Christmas 2022 in the Living & Dining Room

It’s our first Christmas in the Dupont house.  (Please read “Our Story” about our cross-country move in 2021.)

Well, technically, it’s our second Christmas.  But last year, our first Christmas, we had been in the house a scant 4 weeks, and 95%  of our decorations were still packed in boxes.  Not surpisingly, last year just didn’t really FEEL like Christmas, and yes, there were a few tears.

If you have moved even once in your life, you understand how it feels to decorate a whole new environment with decorations you’ve collected and displayed for years.  It’s a combination of thrill and terror!  Where will this go? This ALWAYS went on the mantel!  This ALWAYS went on the dining table.  Will this look right on the coffee table? In the end, you throw things up in the air, and where they land is where they stay. 

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but not by much.  And honestly, I am actually quite happy with how this first full swing at Christmas decorating went.  

So let’s jump in and see our results!  Oh, and real quick:  If you have only read even ONE of my previous Christmas posts, there is really nothing new here. It’s the same old song:  pine cones, plaid, and greenery, except it’s all in a different setting.  I have a deep traditional streak, and I am simply (and happily) oblivious to the Christmas trends zooming around blogland. 

Walking in the front door, this is the view that will greet you.

The view from the foyer, stepping in from the front door.

I am simply thrilled with it.  Sailor (again) came through with the perfect spot for our Christmas tree.  We both keep commenting on how much bigger and prettier it looks when it can command the living room as it does.  The sad fact is that it is SO big, I don’t have enough ornaments. And that’s even after I bought a half dozen simple glass ball thrift shop ornaments, and a half dozen little tiny teal ornaments.  The hunt for classic, vintage shaped glass ornaments will likely be an ongoing project in 2023.  (Poor me!) 

My apologies for the bad lighting; it was 26 degrees and snowing outside when I took these pictures.

Moving in a little deeper we come to the infamous ‘thrift shop loveseat I almost didn’t buy’.  Whimsical is not a word I would typically use to describe how I decorate for Christmas, but this…this just HAPPENED.  I don’t even know how.

This is the runner that put the whole “blue” Christmas theme in motion!

Well, actually, I do know.  These ‘printed tapestry’ Christmas pillows are a collection I started years ago.  My favorite thrift shop in San Diego kept bringing them out year after year. And I just kept buying them year after year.   The ones with more blue than anything else were not a deliberate purchase; I just found them charming, festive and unique. 

Don’t ask me how all these blue Christmas pillows got here!

And then, a few weeks ago, in a thrift store I just started frequenting,  I found this.

It’s the lighthouse that caught my eye on this lively Christmas runner. So unexpected!

I stopped, and clamped my hand over my mouth to stop the swooning.  I mean, seriously How incredibly charming is this little blue runner? A bird house! A lighthouse (makes me just a tiny bit homesick).  Cardinals, and posted envelopes.  Mittens, snow and holly berries.  Please, just stop!  And it was less than $5. 

Then, just to make things worse, a few weeks later in a different thrift shop, I found this cardinal pillow, and this snowman pitcher. 

This thrift store cardinal pillow is new addition to my seemingly endless collection of printed tapestry Christmas pillows.

As you can see, I really had no choice but to combine it all together in a very sweet, cozy and whimsical Christmas-y  grouping in our living room.

The sleigh is filled with tiny presents, bundles of cinnamon sticks and candy canes!

Let me tell you, thrift shopping in Fort Wayne is extremely hazardous. I don’t care what they say. It is dangerous. There are TOO MANY thrift shops. They are huge and filled to the brim with the most amazing, beautiful, can’t-live-without pieces. And the prices are ridiculous. I will prove this all to you in the coming months when I start rolling out my thrift shop haul posts.

Okay….next we have the dining table and china hutch.  This is the dining table I grew up on; it’s older than I am.  The hutch joined our household last spring via Facebook Marketplace.  And yet, somehow they feel like a matched set.  That’s just sheer luck; I simply do not have the talent level to pull that kind of thing off!

On the dining table…wait, let me back up.  Last fall I presented a vignette on our dining table, talking about how buying a footed tray at Target launched the whole fall vignette idea. 

At the time, I even challenged myself to try and replicate the same concept for Christmas.  And here it is. 

I bought this branch last summer from Piper Classics (along with the plaid runner). I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to use it…but then this happened!

A plaid runner (Piper Classics), the footed tray, a white pitcher (recent thrift store purchase),  and a handful of Christmas branches and picks that were already in my stash.   A few pine cones added to the tray, and a large pine cone and berry branch (also Piper Classics), sort of wraps around the footed tray. 

I really wasn’t sure I would be able to pull off the Christmas version.  But here I am, with a big, fat, smug smile on my face.    

Hanging small wreaths on the hutch cabinet doors was an idea that popped up as soon as we moved the hutch into the dining room area last April.  It was tricky, though, because these doors are not very big, so I needed very petite wreaths.  I’m not in love with these wreaths, but they were 60%  off at JoAnn (well, what ISN’T 60% off at JoAnn?), and they had a ring attached that would make it easier to hang them. 

Wreaths hanging from plaid ribbons and a plaid table runner make for a simple and warm Christmas feel.

I was in a real dither about how to go about hanging them, and then I read a post about just taping the ribbon to the back of the door.  All the nightmares about Challenge hooks/cutting/ measuring just went right out the door.  I taped away! (Here is the post that helped me out!)  

Pine cones, greenery and plaids: festive, cheerful and bright for Christmas!

As soon as we brought the china hutch home, I knew I wanted to hang wreaths on the doors

And then in the shelf of the hutch, I put down a runner (from a Hallmark store in San Diego), and topped it with a family silver tray. 

A silver tray sitting on the mirrored shelf of the china hutch says Christmas in the most classic sense.

I fitted 7 battery candles on the tray, and then filled in the front with some smaller picks from my stash. 

This china hutch was a months-long search on Facebook Marketplace.  It’s chock full of china, wine glasses, and as you see, white pitchers! 

When the candles turn on, they are very warm and cheerful looking, and the glass reflection amplifies that! 

A sterling silver tray supports a group of candles surrounded by greenery on the shelf of the china hutch.

A simple collection of candles on a silver tray, surrounded by Christmas greenery.

This is a very classic and traditional look, and in a way it symbolizes how I want Christmas in the Dupont house to feel.  I want our home draped in a gentle, warm and welcoming holiday feel.  

This ends the Christmas 2022 tour of our living room / dining room.  This year, the Dupont house really does feel like Christmas; I feel surrounded by simple, cozy, and cottage-y elements that lift my heart and restore my spirit.    My best wishes to you and your family for all the joy and sweetness this season can bring. 

From our home to yours~

Kristine