So, this year, I thought I may be a little bummed about the lack of Christmas decor.
If you know me at all, you know I luuuuuuurve decorating for Christmas. I have dozens and dozens and dozens of totes of Christmas decorations. I have at least 8 or 10 trees of all sizes (including several full-size trees). I love themes, I love cheesiness, I love glitter. I love lights, I love trees, I love villages.
But you know what? I really don’t mind having less this year.
I ventured over to my parents’ barn, where all my boxes of holiday decor were stored. I climbed on top of pallets and tried to find the few boxes I wanted to use this year. My very, very, very favorite things that I thought would actually fit.
No full size tree. No bins of ornaments. No village.
I love all these things, but they just wouldn’t fit into our lives right now.
Believe it or not, I feel every bit as merry and festive in the barn than I did in past houses with a dozen trees.
So what made the cut? That’s what I’m sharing today.
The stockings. Because Santa needs something to fill. Duh. And the hooks I bought (from Urban Farmhouse, of course) have exactly five spots. Fate. Clearly.
I also couldn’t imagine a Christmas without at least one holiday pillow. (This one is from Target and I adore it.)
I pulled out a little ribbon – to decorate cows and tuck throughout the apartment. You know, important, life-changing things.
And I filled in the gap with a LOT of vinyl. My Silhouette got a workout this Christmas. Because all of my wall art wanted to feel extra merry. So I decked the canvases and cows.
I think it’s rather fabulous, don’t you?
I mean, I may leave it festive all year. But the best part is that it’s really easy to remove.
Here’s a peek at my DIY wall hanging I shared on Monday for Dare to DIY. Who needs a Christmas tree? Not this girl.
On our media wall, I had two small nooks to Christmas-ify.
Ryan’s grandma made this tree and we were able to keep it when she passed this year. It’s pretty much my favorite thing ever and very very special to me. I scrubbed it down, replaced some of the lights, and now it’s as good as new. Actually, better than new.
On the other side, we have a Christmas shrine to Henry. As expected.
Moving into the kitchen, I created this really simple sign with a vinyl deer head. It’s perfect for the plank wall.
And I picked up a “Very Merry” banner in the $1 Spot at Target. It’s rustic feeling and fun for the pocket doors.
I was excited to decorate the open shelf in the kitchen, so my Fiestaware holiday dishes made the cut.
I actually put away some of our everyday dishes to use these for the month.
A few of my favorite ornaments and berry garlands also get the special treatment.
I wanted to display all the beautiful Christmas cards we’ve been receiving, so I created these “vintage Christmas lights” to serve as garland. They have moved around the apartment, but for now they are in the kitchen. If I get my act together, I’ll share more about how I made them at some point. They are everywhere.
Oh, and I also moved this cow from the living room wall into the kitchen. Because he told me he wanted to be here. (This guy was a gift from my awesome friend Kellie.)
On the other side of the kitchen, we have a little IKEA island and I added a few little holiday touches – our train advent, a sign I made, and our Woodward snowman.
And above the wardrobe, I pulled out a bit of garland, berries and ornaments for a display.
That’s our cozy little space for the holidays. It makes me feel like busting out a “fa la la” or two.
It really reminds me that it’s more about the people and the memories than the stuff.
Hi Kim, I love your holiday decor, I’m a little behind with mine so I’m trying to prep ahead for Valentine’s day:). I’m new to using my Silhouette cameo (but I keep purchasing from the online store LOL) I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on creating the Joy christmas tree design that’s next to the snowman. I have the same design but don’t know how to get each word a different color. I was planning on just printing it out on paper. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Joy – sorry for the delay. I’ve been in a holiday coma.
For the signs with more than one color, you just pull the design into your software and then right click-ungroup. This will make all of your individual words separate. Then, I pull them off the page if they are going to be a different color. So, cut the red first. Then drag the next words onto the page and cut silver. Then drag the next color on. It takes a little extra thought, but the work it worth it.
Hopefully this makes sense. I’m actually working on a tutorial for this in January.
I so enjoy each and every glimpse inside the barn. You make every inch of that space look fantastic! I am very much in love with your gallery wall by the way. Didn’t think it could get any better, but all the little vinyl touches are too fun.
You have the perfect amount of Christmas in that barn!! I cannot get over that ceramic Christmas tree. It’s gorgeous!
It really is my favorite. I packed the hell out of it when I put it away. I’m so afraid of it getting broken in storage.
I should have had you cut vinyl for my Miley. Just to watch Nate cringe. 😉
The barn looks so good! Cozy and festive. Totally stealing that tree and those dishes!
Next year. There’s always next year.
So cute! I’ve been thinking about you and how you are going to Christmas up the barn…all I needed to do was open my blog reader (which apparently I haven’t done in awhile and now I’m way behind on your posts…not trying to be a bad blog friend, the season has just gotten the best of me!). Merry Christmas, Woodwards!
I totally understand. iT’s hard to keep up with the blog reader at any time, and especially during the holidays.
You have way more Christmas cheer in the barn than I do in my entire house. It looks so festive! I love what you did with the cards, too. I’m amazed at how much you fit in without making it feel crowded. Beautiful. You are rocking this simplicity thing, friend.
Me? Simple? That’s the first time anyone’s called me that. Going overboard is sort of my schtick.
I mean, simple as in…less than ten trees. Not normal person simple. I do expect you to maintain some sort of standards. ; )
you did such a great job with a small space. So much cheer shoved in there…but i use shove in a GOOD way! because it looks cheery and cozy and fab.
Who doesn’t love a good shove?
Looks just wonderful!! Great job….
Everything looks so fun and cheerful! One nice thing about a small space is that it’s relatively easy to make it look super Christmassy without pulling out boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff 🙂
It’s also pretty quick to clean.
I agree! In a small space, a little bit goes a very long way. Great job. I love the vinyl decals on your wall art.
I love seeing how you are making such a small space work for you. I am hoping to convince my husband that smaller is better and a lot less work. It would give us more time to do what we like rather than what we must.
can you comment about how the dogs are transitioning to the barn?
They are doing fine. Pretty much the same as always. They like the land and roaming around. And Franco has taken to staying in Henrys room most of the day. A dog needs his privacy. 😉
I just adore your Christmas tour Kim. Everything looks so good and well put together. I love your gallery wall and the red ribbon around that pillow. Your Grandma’s tree is so lovely. What is it made out of?. Did she make the ‘Woodward’ snowman as well? How were you able to find new lights for her tree… it looks so custom and not like anything you would be able to find again…
The tree is ceramic and the lights are actually plastic. She actually had a bag of spare lights tucked away with the tree, which was very handy. The snowman is also ceramic and was made by my great aunt, who runs a ceramics studio. It was a wedding gift and I love it so much.
I am amazed at all the Christmas decorations you were able to fit in your barn. I love it! It looks very cozy and not overdone. Great job. Merry Christmas to all of you.
Thank you so much, Jill. It’s such a small space that I hadk restrain myself
So so pretty! Loving the loft but the holiday decor makes it so cozy and I just love it!! 🙂 Makes me feel guilty I haven’t decorated our house yet, long story, but I still have time and just might do that today….feeling inspired by your post!
Hope your decorating went well.
So lovely Kim! That’s my favorite way to decorate for Christmas – just add little holiday touches to everything! All the Christmas-fied art is so fun!
Thanks so much, brynne. That was one of my favorite parts, too.
Your barn is 1,000 times more decorated for Christmas than my house. You did good Kim! I aspire to be as holiday spirited as you!
Just drink heavily. It helps get me in the spirit.
I am so impressed with how much holiday cheer you fit in your small cozy spot without it getting overwhelming. The vinyl touches were genius!
Thanks so much! I probably went overboard with the vinyl but I had a ton of fun.
Perfect!!
It looks a-MAH-zing Kim! I haven’t even sent your card yet and now I wish I would have. Can’t wait to see you all and check out the little palace in person. ~Hugs~
Beautifully done without overwhelming your limited space, love your barn too!
I am curious about the bed, are you still storing the other mattress behind it? I can’t see it in the pictures. I am debating on purchasing that same bed, what is the thickest of mattresses that you purchased?
Good question – you caught me on this one. I actually pulled the mattress off to take these photos and didn’t put the mattress behind the bed. Normally I do, but I got in a hurry on this.
It normally looks a little like this – https://newlywoodwards.com/2014/11/sleeping-living-room.html. That shows the mattress behind. I just use two normal twin size mattresses that we already had.
i simply love all of it! love your little barn too!
Thank you! It’s a fun space.
i love how you have made your cozy space so festive and fun, kim!!!
Thanks, Cassie. It’s amazing how easy it is to fill 320-square-feet