Christmas Living Room Decor: Tour 2018

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I just realized that we have three more weeks until Christmas. Three! I know. I'm about to jump off my computer while writing this and go shopping because none of that has happened yet :) ha! You'll notice by the lack of presents under my tree that I'm telling the truth. Over the past two weeks, I have been sharing tours of different rooms in my home, and today is the big kahuna of them all. My living room! This is the one that I spend most of my time fiddling around with and attempting to perfect. But, there comes a time when the fiddling needs to stop and you have to just call it good...which usually happens on Christmas Eve for me. But, I'm trying to do better! So, the fiddling has ended :)

Today's tour is part of the Christmas Home Tours hosted by Marty from A Stroll Thru Life. If you are stopping by from Seeking Lavender Lane, welcome! And if you happen to just land on this post and want to join the tours, be sure to check Deb's beautiful home out and then all the other tours that are happening this week. The list is at the bottom of the post :) 

 Ever get in a rut where you end up decorating the same way every year? I was in the rut for Christmas in here for the past few years. My tree was pretty much the same and so was my mantel. I tried to 'mix' a few things up, but in reality, they were still just the same :) This year, I put my mind to doing something different.

Tree Decor: How To Tutorial

 The Christmas tree was one of those things I knew I needed to change up. I ended up going with a woodland themed type decor. What do I mean about mixing it up? I have buckets in it. Yes. Weird, I know. But, I had to think outside of my box. So, I grabbed my olive buckets and stuck them on there. Filled them up with some pine cones and fake wood. To add to the 'mix it up' feel, I also threw some grapevine wreaths on it, a Merry Christmas sign, and wood reindeer. You can find the full tutorial on how I decorated the tree HERE.

 I placed these firewood pieces on the shelves sometime last year and have left them there through the seasons. I just love how they look. And yes, I have a gas fireplace and don't have a single need for them :)

 Now, for my mantel. Another one of those get stuck in a rut type things. I gave myself a challenge to make it different. So, I started with no Christmas decor on it. Candlesticks, books, bookends and window frame. I then figured I should at least add some trees. So, I flanked the trees on the ends. It still looked a little plain, so I added my DIY pine cone wreath in the middle. I didn't want to do garland and I wasn't sure how I wanted to hang the stockings. Usually my garland hides my command hooks that I use to hang them with.

 But without garland, my other options were stocking holders...which I'm not a fan of since they fall every.single.time. Next idea? Birch branch. Yep. I grabbed an extra one I had, looped some jute around it and secured it to the wall behind the mantel. I then threaded the stockings onto it. I do understand this might be hard to get them off on Christmas morning, but I'll figure that out. It may or may not involve some scissors :)

DIY Sweater Stockings: Tutorial

 As for the other side of the fireplace and mantel, these shelves got a little holiday cheer in the form of flocked branches, a light up noel (which truthfully I totally forgot it lit up until just now), and some table top Christmas trees. My rolling calendar has Christmas day marked on it...as of yesterday, it was still Halloween :)

Shiplap: Tutorial     Media Console: Tutorial      Builtin shelves: Tutorial

 This little sitting area got a small update with garland, pine cones, and trees.

Rug: Amazon      Chair: Target     Reindeer Grains Pillow Cover: Amazon        Wood and Sweater Trees: Tutorial      Lamp: Target

 That timer is our 'timeout timer'. Flip it over, and go sit in time out until it runs out. And now it's a little more festive so maybe the time out consequence isn't as horrible? :)

 I usually take off everything on this card catalog/end table but decided to keep my normal stuff on it and work around them. I added this garland and a tree to call it good.

(Rug: Amazon     Card Catalog: Hobby Lobby)

 Now for my couch. I try to hide it's ugly as best as I can. It's old, gross, really is beige but sometimes I wonder if that's it's true color or not :) To remedy this, I place euro pillows on the back with pretty little ruffle shams. I added the punch of color with the red tartan plaid covers. I also hung my DIY clock advent calendar on this wall. My kids play area is actually right behind this couch so, they can just pull up a chair, stand on it and move the hand to the next day.

Advent Clock: Tutorial     Ruffle Pillows: Amazon      Red Tartan Pillows: Similar

Also, on this side of the chaise lounge, I found this awesome pillow that says "Christmas Tree Delivery". I thought it was appropriate since I feel like I live on a Christmas tree farm right now. With all the trees in varying sizes around my house, it's a little crazy :)

Christmas Tree Delivery Pillow: Similar

 I told my husband these 'beams' would be down like 2 hours after I published my post on how to do them. He hated them that badly. Well, it's been months and he hasn't said a darn thing since! So, I'm going to just sit here and enjoy them. I love the look from this angle.

Faux Beam: Tutorial

 Here's another view of this room into my dining room.

 On the tray on my ottoman, I kept it simple. Yes, this is simple for me :) Just a tree, some books and bookends and lantern.

 On my sofa table, I brought out my little moose and elk family along with my wire brush trees.

 Here are a few complete views on this room. I love these arches. Can you believe that someone once told me that these were dated and to get rid of them? Well, even if they are in fact "dated"...they are staying :)

Hope you enjoyed the tour! Check out the rest of my tours below:
DINING ROOM

MASTER BEDROOM

FRONT LIVING ROOM

Check out my video tour as I share how I decorated my Christmas tree and mantel! :)


Next in the Christmas home tours is Remodelando La Casa. Cristina's home is simply beautiful with tons of inspiration. Be sure to check out the rest of the tours going on this week from the links below! :)

Monday, Dec. 3  

   A Stroll Thru Life,  Cuckoo4Design,  Nesting With Grace, Southern Hospitality, Life On Virginia Street,   Pink Peppermint Design 

Tuesday, Dec. 4

 Setting For Four, ZDesign At Home, Inspiration For Moms, House By Hoff  

Starfish Cottage  

Wednesday, Dec. 5

 Hymns & Verses,  Our Southern Home,  Seeking Lavender Lane, Thrifty & Chic,
 Remodelando La Casa,  Simple Stylings 

Thursday, Dec. 6

Clean & Scentsible, Haneens Haven, LifeLoveLarson,11Magnolia Lane, Monica Wants It,
 Rain On A Tin Roof  

Friday, Dec. 7

  Decor To Adore, Far Above Rubies, Decorating Delirium, Dimples & Tangles,
  Our FifthHouse,  Follow The Yellow Brick Home, Duke Manor Farm 

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”