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    Updated: Oct 24, 2022 by Kris Jarrett

    2016 Christmas Home Tour: Holiday Home Showcase

    I’m so excited to be welcoming you into my home today to take you on a tour of our house all decorated up for Christmas! You guys, I’ve had so much going on lately that I’m not gonna lie – I wasn’t just decorating here and there over the past few weeks with lovely Christmas carols playing in the background. I was big-time scrambling to get my house decorated and photographed in time for this post! The good news is that all of my decorations are ones that are quick and easy and can be done if you’re scrambling for time too (because seriously, who wants to spend weeks decorating for the holidays anyway??).

    There’s also a full source list at the end of the post if you have questions about paint colors or where I found something and I’ll also link up some sources for my holiday decorations (includes some affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}) as I tour you around.

    Ready for my tour? It actually starts before you’ve even pulled into the driveway! While I always decorate the outside of our house for Christmas, this year I dressed up our mailbox too with a simple DIY greenery swag and classic plaid bow that fits with the quaint New England setting of our home – I love that it’s something a little different from just wrapping a garland around the mailbox post:

    A simple greenery swag to decorate your mailbox for the holidays - love!

    Now that you’re here, let’s hurry up and get inside because winters in Connecticut are cold! We’ll go under the arbor and down the walkway to the front door:

    Christmas house tour - a trio of lanterns filled with ornaments, planters filled with greenery, and a greenery swag on the front door are simple porch decorations for Christmas

    This is the fourth Christmas we’ve spent in our house and I’ve decorated our front door in a similar way each year. We have TONS of evergreen trees and bushes in our yard and I take advantage of it by clipping them to use on our door (and inside our house too!). You can find the details of how I make my front door swag {here} (it’s super quick and easy!) and you can find the bells that I use {here}.

    Christmas home tour - simple DIY Christmas front door dec using greenery from your own backyard (post includes link to bells!)

    If you look closely, you’ll see that the bells have the most beautiful detailing:

    Backyard greenery and a trio of bells for a simple front door holiday swag instead of a wreath

    I also took advantage of what’s in our yard to fill our planters that I found {here}) – I simply packed them with dirt, and stuck in branches of a few different types of evergreens. I finished them off with a few magnolia leaves (unfortunately I had to buy those – I wish I had them in our yard but no such luck!) and a couple of pine cones attached to wood dowels that I found at HomeGoods. I like a natural, semi-untamed look to my planters so adding branches quickly without overthinking it is the way to go:

    Christmas home tour - create festive Christmas / winter planters by adding greenery branches and pinecones to a pair of planters

    If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you’ve probably seen my trio of lanterns a time or two before since I use them every fall and winter, making a few changes throughout the seasons. For Christmas, I added some plaid ribbon to them and filled them with a mix of inexpensive silver and gold ornaments from HomeGoods:

    Christmas home tour - a set of lanterns filled with ornaments used as simple front porch Christmas decorations

    Did you notice how boringly plain my doormat is? I actually have a super cute one on order but it didn’t make it here in time for my pics – I’ll show you once I get it!

    Oh, and one more thing before we step inside! Did you notice the window that we passed as we walked up to the front door?

    Christmas home tour - our front porch and windows decorated for the holiday

    My youngest daughter loves to get crafty so I let her loose with chalk ink markers (one of {these}) to decorate our bay window – they’re great because the drawings come right off with water or a wet wipe when you’re ready to remove them (test your own windows first before using!). Definitely a fun way to get your kids in on the holiday decorating! And of course, our little buddy always has to be in on the action too:

    Decorate your windows with chalk ink markers for Christmas and just wipe off your art after the holidays are over!

    OK, I’ve kept you guys out in the cold way too long jabbering about holiday decorations – in we go!

    Christmas home tour - simple front porch greenery to decorate for Christmas

    Before we head into the dining room, we’ll take a quick peek around the entry way – for the chest of drawers in our foyer, I simply filled two of {these vases} with boxwood clippings from our yard and some red berry branches (round mirror can be found {here} and {here}).

    Christmas home tour - a bowl full of ornaments flanked by vases of boxwood branches and berries for entryway Christmas decor

    In between them, I filled {my favorite wood bowl} that I use time and time again with some HomeGoods ornaments and jingle bells (from Restoration Hardware years ago) strung on plaid ribbon:

    A bowl full of ornaments and jingle bells - simple Christmas decor

    Now let’s hop on over to the dining room:

    Christmas home tour - dining room decorated with pink poinsettias and gold and silver ornaments and decorative trees

    I went for a soft, light and bright look this year using pink poinsettias, white plates with gold and silver accents, and oversized ornaments adorning each plate:

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    An oversized ornament adorns each plate on this Christmas tablescape

    Christmas home tour - plate wall in our Christmas dining room

    I tied a gift tag around each silverware set and added a little sprig of greenery:

    Holiday gift tags and a sprig of greenery adorn this simple Christmas placesetting

    I kept things simple with the centerpiece and added five different silver and gold trees that I scored at HomeGoods. Actually, most of this table was created with HomeGoods finds including the plates, gift tags, ornaments, and ribbon.

    Christmas home tour - dining room centerpiece of silver trees from HomeGoods

    On the chandelier above the table, I layered evergreen branches so that they encircle the base to make the space even more festive:

    Christmas home tour - lay evergreen branches on the base of your chandelier for a simple, elegant Christmas table

    The other detail that I added is the wreaths on the back of the chairs:

    Christmas home tour - dining room table decorated for Christmas with a mix of silver and gold and pink poinsettias

    I made these wreaths years ago (you can find the tutorial {here}) and have used them every year since, simply changing up the ribbon each time:

    Christmas home tour - Christmas dining room decorated with gold and silver metallics and pink poinsettias

    Small star anise wreaths tied to ladderback chairs for Christmas

    And as a final touch, I added a small stack of presents to the chair in front of our plate wall (it’s seemed so empty ever since our Halloween skeleton friend left it!):

    Christmas home tour - presents wrapped in black, white, and gold for Christmas

    Ready to tour through one more room?

    Christmas home tour - a simple table setting for Christmas with oversized ornaments at each plate

    We’re heading to my home office – you might remember this little sneak peek that I shared a few weeks back:

    Our home office decorated for Christmas with holiday advent tree

    I took down the large piece of art on the lower right of our gallery wall to leave room for our annual advent tree with mini galvanized buckets that we fill with daily treats for our girls

    Christmas home tour - our office decorated for the holidays with a Christmas advent tree

    While my daughters have outgrown some of our holiday traditions, I don’t see this one going anywhere anytime soon – they love it and check the daily bucket as soon as they get up each morning!

    Christmas home tour - our Christmas advent tree with treats in mini galvanized buckets

    Our Christmas home tour - mini galvanized buckets hold advent calendar treats

    That wraps up my tour for today – thank you all so much for stopping by! I know there are a ton of Christmas home tours this time of year and I’m so appreciative and honored that you came by for a visit! I’d love if you stopped over for the second part of my house tour {here} where I’m touring you through our kitchen, master bedroom, and family room:

    Christmas house tour of neutral living room with vaulted planked ceilings, a slipcovered sectional, acrylic coffee table, and more!

    I hope those of you who are new to Driven by Decor come back soon for another visit! If you’d like to, you can sign up {here} to get new posts by email and you can follow me on Instagram {here}!
    XOXO,
    KJ Signature
    Source List (350)

    Front porch: lanterns | stone planters | bells on door dec | cute doormat that’s on the way | ribbon on lanterns and planters

    Foyer: Paint color is Benjamin Moore White Dove | Round layered wood mirror (also available {here} | Vases | Wood bowl | Chest of drawers – no known current source

    Dining room: Paint color is a slightly tweaked version of Sherwin-Williams Keystone Gray (exact formula found at the bottom of {this post} | table – Drexel Heritage (no longer sold) | upholstered end chairs – Thomasville (no longer sold) | side chairs – HomeGoods {these chairs} are similar | table runner – bought at Crate & Barrel several years ago | dinner and salad plates – HomeGoods | rattan chargers – mine were thrifted but {these chargers} are similar |chandelier | drapes – no longer sold | plate wall plates – {these} and {these} | Silver centerpiece trees and oversized ornaments – HomeGoods  | art prints – purchased years ago at Arhaus
    Home office: Paint color is Benjamin Moore Nightfall | Desk (which is actually a table) – no longer available but {this one} is very similar | Semi-flush Brass Ceiling Light | Drapery rod – see {this post} for the detailed source list | Drapery Fabric | Elephant print | Botanical – I found mine at the Country Living Fair but you can find similar ones {here} | Sunburst mirror – {this} is a larger, less expensive version | Wood arrow – no longer available – {this one} (which I love!) is similar | Tree slice – found at HomeGoods – {this one} is similar | Lion head door knocker – HomeGoods | Woven mirror – HomeGoods | Gold Cleat (holding wood slice) | Black and white bone frame – {this one} is very similar | All other frames were either thrifted or are no longer available where I purchased them from | buffet – vintage |  jute herringbone rug – Pottery Barn (no longer sold) – {this rug} is similar
    I’m linking up my Christmas tour to The Nesting Place!
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