Welcome to our holiday wonderland!

We began decorating our home for the holidays a couple of weeks ago and it’s been such a delight to be surrounded by twinkling lights and colorful ornaments of late (especially with the earlier sunsets this time of year). Take a tour of our holiday decor below, and find related product links at the bottom of the post.

Also, stay tuned for a video tour of our holiday decor oh so soon on Instagram.

Here’s how we decided to decorate this year

Last year, I spent quite a bit on new decor items since it was our first holiday season in this house. This year, I’ve brought in a couple of new things but have relied mostly on holiday decor we already owned plus some ornaments I found secondhand at antique stores.

We decided to put two trees in the peach room again this year plus one in the green family room, and we also added a fourth (!) tree in our kitchen. Each room’s trees have themes all their own. The one in the kitchen is a food-centric tree with mushroom, shrimp, oyster, and candy ornaments. The tree in the green room is the primary home for our nostalgic ornaments—ones the kids have made, ornaments from trips, and miscellaneous ornaments we’ve acquired over the years that are meaningful to us. (We instilled a tradition years ago that any time we travel somewhere, we buy an ornament to add to our collection, and each year, each family member gets a new ornament too.) The two trees in the peach room have more decor-centric themes, with coordinating ornaments and multi-colored bows with long ends that remind me of the hanging effect of tinsel. I love how the decor in the peach room in particular feels intentional but still casual.

As for other decor, I brought back my favorite garland from last year to highlight the trim around entryways, hung a wreath above our kitchen sink, and added a couple of dried floral arrangements throughout the house. It’s been all about bringing in simple elements, done abundantly throughout the main spaces of the house. I also bought a vintage advent calendar for the kids this year. I’m going to take the pieces from that and put them in this reusable advent calendar I purchased from Gathre last year. 

What I’m most excited about this holiday season

We’ll be having some extended family over for Christmas this year and the peach room will likely be where we spend most of our time. I’m so excited to get to invite my family into such a festive space (one we’ve made extra cozy thanks to our Escape gas fireplace insert from Heat & Glo).

I’m also excited to have a number of the festivities planned well in advance so I can actually relax once people arrive. Often, my hosting style is to wing it. I’m so “good” at this hosting approach that I can get overconfident at times, and I often find myself looking back and wishing I had done things with more forethought. This year, I’ve been planning hosting details ahead of time and it’s making all the difference.

We’re planning on making lots of sides, sauces, and other elements of dishes that can be put together ahead of time and heated up when we’re ready to serve them. (Our Instant Pot will be coming in handy for this!! You can read my in-depth review of this gadget in this post from last week.) We’re also planning on activities that will help us make the most of the season—going for a hike after brunch, going sledding, having a cocktail hour before dinner, doing a game night, dressing up on Christmas Eve, and having a Secret Santa exchange with our family, among other things.

It’s such a joy to get to celebrate these merry moments, big and small. No matter what you’re celebrating this time of year, I hope you’re able to infuse a little magic into your days too.

No matter what you’re celebrating this time of year, I hope you’re able to infuse a little magic into your days too.

Product Sources:

Recent product sources are listed below. If you have any other product questions, please shout them out in the comments.

Entry

Garland: Target
Dried Plants: Bloomist

Green Room

Tree: Balsam Hill
Tree Skirt: Balsam Hill (no longer available), similar here from Target
Garland: Afloral (currently unavailable), similar here from Amazon

Kitchen

Tree: Balsam Hill
Tree Collar: Target (purchased last year), similar here from Target
Glass Mushroom Ornaments: Terrain
Oyster Plate Ornament: Amazon
Pierogi Ornament: Amazon
Shrimp Ornament: Amazon
Mushroom Ornament: Amazon
Red Mushroom Ornament Set: Amazon
Morel Mushroom Ornament: Amazon
Wreath: Target (purchased last year), similar here from Target
Garland: Afloral (currently unavailable), similar here from Amazon

Peach Room

Trees: Balsam Hill
Tree Collars: Target (purchased last year), similar here from Target
Ribbon: Terrain
Garland: Afloral (currently unavailable), similar here from Amazon
Escape Gas Fireplace Insert: Heat & Glo

Reusable Advent Calendar (not pictured): Gathre

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Kate Arends

Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning how to play tennis and is forever testing the boundaries of her creative muscle. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.