Oh, Christmas Tree!

This year, I decorated for the holidays a little earlier than normal.  I tried to wait.  I really tried.  Ultimately, I just couldn't wait to surround myself with a little bit of Christmas though!  Christmas came a little early this year! :)

I truly LOVE our open floor plan, but it does present a few challenges when it comes to decorating for the holidays.  We only have three rooms with windows that face the road, and one is our master bathroom,  so that was automatically ruled out.  The second room with front-facing windows is our office, and if the tree took up residence in there for the month of December, I would be really unproductive.  That knocked the office out of the running out too.  So, that left our dining room, which truth be told, doesn't get much use most of the time since we have a dinette. It's a little less than ideal though.  I had to rotate our dining room table... and now it's not PERFECTLY situated beneath the chandelier.  It's driving me about twelve kinds of crazy, but in the grand scheme of things, I am loving how everything turned out. 

I decided to keep everything relatively simple this year, because I am in the midst of the craziest year on record...trying to balance a ridiculously challenging school-year, my educational blogging/ TpT business, grad school, and presenting.  Oh, plus trying to be a normal person outside of my job.  You know.  Every now and then I like to enjoy something OUTSIDE of teaching too!  :)   Decorating is definitely one of my favorite outside hobbies, and truthfully, it's been a really great stress-reliever for me this year.  Currently, we're budgeting for an entertainment center.  I have my eye on one... but I won't pay full-price for it, so I am playing the waiting game at the moment.  We totally need something to fill the space in our living room.  The small entertainment console just isn't working there... although I do love me some World Market.  ;)

I know some people have different styles and tastes when it comes to mantle decor, but I really like a collected look, so mine is a pretty layered look.  I just switched a few things out from my fall mantle, added a banner, and added a few stockings.  Nothing earth-shattering!

I kept it equally simple in our dinette this time around.  I layered two runners... which is definitely one of my favorite decorating tricks at the moment.  I just switched out the fall flowers for a large candleholder and berries and transferred the cow and cloche from our mantel to the table.  Done-zo!

Aside from the simple table-scape, the dinette features just a few little embellishments like this spoon adorned tree, a simple white Nutcracker, and three felt wreaths.  I love the simplicity of everything!

I created a few simple vignettes in the kitchen as well.  I admit it.  I have a slight addiction.

Our hallway is also decorated in a very simple way.  I hung a wreath on our laundry room door... and I love how it adds just a little something to the area.  I also recently moved a bench into the hallway from a bedroom.  So far, I'm digging it.  I just can't wait to add a gallery wall at some point.  The hallway desperately needs artwork.  I just haven't found the right stuff yet!  All in due time...

I'm definitely satisfied with how everything turned out.  We're still kind of newlyweds, so everything is a work-in-progress.  Rome was not built overnight, and neither was our home.  It will all come together in time. 

In the meantime, I will be worrying about our sweet girl, Stella.  She had a pretty major surgery over the weekend, so I'm more concerned about puppy-proofing everything to prevent any more intestinal blockages in the future.  Just look at her sad little face.  She'll be requiring lots of TLC, so everything else, including decorating, can wait.  :)