Today friends, we’re going to get real. It’s time for my real home confession. I am not a home decor blogger. There are a ton of fabulous designers who’s homes I drool over online. My home will never be showcased in a magazine and I’ll never be “known” for having a gorgeous home. My home is a regular old home. We live in it, we love in it, we play in it, we make messes in it, we create in it. More often than not we have to push markers, scissors, glue, glitter and art projects out of the way when we sit down at the dining room table to eat. It’s where my kids create.
In the corner of our living room there is usually a laundry basket filled with laundry, a basket filled with socks we can’t find the match for and a blue ukulele sitting next to all of it. My daughter loves to serenade my husband as he folds laundry… the laundry is never ending, so there’s almost always a basket (or 3) sitting there. It’s real life.
Our fridge is wallpapered with art projects, to do lists, doodles and photos of people we love. The kitchen is the heart of the home, and nothing is a better display of this than the front and sides of our fridge. It’s covered with the faces of people we love and art created by them. It’s also slightly chaotic, just like our life.
In our living room, my crochet baskets is overflowing with yarn. It sits next to our smushy, snuggly, very undesigner couch. The cushions are misshapen from where kids jumped on them in excitement. There are stains on the couch from where kids have wiped fingers sticky with homemade baking. The back and arms of the couch are always are draped with crocheted blankets and quilts to snuggle under. Our coffee table is an old dented trunk that was handed down from a neighbor when she was redoing her home that I refinished.
My house will never be a show-home and it will never be included in a Christmas Show Home Tour. I’m ok with that… and this is why. I have a girlfriend who visits my home quite often. She’s the kind of friend who has seen my home at it’s worst and she says the same thing every time she visits– “I just feels so good in here.”
She’s right. Don’t get me wrong, my house it a hot mess half the time, but it feels good. A hot cup of tea is never more than 5 minutes away, guests lounge on my couch, warm under a blanket without having to ask if they can use one, kids barrel up and down our stairs, and have impromptu dance parties where they climb onto and then jump off my ottoman and I’m ok with it. I’m not overly concerned about things getting messy, scuffed or dented. My home is filled with love, light and laughter and right now that’s more important to me than having a gorgeous home.
One day my home will be gorgeous, but today is not that day, this year is not that year, and in all reality, this decade is not that decade.
Now all that being said– I’m a member of the PC Home Influencer team. Kind of funny right? In the past I’ve always thought it was a perfect fit. I did a post on making your backyard family friendly, a post on how to make kids feel special for back to school and next week I’ll be sharing how to mix store bought items with a handmade element to make perfect, personalized hostess gifts.
This thought of it being a perfect fit changed a couple of weeks ago when they sent me some gorgeous gold glam Christmas items from the Home collection from Real Canadian Superstore and asked me to write a post about Christmas decor. Pretty much immediately I had a freak out and shut down thinking I wasn’t good enough. I started thinking about all of those bloggers with gorgeous homes that do the Christmas Home Tours and I thought to myself “That’s not me! What the heck am I going to do?!?!?”
I texted my friend Dunia, who has a GORGEOUS home that is also full of love, light and laughter and asked her if I could come and photograph in her home. Whenever I think of Christmas I think Dunia. She sets up the most beautiful Christmas vignettes and I knew that I could learn a lot from her. She immediately said yes, and I brought my box of Christmas goodies to her house and we got photographing.
What I got at Dunia’s house was more than a beautiful home to photograph in. It was a lesson in the fact that we are all good enough, and that everyone has something unique to offer.
As we set up Christmas vignettes and shot them I realized something– There is a reason why PC Home chose me as an influencer. Their home line, while stunningly gorgeous, is for REAL PEOPLE. It’s for the family that has a toddler that’s probably going to pick up that gold sparkly ornament and chuck it across the living room. It’s for the mom who doesn’t want to lose her mind when her 5 year old son decides to “ride” the deer statue like it’s a rocking horse.
There line is beautiful and can make your home look like a show home, but it’s affordable and durable– so mama won’t lose her mind if a kiddo gets a bit rough with a Christmas decoration. After all, Christmas is all about making memories with family.
Because Dunia helped me see the light, I asked her if she would share some of her tips for decorating for Christmas for real people with kids, budgets, messes and a chaotic life. Here they are.
Tips for REAL Families for Decorating Their Home For Christmas:
1. Mix traditional family pieces with new store findings. I have inherited my in laws Christmas tableware and my parents nativity scene and Xmas village figurines. I love mixing those with new pieces that I catch my eye at the store to create eye catching vignettes. Mixing old with new helps keep Christmas decorating affordable and is also a great way to be surrounded by loved ones, even when they aren’t there.
2. Decorate your Christmas tree with memories. Our tree is filled with ornaments made by my kids and decorations from friends who love to DIY. When my husband and I started dating we started the tradition of buying one ornament for our tree during every vacation that we went on. It’s a tradition that we’ve continued since having our children. Our Christmas tree is filled with stories and memories and makes an excellent conversation starter when we’re entertaining during the holidays. The kids love seeing these memories displayed on the tree, and as they grow older the stories behind each ornament becomes their own story and Christmas memory.
3. Keep your eye out for upcycled and reclaimed furniture and other home pieces. We have quite a few warm, rustic reclaimed furniture pieces which I love to pair with off white cushions and blankets for everyday and then “dress up” with special holiday accents like the Glam Home collection from Real Canadian Superstore. I find these pieces are durable and kid friendly.
After my time decorating with Dunia I had two extra tips to add:
4. Look around your house with a fresh set of eyes each Christmas and look for “non Christmas” items that you can mix in with your Christmas decorations. A mirror from the wall to use as the base for a Christmas display by the fireplace. A breakfast tray to display Christmas items on for a centrepieces and small DIY pieces you’ve made to mix in as accents.
5. Keep it simple, don’t overthink it and let your inner personality shine through. Have fun when decorating and make it your own. I love gold glitter, but rustic elements also always catch my eye. I love the playfulness of making a table centrepiece combining something super glam like a gold glitter reindeer with a wood tray and a few DIY wood pieces like my DIY Upcycled Wood Christmas Ornaments hanging from the reindeers antlers.
Make sure to check out the Home collection at Real Canadian Superstore for gorgeous pieces to refresh your holiday decor without breaking the bank!
Tell me… Am I crazy or kind of brave for showing you my real home? Also, what is your home decorating style?
Disclosure: Thank you to Real Canadian Superstore for working with us on this post. As with every article on Hello Creative Family, all thoughts and opinions are 100% our own.
The post My Home Confession + Tips for REAL Families for Decorating Their Home For Christmas appeared first on Hello Creative Family.
