Christmas Home Tour {2019} || My Curated Cottage

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I was so excited to start decorating for Christmas this year! Last year I challenged myself to not buy any new Christmas decor (which I successfully achieved), but I was ready to add a few new things to my stash this time around. I spent about $45 and really couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Read to the end of the post for my best decorating tip!

I’ve learned that I need to stick to a theme – otherwise my decor ends up looking cluttered and tacky. This year I decided to use red, white and gold with traditional Christmas plaid, natural elements like berries, greenery and pine cones, bottle brush trees and red balls.

Using a theme not only helped me create a cohesive look as I decorated, it guided me as I shopped! There are lots of cute things out there – but if they don’t fit with my theme, I don’t need them!

This is one of my favorite parts of my decor (and the only thing I do the same way each year) – the display of our framed Christmas cards from the past decade!

Our new stockings came from Dollar General and were only $3 each!

What’s a cozy tour without a kitty?

This is my first experience with flameless pillar candles – and I’m in love! I found this lantern in the fall clearance at Aldi for $4. I love that it has a timer and comes on at the same time every day! You can find lots of flameless candles on Amazon (or wait for them to go on clearance in stores after Christmas!).

I made little bundles with greenery picks, Dollar Tree berries and leftover ribbon. They cost about $.50 to make!

The placemats are new this year – it was so hard to find a plaid pattern that had navy or green instead of black. Black and red plaid is everywhere! I was so excited to find these red and green ones for $10 at TJMaxx.

I love the trend of using baskets or containers as bases for Christmas trees! For this little one in the kitchen, I shopped my house and was excited that it fit right down inside the blue and white planter I usually keep in the hall bathroom.

The mini books (that are actually gift card holders) are perfect for trays and small displays! I have several of them in my kitchen, but this vintage Santa one is my favorite.

Don’t worry, I’ll wash the glitter out of that cup before I use it. 🙂

Here’s my best Christmas decorating tip – put all your Christmas lights on timers! If you have smart plugs then you’re a step ahead of me on this one, but if your house isn’t run by Alexa you will love this trick. Pick up inexpensive timers like these and set your lights to come on and turn off at certain times each day!

They are really simple to program and save you from having to go around the house twice a day, plugging and unplugging everything. It’s a game changer for me! I love waking up with the house already lit up and cozy – and coming home from work to see the lights on through the window. Try it – you’ll love it!

Thanks for sticking around to the end of this super long post! On Friday I’ll share the rest of the house, including tree #2 all decked out in turquoise!

Previous Christmas Decor Tours: 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013