November 20, 2019

2019 A Very Merry Christmas Home Tour: Minimal & Natural Christmas Decor

It may not be Thanksgiving but I bet you're already thinking about Christmas decorations! Let's be honest, most of you already have your seasonal decor up and most likely your tree too. I'm generally not that person, but this year my friend Carrie from Lovely Etc. invited me to participate in the annual Verry Merry Christmas Home Tour! Hopefully you've had the chance to follow along with the 2019 lineup already and are here from Lehman Lane — welcome! I'm Elizabeth and my husband Auston and I bought this house (our first) 3 years ago at the bottom of the market as a major fixer upper. We live on a budget and believe you can make your home designer-beautiful without spending tons of money.

In case you missed it or it's your first time here — we just announced we're expecting our first babe end of April 2020! Since I'm 18 weeks along, I knew the holiday decor was going to be kept to a minimum this year. I focused on the kitchen and our front porch area. Luckily, this weekend our new fridge arrived just in time to take photos. Our one from the 70's finally was ready to move on to another home.


The holiday season is often filled with bloggers, influencers, and retailers pushing you to buy new things. The older and more financially aware I've gotten the more I dislike feeling that "pressure". This season I decided not spend a bunch of money on new decorations and utilize the stuff I already had. My goal was to keep it simple and minimal using only natural colors and greenery. One of my favorite things I was able to re-purpose is my honey pot I stuck some cypress branches in and called a vase.


Our first Christmas in this house I bought a pre-lit garland from Walmart for $15. This year it found a home above the sink. It gives off the perfect ambiance for doing night time kitchen clean-up sessions. It's simple enough to put up in a few minutes but also brings enough holiday spirit into the house.


One of my favorite ways to transition a space into another season is changing out the textiles. In the kitchen it was as simple as changing the dish towel out with a pretty turkish towel with simple red stripes (here's a similar one), and adding a seasonal candle. I also stuck some bottle brush trees on the open shelves mainly because I got them down from the attic, couldn't find a place for them, and didn't feel like putting it back up.



We hardly use our front porch since the kitchen door is right next to the carport, meaning it often gets overlooked. For this home tour I wanted to show it some love and make it feel like people actually use it. 


I've had a plain oversized IKEA door mat for about a year knowing I'd DIY it one day. This home tour was the perfect excuse to get and some spray paint out! With some duct tape and a can of red spray paint it went from $5 generic mat to a designer, magazine worthy welcome mat.


I have always pined over McGee & Co.'s holiday galvanized buckets but didn't have the budget for them for a porch that doesn't really get any action. Cue another can of spray paint to the rescue! I grabbed a cheap galvanized bucket from Home Depot (that I can re-purpose afterwords) and my stencils and did a DIY.


I grabbed a woven basket that normally keeps our unused living room blankets but since they're being used in this cold season, it could be used as a firewood basket on the porch. Do we have a fireplace to burn these logs? Not even a little bit. But it looks good and it was free.


That's our minimal and natural Very Merry Christmas Home Tour! I spent a total of $20 and utilized the things I already had. This tour helped me realize I don't need to decorate every single room to feel the Christmas spirit. I didn't stress about putting it up and don't dread taking it down — the holiday season experience and memories can be the center of attention!


Hopefully you've found some inspiration so far on how to decorate your home for the holidays and for more be sure to head over to Sweet Pea! Carrie has rounded up all the different home tours for this season below, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the Thursday posts. Pin the crap out of all these posts and be sure to follow #VeryMerryChristmasHomeTour on social media and like, comment, & save the posts you find inspirational — there's SO many good ones!


Monday


Tuesday


Wednesday


Thursday

16 comments:

  1. I love that you utilized what you already had to decorate your home for Christmas. I try to do the same thing but if I see a vintage Christmas item, I usually can't resist adding it to my Christmas stash. I like your Ikea rug hack and happen to have a new Ikea rug in my basement that I plan to use to try your idea. It's nice to tour with you this week!

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  2. I love your minimal style without being too extreme. Your door mat is perfection. But the galvanized bucket with "Coal 25 cents" has my heart! Love it. Thanks for sharing your home and ideas.

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    1. Thank you!! It was a last minute DIY but I'm so glad I did it. Thanks!

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  3. Love the garland over your kitchen window & the fresh greenery on your porch & countertop. Congratulations on your pregnancy, what exciting news! Have a great Thanksgiving next week & it was fun sharing this Christmas hop with you :)

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    1. It just doesn't get better than greenery at the holidays! Aww thank you!!

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  4. Your kitchen looks great - I love that garland around the window above the sink! And love your porch decor, too!

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  5. Isn't it amazing how a little greenery and twinkle lights add instant Christmas magic?! I love how you kept it simple and let those elements shine ;)

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  6. Congrats on the baby! And I am in total agreement - there is absolutely no need to buy all new decor every year! Your simple touches are beautiful.

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  7. Love the Christmas touches that you added to your kitchen, especially the garland around your window. Simply beautiful!

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  8. Oh the garland around the kitchen window is so pretty and your porch is natural and beautiful. I love the simplicity!

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