I love that Christmas decorating doesn’t have to be complicated, time-consuming, or expensive to be really pretty and festive. It really can be as simple as trimming a few branches from evergreens and tucking them around the house. We have some nice bushes and trees in our area that are perfect to clip and take inside during the holidays. We have cypress, pine, a bush that has needles that look like rosemary, our neighbor has a magnolia bush I have permission to borrow from, and I was even eyeing some beautiful juniper bushes with blue berries in the Walmart parking lot! But this year, I just dove into the bin of artificial greens I moved with us from MN. In our PA house, we didn’t have any artificial greens at all. We had hot water radiators, so our heat wasn’t as dry as the electric heat we had in our MN house. I could put live greens in place and most of them would last for several weeks. We have oil heat in this house, which I’m not familiar with at all, but I’ll test out some live greens and a live tree next year to see how they do.
Anyway, this year it was all faux for a couple of reasons. #1 – I didn’t really want to give myself something else to buy and then clean up after. #2 – I am being very picky about what I spend money on when it comes to the house because I want every penny I can have for the kitchen. Buying a bunch of live greens could be a sink, some hardware, or part of a faucet. Those small purchases can add up and really make a difference in the details of a renovation. (I’ll share more about the progress on the kitchen design soon.)
So, faux it is. I wrapped a eucalyptus garland around the Manet/Morisot master study and tucked in some sprigs of other faux greens. The thing I want to point out about this greenery is that almost none of it is specifically holiday/Christmas greenery. It’s just a bunch of greenery that I like and, when mixed together, it shows a variety of textures and subtle variations of green.
I really love our foyer and I’m excited about doing a bit more with it next year, but the touch of greenery is just festive enough for this year. I am truly fortunate that the woman who lived here before us also loved blue and green, so the paint colors and wallpaper are all ones I can live with easily until they get a refresh.
Several of you have asked about the wall covering and yes, it is wallpaper. It is very subtle, but you can see the tone-on-tone pattern if you look carefully. This wallpaper is in the foyer and goes all the way down the 20′-long hallway to the bedrooms. I would probably keep it, but it has peeled off in several places and it is stained in others. It’s a beautiful paper that lived a good life and it will be changed over the next couple of years.
I hung a cedar garland over the mirror at the end of the foyer and, since my custom wreath didn’t fit on any of my doors (because of the storm doors), I hung it on the mirror. You can see how I made the wreath HERE.
We walk through this area a lot throughout the day, so it is nice to have it spruced up for Christmas. A little greenery really does go a long way.
You can read about how to dry and decorate with orange slices HERE.
My parents are coming over today so we can work on organizing the basement and make the space feel more useable. We have workout gear down there (our boys are getting into weight lifting) and I got a used water rowing machine off Facebook Marketplace so I can work on cardio without putting too much strain on my foot. (As an update, since a lot of you ask, I am starting physical therapy this week. The bone is healing well, but I am still limping, and in pain sometimes. Basically, wearing a boot for five months has done a number on the rest of my foot and I need to do some concentrated work to get full function and strength back.)
A part of the basement is technically finished (it has heating/cooling and electric), but the carpet was ripped up leaving remnants of glue and foam and the walls are sort of a patchwork of 1970s paneling and really crazy wallpaper. I’ll eventually just take some white paint to it until we can rip it all out and finish the basement properly. I’m also trying to convince Jeff it’s worth just floating some waterproof laminate “wood” flooring down there just so it feels nice and clean underfoot. I’ll keep you posted on all of that. First, though, we just need to get it cleaned up and my mom is just the person to help me get it done.
I’ve been in my house as a single woman for 13 years and it doesn’t feel like “me” at all. I’m living with leftovers from a 30 year marriage and a mish-mash of other things, and nothing feels cozy or welcoming – it’s like someone lives here but there’s no style that is identifiable as mine. I can look at the photos of your home and tell immediately that you live there, after only 3-4 months. You have a gift, and thank you for sharing it with the rest of us.
To Monica of Littlestown, Make your home a reflection of you beginning today. As Oprah said years ago, your home should rise up and greet you when you come home. It’s meant to know us and reflect all of us.
Monica from Littlestown, your pain is evident in what you write. I think I know a little of what you are saying. I was mid-20’s before I knew that people could have/like/choose a particular “style” for their home; it was a revelation to me who grew up in a house that had had the same furniture since the 1930-40’s. I thought houses just “came that way” and you learned to live with whatever it was.
You get to choose how you would like your house to look. You get to choose what clothes you wear, what art you hang, what books you read, what shows you watch, what garden you plant. You don’t have to put the same amount of time into each, just whichever one or two mean the most to you. There are those who say that how you dress expresses how you think about yourself and they spend much time and money on that. I don’t choose that and pick what is clean, tidy, and most important of all; comfortable for me.
I hope you take the time and energy to decide what it is you choose to spend your energy upon. Ms. Mustard Seed does a wonderful job in demonstrating how she spends her time and budget on her environment, and she doesn’t have unlimited funds, a professional decorator, or a gallery budget. I wish you only the best and hope you have fun.
I highly recommend two books by Myquillin Smith…The Nesting Place and Cozy Minimalist Home. She has the experience of living in something like 15 homes and learned from experience how to get more style with less stuff on a budget. In Cozy Minimalist Home she teaches how to go in the right order to restyle your rooms to make them your own. I have learned a lot from her and she knows her stuff. I think they would really help you find your style and make your home feel like you!
The Manet is my favorite of all your paintings, not counting the dogs, and I am so glad to see her occasionally. I agree with you about the laminate. it will give you the feeling of being complete, even if all of it isn’t
You just make me smile.
I put down vinyl plank flooring on my ground floor when I was unifying and levelling the various areas and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made. Six years on and I’m still pleased every time I look at it.
It is warm, comfortable under foot, easy to clean – and quiet. It doesn’t have the hard noise that laminate is famous for. It also has the virtue of being impervious to water damage – always a plus when you are below ground. It comes in many lovely patterns that are almost indistinguishable from actual wood.
You have made wonderful progress in your new home! Thank you for sharing some of your tips and techniques to work with greens both real and faux…so very generous of you.
I had the same dilemma in my last house with the storm door getting in the way of hanging a wreath on the door. I solved it by hanging the wreath on the storm door! It made it easy to see and I liked it very much!
I have a question – for Marian or anyone who regularly uses faux greenery – do you do anything special to keep it from getting too dusty over time? Would a quick shake/dust, once a season or whatever, do the trick?
My faux greenery gets dusty, I will stick in the kitchen sink, use the hose with hot water, poof it’s clean, then I let it air dry. Marion I spy all my neighbors winter greens when I walk my dog. I also have a field by my house with all the free greens and pine cones to my little heart desires. The house is shaping up. Good luck with physical therapy.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Enjoy!
PS. I bought your wrapping paper, it is beautiful. I still have some of your last year’s design in the green partridge. Love them both
I bought your wallpaper too! But my daughters used it all up before I had a chance to think about it! We all love it 🙂
Thanks Judeth for the good tip @ cleaning greenery!
What a beautiful and festive entry foyer. I really love the lampshade and am wondering where you purchased it.
Elaine, I believe it’s the shade Marion covered herself. I think she has a link on how to make it.
So very nice Marian, even with no kids in the house any longer I do not get as much done as you ??? you have a gift!!
We bought two oranges recently and the other night I had a sweet tooth so cut one. I am not exactly sure WHY – but it was
the worst orange I ever had. It looked pretty but wasn’t sweet, was just yuck. Decided I’d share it with my blue jays. However I tried slicing one and dying per your instructions and it dried perfectly. I put them on my little sparse Hygge tree.
Love it. Thanks for the inspiration, Marian. And your home is looking great.
sand and polish the concrete, rent the machines ,then use a throw rug
Your entryway is so pretty, and I love the garland on the mirror! I am embracing realistic greenery, vintage brass, gold and natural accents, and using a lot less red than I have in the past, and I feel like I have finally found the right Christmas style for my home! I’ve gotten rid of a lot of cutesy themey decor and decorate more for winter with Christmas accents so that most of it can stay all winter and not look out of place. Work smarter, not harder! Thanks for sharing your lovely home!
The wallpaper is still available, it’s from an English brand. I have it on my living room walls. It’s beautiful. Love how you made all festive. Even if it is plastics ;>D