If you know me, you know I believe more is more when when it comes to holiday decorating. But in the kitchen, I do a little less – because it’s a hardworking holiday space. It’s still plenty of festive, but there aren’t decorations on every available surface.
We use the kitchen constantly over the holidays – to bake, to entertain and even to hang out. That means the kitchen needs to be ready-to-go. No time to clear stuff off all the surfaces.
Our 5-year-old kindergartener is a little germ factory. I can’t even tell you the number of stomach bugs, strep throats and colds that have been making their way through the school. And we need to do our best to keep those germs away from all of us – especially our daughter and her tiny little immune system that needs protecting.
So I disinfected and cleaned the kitchen as we got it holiday-ready.
This gives me some peace of mind to have disinfected and cleaned spaces – and those festive touches are just icing on the cake.
It was pretty simple to add cheer without covering every counter surface. Like adding this small vignette on the step stool.
This huge poinsettia was a gift from my mom – it’s perfect in an olive bucket on the floor next to the stove. 
And even my little kitchen cactus got an easy dose of holiday cheer in the form of a satin bow.
I also used vertical space – like the sides of the cabinets, where I hung our wedding wreaths.
And the hood, with a simple adornment of vintage lights.
And the mug rack, that got a dose of holiday cheer with mugs, plates and ornaments.
I also hung our aprons and a Christmas countdown on the side of another cabinet. 
Above the stovetop, we added a few of the elves’ food groups to this week’s menu. And Henry got to decorate those cookies. (They got eaten before long.)
Having a wall of open shelves helps to keep those counters clear. It was fun to fill them up with all my favorite Christmas goodies.
The vintage trees are some of my favorite holiday possessions. (The red one was made by me, the white one was made by Ryan’s gram, and the green one was made by my mom.)
I like using servingware and holiday dishes as decoration. Because it’s also super accessible to grab when I’m entertaining. 
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of room for little trinkets and baubles. There’s always room for tiny cars with trees. 
Having the breakables out of reach is ideal. Because the kitchen gets a lot of traffic and I’m afraid everything would end up broken. 
The dark backdrop of the cabinets really makes all the festive colors pop. 
I think it’s a perfect mix of form and function.
Missed it?
More holiday inspiration:
Lovely! After a good cleaning, I focus more on yummy scents, like a cinnamon citrus potpourri simmering on the stove or goodies baking in the oven, and food visuals, like decorated cookies on a pretty server.
Too much of a good decorating thing in a kitchen can collect more dust and odors than I want to deal with during the busy holidays!
I love the idea of yummy scents simmering. I’m gonns try that.
Your Christmas kitchen looks so cute!!
Thank you so much!