At Home Christmas Dining Room Decor

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of At Home for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

It’s that season, isn’t it? Is your tree up? (Ours is undecorated in its stand.) I have a friend who puts her tree up the day after Halloween– it’s obviously an artificial one, but she wants to make sure that she getting to thoroughly enjoy her Christmas season..   This year, I’m trying to be deliberate and thoughtful in my decorating, and taking time to enjoy the process. I want to make sure that it captures the feelings and sentiment of Christmas that I am going for. I want a homey, comfortable feeling in my home this holiday season. I want this period of waiing to be filled with a sense of coziness and family.

Over the past few weeks, I have toured a couple of holiday decorated historic homes. Maybe you have some of these types of homes in your area— historic homes where various design firms are commissioned to create a festive, holiday room? I do love these homes for their inspiration, and I recently shared about going to Bok Tower Gardens in Wales City, Florida.  It really got me thinking about Christmas and what styles of Christmas suit me.   For example, I loved this tablescape in the Pinewood Estate at Bok Tower Garden:

I also toured the farmhouse at Leu Gardens over Thanksgiving, and like Bok Tower Gardens, the house was all decorated for the holidays by various design firms in greater Orlando.  I loved the children’s bedroom with the hand crafted felt, woodland creatures, and the patchwork quilt skit.

The two rooms have some elements that are very different, but some elements that are the same– both had a vintage style and more neutral colors.  A room filled with burlap and russet reds and vintage elements makes me feel at home.  On the other hand, I’m not interested in a cowboy or woodsman style in my home this Christmas— no bears wearing flannel, fish, boots or bandanas in my holiday decor. Instead, I have been gravitating to the rustic, natural, slightly old fashioned feeling of christmas, particularly in my formal living room and dining room

Our dining room is a special room to me. If you recall, Mellow Man and I bought the house from my grandparents’ estate. I grew up in this home, my father and aunt grew up in this home, and my children grew up in this home. It has a sense of history, and along with the house, I was blessed enough to inherit the Dining Room furniture. Actually, the furniture is in the exact same place as it was when my grandmother decorated the room. However, the room is different. We’ve changed the color scheme to a warm gray and blue. There are new chair seats, and a different rug. However, much of the emotional connection to the room is still there for me.’

I visited At Home a couple of weeks ago to pick up some decorations for this room to make it feel cozy and suit my style, while still keeping the sense of tradition that reminds me of my grandparents.  At Home Christmas Decor has fifteen different “themes” of that gives you the chance to find the one that best suits your own style.  From crisp white and red, a regal Victorian style, to the one that I liked best– Woodland Forest.   What’s even better is that all of those different styles of decorations are available at low prices everyday

Traditionally, my grandmother filled the crystal punch bowl in the center of the dining room with red balls, but this year, I wanted something more natural. I added bags of filler that I found at At Home that were made of natural materials to make the feel of the room a bit more rustic. I also replaced the standard white linine table cloth with burlap placemats that I found At Home. I then added two little  creatures with red burlap accents to either side of the crysal punch bowl, and gold and silver luminary candle holders. (I liked the mixing of gold and silver since I have accents of both in my dining room.)

I love the little Hedgehog and Squirrel. They add a bit of whimsy, but the colors and texture go so well with the rest of the elements in the room. (Fun fact about me– Hedgehogs are my favorite animal!)   Now, At Home had many different animals in this theme, as well as a few Santa Clauses.

On the mirror above my sideboard, I attached a clear hook (by 3M brand), and placed a collection of jute and burlap acorns.  I swapped out my candles in my hurricanes to red for the holidays.

Remember that Christmas Ornaments can do more than hang on trees.  I used two more clear hooks to hang these rustic bells on our plantation shutters.

On the folding door that connects the kitchen and dining room, I used another rustic, natural ornament as a bobble for the door.  (I do have to watch this one though to make sure that Angus, the Potcake dog doesn’t eat it!)

Finally, I used Red Burlap ribbon to function as napkin rings for the tablescape.  That little pop of red brought all of the elements of the room together.

Now I have a few more projects that I am working the dining room, but right now the room really makes me smile.  One of things that I think this room could use is a tall skinny, flocked tree.  And I know where I can find a great collection of Christmas Trees— At Home!  They even have a small, skinny flocked tree that would be the perfect Tree for Me and my dining room.

What’s your Christmas style?  Bright?  Traditional? Victorian?

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