As soon as the turkey and pumpkin pie leftovers are in the fridge, we start decorating for Christmas. Waiting till after Thanksgiving is our family tradition. My daughters and I look forward to this every year; we’re sentimental when it comes to decorating. Most people already have their Christmas lights up, inside and outside, so we have to decorate at full speed to catch up. It’s a busy time of year!

When people ask what is my decor style, I have to admit unashamedly that I’m a maximalist…. because I am soooo sentimental and nostalgic. I lean toward a country cottage style, and you will find all kinds of vintage collections displayed throughout our home. Each has significance and meaning. Christmas is no exception.

I’m a big believer in going beyond curb appeal. I don’t want to impress. I want people to feel the warmth of heart and home before they ever reach the door. Creating an inviting home to family, friends and even passerbys is my goal. Little things, like a welcome sign and flowers (fresh or faux), can make a big impact.

We live in a split-level home, where you are forced to make a choice as you enter… Up or Down! Our foyer is small, but I manage to squeeze in a few pieces of decor, including a Christmas tree. Our dogs like to ferociously greet the delivery people at the window. This has been hard on the tree and ornaments. I might have to rethink the foyer tree idea next year.

The first thing you see ascending to the upper level of our home is a barn style old chippy door. It leads to our kitchen, and gets closed during holiday gatherings to keep the dogs from eating all of the yummy homemade pies. It’s both practical and pretty… just our style!

In a split-level home, that’s a raised ranch style like ours, the living and dining rooms are open from the top of the stairs. I like this style because it beckons people to come on in and sit for a while… on the couch, at the table; it’s all comfy cozy. Years ago I fondly nicknamed this area the Upper Room, after a passage in the Bible, where Jesus teaches about love and serving one another.

The living room faces the east and is the best spot for catching a beautiful sunrise. As the day progresses, the room becomes darker, so I keep twinkle lights lit on the mantel to create a warm and cozy atmosphere. You’ll see both morning and late afternoon pictures of the living room, and trust me, you’ll know the time of day!

Our home was my husband’s bachelor pad before we were married. His decor style is definitely different than mine. He’s all about Function. I’m definitely the one drawn to Frou Frou. I continually look for ways to merge our two very different styles into one… from his and hers, into ours. I think our living and dining rooms reflect our style well. We both like old things, including each other!

My husband’s comfy chair separates the living and dining rooms. It has been in the same spot since we first met! For a man who regularly declares that he hates change, he was in for a BIG change when I and my two daughters moved in after married! Our house was definitely a bachelor pad, with large car parts all over the place. It took time, patience and many compromises to transform his house into our comfy home.

Our dining room has no windows to the outside world. It’s the same for our kitchen. There’s a wonderful reason why. A large sunroom was built onto the back of the house. Now, the dining room door leads to the sunroom, instead of outside. To compensate for the lack of light, I use lots of color to create a cheerful environment. This has become one of my favorite rooms in our home.

If you haven’t noticed, there’s a theme going on in this side of the dining room! Santa Claus! I always hang the Grace List with my old Remington typewriter… a reminder that by grace ALL are invited to receive God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Our family gathers and celebrates Christmas in the sunroom. This is where we put our sentimental memory tree. Over the years, the sunroom has become quite full… special collections, childhood furniture, bargain finds. This year was a challenge to figure out where to set up the tree without having to remove and rearrange furniture. I finally decided to put it on top of my husband’s old wooden trunk that he built when going away to law school. It stands right in front of the kitchen window, perfect view when doing dishes. I was very particular about which ornaments went on the back of the tree. I wanted happy memories from homemade childhood ornaments. What a view at night with just the Christmas tree lights dancing in the dark!

The turquoise dresser in the corner of the sunroom was bought by my parents in the 1950’s. It was my brother’s childhood dresser, then mine, and years later my daughters’ dresser as well. The colorful quilt on top of it was made by my husband’s Grandma Mamie.

When you run out of room, which evidently we have, collections begin to stack up, up and up. I used a few stacks to create Christmas trees. It’s a wonderful way to display collections at Christmas time. With a bit of imagination, hopefully, you’ll see trees.

There’s one more room to share in our country cottage Christmas tour… the kitchen. The theme is Snow Day. Who doesn’t like being snowed in?!!! One of my first winter collections was snowmen and they multiplied like bunnies, rapidly. My kids enjoyed the collection immensely as well. They contributed to the population explosion of snowmen, gifting me with all kinds. Over the years, I’ve expanded the collection, by adding sleds and anything else snow related. What I like about this wintery wonderland theme is that it’s perfect for January… after all the Christmas decorations have been taken down and boxed up. I leave my snow decor up till February, when I’m ready to hang up all those red and pink hearts for Valentine’s Day. My hutch is just a sneak peek, as I’m hoping to do a whole blog post on decorating in January using a Snow Day theme.❄️❄️❄️

Thank you for joining me! I hope you’ve enjoyed our time together and experienced the warmth of our heart and home. I pray you’ve been inspired and blessed.

Christa♥️💚