The holidays are crazy enough as it is, so don’t be hard on yourself! Take it easy with simple Christmas decorating ideas for the one room that really needs some holiday spirit. Please note that this post contains affiliate links; see my disclosures for more information.
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“I don’t want this cookie to ever be finished,” my four-year-old daughter mumbled through a mouthful of gooey chocolate as she wiped red and green sprinkles from her cheeks. “I wish we made a million of them!”
While she and her big brother noshed on the fruits of our labor, I sucked up mini mountains of flour, cocoa, and sugar off the floor with the DustBuster.
Making memories is messy, but this is what Christmas looks like in our kitchen.
Looks like I need to add parchment paper to my shopping list.
2015 was our first Christmas in our new home, and on Christmas Eve we broke ground on the new kitchen, which is an addition off the back of the house. Our old kitchen was small and dysfunctional with an unreliable oven, so we didn’t bake any Christmas cookies last year.
But Christmas just isn’t the same without the smell of baking butter and sugar wafting throughout the house.
After a long time and a lot of hard-earned money, I finally have my dream kitchen – a white and blue sun-filled space that fits everything we need and then some.
We spend a lot of time at the kitchen table playing games (my six-year-old is obsessed with Connect Four), crafting, coloring, and of course eating.
Our elf loves to leave little crafts in the kids’ advent calendar.
Since our kitchen is truly the hub of our home, it’s the spot where I focused my Christmas decorating efforts.
Simple Christmas Decorating: The Meaningful Spaces
Where does your family spend the most time? Do you always hang out in your basement playroom? Curl up on the living room couch, all cozy in that Snuggie from the 2009 office party’s Yankee swap? That’s the room where you should focus your Christmas decorating efforts; any other space is icing on your Christmas cookie. 🙂
The windowsill above our kitchen banquette is quite wide, so I treat it like a mantel. The faux greenery is an old staple from our holiday stash, and the kiddos chose the sparkling bottle brush trees (Target Dollar Spot) and little animal figurines.
By swapping out a few items from our kitchen bookshelves, our fall decor quickly transitioned to Christmas. Simple Christmas decorating touches make a sweet and meaningful difference!
- Pinecones gathered by the kids during a hike with their grandparents were brushed with glue and dipped in glitter.
- A vase filled with extra ornaments added more sparkle.
- The simple picture frame is the perfect spot for some free printable art (get it here).
No space for a Christmas village? Create a vignette instead.
My dad inherited his grandmother’s Christmas village, and I look forward to seeing it every year. Since I don’t have a good spot to display one of my own, I created a little vignette on an inexpensive cake stand (another Target Dollar Spot find).
Leftover upholstery batting sprinkled with glitter creates a snowy base for miniature trees and figurines purchased at JoAnn, and a drop of glue keeps the trees in place. The large snowflake is a wreath pick.
Go all out for Christmas. Or not.
I’m a firm believer that decorating should be personal. Not only does that mean the items that you decorate with should be a reflection of you and your family, but the way in which you decorate for the holidays (and every day) should make sense to you.
Maybe all the ornaments on your tree coordinate perfectly with every other decoration in your home because that’s what feels like Christmas to you. Or, maybe everything is a hodge-podge of stuff that you’ve collected over the years (I’m raising my hand).
Regardless of how you “do” the holidays in your home, I hope you’ll make lots of Christmas memories this year – maybe even some that include vacuuming a pile of flour off your kitchen counter.
Free Printable Gift Tracker!
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temcall says
Thank you! I love how you are spot on with advice on how to reduce/eliminate the pressure that we put on ourselves during the holiday. Your blog is my reality check!!!
craftylilypad says
YES!!! Decorate the room in which you spend the most time….DUH! Thank you for the reality check. We often get so busy thinking about what to decorate next, that we don’t have time to enjoy the season and the decor! Yes, my home is a hodge podge of stuff from over the years and I love it!
Laura says
Thanks so much, Melissa! 🙂
Heather says
I love your ideas, especially the vignette on the cake stand. Very creative!
Laura says
Thanks so much, Heather!