christmas decorating process rather than a specific project. The best part about this is that so much of what you have might work and it gives you some direction when buying or making Christmas decorations. For me, I don’t just brainstorm a theme and say, “I’m going with that!” Just like when I’m designing a space, I start with one inspiration item. If you’ve read my About page, you know this is a big part of my story! In Native American legend, white buffaloes are known for being rare and a sign of good things to come. They were unexpected, but when seen, meant wonderful things for the tribe. I think every room has a White Buffalo element. It’s an element that speaks to me and I know I want to build my whole space around it. Last year, it was this wood bead garland. I came across a bag of painted wooden beads in all shapes and colors at Michael’s. I immediately fell in love with their quirky rustic quality. It’s so me! I immediately pictured these strung together as a focal point on the mantel. Once I had this in place, I started to analyze what I loved about it. The wooden texture spoke to my love of rustic lodge style. But they come in different colors and unique shapes. It’s almost like each one is an individual, but together, they make this beautiful picture. Deep for a garland, I know. But it’s quirky and unique. It immediately reminded me of one of my favorite stores: Anthropologie. And so, my Christmas theme was born. I played up our lodge elements, while bringing in splashes of color. I chose colored candles over white. A disco ball as our tree topper and a vintage woven throw as our tree skirt were perfect fits. At every turn, I tried to juxtapose rustic with the quirk and glitz that Anthropologie has around the holidays. My favorite way I did this was through our two tree garlands. Glitzy tinsel garland with our DIY cinnamon stick garland. I absolutely loved last year’s Christmas decorations! You can see the full tour here. I’m super tempted to just put them all back up again, exactly the same! But that wouldn’t be me, would it? I love the creative process and I love a new challenge! Now, I will say that you’ll see some common elements between last year’s tour and this year. I love rustic and lodge touches. I’m not sure that will die. But, I’m going in a slightly different direction with a very distinct color scheme. Sneak peek time! I’ve been looking for my “White Buffalo Element” for this year’s Christmas decor and recently, I found it at a local thrift store. I came across this vintage woven shawl and fell in love. The colors are a bit different in this photo than in person. Mainly, the navy is brighter and more colorful than in the photo. But this color palette, pattern, and scalloped hem won me over. I’ll be sharing more next week about how I’ll be taking this one item and inspiring all of our Christmas decorations. Check back next week to see the theme that this one piece inspired for our Christmas style this year. Make sure you check out the other fun Christmas posts today! *** Check out our most popular topics: Subscribe to our daily feed to make sure you don’t miss any Daily Doses of Style!
Sarah says November 7, 2014 at 9:59 am That’s always the trick isn’t it? To find the perfect inspiration element for a cohesive look. I can’t wait to see how your Christmas decorating comes together with the shawl as your inspiration! Reply
Yvonne @ StoneGable says November 7, 2014 at 7:11 pm Hi Lindsay, your Christmas decor is so adorable! I love your upscale, chic and a little kitchy take on Christmas lodge!!! I really love your fresh style! Yes, you have a big dose of white buffalo! And I can really relate to wanting to put up decorations from last year. I loved mine!!!! Reply
Baileywife @ IrishmanAcres says November 8, 2014 at 8:55 am Cannot wait to see it Lindsay! I’m getting in the mood to decorate way early this year too! Your fireplace brick would look so cool with a picture of fire temporarily “glued” in the middle. (Or something to that effect).? Have fun!! ~Kim Reply
Corinna - For My Love Of says November 8, 2014 at 6:25 pm I love your inspiration piece for this year! I’m excited to see how you revolve your seasonal DIYs and purchases around it. Love your beaded garland from last year, too! I work the opposite way, picking a theme and working off that. But I’ve heard incredibly great things about starting with an inspiraling piece first. Reply
Shannon says November 9, 2014 at 5:18 pm Love this year’s anthro theme… probably has something to do with the fact that I would like to move into an anthropologie store and live there. I can’t wait to be in my own home next year to decorate it for the holidays! Reply